[Wanderer]

Not one that ever gets widely distributed though...

So the idea behind was to make a setting that would take place not too far in the future, just barely after humans have developed FTL travel. Computer tech was envisioned to be fairly high but not high enough to allow the use of shells - so that there would be some need to actually have human crew instead of just boxed up bioroids and robots.

Which brings me to the first thing on which i would like to have your opinions, FTL travel, sort of mandatory for any self-respecting scifi setting if we disregard the Transhuman Space. Given that i kinda like limited FTL travel i came up with limiting the maximum FTL jump/movement distance to something like 8 ly either before maximum jump distance is reached or before drive needs discharging. Such a distance seems fairly good choice for the near Sol interstellar space. Now then, how should it work... I have couple of ideas.

FTL 1: Jump Drive. Possible from low (read: zero) relative velocity at any star-planet L1 point. Idea behind this is that L1s are not that far and even with wimpy maneuvering drives ships wouldn't need months of travel time. Downside is that it would be actually quite easy to blockade any and all L1 points using armed statites - and it would be even easier to search all ships as they come to the system by similar means, so it might not be fitting for dashing rogue/smuggler style stuff.

FTL 2: Stutter-Warp Drive. Any one familiar with 2300AD should know what i mean. Essentially 'cheating' the physics by allowing ships to use very quick and very short 'minijumps' to move around. Usually slowed down by gravity - so in other words drive would be able to move the ship at snailpace when in orbit, at interplanetary speeds while within system and at interstellar (read: FTL) speeds while outside of system. Additional bonus is that nothing except energy would be able to actually hit the ship so no need to fear for those near-C projectiles - Honor Harrington style bomb-pumped X-Ray laser missiles however... That is nothing using 'conventional drive' would be able to reach it and since the objects wouldn't technically be moving as they jump around the impacts would be at really low velocity.

Opinions?

Maneuvering drives are intended to be fairly realistic (i.e. they suck). Reasoning behind this is that fast drive (high delta-v) is used for moving the big ship while high thrust drives (low delta-v) are used by landers, shuttles, and so on. Also it provides nice excuse to include fighters. On the other hand this is really the other problem spot. If the drives are too powerful (high delta-v and high-thrust) then their effect on rest of the setting comes rather huge. Say traversing through hostile territory - on 'proper' setting this would require 'heroes' to trudge through mud and misery while with powerful enough drives they would just strap on a jetpack and fly over or past the obstacles. Then again 'bad enough' drives mean that reaching the orbit is hard so landers are needed - anything capable of surface to orbit flight is pretty much incapable of getting anywhere from the orbit. So 'bad enough' drives severely limit what can be accomplished. Weak drives would encourage the use of beanstalks and futuristic stuff as well - with powerful drives it would require rather massive doze of stupidity to built one. Opinions?

[AdmiralRalwood]

Additional bonus is that nothing except energy would be able to actually hit the ship so no need to fear for those near-C projectiles - Honor Harrington style bomb-pumped X-Ray laser missiles however... That is nothing using 'conventional drive' would be able to reach it and since the objects wouldn't technically be moving as they jump around the impacts would be at really low velocity.

I can see why it would be hard to hit a "stutter-jumping" ship with a projectile, I'm not sure why it would be impossible, or rather, that hitting it with a burst of energy moving at lightspeed would be orders of magnitude easier than a projectile moving "near-C".

Sure, if you shoot a projectile at it, the odds of it simply microjumping past it are pretty good... but so are the odds of it just microjumping past that packet of high-energy electromagnetic radiation.

[Wanderer]

I can see why it would be hard to hit a "stutter-jumping" ship with a projectile, I'm not sure why it would be impossible, or rather, that hitting it with a burst of energy moving at lightspeed would be orders of magnitude easier than a projectile moving "near-C".

Near-C was 'slight' exaggeration. Point however remains that (in 2300 AD) that outside of planetary orbits any projectile or missile that relies on conventional drives, regardless of how efficient, are essentially so slow that a stutter-warp capable ship can 'fly' rings around them. Only way for a missile to actually reach such a ship is to fit it with stutter-warp drive of its own - at which point there is very little kinetic energy. Which brings the issue back to bomb-pumped missiles.

Sure, if you shoot a projectile at it, the odds of it simply microjumping past it are pretty good... but so are the odds of it just microjumping past that packet of high-energy electromagnetic radiation.

True that - however (in 2300AD) that also gives nice excuse why human gunners are required. That is something in human intuition could make it easier for a manned turret to score hit (can't remember exact reasoning from 2300 AD).

[An4ximandros]

The near future, eh? Something like the year 2000?

Honestly I am not sure what you are wanting to tell with your setting. Is it a one of those Nautical stories among the stars? A "realistic" space (Which pretty much kills any type of combat intrigue)? Or something else? Do you want to tell a story about technology, use technology as a prop to your tale or something different?

Going into detail about FTL is banal. You just need it to work for narrative purposes.

In fact, I'd personally take a page of Dune and have space combat as (Practically) non-existent. Too much risk of upsetting another power and stating a war in a time when Weapons of High Grade Mass Destruction (Asteroids, High Velocity Kinetics, Atomics, etc.) are casually available.

[Wanderer]

The near future, eh? Something like the year 2000?

Humanity just starting to spread to the stars and stuff. Early colonization.

