Kerbae ad Astra Worldbuilding

[0111narwhalz]

This universe has escaped the bounds originally imagined for it, and it would be silly to continue calling it "the Kerbal Future universe." Thus, I present to you...

Kerbae ad Astra
Kerbalkind to the Stars

Centuries after Jeb's flea hopper, the kerbal species ventures outwards, leaving the sanctuary of Kerbol far behind. Little did they know the glories and horrors which awaited them...

Faster-than-Light Travel

 

Edited July 20, 2018 by 0111narwhalz
Now with a fancy banner

[superstrijder15]

Hey Narwhal, 

I'm writing something which is basicly in your universe, can I ask you here when I have questions regarding theorie of your universe, and also post info about my ships and characters?

Superstrijder

[0111narwhalz]

Wow, wasn't expecting to see any replies here. Absolutely! Just credit KF, yeah?

Good writing!

P.S. I reserve the right to retcon stuff here and in KF itself, without prior warning.

Edited May 19, 2016 by 0111narwhalz

[superstrijder15]

Credits for the universe go to you, and as much as possible I will change my story to work around any changes here.

I'm making notes for the use of a polyspatial High-space drive, and I have some questions, about some other stuff as well. 

• How much faster than light is the ship? (seen from low-space)
• How big & how small a ship can be moved?
• Does FTL require huge amounts of energy?
• Does it require the ship to be outside any planetary or solar gravity wells?
• Does each FTL "jump" require days of tedious mathematical calculations?
• Can a ship in FTL flight be detected by another ship also in FTL flight?(I know it's possible for ships outside of FTL)
• If my ship is 'hanging still' in high space does it's wake dissapate( is it based on engines and movement like that of a ship, or on something like mass?)
• If I release something in high space, will it instantly return to low space, 'drift up', or stay in high space unless disturbed?
• Is the supply of FTL drive units limited due to a tight monopoly on their manufacture, or due to the fact that they can no longer be manufactured at all?
• Do the drive units require rare and hard to get materials?
• Is there a unit of polyspace depth?(maybe every unit of depth halves the distance you need to travel or something)
• Am I allowed to make up technobabble when convienent?
• Do starships have a special name?
  • Are there military systems for naming by size and function? If so what are they
• Should I use kerbin years and days or earth ones?
• Is the normal dimension called normal-space or low-space?
• can aero surfaces or ship angling be used to manipulate trajectories in high space?

I would greatly appreciate if you would answer me, possibly by editing you KFWN and posting a small reply to catch my attention.

Superstrijder

Edited May 19, 2016 by superstrijder15
Moar questions

[0111narwhalz]

I'll install these answers more properly in the actual notes later. For now, I'll just put them here.

   How much faster than light is the ship?

This is determined by two things: the speed of the ship, and the 'depth' into the hypersphere. Faster ships need more powerful engines, as well as more streamlined hulls. Additionally, the spat-flo gets denser and more viscous as you go deeper, slowing your ship. If you go too deep, the hull willl be crushed by the pressureof the spat-flo or at least immobilized by its viscousity. Speeds are technically infinite, but limited by the spat-flo viscosity.

   How big & how small a ship can be moved?

The translation drive is pretty big. It doesn't fit in a fighter, and it barely fits in specialized corvettes. However, once you fit a ship with a translation drive, it can translate. See the next for why you don't put a translation drive on a planet.

   Does FTL require huge amounts of energy?

Yes, but only to translate. Once you've translated, though, you can just sit around there the same as you can in realspace. The reason you don't translate planets is...well, there isn't one, other than it takes huge drives, tons of energy (literally), and there's no real reason to do so if you can't move the planet normally. You can push whatever you like through, but the energy required is proportional to the mass.

   Does it require the ship to be outside of any solar or planetary gravity wells?

No. As force-carriers don't go between hypersurfaces, there's no indication that there's anything on the other side from anything other than gravity. Gravity wells in realspace don't go as deep as most ships go, so there's little concern of gravity wells if you go deep enough. Although it might be hazardous to navigation to translate a small amount near an intense gravity well, it's not prohibited by the physics.

