[Space] Ludicrous Speed!

[David Johnston]

This is a thread for discussing the various methods of getting from star to star and their implications. First of all we have hyperspace travel:

1. Because of the game mechanics, it's safe to assume that commercial vessels will, in the normal order of things, spend a full 8 hours maximising their effective Navigation skill. Then you toss in 6 of your ship's fatigue, leaving your final navigation roll at -1 for a hop from 1 to 10 light years. Presumably this fatigue can't be recovered until your ship emerges on the principle that you can't rest while actually doing the thing that fatigued you. Military ships would have "Reliable" because governments can afford it, and they need to jump at a virtual moment's notice.

2. Because commercial traffic usually isn't going to want to take the extra risk involved in an extra -1 for a jump over 10 light years, (which doesn't save you any time odds are the trading outposts will be spaced to ensure that you always have a destination within 10 light years.

3. Do you need "Blind" to transit to a system you can see in a telescope?

4. Pirates have a tough time. They presumably can't intercept someone in hyperspace, and that means they basically have to wait in some place for victims to appear virtually on top of them. Allowing a Sense Hyperjump technology might make it easier. Still the pirates will have to scoot since they need to immobilise the merchantman before it just pops back into hyperspace to escape.

[The Benj]

Originally Posted by David Johnston

Then you toss in 6 of your ship's fatigue...

Machines don't have FP, so this is just damage to your ship.

3. Do you need "Blind" to transit to a system you can see in a telescope?

No, I don't think so. It would just count as a "remove" as discussed under Warp.

[Mark Caliber]

As of late, I've given serious consideration to StarGating (or as I call them Conduit Drives.)

In essence a machine opens a temporary stable portal in the space time continuum which opens on another side close to your destination.

These devices have been explored on the StarGate movie/series and were used in the Video Game Homeworld.

Obviously the one obvious limitation to a stargate could be "only in fixed locations." And if the dimentions of your stargate are fixed then the size of what can be transported is also limited.

Heck, even the Wing Commander series used these (calling them "fixed jump points.")

Strategically, the important locations become the Stargate points (if they're fixed.)

IF your conduit generater can be transported and the dimention altered, then your looking at a whole different set of assumptions.

The most conceivable is that you'll need a spike or capacetance of power built up to use the device in question, and once a portal is open it may only be held for a limited time.

This would also limit the required mobility for most ships as they only need to get into an appropriate Gating point and then to the next destination. In theory, a gating ship of this type could conceivably launch, attain high orbit, gate to the destination orbit, request landing, achieve entry and then land all within 6 to 8 hours. (And that only assumes that you need to leave the planets surface in order to gate!)

Some other assumptions. MAKING a gate will be an exhorbitant fixed cost, but maintenance and operation expenses should be considerably low. Long term this would be a very inexpensive form of travel.

[Bruno]

Originally Posted by The Benj

Machines don't have FP, so this is just damage to your ship.

Unless your ship is a bioship, or has an Energy Reserve (one would presume Superscience or similar source, but of course Psionic is another popular one).

Is there any mechanism for reducing Hyperspace jump distance or Hyperspace jump speed for mass carried?

The ships in C.J. Cherryh's "Pride of Chanur" series had a specific rating on their jump vanes; merchant ships, designed to haul large cargos, would have big vanes, but generally had miserable performance because they were hauling huge masses of cargo. Strip a merchanter down and get her to jump unladen, and once she stops screaming at you about lost profits you find she goes a lot further, a lot faster.

[benz72]

Originally Posted by Mark Caliber

SNIP
This would also limit the required mobility for most ships as they only need to get into an appropriate Gating point and then to the next destination. In theory, a gating ship of this type could conceivably launch, attain high orbit, gate to the destination orbit, request landing, achieve entry and then land all within 6 to 8 hours. (And that only assumes that you need to leave the planets surface in order to gate!)

I would question the assupmtion that it is economical to take a space faring freighter into and out of atmosphere to land / launch it. Surely if this society can build jump gates they can have some kind of exo-atmospheric warehouse to onload / offload cargo in orbit or at a stable point which can then be accessed from the planet by smaller vehicles / star ladders or whatever other technology you like.

[David Johnston]

Originally Posted by Bruno

Unless your ship is a bioship, or has an Energy Reserve (one would presume Superscience or similar source, but of course Psionic is another popular one).

Is there any mechanism for reducing Hyperspace jump distance or Hyperspace jump speed for mass carried?

Not yet. However, it seems pretty obvious that "one month per lightyear" would be -40% or -35% and one hour per light year would be -10%. You could set up your universe so that only ships below a certain payload can achieve a certain level of hyperspace travel.

[sir_pudding]

I don't really understand why the specific mechanics of the Warp advantage should have to apply to any given settings hyperdrives. Am I missing something?

[David Johnston]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

I don't really understand why the specific mechanics of the Warp advantage should have to apply to any given settings hyperdrives. Am I missing something?

They're the mechanics we have so far.

[David Johnston]

Originally Posted by Agemegos

That depends on the space density of systems that have a world in them with high affinity. In my SF setting, for example, there is precious little activity in systems without a habitable planet. .

Well what I'm suggesting is that given that it would be noticeably less safe using Warp to jump more than 10 light years (increased chance of critical failure), that means that if you use that particular mechanic for interstellar drive, it means inherently that certain systems are going to see a great deal of activity just because they happen to be between two populous habitable systems. When it turns out that Van Maanen's Star is within 10 lightyears of 4 habitable, and therefore inhabited planets, 2 of whom are not within ten light years of any of the other 3, once substantial trade develops, you are going to have literally thousands of ships a month stopping at Van Maanen's Star for at least 8 hours while they calculate the next jump. Doesn't that make Van Maanen's Star the ideal location for a repair station, a bar, a brothel? Of course if high levels of Reliability and navigation skill are universal, even for for freighters, then the stop may be unnecessary, but I'm assuming that won't be true early in the history of space commerce and might not ever be true.

[Qoltar]

Originally Posted by Mark Caliber

As of late, I've given serious consideration to StarGating (or as I call them Conduit Drives.)

In essence a machine opens a temporary stable portal in the space time continuum which opens on another side close to your destination.

These devices have been explored on the StarGate movie/series and were used in the Video Game Homeworld.

Obviously the one obvious limitation to a stargate could be "only in fixed locations." And if the dimentions of your stargate are fixed then the size of what can be transported is also limited.

Heck, even the Wing Commander series used these (calling them "fixed jump points.")

Strategically, the important locations become the Stargate points (if they're fixed.)

IF your conduit generater can be transported and the dimention altered, then your looking at a whole different set of assumptions.

The most conceivable is that you'll need a spike or capacetance of power built up to use the device in question, and once a portal is open it may only be held for a limited time.

This would also limit the required mobility for most ships as they only need to get into an appropriate Gating point and then to the next destination. In theory, a gating ship of this type could conceivably launch, attain high orbit, gate to the destination orbit, request landing, achieve entry and then land all within 6 to 8 hours. (And that only assumes that you need to leave the planets surface in order to gate!)

Some other assumptions. MAKING a gate will be an exhorbitant fixed cost, but maintenance and operation expenses should be considerably low. Long term this would be a very inexpensive form of travel.

Has everyone forgotten BABYLON 5 ?

Mark,
what you describe was called a "JumpGate" on "Babylon 5".

On the show only military and really large ships could make their own jump gates. Everyone else for commercial travel depended on established and constructed artificial Jump Gates.

- Ed Charlton