From: Warbeads@a...
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 06:39:23 EST
Subject: One view Re: [VV] Vectorverse FTL
In a message dated 1/30/05 9:33:13 PM Pacific Standard Time,
> laserlight@quixnet.net writes:
From: "Robertson, Brendan"
> FTL Tier 1: , Tier 2:, Tier 3:
I'm wondering if perhaps it would be better to have only two modes of FTL? A
lot of the interesting situations in history have arisen when one culture
developed a new mode of transportation, and ran into another culture which
didn't have that mode. For instance, the Aztecs
| Hindus | East Africans had foot travel; the Spanish | English |
Arabs had that, but also had ships (and the tech that allowed them to build
ships).
Leave for a week and something different comes up...
Well, let me make a real world example to semi-refute that approach.
When I went back to my Mother's memorial service (no typical funeral per se'
since she was a member of Unity - our theological views varied more
then our political views) I had several options.
In theory I could have gone on foot, by bike, gasoline powered vehicles
(motor cycle or car), train or airplane. Despite the fact it completely
drained
savings we chose the latter (plus hotel room and rental car -- all in
Los Angeles, shudder) because we wanted all four of us to be there (the grown
children were on their own resources) and time was a critical factor.
Extrapolating, I can see hyperspace as complicated.
1) Natural Wormholes - if you have them you use them. They may vary in
usefulness [a wormhole into a sun probably has limited usefulness as does one
into a 'Sargasso Space Sea' part of the universe,] length traveled and
carrying capacity individually and may, or may not, (!) cause release of
sensible/detectable 'bits' in the deparure/arrival area. They may also
'move' a bit in
their exact astarting/ending points.
2) Jump Gates/drives
A - I see this as taking a large asteroid sized [or larger] piece
of equipment due to power considerations to project smaller ships a variable
or exact distance in a variable or exact direction with or without observable
'bits' in the departure or arrival area.
B - now we reduce the power plant to allow ships to create the
'field' around themselves to project themselves through hyperspace.
C- in theory the reduction is such that individuals can be moved
(Teleportation from a different view) or small ships can move planets.
"Outside the GZG universe issue" technologically for this discussion I expect.
3) alternative 'jump drive sources' are utilized by different
races/species/groups. An example is the drive used in the old SPI board
games where
telekinestethics (spelling) themselves were the 'power plant' to jumps.
In that
same trio of games the only known intelligent plant race used a slower but
useful 'tachyon' drive for movement. In one earlier SF book from the
1950's/1960's the one non-human race eschewed the offer of advanced
human tech and developed their own hyperspace technology and kept their
'culture' where as their
old ex-foes (more humanoid) found themselves 'absorbed' into the human
culture thus losing their unique culture and becoming 'not quite as effective'
demi-Terrans in Essence.
Gracias,