   Does each FTL "jump" require days of tedious mathematical calculations?

No. The translation is pretty simple, once you have the drive built. The problem is astrogation once you enter the other hypersurface; there are no real 'landmarks' that relate to realspace. Basically, you point before you translate and watch your odometer.

   Can a ship in FTL flight be detected by a ship also in FTL flight?

Yes. As evidenced in the third Wehrcan chapter, they can even shoot at each other. Deep hypersurfaces behave just like realspace, except that there's a kind of fog (the spat-flo).

   (I know it's possible for ships outside of FTL)

No, it's not, except by extremely sensitive gravitational sensors. Force-carriers don't go between the hypersurfaces.

   If my ship is 'hanging still' in high space, does its wake dissipate (is it based on engines and movement like that of a ship, or on something like mass)? 

No. Wakes are generated on the translation event, independantly of speed. The magnitude of the wake is dependant on mass of the translated ship.

   If I release something in high space, will it instantly return to low space, 'drift up,' or stay in high space unless disturbed? 

It will stay in its hypersurface unless disturbed. To exit its hypersurface, it would have to be caught up in a translation wake. Yes, this does mean you can be stranded by a nonfunctional translation drive.

   Is the supply of FTL drive units limited due to a tight monopoly on their manufacture, or due to the fact that they can no longer be manufactured at all?

They're prohibitively expensive for most civilian companies, due to the ridiculously tight manufacturing tolerances and certain very hard-to-get materials. The military, of course, can afford these. In the later timeline, FTL drives are much cheaper due to advances in science, so large civilian companies get them.

   Do the drive units require rare and hard-to-get materials? 

Yes. Haven't decided what to call it yet.

   Is there a unit of polyspace depth?

Yes. They're a dimensionless number, expressed as a ratio. 1-space is realspace. 2-space is twice as 'fast,' so 1 meter in 2-space is two in 1-space.

   Am I allowed to make up technobabble when convenient? 

Absolutely. But be aware that that's the most likely thing to change. Just look here before writing about it.

   Do starships have a special name? Are there military systems for naming ships by size and function? If so, what are they? 

Starships don't have a special name, but vac-navy follows wet-navy conventions, as well as aerial conventions for smaller vessels.

   Should I use Kerbin years and days or Earth ones?

I'm going to say Earth ones. The stock Kerbol system is way too small to use as a base. If 6.4k Kerbin years are significantly different, use those instead.

   Is the normal dimension normal-space or low-space?

It's really neither. Firstly, calling it a 'dimension' is misleading; the term 'hyperplane' is preferred. I'm calling it "realspace," although it's no different than the deeper hyperplanes except for the characteristics of the spat-flo. The scenery can be pretty bizarre as you go deeper. In the thicker spat-flo of deep layers, everything has accreted into a few large items due to the spat-flo's drag.

 

If you have any other questions, or the same about different FTL paradigms, just say so. The other varieties of FTL drives will probably show their faces in KF soon™.

[superstrijder15]

51 minutes ago, 0111narwhalz said:

 (I know it's possible for ships outside of FTL)

No, it's not, except by extremely sensitive gravitational sensors. Force-carriers don't go between the hypersurfaces.

But you litterally say it leaves a wake in realspace, see here:

On 18-9-2015 at 3:42 PM, 0111narwhalz said:

As a ship moves ana, it displaces spatial fluid proportional to its volume kata. The displaced spat-flo is detectable in realspace as a wake

Also, with translation drive, do you mean the thing carrying you up and down hyperplanes? and are bigger units used for bigger ships or do you just feed them more?

and 4 more questions: 

Can aero surfaces or angling your ship change the course of the ship?

Is artgrav technology capable of keeping a ship in low g-s as well as high ones(I would assume so, or getting to 0.2c would take really long)

What kind of subspace drive can I use? I was thinking to just use the heillmann drive from The Expanse, and if in a hurry combine it with polyspatial tech. 

