Ship Design Philosophy

[MasterGwydion]

Apparently, you need actual people.

Synthetic people are real people. As of TL-16, when Conscious Intelligence becomes available, they count as sophonts for all purposes, including jumpspace. Before TL-16, AI is not advanced enough to be considered, a sophont, so really it seems to be more a question of degree. A Dog can't initiate jump, but a Vargr can. So, definitely a matter of degree and nothing that is reflected in any way on a character sheet. An uplifted dolphin can initiate jump, but a normal Dolphin can not. So where that dividing line exists, I don't know. Uplifted Apes can use jumpspace as well, but not normal apes, which makes Me wonder... At the time the Ancients kidnapped the humans from Earth all of those years ago, were humans considered sophonts and therefore capable of entering jumpspace, or animals who had not yet reached "Sentience"? Unless I am simply missed reading the part in whatever book it is in, that defines what is required for jumpspace.

If this hijacks the thread, I can always start a new one, so as not to cause a disruption.

 

[Condottiere]

If it falls within ship design.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering and Space Elevators in Science Fiction

Spacedock delves into the fascinating but flawed concept of Space Elevators.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSWACQl_m9s


1. Efficiencies of scale, basically rail.

2. Point to point, basically a road network for cheap space freighters.

3. In theory, a wireless hiport fulfills the same function.

 

[Condottiere]

Inspiration: Star Wars: X-Wing | A Star Wars Fan Film

After its defeat at Endor, the Empire struggles to maintain control over a fractured galaxy.

Seizing the opportunity, the New Republic launches a desperate assault to liberate the galactic capital.

The X-Wing pilots of Wraith Squadron rush into the fray to add support....

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Directed by Christopher Parks

Starring Keith Cherry and Christopher Parks as Wraith One and Two.

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This is a passion project of about 4 years in the making. I was a big fan of the X-Wing PC games as a kid and also really enjoyed Michael Stackpole's X-Wing book series. I’ve always had an interest in those New Republic adventures which is chiefly why I decided to make this short. I hope you all like it!

The primary software and workflow consisted of an animation pipeline in Blender that would be exported and rendered in Houdini using the GPU renderer Redshift. Final compositing was finished in After Effects.

Apart from a few kitbash sets, all assets were modeled and textured (Substance Painter) from scratch since the making of the spaceships is part of the fun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urAnFZBx7rE


Arguably, that would be under two planetary diameters when transitioning.

 

[Condottiere]

Starships: Engineering

It occurs to me, that if you have a limited range manoeuvre drive, the second it sputters, you're good to jump.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Starships: Engineering

It occurs to me, that if you have a limited range manoeuvre drive, the second it sputters, you're good to jump.

That does seem to be the case.

 

[Condottiere]

Of course if you were jingling all the way, in your one factor limited manoeuvre drive opened all the way, you can't really decelerate.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Of course if you were jingling all the way, in your one factor limited manoeuvre drive opened all the way, you can't really decelerate.

and this means exiting jumpspace at the same velocity, so your Referee may have you all crash and die exiting jumpspace and colliding with another object that was 100D away when you exited jumpspace, but due to your velocity you still manage to hit it within the first turn of your return to normal space. Most commercial ships stop before a jump or at least matches their entry velocity to give them a zero velocity with relation to the jump target when the ship exits jumpspace. Military ships tend to jump at full acceleration to give them an edge when jumping into a hostile system.

 

[Condottiere]

Well, you could do the flip at the fifty two mark, which means you should jump at one gee (times whatever factor).

 

[MasterGwydion]

Well, you could do the flip at the fifty two mark, which means you should jump at one gee (times whatever factor).

Before I read somewhere that conservation of momentum applied to entering and exiting jumpspace, I just kind of naively assumed that no matter what speed the ship entered jumpspace, it always came out of jumpspace with zero velocity relative to the target. After I read that, I was like, duh, of course it works that way, and I was just messing it up for years...lol... If I were making the jump, I would just aim for the 130D mark so I am sure to not run into anyone, and enter jump at full thrust. That way I am reaching the target much faster after exiting jumpspace eventhough I am further away. Not having to accelerate from 0 is a great anti-pirate tactic, but My guess is that most System Traffic Controllers will be mad as hell at you if you do that at the 100D limit.

 

[Condottiere]

If you're doing one gee, you have the possibility to break on the other side in one round.

If you do have limited manoeuvre, you may want some velocity in the direction of the next gravity well.

 

[MasterGwydion]

If you're doing one gee, you have the possibility to break on the other side in one round.

If you do have limited manoeuvre, you may want some velocity in the direction of the next gravity well.

Although this does mean that you could build a jump ship with no M-Drive. It simply appears and disappears out at the 100D limits and tenders swap out the containers and refuel the Drive section for the new jump. I'd have to run the math, but this may actually be more commercially viable than building ships with both J and M-Drives. Basically Battleriders, but for commercial use instead of military use and the ships. One Battletender with a J-Drive jumps the load into the system, where it detaches and refuels for it's next jump, while a non-jump ship with just M-Drives moves the cargo around the system. Hell, you could even automate the whole process so that everything is done by drones except for the one guy who has to sit on the jump ship, so it can enter jumpspace. I couldn't see this happening in space where piracy was an issue, but in the more secure systems of the Imperium, sure. You have to remember to use the total displacement minus the cargo tonnage when calculating things like your Basic Power Usage, your maintenance cost, the cost of the ship hull, etc. This makes a J-3 cargo hauler with no M-Drive and 35k of cargo pretty cheap to buy as well as operate. Don't forget the docking clamps. I checked the numbers at TL-12 and it worked well. Using TL-15 with drop tanks and it becomes almost free...lol... No more need for internal fuel storage and at TL-15, there is 0% chance of a misjump due to using drop tanks.

