Korren Posted May 25, 2009 Report Share Posted May 25, 2009 Re: Cowboy Bebop/ Firefly inspired game Building a SciFi game I have been wrestling with the question of FTL and how fast do I want to make travel. As I see it I can make either make Travel Equal to: Air Travel (Fast trips every where can be reached in less than a Day). This is like Star Wars, where most planets in the universe can be reached quickly. Starships have a lounge but no sleeping spaces. Ground Travel (Takes a day or two to get most anywhere, lots of stop overs possible) Ships have small sleeping areas, but aren't made for extended stays in space. Firefly feels like this.(though it could be argued that Firefly is on the slower end of this) Water Travel (Slow trips take weeks to get anywhere) Ships have good facilites for staying aboard for extended Periods of time. Traveller is a good representive of this kind of FTL. Once you decide feel then you can make starships that fit that feel. Hell you could even start with a Starship design and extrapolate what kind of hyperdrive it has from it's facilities. Of course some people will make ships that don't fit the exact mold of the Hyperdrive. ie I have seen many fan created StarWars Deck plans with sleeping areas, even though most other ships don't have them. Jen Nicely put, Jen! An excellent breakdown! You forgot one method, though: Star Trek travel (varies) Travel from one system to another takes as long as the plot dictates, even if it took much less time to GET there than it takes to get back, as long as it builds excitement in the plot-line! Korren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Carman Posted May 26, 2009 Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Re: Cowboy Bebop/ Firefly inspired game Also' date=' leave open the possibilies of more sci-fi stuff that are [u']rumoured[/u] to exist, microwave lasers & brain-wave scramblers. Keep them as rare and big-bad-guy controlled items that the PC's HOPE to get their hands on, someday! They always seem to be broken after the combat is over! Umm, a microwave "laser" is called a MASER. Those were invented while the scientists were still trying to get stimulated emission to work in the visible range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted May 26, 2009 Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Re: Cowboy Bebop/ Firefly inspired game Nicely put, Jen! An excellent breakdown! You forgot one method, though: Star Trek travel (varies) Travel from one system to another takes as long as the plot dictates, even if it took much less time to GET there than it takes to get back, as long as it builds excitement in the plot-line! Korren I was kind of sidestepping the "Fast as Plot Requires" FTL drive which all Ships in SciFi use. StarWars is notorious for this as is Star Trek. Players really like to have a consistant idea about how quickly they can get from point to point. I came to my Theory as I was trying to conceptualize the feel that various star drives gave the setting. Tasha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Carman Posted May 26, 2009 Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Re: Cowboy Bebop/ Firefly inspired game I was kind of sidestepping the "Fast as Plot Requires" FTL drive which all Ships in SciFi use. StarWars is notorious for this as is Star Trek. Players really like to have a consistant idea about how quickly they can get from point to point. I came to my Theory as I was trying to conceptualize the feel that various star drives gave the setting. Tasha I remember an article, possibly in the mid-late-70's Star Trek Poster Book magazine, about the wildly varying velocity of the Enterprise in light-speed-multiples at different Warp Factors across different episodes. It was suggested that a unified formula might be WF^3 times fudge-factor. The fudge-factor went to like 1200 in some episodes, and dropped to around 3 for intergalactic voyages. It occurred to me that this fudge-factor was an intrinsic characteristic of regions of space, and that mapping it would be a major priority to any galactic power. Rapid transit trade routes, and any systems close to them, would be valuable property. If fudge-factors could go very high, they might also go very low. There might be regions where sublight travel is actually faster than warp flight. Finding a fast corridor through a slow-space region could be rife with story possibilities, especially if the fast zone was too small to support the passage of large ships. And what if moving between fast and slow space can damage the engines if you hit the interface too fast or at the wrong angle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Posted May 26, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Re: Cowboy Bebop/ Firefly inspired game I may implement this idea, but I like how it makes "routes" valuable. And Mimics the "need" for routes... I mean there is suggested to be something skill based when Han Solo mentions the Kessel run... Then again maybe it's just the Falcon he's talking about, but I like the idea that there is a skill to flying FTL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Celt Posted May 26, 2009 Report Share Posted May 26, 2009 Re: Cowboy Bebop/ Firefly inspired game I may implement this idea' date=' but I like how it makes "routes" valuable. And Mimics the "need" for routes... I mean there is suggested to be something skill based when Han Solo mentions the Kessel run... Then again maybe it's just the Falcon he's talking about, but I like the idea that there is a skill to flying FTL.[/quote'] I always figured making the Kessel run in 12 parsecs was more of a navigation brag, but it still is an odd answer to the question "Is she fast?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Re: Cowboy Bebop/ Firefly inspired game I always figured making the Kessel run in 12 parsecs was more of a navigation brag' date=' but it still is an odd answer to the question "Is she fast?"[/quote'] The official explanation behind that comment was that the route to Kessel sits between 2 Blackholes. The real hotshot (crazy) pilots fly closer to the Blackholes (ie making the run in 12 Parsecs). So he was bragging on his Piloting/Navigation Skills and the strength of his FTL drives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Mackinder Posted May 30, 2009 Report Share Posted May 30, 2009 Re: Cowboy Bebop/ Firefly inspired game The official explanation behind that comment was that the route to Kessel sits between 2 Blackholes. The real hotshot (crazy) pilots fly closer to the Blackholes (ie making the run in 12 Parsecs). So he was bragging on his Piloting/Navigation Skills and the strength of his FTL drives. Ah, so it was a case of "My Drive is bigger than anyone else's...". Good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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