Are the same engines used for realspace and high-space?

51 minutes ago, 0111narwhalz said:

They're prohibitively expensive for most civilian companies, due to the ridiculously tight manufacturing tolerances and certain very hard-to-get materials. The military, of course, can afford these. In the later timeline, FTL drives are much cheaper due to advances in science, so large civilian companies get them.

How is trading or colonizing done then? IMO it would be better to say government has control instead of military, so politicans could chose whom te distribute to, or at least have a thing which says that in peace times ...% of military ships are used for trade & transport. Also for my exposition it would be convienent if at least some pirate-like faction has some, so a factory revolt or something might have made some drives to dissapear? :pleadingface:

Edited May 19, 2016 by superstrijder15
Did I just literally say 3 questions above 4 questions?

[0111narwhalz]

1 hour ago, superstrijder15 said:

But you litterally say it leaves a wake in realspace,

That wake only occurs during the translation event itself.

Quote

Also, with translation drive, do you mean the thing carrying you up and down hyperplanes?

Yes.

Quote

and are bigger units used for bigger ships or do you just feed them more?

Well, a bit of both. A certain size class of drive can do a certain range of ship sizes, tuning by power to ensure efficiency. If it's overloaded, it might burn out, but that usually takes some serious pushing. Thus, many large ships carry smaller translation drives to use as backups.

Quote

Can aero surfaces or angling your ship change the course of the ship?

To a certain, small degree. Unless you're really, really deep in the hypersphere. For the most part, it's just draggy. This is a bit of a storytelling thing, so you don't have airplanes in space.

Quote

Is artgrav capable of keeping a ship in low g-s as well as high ones?

Yes. The generators are located in multiple places throughout the ship, and it's the interaction between them that yields a medium-strength field.

Quote

What kind of subspace drive can I use?

I assume you mean realspace drive? I don't recall the Heilmann drive from the Expanse, but the Epstein or torch or even NTR/chemical are all totally fine. Any reaction drive is good. In KF, the Federation uses the "spatial turbine" when in deeper hyperplanes, which works by impelling the spat-flo.

Quote

Are the same engines used for realspace and high-space?

Mostly, apart from the spatial turbine mentioned above. That one only works in deep hyperplanes.

Quote

How is trading and colonization done then?

Well, I did say most civilian companies. The really rich ones or the ones that are government-run get drives. Also, by the nature of the drive, certain stations have been set up with 'shuttles' that carry payloads into their respective hyperplanes, since you don't need a translation drive once you get there. Naturally, this only works once you have a 'terminal' on the other side.

Quote

...convenient if a pirate-like faction has some...

Well, you know, stuff happens. Pirates will be pirates, salvagers might salvage a functional drive from some wreck, et cetera. You can make whatever story you like for the origin of the drives.
Alternatively, you could set your story in the later era of KF, by which point the translation drives have cheapened to the point that merely large civilian companies or rich private individuals can acquire them.
Think of it like a shipping company. Most companies can afford a couple of trucks, but it's a big jump to buy their first container ship. Until then, they hitch a ride on someone else's ship.

[superstrijder15]

9 hours ago, 0111narwhalz said:

I don't recall the Heilmann drive from the Expanse, but the Epstein or torch or even NTR/chemical are all totally fine.

Oops! sci-fi mix up the heillmann drive is the name of a wormhole generator drive in some short stories I read some months ago. It changes all matter in its trajectorie to energy while being used to fuel it, which is way to explosive! Most of the plot is about the crew of One starship surviving sith their ship, while earth has destroyed all others as well as the bleuprints. I meant the Epstein drive.

 

P.S. How are chunks of space different in size called?(system, sctor, ..., galaxy)

How far have kerbals explored(galaxy only, multiple galaxies, a few systems)

Edited May 20, 2016 by superstrijder15

[0111narwhalz]

Well, you have systems centered around a star, regions around a major system, arms or sectors which denote each arm of the galaxy, and finally the galaxy. Kerbals haven't made it out of the Milky Way, but they occupy a large portion of the Orion sector/arm, and their far-ranging scout and reconnaissance craft have put down some outposts on the adjacent arms.

