Acceleration over time yes, but time effects would be Einsteinian, not Newtonian.
Patch Notes Update Powerplay Beta 5 changelog
- Thread starter Edward Lewis
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Javert
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Yes, but what I meant was that if you had a Newtonian flight model you would probably have to control long phases of acceleration and deceleration which would be pretty boring unless you have a control to accelerate time in the game. This can be done in a single player game but not in a multiplayer
This had nothing to do with Newton's First Law, unless Newton observed that Objects At Full Boost Speed With Lateral Thrusters Remain At Full Boost Speed.
It's quite simple:
The boost isn't maintained, the speed is. The lateral thrusters keep the other thrusters from slowing down the ship, by propelling it in a perpendicular motion. This is the difference between speed and acceleration. With FAoff, you shouldn't accelerate (or decelerate) unless you fire off a thruster or boost rocket. But your speed should be constant as long as you maintain your vector.
In 1.2 there is a logical explanation for the so-called "exploit" as long as you accept that a thruster speed limit exists. However, in 1.3 a magical rocket fairy comes and slows down your ship to make sure you aren't going too fast for a pirate/griefer to catch up.
Good. Glad the magical rocket fairy has been taken out the back and shot. There's trouble every time she appears.
Seriously, here's a bit of light reading for you. There are a lot more if you get through these too quickly!...
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=44057
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=47988
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=45130
[edit]Also...
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=28995
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=43882
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=43827
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Still hostile in founders 
The same explanation can apply as before, only with slightly altered effects.
I'm assuming hyper jump and supercruise are variants of the Alcubierre drive, with a bubble of warped space moving around at great speeds, not the craft relative to space. Whereas locally driven thrusters use the same fuel, but via a cleaner, more efficient version of old-fashioned chemical propulsion.
There might be many reasons to limit speeds in relative space, such as:
- micrometeorites and kessler syndrome debris might puncture shields/hulls above a certain speed and by keeping it under, avoids catastrophic micro impacts, or the very structural beams the hold the ship together will vibrate with enough frequency to tear themselves apart above a certain speed. (ie. pure engineering design reasons)
- lower level relativistic effects might cause time dilation (aka server lag) without the accompanying space-time bubbles and universal time is impossible without preventing all ships to confirm... think of speed limits like a calendar- an earth day has 24 hours. a KM traveled is relativistic, but the maximum possible speed limit might determine the length of a "space day" which would need to be relative (avoiding relativistic effects, give uniform time to all humans)
- Engine technology for FDL... is this explained anywhere? Anti matter is probably involved in order to create the energy needed, meaning there's most likely some kind of magnetic anti-matter containment in the FDL/Power Supply and if it goes above X speed, it could destabilize a containment field and cause a matter/anti-matter reaction (physical reasons from inside the ship, not from without)
- maybe going that fast creates G-forces that would create micro-fractures in the human anatomy that build up to kill a man over time because man evolved under a specific set of speed/gravity requirements- while the G-forces would be minimal in deep space, there is still the tug of dark matter anywhere within the galaxy, which is strong enough to make sure stars at the edge of the galaxy go just as fast as those at the center, so by travelling fast enough without altering space, it might be possible that these background forces gain enough energy to "plop" out the very molecules from within you as they collide with the invisible sub-space gravity fields... as your DNA slowly degrades by loosing atom after atom, you begin to suffer the same symptoms of radiation poisoning. perhaps early colonization attempts made before hyperspace via combination of cryo-sleep and long-distance under-lightspeed journeys resulted in brittle and feral humans that could not then stand on their destination planet and there are roving ships of ancient devolved humans full of incest and genetic deformities lurking about in the black, waiting for some unlucky pilot to stumble upon them and investigate, only to become their dinner. (the biological rationale)
All in all, I think they are talking about "boost speed", not "max speed without boost" which makes sense for gameplay, as otherwise there's no way to catch someone, but you could just as easily chose:
a) complain about "real physics" in a video game
b) come up with creative sci-fi solutions that add to universe
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But its a bug that was meant to be fixed in beta 4
That is some fancy footwork. I am impressed! I guess ultimately I hate the idea of a nannybot flying my ship for me. And while I appreciate your imagination very much (particularly the time dilation notion), none of these ideas explain why we would slow down to zero with FAoff and thrusters off.
Perhaps the powers that be were just sick of forgetful or incompetent pilots plowing into stations/ships/planets, so came together and mandated that all successive generations of inertia drives were fitted with air brakes to ensure even the most half-witted simpleton could dock without relying on often-suicidal computer assistants?
It's 100% a gameplay thing.
Without it, you could boost to your ship's max-boost speed, switch to FA OFF, disable thrusters and then fly along at that max-boost speed without slowing down.
With 0 pips to ENG.
Which would mean you could put 4 pips to SYS at no cost to your speed.
ie.
Ability to travel at absolute top speed AND STILL have absolute top shield strength (4 pips to SYS).
Which breaks the "trade-off" mechanic between SYS/ENG/WEP power distribution.
There were hundreds of pages written on this, back in the day. Loads of YouTube experiments. Many alternatives tried out in Beta versions.
What we have now in Beta 4 does not degrade ship-to-ship combat, and does not make a mockery of energy "pip" tradeoff mechanics.
1. Testing this as I type in my trading asp. Currently going 242 FA off and thrusters off and not slowing down.
2. Compromises are made to physics with making a same. FD had to make changes to make it balanced and things can not be exploited.
Its a game, not a space sim. Don't confuse the two.
In order for it to work as a balanced game, it loses realism. This has been a basic fact with ALL games.
Should the distance I travel at near light speed be determined by a few tons of cargo?
Can you really have a ton of slaves?
Why does a ton of gold and a ton of Tea fit into the same space?
Many different ships, but only two types of stations with tiny variations?
If the docking computer has no weight (meaning its just a program), why does it take up a slot?
Why does the landing gear and cargo scoop create drag and slow me down?
"Glass" cockpit?
All of these question including your are answered by...its a game.
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...for dinner?
Not anymore, they stopped being food. ;____;
So traveling in a straight line like a sitting duck with your shields up is over powered? That is a pretty weak argument. Slow ships already have little to no options for a realistic defense, and fast combat ships can come and go as they please.
What is the point of this change if not to appease some jerks who only want to grief or kill players that have little to no interest in pvp combat.
What is the point of this change if not to appease some jerks who only want to grief or kill players that have little to no interest in pvp combat.
You did read the bit about how this fix only changes things for intentionally flying sideways and using lateral thrusters to maintain max boost speed... yes, flying sideways. While running. It does not affect FA off or combat in any other way. It was a borked mechanic in terms of the designed flight model. If you are going to rage against it, then rage against the while model, not just one component which was out of alignment with the rest of it.
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