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The way things work
Its time we once again discused exactly how these ships work. It is always a fun argument
First lets talk engines:
Ships move equaly fast in all directions (without turbo)
Ships have little or no inertia when strafing
Ships have signifigant inertia when rolling
"Turbo" Accelearates slowly and decerates rapidly
Turbo emits bright light from the back of the ship
Normal motion gives no visual cue
My Conclusions:
Normal motion is exectuted by a stutter-warp drive (numerous short distance teleporations every second) and thus isn't realy motion at all. The small amount of inertia could be explaned as processing lag, the computer simply takes time to ajust from moving one direction to another. The more noticeable inertia when turning could be explained by the use of conventional thrusters or perhaps by the complexity of the calculations involved. I would personaly guess thrusters. The turbo device does appear to emit a stream of somthing therefore indicating some kind of fuel. The lack of limited fuel further indicates a fuel collection system, like a magnetic ram scoop. In that case the slow acceleration is due to fighting the magnetic "drag" of the scoop and the sudden deceleartion is caused by the ram scoop still generating drag but with no force to fight it.
I know there was a "heat sink" theory and a few others for the engines. Lets hear them all again!
First lets talk engines:
Ships move equaly fast in all directions (without turbo)
Ships have little or no inertia when strafing
Ships have signifigant inertia when rolling
"Turbo" Accelearates slowly and decerates rapidly
Turbo emits bright light from the back of the ship
Normal motion gives no visual cue
My Conclusions:
Normal motion is exectuted by a stutter-warp drive (numerous short distance teleporations every second) and thus isn't realy motion at all. The small amount of inertia could be explaned as processing lag, the computer simply takes time to ajust from moving one direction to another. The more noticeable inertia when turning could be explained by the use of conventional thrusters or perhaps by the complexity of the calculations involved. I would personaly guess thrusters. The turbo device does appear to emit a stream of somthing therefore indicating some kind of fuel. The lack of limited fuel further indicates a fuel collection system, like a magnetic ram scoop. In that case the slow acceleration is due to fighting the magnetic "drag" of the scoop and the sudden deceleartion is caused by the ram scoop still generating drag but with no force to fight it.
I know there was a "heat sink" theory and a few others for the engines. Lets hear them all again!
Looks like someone failed their "Higher Order General Unification Theory 101" class!
Ships have inertia when strafing. You just need to fly in physics mode to notice it. The only reason it seems like they don't in arcade is because the ship's drive computer automatically provides a counter-thrust to stop you. Same goes for rolling.
The ships run on a gravitic pulse drive. It works by isolating and either amplifying or reducing the effects of nearby gravitational fields to exert push and pull on the ship in any given direction. That's why sectors are compartmentalized. Our ships can only maneuver effectively in areas where strong gravitational fields are present like near stars. If we try to fly out too far away from any local gravitational field (2^42m to be exact ^.^) the ship's drive automatically corrects itself to run back around towards the gravitational fields to prevent you from flying out to a point where you can no longer apply thrust.
That is also why our maximum sublight speeds are capped. The gravitic pulse generator cannot maintain it's hold on local gravity fields if the fields fluctuate too rapidly, as they do when the ship flies too quickly. More advanced engines have better drive computers that allow them to propel the ship faster though.
This is also why our ships do not experience any gravitational forces from nearby massive objects. The gravitic drive automatically compensates for them. It converts the forces of local gravitational fields and converts them into energy. That energy is then used to charge your ship's battery, which is why it seems to be able to recharge by itself.
When you hit turbo, all the gravitic pulse engines generate the maximum possible force in to forward direction. Because it is making use of any and all gravitational fields availible, there is nothing leftover to charge the battery and the battery's energy "leaks" out. Recent advances in battery technology have yielded the "Fast-charge" battery that dramatically cuts down on the rate of leakage. The battery does not charge so much as it prevents loss of charge.
The objects in the back of our ships are not engines, but in fact, heat sinks to release the enormous amounts of heat generated by the gravitic pulse generator. When "turbo" is engaged, the gravitic engines generate a great deal of excess heat and gets shed and yields the visibile turbo-signature we are so familiar with. The reason these heatsinks were put on the rear is purely stylistic. Putting them near the front would obscure the pilot's view while putting them on the side looked "goofy" according to TPG's design focus groups.
Ships have inertia when strafing. You just need to fly in physics mode to notice it. The only reason it seems like they don't in arcade is because the ship's drive computer automatically provides a counter-thrust to stop you. Same goes for rolling.
The ships run on a gravitic pulse drive. It works by isolating and either amplifying or reducing the effects of nearby gravitational fields to exert push and pull on the ship in any given direction. That's why sectors are compartmentalized. Our ships can only maneuver effectively in areas where strong gravitational fields are present like near stars. If we try to fly out too far away from any local gravitational field (2^42m to be exact ^.^) the ship's drive automatically corrects itself to run back around towards the gravitational fields to prevent you from flying out to a point where you can no longer apply thrust.
