Elite / Frontier Hyperdrive Alternatives

[Moriarity]

Hi.

Although I prefer Elites original method of fuel dependant hyperdrives with a set jump range, I thought it would be interesting to see what people thought of some different ways to travel.

Rather than have a fuel dependent drive, you could use a system like Star Wars. No fuel was needed, and you could jump to any system in the galaxy, it just took longer depending upon distance, which is where Elites Time accelerator would come in handy. This would really open up the game universe.


Star trek had thier warp drives, which I believe didnt really need to run on fuel either. Their system worked on varying speeds of Warp,running off a warp coil, and again, could travel anywhere given enough time.


A gravity drive, with instant traval to any point of space similar to the way space travel works in dune, with space being folded ie travelling without moving.


Anyone know of another way? I remember playing freespace and wing commander ages ago, but I cant remember how they worked.



Cheers

Moriarity

 

[Bounder]

Apparently gravity is like a big stretchy rubber sheet, so if the ships were rubbed down with baby oil they could just slide everywhere.

Although your undercarriage might get all sticky...

 

[caol]

 

[Moriarity]

That sounds more fun than using a hyperdrive lol.


Cheers


Moriarity

 

[Kipper]

knock yourselves out

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_propulsion

 

[Riker13]

As a person who played the original on the BBC, I think they should stick to Hyperdrives (as long as you have the fuel) it added a extra bit of fun to the game knowing you can only jump so far, plus of course in "witchspace" you had the "Thargoids & Thargons" ahhh its all coming back, happy days.

So David dont change too much when you do make Elite 4.

aLL THE BEST.

Riker13

 

[essezeta]

Some my ideas:


- Electromagnetic non newtonian propulsion:
the ship doesn't fire mass in a direction, but the engine cast an electromagnetic field around the ship that can swim through it

- Solar sails:
Like the name says, the ship use a sail to trap the solar wind.
It will be slower than standard drive, but totally hydrogen free.

- Extrasolar ferries:
You buy a fighter ship fitted with interplanetary drive and full of weapons, then pay for a ticket to an anarchist system


- Hyperspace transit:
I like the Stargate travel scene. If the Elite 4 universe will be totally free, it will be fun to jump toward a system and pass at breathtaking speed suns, planets, nebula and asteroid fields.
A mis-jump could be then more interesting!


What do you think about gameplay if ships (the cheaper ones) are sold with interplanetary drive and the hyperdrives are much more expensive than the ones in Frontier/FFE?

 

[Kipper]

Would I be correct in understanding that "hyperspace" effectively makes you disappear into another dimension and pop out somewhere else.

Therefore you would not see stars and planets whizzing by. After all, if you travelled through normal space at such speeds you'd probably get wiped out by a star, planet, or asteroid as you smack into it at near light speed and provide fireworks for the locals.

I do like that idea of having the faster than light travel and being able to go directly to planets - i really like the idea of your being able to fly places *without* hyperspace, just by directly flying. But i'm not sure it work.

 

[Moriarity]

Hi.

I also think that somekind of Hyperspace stargate would be a nice effect.

I remember watching a movie called Contact, starring Jodie Foster. In the film they built a machine which created a wormhole that transported foster light years across the galaxy. This wormhole travel created a similar effect as in
stargate. You could see stars and planets shooting past.Its quite a nice idea, and the additional bonus of being a wormhole, the journey is instantaneous.


Cheers

Moriarity

 

[zmurf]

I think the drive in Frontier is great. It makes it a challange to go where you like. So you cant fly around totally as you wich.

 

[Bounder]

This week's New Scientist looks at a 'relativity drive' being developed down in Hampshire, described here:

http://www.shelleys.demon.co.uk/fdec02em.htm

...and in a classic example of the 'happy accident', two Irishmen have discovered how to generate unlimited free energy....

http://www.steorn.net/en/technology.aspx?p=5

(Assuming the effect is real, it must occur naturally in the universe - maybe at very small or very large scales...!?)

If both technologies pan out they could power nanobots, space dredgers and everything between....

 

[caol]

That's pretty weird. It'd be awesome if those effects were real. I wonder how long it'll take to develop the technologies into something of practical, everyday use?

 

[essezeta]

Would I be correct in understanding that "hyperspace" effectively makes you disappear into another dimension and pop out somewhere else.

