Building a more realistic warp drive

[FreeThinker]

The following video sparked my intrest into the subject

From my understanding they imply that a warpdrive is not a drive that will move a vessel though space time, rather it reduces mass inertia and counteracts time dilation, therefore allowing a vessel to accelerate much faster with conventional reaction drives, effectively allowing a vessel to reach much higher speeds, even traveling faster than speed of light.

So in order to maximize a vessel speed, one would have to combine the most powerful reaction drives available, with the most powerful electric power  generators while minimizing overal vessel mass.

From a game mechanistic point of view this is quite attractive concept  as the Alcubiere drive would act more like a engine booster rather than a stand alone drive system making reaction engine mostly obsolete.

One way to achieve this is by adding a custom developed TimeMassScreen partmodule, which reduces a part mass when the warp screen generator is activated. The same partmodule could also increase the mass  depending on it lightspeed when no warp screen is present.

Edited July 3, 2018 by FreeThinker

[Gargamel]

On 7/3/2018 at 5:00 AM, FreeThinker said:

effectively allowing a vessel to reach much higher speeds, even traveling faster than speed of light.

Assuming the conventional drives you are using do not lose thrust, but only the vessels mass is reduced, then you can still not travel faster (or at) than the speed of light for any positive non zero mass.   Zero mass ships would be able to travel the speed of light, but not faster, and I believe they can only go the speed of light (citation needed?).    I might be misinterpreting your statement though.  

On 7/3/2018 at 5:00 AM, FreeThinker said:

So in order to maximize a vessel speed, one would have to combine the most powerful reaction drives available, with the most powerful electric power  generators while minimizing overal vessel mass.

This is basically the rocketry equation. 

 

On 7/3/2018 at 5:00 AM, FreeThinker said:

From a game mechanistic point of view this is quite attractive concept  as the Alcubiere drive would act more like a engine booster rather than a stand alone drive system making reaction engine mostly obsolete.

I believe the game engine does not take into consideration relativistic speeds when doing it's math, so the infinite energy requirement is probably ignored.   I say this because, with infinite fuel cheats, you can build a vessel capable of exceeding the speed of light. 

 

Due to bandwidth, I have not watched the video, but marked it to watch later...

[FreeThinker]

On 7/4/2018 at 6:47 PM, Gargamel said:

Assuming the conventional drives you are using do not lose thrust, but only the vessels mass is reduced, then you can still not travel faster (or at) than the speed of light for any positive non zero mass.   Zero mass ships would be able to travel the speed of light, but not faster, and I believe they can only go the speed of light (citation needed?).    I might be misinterpreting your statement though. 

 

Although you cannot travel faster than light in space, due to time dilation, when you traval at about 0.7c, from the point of view of the vessel, you do travel faster than speed of light. However, when you travel 0.7 in a warp field, due to the time dilation cancelling effect, you not only observe travelling faster of light, you actually do from an outside observer, therefore it effectively allows you to travel faster than light while staying inside the warp field

On 7/4/2018 at 6:47 PM, Gargamel said:

This is basically the rocketry equation.

 

Well almost, the main difference isthat the Isp is multiplied by a mass reducing effect. Basides that, the external time dilation effect  is reduced allowing you to travel faster than speed of light from an observer at rest mass

[FreeThinker]

On 7/4/2018 at 6:47 PM, Gargamel said:

I believe the game engine does not take into consideration relativistic speeds when doing it's math, so the infinite energy requirement is probably ignored.   I say this because, with infinite fuel cheats, you can build a vessel capable of exceeding the speed of light.

1

No but there technically 2 strategies you can make it behave similarly from an outside observer which is either scale up mass of all parts and resources or by altering the trust and isp of reaction engines. KSPIE already applies strategy 2, making it impossible to go faster than the speed of light. Notice in KSPIEyou can actually lower the speed of light, allowing you to experience dilation effect at a much lower speed

[DStaal]

On 7/4/2018 at 12:47 PM, Gargamel said:

Assuming the conventional drives you are using do not lose thrust, but only the vessels mass is reduced, then you can still not travel faster (or at) than the speed of light for any positive non zero mass.   Zero mass ships would be able to travel the speed of light, but not faster, and I believe they can only go the speed of light (citation needed?).    I might be misinterpreting your statement though.  

In theory, if you kept lowering the mass as you accelerated, you should be able to go the speed of light at zero mass - and faster with negative mass.