That is also why our maximum sublight speeds are capped. The gravitic pulse generator cannot maintain it's hold on local gravity fields if the fields fluctuate too rapidly, as they do when the ship flies too quickly. More advanced engines have better drive computers that allow them to propel the ship faster though.
This is also why our ships do not experience any gravitational forces from nearby massive objects. The gravitic drive automatically compensates for them. It converts the forces of local gravitational fields and converts them into energy. That energy is then used to charge your ship's battery, which is why it seems to be able to recharge by itself.
When you hit turbo, all the gravitic pulse engines generate the maximum possible force in to forward direction. Because it is making use of any and all gravitational fields availible, there is nothing leftover to charge the battery and the battery's energy "leaks" out. Recent advances in battery technology have yielded the "Fast-charge" battery that dramatically cuts down on the rate of leakage. The battery does not charge so much as it prevents loss of charge.
The objects in the back of our ships are not engines, but in fact, heat sinks to release the enormous amounts of heat generated by the gravitic pulse generator. When "turbo" is engaged, the gravitic engines generate a great deal of excess heat and gets shed and yields the visibile turbo-signature we are so familiar with. The reason these heatsinks were put on the rear is purely stylistic. Putting them near the front would obscure the pilot's view while putting them on the side looked "goofy" according to TPG's design focus groups.
Good explained, Magus.
You are a Teacher at SolII University, aren`t you?
You are a Teacher at SolII University, aren`t you?
SOLII? SOL II?!?!?! Don't demean my education by comparing it to that antiquated institution.
I occasionally act as a visiting professor of Interstellar Economic Theory, The History of Earth, and Old Terran Philosophy at Miles Greylocke University. But this is stuff any grade schooler should know in this day and age.
I occasionally act as a visiting professor of Interstellar Economic Theory, The History of Earth, and Old Terran Philosophy at Miles Greylocke University. But this is stuff any grade schooler should know in this day and age.
Hmmm... That all makes perfect sense, but why couldn't the turbo apply to any direction, not just forward?
Another questions:
When a ship rotates on an axis (other that roll, so yaw and pitch), there seems to be a see-saw effect when the maneuver is ended. This is especially noticible in a heavy ship (Rag). The ship will continue to see-saw back and forth for a couple of seconds.
This is in physics mode using a mouse, which I realize moves faster than the ship can, so I'm not really looking where the ship is facing, but wouldn't the ships onboard guidence be able to compansate. I can understand momentum causing "oversteering". but not on the return swing of the nose, and certainly not a third and fourth swing.
The swing of the ship should be able to stop just as fast as it started.
Another questions:
When a ship rotates on an axis (other that roll, so yaw and pitch), there seems to be a see-saw effect when the maneuver is ended. This is especially noticible in a heavy ship (Rag). The ship will continue to see-saw back and forth for a couple of seconds.
This is in physics mode using a mouse, which I realize moves faster than the ship can, so I'm not really looking where the ship is facing, but wouldn't the ships onboard guidence be able to compansate. I can understand momentum causing "oversteering". but not on the return swing of the nose, and certainly not a third and fourth swing.
The swing of the ship should be able to stop just as fast as it started.
<That all makes perfect sense, but why couldn't the turbo apply to any direction, not just forward?>
-Well. . . um. . .
/me pulls out his "Gravitic Pulse Drives for Dummies" book.
According to this, it's used as a safety measure. Turbo can only be engaged in a single direction at a time, so the drive manufacturers thought it would be smart to make sure it was in the direction your ship was actually facing so you can see what's in front of you.
Yea. That's it.
<When a ship rotates on an axis (other that roll, so yaw and pitch), there seems to be a see-saw effect when the maneuver is ended.>
This is a result of the ship's enertia. The drives aren't perfectly accurate in the amount of force they exert, so when they overturn on heavy ships, the often overcompensate to move it to the center, then overcompensate again, but a little bit less, until the pendelum motion slows down.
TPG Developments is researching more advanced compensation calculation algorithms to remedy the situation.
-Well. . . um. . .
/me pulls out his "Gravitic Pulse Drives for Dummies" book.
According to this, it's used as a safety measure. Turbo can only be engaged in a single direction at a time, so the drive manufacturers thought it would be smart to make sure it was in the direction your ship was actually facing so you can see what's in front of you.
Yea. That's it.
<When a ship rotates on an axis (other that roll, so yaw and pitch), there seems to be a see-saw effect when the maneuver is ended.>
This is a result of the ship's enertia. The drives aren't perfectly accurate in the amount of force they exert, so when they overturn on heavy ships, the often overcompensate to move it to the center, then overcompensate again, but a little bit less, until the pendelum motion slows down.
TPG Developments is researching more advanced compensation calculation algorithms to remedy the situation.