Honestly I am not sure what you are wanting to tell with your setting. Is it a one of those Nautical stories among the stars? A "realistic" space (Which pretty much kills any type of combat intrigue)? Or something else? Do you want to tell a story about technology, use technology as a prop to your tale or something different?

Most likely result is that it will end up setting for PnP RPG.

Going into detail about FTL is banal. You just need it to work for narrative purposes.

Quite possible however how it works shapes how the society works and revolves. Which on the other hand is rather important.

In fact, I'd personally take a page of Dune and have space combat as (Practically) non-existent. Too much risk of upsetting another power and stating a war in a time when Weapons of High Grade Mass Destruction (Asteroids, High Velocity Kinetics, Atomics, etc.) are casually available.

We are already living just about equally MAD era on Earth and still seem to be alive...

[The E]

In fact, I'd personally take a page of Dune and have space combat as (Practically) non-existent. Too much risk of upsetting another power and stating a war in a time when Weapons of High Grade Mass Destruction (Asteroids, High Velocity Kinetics, Atomics, etc.) are casually available.

We are already living just about equally MAD era on Earth and still seem to be alive...

The point is that any FTL-capable starship is an extinction-level event waiting to happen. It is rather unlikely for J. Random Terrorist to acquire a nuclear weapon to destroy a city today; When said nukes (or tech able to project destructive power on that scale) are part of the transport network, well, things can get awfully hairy really fast. (Recommended reading: Iron Sunrise and Singularity Sky by Charlie Stross).

[AdmiralRalwood]

The point is that any FTL-capable starship is an extinction-level event waiting to happen.

Depends on how the FTL tech in question works; based on the descriptions in the OP, neither FTL technology seems capable of being used directly as a weapon; only as a way of moving weapons platforms around.

[The E]

Even if the tech prohibits ramming a near-c impactor into a planetary surface, the energy levels required to get that fast would still be pretty dangerous to have around.

[Wanderer]

Even if the tech prohibits ramming a near-c impactor into a planetary surface, the energy levels required to get that fast would still be pretty dangerous to have around.

That was kinda the catch with the both drive variants. Neither actually accelerates the ship to go any faster.

[deathfun]

Humanity just starting to spread to the stars and stuff. Early colonization.

Narrative suggestion: Stay within the system. If we're talking early colonization and near future, to me it'd make more sense to put the focus more in the solar system itself. Afterall, most scifi settings usually put the focus out to far reaching galaxies, but few within just the system we live in.

As for your FTL thoughts, I'm not entirely sure if you're thinking of using both or just giving us two different options you've thought of

Although if that wasn't your original line of thought (using both) it could be an interesting thing to consider. FTL was a relatively recent discovery in your universe, so consider it being something people are coming up with new ways of achieving. You have the normal first generation type, say, FTL #1, but since that doesn't bode well for smugglers, that particular faction decided to come up with a way to bypass having to deal with armed statites, thus FTL #2

Hell, could add a third or fourth depending how crazy you wanted to get

Those are my thoughts for now anyhow

[AdmiralRalwood]

Afterall, most scifi settings usually put the focus out to far reaching galaxies, but few within just the system we live in.

Huh? Don't most sci-fi settings stay within one galaxy? Only example of multiple-galaxies I can think of off the top of my head is Culture series...

(I realize there are more; I'm talking top of my head. Comparatively, Star Trek, Star Wars, Honor Harrington, Foundation series, Known Space... all one galaxy.)

[Wanderer]

Narrative suggestion: Stay within the system. If we're talking early colonization and near future, to me it'd make more sense to put the focus more in the solar system itself. Afterall, most scifi settings usually put the focus out to far reaching galaxies, but few within just the system we live in.

Yeah... well, that is already sorta familiar setting - at least to me - from Transhuman Space. Whole point was to follow slightly in same hard scifi track but to go slightly beyond that.

As for your FTL thoughts, I'm not entirely sure if you're thinking of using both or just giving us two different options you've thought of

Although if that wasn't your original line of thought (using both) it could be an interesting thing to consider. FTL was a relatively recent discovery in your universe, so consider it being something people are coming up with new ways of achieving. You have the normal first generation type, say, FTL #1, but since that doesn't bode well for smugglers, that particular faction decided to come up with a way to bypass having to deal with armed statites, thus FTL #2

Possibly. Though the idea was to have just one FTL type and figure out how well it would work out.

[AdmiralRalwood]

I think you should use both. Jump Drives would be faster/more energy efficient, widely used by, say, bulk cargo haulers, but it makes your arrival and departure points extremely easy to predict. Stutter-Warp Drives would be preferable for military units, pirates, smugglers, couriers, and a variety of independent traders, but in exchange for its versatility, it takes longer to get from system to system, even at the "fast" interstellar speeds, and would probably be more expensive; both in initial investment, and in maintenance (constant usage versus one-time jump would probably increase wear and tear).

[deathfun]

Huh? Don't most sci-fi settings stay within one galaxy?

Used the wrong word, my bad. Meant other solar systems other than our own
Though on that note, you can add Stargate SG-1 on top of Culture (yes I know the main focus was within the Milky Way, but they did dabble in farther off places)

Yeah... well, that is already sorta familiar setting - at least to me - from Transhuman Space. Whole point was to follow slightly in same hard scifi track but to go slightly beyond that.

Fair enough!

Guess my followup question is just what do you have in terms of setting so far (if you're prepared to divulge said info, don't have to)

We've got future enough to be on the start of exploring new solar systems with a PnP RPG concept in mind