So, I have looked at this more and the "tractor trailer" theory seems to hold. I built the idea in 3 parts; part 1 is a J-1 Drive built for a 12,000-Dton ship and mounted on a 2,000-Dton ship, part 2 is an M-1 Drive built for a 12,000-Dton ship and mounted on a 2,000-Dton ship, and part 3 is a 10,000-Dton "cargo pod" with 2 Type V docking clamps and a small Power Plant to cover the power requirements for Basic Ship Systems on a 10,000-Dton ship.

The Cargo pod is loaded at the Starport with standard size containers, the M-drive drone attaches to the cargo pod and hauls it out to the 100D limit and docks with the J-Drive ship, manned by a sophont. The M-Drive drone then transfers the Jump fuel from itself to the J-Drive ship. When it is finished, the M-Drive drone disconnects and returns to the Starport. The Jump Drive ship and the cargo pod jump to their destination where another M-Drive done will be waiting to offload the cargo to the Starport. It is very efficient, requiring nearly zero life support, since there is only 1 sophont involved in the whole trip and that is piloting the J-Drive ship. He literally works for an hour a week. All maintenance is handled at Starports, since the M-Drive drone can also attach to the J-Drive ship and fly it to the Starport. and each cargo pod carries and emergency escape bod in the form of a 100-Dton jump-capable escape pod in case of a misjump.

The math seems to work out well in this economic model.

 

[Condottiere]

Car Ferry (or Smallcraft Ferry)

1. What would differentiate this service from from just labelling your smallcraft as cargo and getting passage from a freighter, is that the smallcraft must have the requisite life support for a hyperspace jump, and the hatch to the ferry won't be opened unless the master of the smallcraft declares an emergency.

2. The smallcraft would be limited to thirty tons maximum to take advantage of the one ton docks.

3. In fact, the Ferry company could sell or rent a range of suitable smallcraft that would fit within their requirements, and to sweeten the deal, provide a discount for their clientele on ticket prices, possibly even allowing access to an onboard lounge and other facilities.

4. You can configure the thirty tons to support a small party and their gear. While the concept has been buzzing around my mind for a while it crystallized when I heard VW was shutting down their Kombi production line in Brazil, though I believe the equivalent would be a twenty ton boat.

5. The thirty ton model seems more like an RV, especially if you cut costs by using the smallest engines, giving retirees, such as seven term veterans, the possibility to explore the galaxy at their own pace and in comfort.

 

[MasterGwydion]

Car Ferry (or Smallcraft Ferry)

1. What would differentiate this service from from just labelling your smallcraft as cargo and getting passage from a freighter, is that the smallcraft must have the requisite life support for a hyperspace jump, and the hatch to the ferry won't be opened unless the master of the smallcraft declares an emergency.

2. The smallcraft would be limited to thirty tons maximum to take advantage of the one ton docks.

3. In fact, the Ferry company could sell or rent a range of suitable smallcraft that would fit within their requirements, and to sweeten the deal, provide a discount for their clientele on ticket prices, possibly even allowing access to an onboard lounge and other facilities.

4. You can configure the thirty tons to support a small party and their gear. While the concept has been buzzing around my mind for a while it crystallized when I heard VW was shutting down their Kombi production line in Brazil, though I believe the equivalent would be a twenty ton boat.

5. The thirty ton model seems more like an RV, especially if you cut costs by using the smallest engines, giving retirees, such as seven term veterans, the possibility to explore the galaxy at their own pace and in comfort.

Ahhh... So, a variation on an idea that you already had...lol...

 

[Condottiere]

I've always had an interest in cutting interstellar transportation costs, and bringing starfaring to the masses.

 

[MasterGwydion]

I've always had an interest in cutting interstellar transportation costs, and bringing starfaring to the masses.

I do not remember where I saw the reference, but if you use an anti-matter power plant, you do not require fuel for the J-Drive, just power, so if you use a Prototype Anti-matter Power Plant, carrying Jump Fuel is no longer needed, but Minimum TL for that is, I believe, TL-18 as a type of Prototype Power Plant.

 

[Condottiere]

You may be thinking about other forms of interstellar drive, rather than antimatter power plants.

 

[Condottiere]

Spaceships: Engineering and Fusion Reactors

It occurs to me, exactly how do our fusion reactors generate electricity?

 

[MasterGwydion]

Spaceships: Engineering and Fusion Reactors

It occurs to me, exactly how do our fusion reactors generate electricity?

I am guessing, that falls under "The Handwavium" of Ordo Malleus and the Heresy of the Tech-Priests...lol...

Oh... and for the record,

It was on the Traveller wiki, from the Jump Drive page. I finally found it, but have no idea where it originated from, as in which publication actually printed that rule.

Alternate Energy Sources
There are two other sources of energy sufficient to power the jump drive:

Collectors, a TL–14 technology, which can power the jump drive but not the rest of a ship's systems. Collectors are charged by opening their canopies to space for about one week.
Antimatter Plant, a TL–19 technology. Antimatter power plants use antimatter as a fuel source and capable of supplying the power required for jump drives without the huge volumes of Hydrogen fuel required for the fusion power plants.

This makes Me think though, that fuel is actually not required to Jump. All that is actually required is something like 5 times the power output of the Standard TL-15 Fusion Plant.

 

[Condottiere]

That depends a great deal of the relationship between jump drives and hydrogen, and transdimensional travel.

Also, where does that hydrogen go?