[KAL 9000]

Talon-class ship in my story in the 'verse:

-Experimental "Warp" drive. It is similar to the Frameshift drive, but uses a localized EMP field to disperse the gamma flash.

-Advanced sensors and minimal weapons (it's an explorer ship)

Other than that, it's a standard ship.

Edited January 19, 2017 by KAL 9000

[0111narwhalz]

12 hours ago, KAL 9000 said:

Journey-class ship in my story in the 'verse:

Alright, we have a couple of problems.

12 hours ago, KAL 9000 said:

-Experimental "Warp" drive. It is similar to the Frameshift drive,

The Federation does not have access to frameshift tech. It's just not the way things are done.

12 hours ago, KAL 9000 said:

but uses a localized EMP field to disperse the gamma flash.

Delicious technobabble! I must commend you. However, one does not block gamma through EM fields, and gamma is far from the only kind of radiation. You ever heard of the "oh my god" particle? Think that, but a few kilos of rest mass instead of a single nucleus. Not to mention neutral particles (near-impossible to stop or direct) and heavier, slower particles.

12 hours ago, KAL 9000 said:

-Advanced sensors and minimal weapons (it's an explorer ship)

Other than that, it's a standard ship.

Yes, other than the FTL particle beam, it's standard.

Also, by and large KFVN vessel classes are named after sharp instruments. The Harpoon, Bramble, Rapier... Individual names, however, need not follow any such convention.

[KAL 9000]

11 hours ago, 0111narwhalz said:

Alright, we have a couple of problems.

The Federation does not have access to frameshift tech. It's just not the way things are done.

Delicious technobabble! I must commend you. However, one does not block gamma through EM fields, and gamma is far from the only kind of radiation. You ever heard of the "oh my god" particle? Think that, but a few kilos of rest mass instead of a single nucleus. Not to mention neutral particles (near-impossible to stop or direct) and heavier, slower particles.

Yes, other than the FTL particle beam, it's standard.

Also, by and large KFVN vessel classes are named after sharp instruments. The Harpoon, Bramble, Rapier... Individual names, however, need not follow any such convention.

Problem 1: Oh, I didn't know! Sorry, I will change that... 

Problem 2: Thank you! Dude, its technobabble. It's a magical "get rid of the bad stuff" field .

Problem 3: Does an exploration ship need an intimidating name?

Edited January 19, 2017 by KAL 9000

[0111narwhalz]

Well, the first interstellar vessel was the Scalpel, which is sharp but not really intimidating. Remember, this is only for classes, not individual vessels. First-of-its-name ships will necessarily follow this convention, since their name is the class name, but other vessels can be named whatever.

[KAL 9000]

I have it! I'll rename the class the Talon!

[0111narwhalz]

14 minutes ago, KAL 9000 said:

I have it! I'll rename the class the Talon!

Ah--Talon class is a modular ground assault vehicle. Edrim is enroute to Luna in the Claw, which is the Talon's dedicated dropship.

Perhaps leaving the class name unsaid would be the best course of action. Give me a batch of names if you disagree, and I'll try to clear one.

[KAL 9000]

I think having a class name would be better. 

Ideas: 

Knife

Corner (the corner of a piece of paper, like you get a paper cut on)

Shard

[0111narwhalz]

Those could work.

Science ship... I say Shard works best of that list.

[KAL 9000]

Shard it is!

[KSK]

Imma just lurking on here, enjoying the worldbuilding and dialogue. Do carry on.  

Also - love the detailed description of the polyspatial drive. The underlying physics reminds me a little of the Zones in Vernor Vinge's books.

[KAL 9000]

Turning to our good friend RocketCat for advice, I have decided to call the rare material necessary for FTL... MacGuffinite!

