So, it functions at 1,000,000G as well then? Think about the consequences of what you guys are all saying. Decoupling from gravity?
The ship gravitics are decoupled from the local curvature of spacetime, the internal artificial gravity and acceleration compensation work just fine.
It means that the curvature of spacetime caused by the massive body or energy source nearby is ignored, the ship still has the preserved momentum of its drives.
Does this then mean that everyone on a floating city is weightless?
Does the floating city have artificial gravity plates?
How are you including the vehicle but excluding the environment inside of the vehicle, if it is indeed a "field".
The internals of the vehicle have grav plates.
Does it require more power at 10G than it does at 1G?
Doesn't matter, energy conservation went out the window a long time ago.
How can I use this loophole of physics in radically different ways than the game designers intend?
The same way you can use every other loophole, perpetual motion machines in Traveller are easy.
Does this mean that we can now disconnect the connection between one mass and another so that they have no gravitational interaction?
What do you consider to be mass? Interaction with the Higgs field? Binding energy mass equivalence?
Masses don't pull on each other, a mass distorts the spacetime around it - this causes the observable effect that makes us think the masses are pulling on each other - they are not. There is no force.
At what TL? 8 or 9? Being able to do that is a fundamental change in the laws of physics.
The fundamental laws of physics as we understand them change at TL8 with gravitivs, or 9, depending on your rule set paradigm.
Then jump is discovered, which requires another new physics paradigm etc.
Any physicists in here want to point out the problem with being able to "decouple" a mass from gravity? What did you do?
If I could I would write a paper on it and win a nobel prize, it is make believe. There could be low energy states where the curvature of spacetime or gravity has no observable effect, somehow lifters are achieving that.
Uncurve spacetime? Does this now mean that we can escape from black holes using lifters?
Not once you are beyond the event horizon, the lifters would just accelerate you towards the singularity.
By y'alls' definition of lifters decoupling from gravity with no limits would seem to indicate this. Also, humans can now live on 3G worlds, just wear a "lifter field rig" and decouple yourself from gravity. Tiny thruster pack and you can fly like the Rocketeer? This definition of lifters changes so much about how the universe functions that you could not build Charted Space with it. The ability to "decouple" from gravity without limit is game-breaking with its ancillary effects.
Do you think the authors of the SoM or other books thought through this stuff?
Edit: If lifters do this, then why do gravity shields exist and exist at such a high TL that they cannot be built in Charted Space, but lifters can do the same thing at TL-9?
probably because:
the book authors do not read each others work
the book authors don't use the rules as written
the book authors change stuff and it passes through edit and inner circle with barely a murmur.
The Deep Space Explorer's Handbook and the technology of the SoM are at odds.
