 November 28, 2007 - 1:36am | When it comes to starships for the SF/SO fusion, there are a few differences between the two game universes when it comes to spacecraft construction and operation. Artificial Gravity: When it comes to Space Opera, it exists. Period. Move on. There are no real theories about how you can generate gravity fields without corresponding mass (creating something from nothing). I know this. Nevertheless, artificial gravity exists in the Space Opera universe. That's one of the reasons they call it Space Opera in the first place. As a result of this, plus the fact that ship's drives heckle both Newton and Einstein, ship hulls can be designed very differently. You can, theoretically, use any geometric configuration you want when designing hulls. We will not be restricted to cylinder configs. Inertial compensators are also part of the artificial gravity components for spacecraft if the ship truly accelerates in the Newtonian fashion (the ship drives in SO curtail much of this, but it can still crop up). Ship Drives: As previously mentioned, Space Opera's ship drives ignore both Newtonian inertial laws as well as Einsteinian relativity laws. We are already used to the latter, merely because if we didn't, we would have no FTL drives at all in either SF or SO. The drive that is used to maneuver in normal space I am calling the Phase Drive. The original drive name from SO was the TISA (Trans-Gravatic Interphased Sub-light Anomaly) Drive. I shortened the name somewhat. The drive works like a hyperdrive except it simulates sub-light speeds. The ship is halfway through the "door", phased between this dimension and a parallel dimension where physical laws are heckled. The result is that a ship can achieve whole percentages of the speed of light (c) without worrying about high-g acceleration or time dilation. The ships speed rating is measured in light seconds (LS~300,000km) traveled in a 6-minute combat round (which is different from SO's 5-minute round. I changed it because I like the concept of 10 rounds equaling an hour.). The maximum speed the phase drive can simulate is c - 360LS. Some ships can maintain such a speed without engaging the FTL drive. These are some of the best ships availible. When it comes to the FTL drive, the ship fully steps into the heckling dimension. The ship's drive rating is measured in light years (LY~9,500,000,000,000km)per day. Slow vessels will have ratings between 4-6LY. The fastest ships achieving 50LY or more. The ship is fully into this other dimension, and cannot be bothered until the vessel decelerates to sub-light speeds. The ship is completly isolated in hyperspace. No outside comminication nor contact of any kind...so far... Because of these issues, as well as a few others I haven't thought of yet, I am proposing an alternate spacecraft book. One that will stand alone without the need for Knight Hawks. I will start posting ship construction rules so everyone can see and offer their input. Eventually, I will be asking for ship designs. Once we get the rules straightened out and some good ships - both military and civilian - we can have ourselves a great book that doesn't need to be strictly used for Star Opera. I look forward you your suggestions, both to these concepts and to the upcoming works. Grendel T. Troll Registered Linux User #299419 "Nobody remembers what you say. A few might remember what you do, but EVERYONE remembers how you make them feel." ~ Anonymous |
 November 28, 2007 - 10:26am | I'm guilty of using artificial gravity in my Star Frontiers games - it's just easier and cinematic, even if unrealistic. I justify it to those who cringe at it by saying there's a special metal mined only in certain asteroids - and when wire is made from it and turned into coils, current passing through it generates a gravametric field rather than a magnetic field like conductors we use today in real life. That way, ship decks can be lined with shaped coils of this specialized wire to create a specifically shaped field, and gravity can be increased or decreased in certain areas to make things more or less comfortable for passengers accustomed to certain gravities. It requires a ship of at least HS5 to be fitted with gravity coils because of the high demand on power sources. The field is normally designed to extend only 5 meters, and is why ship decks are spaced (in my campaigns) a minimum of 5m apart from one another, half of which is taken up by ducting, gravity coils, com wiring, etc, leaving around 2.5m of ceiling clearance. I use this same technology on mining colonies on low-gravity worlds. 3. We wear sungoggles during the day. Not because the sun affects our
vision, but when you're cool like us the sun shines all the time. |
November 28, 2007 - 10:33am | That's a great routine, Rogue. Feel free to post a document here about artificial gravity workings, if you want. I will eventually incorporate it into the main starship document once I start my work on it. Grendel T. Troll Registered Linux User #299419 "Nobody remembers what you say. A few might remember what you do, but EVERYONE remembers how you make them feel." ~ Anonymous |