Therefore you would not see stars and planets whizzing by. After all, if you travelled through normal space at such speeds you'd probably get wiped out by a star, planet, or asteroid as you smack into it at near light speed and provide fireworks for the locals.

I do like that idea of having the faster than light travel and being able to go directly to planets - i really like the idea of your being able to fly places *without* hyperspace, just by directly flying. But i'm not sure it work.

Kipper, you're correct, and I agree with you when you write that to travel at such speeds is a good way to crash somewhere.

My suggestion is a hyperspace transit visual effect "like" Stargate:
You activate hyperdrive in space, then you start travelling at very high speed with some proper graphic effects and when you're at destination you instantaneously slow down and leave behind you the classic cloud remnant of something similar.
For the crash problem, we can always find a physical principle of why you never hit anything during hyperspeed..
(but no the horrible Fx in Battlecruiser wich let you pass thru planets )
In a program called Celestia, you can go directly to a star realtime.
If E4 universe is going to be implemented like that , i think this way of travel is a good way to see a little bit of our galaxy, if it isn't out of range

 

[caol]

...In a program called Celestia, you can go directly to a star realtime...

Celestia is really cool.

http://www.shatters.net/celestia/

 

[Steve O B Have]

I quite enjoyed the Frontier Hyperspace, that being time relative to distance and range. It gave an interesting dimension to time based missions.

Personally other than an aesthetic update I'm not too sure that there is any need to update the concept as it works quite well... if it aint broke...

 

[VR jefranklin18]

Personally other than an aesthetic update I'm not too sure that there is any need to update the concept as it works quite well... if it aint broke...

Agreed. Same with the Stardreamer - it is there to provide a function (getting from your warp in point to planetfall quickly in game time) and it does it well.

 

[Steve O B Have]

Agreed. Same with the Stardreamer - it is there to provide a function (getting from your warp in point to planetfall quickly in game time) and it does it well.

mmm Stardreamer could do with some tweaking - if only with some planetary proximity detection...

 

[Kyris]

Hyperspace Alternatives

Hi.

Although I prefer Elites original method of fuel dependant hyperdrives with a set jump range, I thought it would be interesting to see what people thought of some different ways to travel.

Moriarity

There is always the Babylon 5 method. Where all ships had to travel through hyperspace under their own steam, only the bigger ships could form thier own jump gates

The hyperspace could be very simple, it tears a hole in space-time (you could spout some pseudo science rubbish about string theory). The pilot then navigates hyperspace in real time. No stardreamer, so it enables multiplayer and is in keeping with the original hyperspace idea.

The hyperspace is outside normal space, it shrinks distances, so say 100 metres becomes 1 metre. Although it might be better to adjust ratio dependant on gravity ie near a star 1:1, interstellar space 1:1000. This would stop people appearing to close to gravity wells and dying.

Range could be limited by either having 'capacitors' that charge or fuel. This would set a time limit on how long you can maintain a hyperspace field. They could also impliment a space version of the RAC or AA.

 

[Moriarity]

Hi.

I didnt really follow Babylon 5, so I'm not sure of the system. I remember they had a permanent jump gate outside the station that ships had to use, but I didnt know ships could jump without a gate, except for the shadows. Maybe a babylon 5 fan could explain.

I agree that somekind of breakdown service would be a great idea. Too many times have I forgotten to fill up on fuel in fe2 and been stranded in space lol.

I think travelling in a multiplayer Elite is a bit of a problem. In Eve, they use jump gates that were linked to other jump gates. Travelling was instantaneous. I believe that a mp Elite 4 would have to utilize a similar system of travelling in an instant, because if two people travelled to the same system, and one took 3 days game time and another took 7 days game time, how do you sort out the time difference? (Hope that made sense)

Cheers


Moriarity

 

[Kyris]

In Babylon 5 the hyperdrives were really big and took a lot of energy, so only large ships could carry a hyperdrive i.e. the big battle ships. The small ships had to use stationary jump gates.

The advantage of this hyperspace system is that it only compresses space, not time. This allows a ship to travel a vast distance in normal space, by travelling a much smaller distance in hyperspace. All travel happens in real time, so travelling takes as long as it takes. I think this could be quite simple to implement all it requires is two map - The uncompressed (normal)space and the compressed (hyper)space and the gate/drive that moves the ship between them.

Piracy could be implemented through somebody disrupting hyperspace. This would mean being stuck in normal space halfway between two systems unable to jump out until your hyperdrive recharges, with a bunch of pirates attacking.