| tshiggins |
11-20-2015 08:52 AM |
Re: [Space] Steampunk Firefly Idea
Quote:
Originally Posted by Daigoro
(Post 1954703)
Would limiting its efficiency do the job? Perhaps a fraction of the gravity still gets through, so you still need something else to provide thrust. Or it generates a spherical field, so there's no directionality to the contragrav effect.
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The notion of a spherical effect is an even more elegant justification, actually. Once the cavorite is activated, the vessel only has the vector it had upon activation. Deltas for actual navigation require an actual power source, and mag-sails are a nice solution for a steampunk space setting. Very evocative.
Make the industrial process that results in cavorite dependent upon a rare mineral, and you've got motivation for imperial expansion, as well -- especially if it's a bit more abundant on, say, Venus (a lush jungle world rich with life -- and big toothy predators -- where the richest deposits lie deep in the valleys where the atmosphere is so dense it requires humans to wear reduction masks, and the toothy predators all have wings).
Mars, of course, would be the source of weird science found in the desiccated ruins of ancient Martian cities, haunted by feral creatures and surrounded by violent, degenerate barbarians who struggle to survive. Dubbed "Reivers" by the British explorers who found them (and who managed to get a message out before they were eaten), the clever barbarians have started to build their own space craft, modeled on the British scout vessel they captured.
Soon, the solar system will scream. |