Translight speeds

[Skatez69]

A thread about supercruise got me thinking about this. Whilst accelerating in supercruise, it's a shame that passing the speed of light threshold isn't more eventful... It's the speed of light for chuff sake, it's should be quite a big deal! but no, nothing... one second you're at 0.8c, the next you're at 2.0c and rising - a complete non-event. I don't know how the threshold should be marked... a flash, a blur, but something, SOMETHING should mark it... transonic speeds are very dramatic, I would have expected translight speeds to be the same.
Perhaps the if the minimum supercruise speed was adjusted to be 1.0c that would do it... then you have normal cruise for sub-light travel, supercruise for superlight travel and hyperspace for witchspace travel. Just feels a bit of a let down. Am I alone in this? How would you mark the passing of the light-barrier?

 

[IndigoWyrd]

A thread about supercruise got me thinking about this. Whilst accelerating in supercruise, it's a shame that passing the speed of light threshold isn't more eventful... It's the speed of light for chuff sake, it's should be quite a big deal! but no, nothing... one second you're at 0.8c, the next you're at 2.0c and rising - a complete non-event. I don't know how the threshold should be marked... a flash, a blur, but something, SOMETHING should mark it... transonic speeds are very dramatic, I would have expected translight speeds to be the same.
Perhaps the if the minimum supercruise speed was adjusted to be 1.0c that would do it... then you have normal cruise for sub-light travel, supercruise for superlight travel and hyperspace for witchspace travel. Just feels a bit of a let down. Am I alone in this? How would you mark the passing of the light-barrier?

With fireworks, popcorn and a parade.

 

[Skatez69]

With fireworks, popcorn and a parade.

That's a lot of popcorn considering the amount of times it happens... you'll be as fat as me in no time if that's how you celebrate!

 

[777Driver]

A thread about supercruise got me thinking about this. Whilst accelerating in supercruise, it's a shame that passing the speed of light threshold isn't more eventful... It's the speed of light for chuff sake, it's should be quite a big deal! but no, nothing... one second you're at 0.8c, the next you're at 2.0c and rising - a complete non-event. I don't know how the threshold should be marked... a flash, a blur, but something, SOMETHING should mark it... transonic speeds are very dramatic, I would have expected translight speeds to be the same.
Perhaps the if the minimum supercruise speed was adjusted to be 1.0c that would do it... then you have normal cruise for sub-light travel, supercruise for superlight travel and hyperspace for witchspace travel. Just feels a bit of a let down. Am I alone in this? How would you mark the passing of the light-barrier?

I guess it is because we are not actually travelling faster than light. A good explanation behind the FSD mechanics is in one of the sub forums. When atmospheric landings comes into play, am wondering if they will bother simulating the varying speed of sound, I doubt it, so many variables.

 

[Skatez69]

I guess it is because we are not actually travelling faster than light.

Are you suggesting space-time warping here? Because if not, I'm pretty sure that when my speed says 2.0c, it means I'm travelling twice the speed of light? I've been wrong before though...
If space-time warping were the case, well even if it isn't actually, it would be interesting to get a "lore" explanation of how we are travelling whilst in supercruise...

 

[Pablo-Diablo]

Yup, something like a colour spectrum shifting for a couple of seconds would make supercruise flight less boring.

 

[Mostly Hamless]

In the future surpassing the speed of light is no big deal.

The equivalent would be an Elizabethan thinking WE should be letting off party poppers everytime we drive faster than 30mph.

 

[Drelthar]

That would be a pretty cool opportunity for the artists to have some fun yeah.

 

[CMDR Nef]

They probably don't have it do anything for gameplay reasons. Wouldn't be all the fun to play if the game was constantly blue or invisible.

 

[Skatez69]

They probably don't have it do anything for gameplay reasons. Wouldn't be all the fun to play if the game was constantly blue or invisible.

It would only be invisible behind you, with fading peripheral vision the faster you travelled I imagine...

 

[Miklos Atreides]

Yes, i see the intention but it looks like we already got it. Not at 1.0c but when SC is shifting on.
There's the bang and optics are bluring, unstable for a second. So you got it already before
when Warp-field is established.
Hence the popcorn has already passed you by and you didn't noticed it with honor. [noob]

Regards,
Miklos

 

[777Driver]

Are you suggesting space-time warping here? Because if not, I'm pretty sure that when my speed says 2.0c, it means I'm travelling twice the speed of light? I've been wrong before though...
If space-time warping were the case, well even if it isn't actually, it would be interesting to get a "lore" explanation of how we are travelling whilst in supercruise...

