From: bbrush@u...
Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 15:23:02 -0600
Subject: grav everywhere
I've been following the thread on grav vehicles with some interest (DSII being my game of choice in GZG-land). My overly literal mind keeps coming back to the same thing. "If it works like that, yes; otherwise....." What it all boils down to is "How do grav drives work?" In the one sci-fi universe that I'm familiar with where this is addressed (Renegade Legion) Grav drives are not "anti-gravity" per se. The grav drives warp the planetary gravity "field" around the tank so that the tank effectively "falls" in the direction of travel. IIRC the crew has artificial gravity inside so that they don't notice the difference. The tank grav drives require more power the weaker the gravity field they're warping, so that the farther away from the surface the more power it takes to move. This effectively limits them to modern helicopter performance envelopes (at least for altitude). The game also had other mechanisms to keep your tank on the ground (the weak bottom armor and no ballistic protection on the record sheet). This is obviously just one set of PSB that is made to justify the way that game works. Anyone can make up a PSB to make things work like they want. The more I think about levitation type propulsion systems the less suitable I find them (from a technical standpoint) for combat missions. With anything that hovers over the ground you're going to be subject to "unintended movement". This could be as simple as wind, or as complex as collisions or projectile impacts. You also have terrain limitations (ie GEV's aren't good at hill climbing). With tracks or wheels "station keeping" is as simple as stopping where you want. Obviously for grav this depends on how your grav drive works. If it works like the ones in RL then it's simply a matter of having the computer adjust the warping so that the tank stays where you put it and compensate for impacts. If it's true anti-gravity (as in the tank is not affected by gravity) then you have the the biggest air-hocky puck ever made. Mag-lev without the rails. Gravity being the least understood of the cosmic forces the possibilities are truly mind boggling. One sci-fi story written about someone who creates anti-gravity postulates that in an area where gravity was not in effect then neither would Eistein's relativity be in effect and therefore objects could attain a velocity of C instantly. It would effectively mean that true anti-gravity would give limitless energy. This is all JMO, and I'm sure that given sufficient incentive some brainiac will come up with a way to make a floating vehicle stay where it's put, but there are much easier and more reliable alternatives.