Invention of the frame shift drive
- Thread starter Dphin
- Start date
If anything in the previous incarnations of Elite is considered canonical, then the frame shift drive did not exist in 3250-3255, when First Encounters was set. Back then, people travelled through "hyperspace" using "hyperdrives": faster than light, but a whole lot slower than the current FSD. According to the galactic timeline printed in the "Gazetteer" lorebook included with the Elite II Frontier game, the hyperdrive was discovered circa 2100 and initial expansion into the galaxy was slow. In 3200-3250 (FE2 and FFE), it used to take 1 game week to travel the max distance your ship could travel in 1 jump; in a fast ship like an Asp, it took 1 game year to travel out to the edge of explored space (1000 LY from Sol) and back.
Now, with FSD, you can travel those same distances in a pleasant afternoon's cruising, and the far side of the galaxy is only a couple of weeks away. I think the only thing stopping the human race exploding out beyond the Bubble is the birth rate, since travel time is no longer an obstacle. I would assume when the FSD was invented, all the starships then in existence were promptly recalled and refitted with the new tech.
The phrasing of some of the promotional material for the game, along the lines of "With the advent of the frame shift drive, there's never been a better time to explore the galaxy", also implies that the FSD is a very new invention. Again, assuming that's a canonical statement, and not just marketing hype by FDev.
Now, with FSD, you can travel those same distances in a pleasant afternoon's cruising, and the far side of the galaxy is only a couple of weeks away. I think the only thing stopping the human race exploding out beyond the Bubble is the birth rate, since travel time is no longer an obstacle. I would assume when the FSD was invented, all the starships then in existence were promptly recalled and refitted with the new tech.
The phrasing of some of the promotional material for the game, along the lines of "With the advent of the frame shift drive, there's never been a better time to explore the galaxy", also implies that the FSD is a very new invention. Again, assuming that's a canonical statement, and not just marketing hype by FDev.
I'd agree that earlier games can be considered canon unless said otherwise. A recent Galnet article reinforces this, and I think sheds some light on my question:
https://community.elitedangerous.com/galnet/02-AUG-3301
The quote appears genuine, if you see the old FFE journals here: http://www.dream-ware.co.uk/first-encounters/journals/all/ (search for "antares".
The recent Galnet article suggests IMO that the Antares was using an early version of the frame shift drive:
Going into complete speculation, I'm thinking the FSD could have been released some time between about 3260 and 3280: the early date giving some time for major improvements to the design (the Federal Times mentions the Imperials spending more than 3 years on their own improved hyperdrives), and the later date giving a bit of time for so many new systems to be colonised and terraformed.
https://community.elitedangerous.com/galnet/02-AUG-3301
The quote appears genuine, if you see the old FFE journals here: http://www.dream-ware.co.uk/first-encounters/journals/all/ (search for "antares".
The recent Galnet article suggests IMO that the Antares was using an early version of the frame shift drive:
There are only two articles I could find in FFE about the incident - the one about the incident itself, and presumably the next issue about the engines being withdrawn indefinitely. This suggests that the final report was issued after 3255, and so were the updated, less-exploding engines: it seems a major enough incident that the report at least would have appeared in one of the journals.
Going into complete speculation, I'm thinking the FSD could have been released some time between about 3260 and 3280: the early date giving some time for major improvements to the design (the Federal Times mentions the Imperials spending more than 3 years on their own improved hyperdrives), and the later date giving a bit of time for so many new systems to be colonised and terraformed.