Alpha Centauri

[Bromley86]

There is a speed limit, its called the speed of light

True, but apparently the speed limit is much lower than that at a given tech level. i.e.

Bussard Ramjet: 0.12c
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussard_ramjet#Speed_limit

Orion (thermonuclear): 0.1c
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_%28nuclear_propulsion%29#Interstellar_missions

Point is, there do appear to be speed limits for some (all?) techs. Mind you, hitting someone travelling at 19,000 mps might require a combat computer .

 

[Geraldine]

It will depend on what David sets as the in system jump drive speed. If the game has realistically sized solar systems, "C" seems to be as good a limit as any. As for interceptions, I guess that would work as it did in the original Elite, with a mass lock or something similar to bring you out of lightspeed once something else is nearby. What might be more interesting is what would the max space normal speed be? Could you accelerate up to "C" or would there be mass adjustments dependent on the size of the ship

 

[Bromley86]

Given that you have to lug your fuel around with you, the delta-v is the speed limit (I think I'm using the term correctly here) when not hyperspacing. So all you need to do is have ships exit in-system hyperspace at a set low speed and have relatively inefficient engines (like we currently have in the RW).

 

[Geraldine]

Well "delta-v" is about the amount of effort needed to change direction, but I can see what your getting at. As you burn fuel, the ship looses mass. With less mass to move, the acceleration curve will rise. The implication here is a fully loaded up ship with cargo would handle alot worse than an empty one, making it a easier target. Admittedly I don't know if David will account for that in the flight model, my guess would be, he will

 

[The Space Pirate]

OK, now you're all going waaaaaaaaay above my tiny head!

 

[Geraldine]

What Bromley86 and me are talking about is how the flight model might work in the game with regards to speed and mass of the ship, I sometimes get carried away (or perhaps SHOULD be carried away) from such discussions

 

[Bromley86]

F=ma, i.e. Force = mass * acceleration.

Rearrange. a=F/m, i.e. acceleration = Force / mass

Mass is (roughly) what we think of as weight. Given a certain level of force (i.e. engines at max), your mass therefore determines your acceleration. Heavier = slow, light = fast.

Of course, a more massive ship will have a larger engine which will have a greater force at maximum output.

Geraldine's point was that fuel is also part of your mass. As you fire your engines, you're basically taking that fuel, heating it up and throwing it out the back of your ship. You move forward, your ship gets lighter. Which makes the next chunk of fuel you throw out push you faster, which makes you harder to hit that some lumbering fully-fueled ship. Of course, it also means you're nearer to running out of fuel, and hence the ability to dodge .

AFAIK, FFE didn't model this, as the fullness of your fuel tanks didn't factor into the total mass of your ship. The fuel you carried for hyperdrive did, but even then I don't think that factored into the engine's power. Might be wrong there though.

 

[Geraldine]

AFAIK, FFE didn't model this, as the fullness of your fuel tanks didn't factor into the total mass of your ship. The fuel you carried for hyperdrive did, but even then I don't think that factored into the engine's power. Might be wrong there though.

You are correct, however Pioneer does model this and even equipment and cargo mass too when factoring the time taken for a hyperspace jump.

 

[Bounder]

You are correct, however Pioneer does model this and even equipment and cargo mass too when factoring the time taken for a hyperspace jump.

I noticed this in Pioneer, nice feature. This inertia effect would work well with force feedback joysticks, if FFB were ever to be implemented...