One view Re: [VV] Vectorverse FTL

 
In a message dated 1/30/05 9:33:13 PM Pacific Standard Time,  
laserlight@quixnet.net writes:

From:  "Robertson, Brendan"
> FTL Tier 1: , Tier 2:, Tier 3:

I'm  wondering if perhaps it would be better to have only two modes  of
FTL?  A lot of the interesting situations in history have arisen  when
one culture developed a new mode of transportation, and ran  into
another culture which didn't have that mode.  For instance, the  Aztecs
| Hindus | East Africans had foot travel; the Spanish | English  |
Arabs had that, but also had ships (and the tech that allowed them  to
build ships).

Leave for a week and something different comes up...
 
Well, let me make a real world example to semi-refute that  approach.
 
When I went back to my Mother's memorial service (no typical  funeral
per se' 
since she was a member of Unity - our theological views varied	more
then our 
political views) I had several options.
 
In theory I could have gone on foot, by bike, gasoline powered	vehicles

(motor cycle or car), train or airplane.  Despite the fact it 
completely drained 
savings we chose the latter (plus hotel room and rental car  -- all in
Los 
Angeles, shudder) because we wanted all four of us to be there	(the
grown 
children were on their own resources) and time was a critical  factor.
 
Extrapolating, I can see hyperspace as complicated.
 
1) Natural Wormholes - if you have them you use them.  They  may vary in

usefulness [a wormhole into a sun probably has limited usefulness as 
does one 
into a 'Sargasso Space Sea' part of the universe,] length traveled and 
carrying 
capacity individually and may, or may not, (!) cause release of  
sensible/detectable 'bits' in the deparure/arrival area.  They may also 
'move' a bit in 
their exact astarting/ending points.
 
2) Jump Gates/drives 
    A - I see this as taking a large asteroid  sized [or larger] piece
of 
equipment due to power considerations to project  smaller ships a
variable or 
exact distance in a variable or exact direction with  or without
observable 
'bits' in the departure or arrival area.
    B - now we reduce the power plant to allow	ships to create the
'field' 
around themselves to project themselves through  hyperspace.
    C- in theory the reduction is such that  individuals can be moved 
(Teleportation from a different view) or small ships  can move planets. 
"Outside the 
GZG universe issue" technologically for  this discussion I expect.
 
3) alternative 'jump drive sources' are utilized by different  
races/species/groups.  An example is the drive used in the old SPI board
 games where 
telekinestethics (spelling) themselves were the 'power plant' to  jumps.
 In that 
same trio of games the only known intelligent plant race  used a slower
but 
useful 'tachyon' drive for movement.  In one earlier SF  book from the 
1950's/1960's the one non-human race eschewed the offer of  advanced
human tech and 
developed their own hyperspace technology and kept their  'culture'
where as their 
old ex-foes (more humanoid) found themselves 'absorbed'  into the human 
culture thus losing their unique culture and becoming 'not quite  as
effective' 
demi-Terrans in Essence.
Gracias,

Glenn  "warbeads"