[TotallyNotHuman]

8 hours ago, KSK said:

Imma just lurking on here, enjoying the worldbuilding and dialogue. Do carry on.  

Also - love the detailed description of the polyspatial drive. The underlying physics reminds me a little of the Zones in Vernor Vinge's books.

OMGOMGOMG IT'S @KSK OMGOMGOMG

In all seriousness, hey there. I am a huge fan of First Flight (though I need some a lot of catching up), by the way.

[0111narwhalz]

On 1/19/2017 at 6:37 PM, KAL 9000 said:

Turning to our good friend RocketCat for advice, I have decided to call the rare material necessary for FTL... MacGuffinite!

But that's a generic term. It would be like calling something "unobtainium;" it's not good enough. Not scifi enough. Besides, it doesn't describe the material at all.

I don't like rejecting ideas without proposing a substitute, so I made up a few candidates.

Spatiofibrin: Sci-fi technobabble gobbledegook, but kinda makes sense if you don't think about it too hard. Pronounced with a hard consonant in the middle: "SPAT-ee-oh-FIE-brin" (not a soft one "SPA-she-oh-FIE-brin").

Weird Matter: If they can call it "strange matter," "weird" should be fine too. Before you ask, strange matter is already taken. Strangelet projector, see.

Ichor: Why not? We're effectively doing godlike things. Call upon the blood of gods.

Quintessence: Harking back to classical philosophy, this is the fifth kind of matter, after quarks, leptons, force-carriers, and The Higgs.

The Higgs: I don't really understand what it does, and therefore I can use it for whatever I want. The only valid argument is one which explains the nature of The Higgs to my small brain.

Some input as to the preferred candidate is greatly appreciated.

[KSK]

A couple of ideas.

Quantum metafluid   (quantum can do anything)
Transposium hexafluoride  (sounds a bit chemically and transposing isn't terribly far away from translating)
Transbrane alloy (after brane theory, not a comedy misspelling of brain.  )
Pickanamesky's element (choose a historical figure and name it after him/her.)
Warp. (Does exactly what it says on the tin)

[superstrijder15]

@KSK, I love that you liked every post in this topic, but please DO NOT expect me to actually write stuff. I turn out to be horrible at making story arcs, unable to write chronologically, incapable of continuing to write when I can't get feedback and lacking time. Note how items 2 and 3 together make it pretty much impossible to write a longer story if you want to show it to people chronologically.

Edited January 21, 2017 by superstrijder15

[KAL 9000]

12 hours ago, 0111narwhalz said:

But that's a generic term. It would be like calling something "unobtainium;" it's not good enough. Not scifi enough. Besides, it doesn't describe the material at all.

I don't like rejecting ideas without proposing a substitute, so I made up a few candidates.

Spatiofibrin: Sci-fi technobabble gobbledegook, but kinda makes sense if you don't think about it too hard. Pronounced with a hard consonant in the middle: "SPAT-ee-oh-FIE-brin" (not a soft one "SPA-she-oh-FIE-brin").

Weird Matter: If they can call it "strange matter," "weird" should be fine too. Before you ask, strange matter is already taken. Strangelet projector, see.

Ichor: Why not? We're effectively doing godlike things. Call upon the blood of gods.

Quintessence: Harking back to classical philosophy, this is the fifth kind of matter, after quarks, leptons, force-carriers, and The Higgs.

The Higgs: I don't really understand what it does, and therefore I can use it for whatever I want. The only valid argument is one which explains the nature of The Higgs to my small brain.

Some input as to the preferred candidate is greatly appreciated.

The Higgs boson gives all massive (particles that have mass) particles their mass (basically). MacGuffinite does describe it! For that matter, so does Unobtainium! But whatever. How about "Neutronium"? Yes, I know it's neutron star material, but bear with me here. Explanation: Sommetimes, when a neutron star collides with another star, Neutronium will be blown off and ejected into space. It's incredibly high density allows it to [TECHNOBABBLE], meaning it's essential for FTL drives.