Re: [GZG] How fast is FTL in GZGverse?

[Phillip Atcliffe <atcliffe@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Doug Evans wrote:

I surrender the no-prize

Oo, oo, which one was it? The turbo-charged chocolate-ripple one with the vanilla frosting, or the V12 butterscotch with the cherry on top? (I know it sounds insane, but Marvel used to talk about no-prizes like this in the mid-to-late 60s... ;-) )

[...] I think you may be a bit generous with the totals. Fastest single cycle between jumps and a record jump in a purpose-built craft doesn't necessarily equate to four such jumps per day. And even less so for several days in a row, not even trying to decide operational capability at the end.
  

I said it was upper limit! :-)  Plus everything you need to get even close -- souped-up ship, ubercrew zonked to the gills on dope, and a frakkin' lotta luck. Let's not forget the following sentence after the description of CNS Hyacinth's record jump -- the ship was lost the following day in a suspected misjump...!

Actually, it all sounds rather reminiscent of the scenes in the book Dorsai (aka The Genetic General) in which the hero simulates an attack on a enemy planet by continually "phase-shifting" a small detachment of ships into an attack position and then popping out again, over and over again until the crews can't stand it any more -- only more so, since there's a much greater jump delay and effect on the crew and AIs in the GZGverse. Or Asimov-style hyperspace jumping with added Jump shock a la Pournelle. Either way, or just on its own merits, the speed of Jump-type travel is commonly limited by two things-- or possibly three if you consider the extra one to be a separate issue: how far a single jump can take you, how long it takes to recycle the engines and crew, and how long it takes to work out where you are at the end of each jump.

Phil

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