Originally posted by StratComm
First, gravity doesn't work that way; you feel weightless at constant velocity with no force applied. Artificial gravity isn't even the same as anti-gravity. It is nothing more than generating a force field, which is essentially what you're describing (except that velocity is not bound by force, at least not on the Newtonian level). There could be any number of ways to generate said force field, none of which has any basis in what we see in the mainhalls.
I've got to agree with kara on this one; the whole "warpspace" issue not only is needlessly complicated, it's also fairly plainly not the case. If it were, you'd have your fighters tending towards the bottom of a capital ship when you were close to it or between structural elements, which you can easily be with the Hecate, Hades, Hatshepsut, Colossus, or any of the Shivan destroyers. If a you've got two competing explanations, the simpler of the two is probably the correct one.
Gravity does work exactly like that - whem you're falling you don't feel anything.
To be more exact you
can't feel gravity since it a volumetric force - so each cm^3 of your body will accelerate the same (unless you're a 1.5km long dragon out of some fairytale), so you can't feel gravity itself.
Gravity doesn't lend weight to stuff - support and suspension does.
It is the rope you're hanging from or the floor beneath your feet that you can feel since those are pressure forces (they take effect on a plane force/plane = pressure).
Initially warpspace feels exactly the same as gravity - it tries to pull you with its flow so your suspension/support exerts force on you.
The difference is that if you jump of a ledge you will decreasingly reach a topspeed and don't accelerate anymore. - Such a field would be good for transportation too since you can easly predict the way stuff goes around.
Gundam also had a sort of semi-gravity they explained with Minovsky particles, but it is still a crucial point that it's not actual gravity they can create.
What I try to get through simply is that even if there is an AG system, we should try to come up with a plausible explanation that doesn't involve true artificial gravity. The reason is that the GTA/GTVA doesn't seem to posses such advanced technology.
As for the force field thing - it is easier said than done. All the spaceoperas (at least any that's derived from ST) had them, but they are all stupid!
Why? What kind of field can exert force on a particle?
Electro-Magnetic, Gravitic - I keep blabbering that possesing the later would solve a tons of issues the GTVA seems to have with its weaponry/prolusion/reactor systems.
Electro-Magnetic Fields on the other hand can only interact with charged particles. So unless everyone wears an electrified vest/boots or wears a lot of metal a conventional forcefield explainable by our current science would be problematic.
That's why I came up with a field that's based on subspace, since the only other such magical forcefield - shields - also seem to be based on subspace technology.
...and please don't come with ST/SW terms like tachions and whatsoever imaginary particles said things probably wouldn't produce any visible effect in interaction with common matter since we don't see them doing so...if tachions exist they are probably ghost particles that we can only get very faint glimse of even fainter than neutrinos.
On the other hand I am open to any plausible explanation of the GTA/GTVA AG technology that doesn't involve the common - it's sci-fi magic/xxxx-field + zzzz-particle.