I'll find the link, the key is the term 'frame shift' Apparently the ship is moving at sublight speed, space itself is compressed. But yes, 2c does mean twice the speed of light, it's just the mechanics behind it means the ship itself is never actually travelling faster than light :-/ Read the guide, I'm too stupid to explain this stuff..

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/106861-DCello-s-Science-Guide-to-the-Galaxy

 

[Skatez69]

Yes, i see the intention but it looks like we already got it. Not at 1.0c but when SC is shifting on.
There's the bang and optics are bluring, unstable for a second. So you got it already before
when Warp-field is established.
Hence the popcorn has already passed you by and you didn't noticed it with honor. [noob]

Regards,
Miklos

That's why I thought perhaps the minimum speed in SC should be adjusted to 1.0c, makes more sense then... Engaging the FTL drive makes you actually go faster than light..!

I'll find the link, the key is the term 'frame shift' Apparently the ship is moving at sublight speed, space itself is compressed.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/106861-DCello-s-Science-Guide-to-the-Galaxy

thanks, appreciate it

 

[Skatez69]

In the future surpassing the speed of light is no big deal.

The equivalent would be an Elizabethan thinking WE should be letting off party poppers everytime we drive faster than 30mph.

But travelling faster than light I would say is more analogous to the speed of sound rather than 30mph. Our military these days regularly go faster than sound and yeah, with modern technology it's no big deal. There's still a wake effect and a sonic boom though, I would have expected the same for light

 

[CMDR Nef]

It would only be invisible behind you, with fading peripheral vision the faster you travelled I imagine...

Maybe for gameplay balance, but realistically, things would blue shift and eventually go ultraviolet. During hyperspace, you wouldn't see much, other than the glow of radiation that is normally invisible that permiates the entire cosmos.

 

[Vasco Sapien]

A thread about supercruise got me thinking about this. Whilst accelerating in supercruise, it's a shame that passing the speed of light threshold isn't more eventful... It's the speed of light for chuff sake, it's should be quite a big deal! but no, nothing... one second you're at 0.8c, the next you're at 2.0c and rising - a complete non-event. I don't know how the threshold should be marked... a flash, a blur, but something, SOMETHING should mark it... transonic speeds are very dramatic, I would have expected translight speeds to be the same.
Perhaps the if the minimum supercruise speed was adjusted to be 1.0c that would do it... then you have normal cruise for sub-light travel, supercruise for superlight travel and hyperspace for witchspace travel. Just feels a bit of a let down. Am I alone in this? How would you mark the passing of the light-barrier?

A phasing of the colour spectrum for a second, from blue/white down the bandwidths towards red as the FSD and HUD adjust for super luminal.

 

[Bryan K]

I'd have settled for just a nice little visual flourish upon passing 1.00c. Nothing major, just that. Call it the onboard UI adding in a visual/audible indication of going superluminal, the way the onboard computer adds in sound effects.

 

[who?]

I guess it is because we are not actually travelling faster than light. A good explanation behind the FSD mechanics is in one of the sub forums. When atmospheric landings comes into play, am wondering if they will bother simulating the varying speed of sound, I doubt it, so many variables.

I think a lot of people have picked up the idea that the FSD is an Alcubierre drive, or something like it. I don't know if that's canon or something we've assumed because it fits the bill.

AIUI, even if we're not travelling FTL relative to the space around us, the 'bubble' / frame we're in is travelling FTL to the space around it. So there probably would be scope for some trans-luminal event/effects on the fringes of the warp bubble or whatever it is.

As for atmospheric landings - maybe they've kind of stolen its thunder a bit by including sonic-boom-esque sounds from the ship, and reentry-like effects when entering glide mode. I'd love to see it as challenging and varied as possible.

 

[darkwolf79]

Reminds me of this just now:
http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/

In all (in-game physics) seriousness though. In relative terms, you are never travelling faster then the speed of light, therefore you are never breaking the light-speed-barrier.
What you are doing is warping space (see Alcubierre drive).
To an outside observer it would appear that you are covering ground at above the speed of light and in the grand scheme of things you are getting from A to B faster then light but you are not actually travelling faster then the speed of light.
Therefore there would be no visual distortion visible.

That's the super short explanation. If you look up the theory behind the Alcubierre drive you'll get some more details.

Edit: The Frame Shift drive being some sort of Alcubierre drive even makes sense when "gliding" on planetary approach after leaving frame shift. You are sort of riding the wave of warped space towards the ground, getting that last bit of momentum out of it.

 

[Skatez69]

I think a lot of people have picked up the idea that the FSD is an Alcubierre drive, or something like it...

Thank you for pointing me to that term. Wikipedia has a fascinating article about the theory behind the Alcubierre drive!