Flat Black

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Pomphis

Thanks. Though the main difference may be the small size of the eichberger drives, you have 95% for everything else.

True. The Eichberger drive is pretty close to an FTL-1 hyperdrive as specified in Spaceships on p.25 and p.40. That is, the suggested speed of an FTL-1 hyperdrive is one parsec per day, which is 1 190 times c. The Eichberger drive goes at about 1 000 c, which is pretty close.

In Traveller commercial starships travel one parsec per week at Jump-one or up to 4 pc per week at J-4. That's only 170–680 c, with economic designs except on the shortest legs doing 340 c or 510 c. On the other hand the average distance from a settled world to its nearest settled neighbour in Flat Black is about 4.5 pc but in Traveller only a little over one parsec. The shortest short hops in Flat Black are typically six days and in Traveller eight or nine. The thing that makes interstellar transport so much more expensive in Traveller is that Traveller's J drives' hydrogen tanks are extremely bulky.

So the Eichberger drives in Flat Black are standard price, standard bulk, standard speed hyperdrives for GURPS Spaceships. The things that make interstellar travel in Flat Black unexpectedly¹ cheap are

1. that I actually optimised the drive specifications to minimise cost
2. TL10 limited-superscience fusion torches using water as a cheap propellant (which are from Spaceships p.23). They allow an excellent payload mass fraction.

_______
¹ Some people are more surprised than others. I used to be a transport economist, so I'm not as surprised as most. But I was pleased at just how cheap I could get this to work out without having to instal helpful setting switches.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

I did some costing studies using GURPS Spaceships 4th and making what seem reasonable assumptions about duty cycle, amortisation, and maintenance. I reckon that on a thick route where you can keep a large ship reasonably full on a regular schedule the cost is about

Freight rate, per ton:

• G$ 4.39 + G$ 3.64 per light-year in a large carrier
• G$ 5.14 + G$ 4.92 per light-year in a SM+9 feeder

Fare, per compartment, no service

• G$ 43.43 + G$ 48.53 per light-year in a large carrier
• G$ 45.00 + G$ 54.05 per light-year in a SM+9 feeder

That's the economic cost of shipping, without any taxes or port fees, and without any monopoly profits to the line operators.

For some context, in Flat Black the distance from an inhabited planet to its nearest inhabited neighbour averages about 14 light-years, and a trip from the Core to the Fringe is typically about 140 ly.

Remember that "bunkroom" habitat systems carry four passengers per compartment and that standard "cabin" habitat systems carry two per compartment. So bunkroom passage to a nearby system starts at only a couple of hundred GURPS bucks (plus taxes and port fees), while emigrating to the boonies can cost as little as a couple of thousand GURPS bucks plus the cost of buying your own boonie.

[Agemegos]

I'm considering the possibility of re-naming FLAT BLACK so that I will no longer have to explain a choice that I made of thirty years ago for reasons that no longer seem compelling in a context that no-one except my friends of that time understand or care about. My only real reason for sticking with the existing title would be that a few people, perhaps dozens in number, recognise the setting by it. It enjoys a tiny sliver of brand recognition.

Contenders to adorn the front cover in large type include:

• Flat Back
• The Human Reach
• The Orphan Worlds
• Scatterlings

Thoughts?

[Daigoro]

I like Flat Black, if that helps.

Maybe lean into it, and "sequelise" the name. Like, "Flat Black- Double Shot" or "Double Espresso", presuming it's a coffee reference.

[Anaraxes]

Stick with Flat Black. It's got character, sounds "space-y" on the face of it, and you don't have to explain the name if you don't want to.

[martinl]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

Stick with Flat Black. It's got character, sounds "space-y" on the face of it, and you don't have to explain the name if you don't want to.

Agreed.

Additionally, why re-brand now?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by martinl

Agreed.

Additionally, why re-brand now?

Combination of three things:

1︎⃣ I'm producing a new version, of which only about 10,000 words are written. Now would be an easy time to make a change.

2︎⃣ I'm feeling a little bit of pressure from a reader who finds the name puzzling and perhaps inappropriate.

3︎⃣ I'm considering treating myself by commissioning a professional or semi-pro cover illustration, and I don't want to change the title after dropping a few hundred bucks on cover art.

[Daigoro]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

Combination of three things:

1︎⃣ I'm producing a new version, of which only about 10,000 words are written. Now would be an easy time to make a change.

2︎⃣ I'm feeling a little bit of pressure from a reader who finds the name puzzling and perhaps inappropriate.

3︎⃣ I'm considering treating myself by commissioning a professional or semi-pro cover illustration, and I don't want to change the title after dropping a few hundred bucks on cover art.

I'd point out that only one of these (#2) is a reason for changing at all, while the others are reasons for making a change now. And you're doing it to please one person, weighed against the 3 votes here. Not sure how it's inappropriate, either.

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by Daigoro

e. Not sure how it's inappropriate, either.

I haven't a clue what "Flat Black" means but almost anything in English can be inapproprioate to the right or wrong people in some specific context.

[Pomphis]

Originally Posted by martinl

Agreed.

Additionally, why re-brand now?

Agreed. Don´t repair things that aren´t broken.