I agree, no one can comprehend the magnificent size of the universe not even you. Like i said though, it may come to a complete stop but it would have to be travlelling for billions upon billion of billions of years.

Edited by - foolhardy on 03-03-2003 18:10:19

Yes, so as far as any human is concerned, there is no drag in space

-Stregone

---

In space there would also be no maximum speed (well...speed of light...theoreticaly ), even if you had the dinkiest engine on a train freighter. It'd just take a looong time to get up to speed...

---

While that is theoretically true, in practice things don't work out that way. You are forgetting fuel considerations. In order to keep firing that engine for an indefinite period of time, you would need to carry an indefinite amount of fuel, which must be added to the payload mass of the vessel. And then you have to add in the structural cost of containing that fuel supply in cryogenic tanks.

The only alternative is to pick up fuel (or energy) as you go, using something like a Bussard ramscoop or a ground-based laser power source. However, both of those technologies require an increase in the size of the vessel such that drag becomes a limiting factor. I seem to remember that 0.3c is a reasonable practical upper limit to the speed possible using a Bussard ramscoop.

That said, Freelancer obviously isn't trying to simulate realistic space travel. Therefore, it is more meaningful to discuss the maximum speed limitation in terms of gameplay. Is it more fun to play the game when all of the ships are limited to the same top speed? I think that you will get different answers to that question from different people. It depends on what each player finds fun to do in the Freelancer game world.

--milo
www.starshatter.com

From what I can see in the source files, you can remove the drag from the ships/other objects, increase/decrease the force of the engines so as to keep the ship from accelerating beyond control, but there is still the issue that coded into the some of the engine dll's that cruise is hard-coded as 300 mi/sec, and top speed (outside of a trade lane) is just under 1000 mi/sec.

It does give it a more Newtonian feel when flying about, but can be difficult to navigate the debris fields/badlands at 900+ mi/sec.

But again, tis' kinda off topic.

-End of Line-

"Yes, so as far as any human is concerned, there is no drag in space."

It concerns me, even though I will only be around a short while.

Okay, lemmie clarify. Apply any amount of force to an object for an infinite amount of time and it will reach the speed of light, if that is actualy possible.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitching or moaning about freespace not being realistic. I like the game, its cool. But it isn't realistic, and I would like to discuss that on this forum. I bet some people would learn a few interesting things by reading such a discussion.

-Stregone

---

Okay, lemmie clarify. Apply any amount of force to an object for an infinite amount of time and it will reach the speed of light, if that is actualy possible.

---

No need to clarify - what you said the first time was perfectly valid. I was simply pointing out that practical limits intervene before theoretical limits can be reached. This is relevant if you wish to simulate a practical activity, surely?

---

Don't get me wrong, I'm not bitching or moaning about freespace not being realistic. I like the game, its cool. But it isn't realistic, and I would like to discuss that on this forum. I bet some people would learn a few interesting things by reading such a discussion.

---

Well, good luck with that. I am interested in realistic depictions of space flight, so I would be happy to participate. But I doubt you will find too many other takers in this forum. Most of these threads have slowly deterioted into flaming or have gone way off topic and been closed. As I said earlier, Freelancer just isn't that kind of game.

--milo
www.starshatter.com

Finger...

Let me clarify something for you...

Anyone who has ever taken physics... and passed knows sound requires a medium to travel through. But what you seem to fail to acknowledge is that it can be any medium, not just air! Sound travels through water(eg. SONAR), metal, wood, etc. Sound travels through any phase of any matter.

That being said, there would still be certain sounds if the game were to be made ultra-realistic. Such sounds as your ships engines normal operation the strain of thrusters and cruise engines, the sound of your ships weapons discharging as well as the sounds of impact of enemy weapons on your ship, collision with objects, these things have also been scientificly proven and from your post you fail to realize this fact!

Enjoy and pay more attention in your physics classes!
Lynx

Edited by - Lynx on 03-03-2003 19:48:33

As far as movies go, 2001 was the only one to get it right. All the others, they are just fantasy anyway. Some very good fantasy, but fantasy nonetheless.

True, but one can hope

Starshatterer looks pretty cool, downloading it now

Anyways, with all of the unrealism, my biggest beef with the game is that there is no chain fire. This just really really irks me for some reason

-Stregone

I got another fact of space travel.

You are with your spacecraft at the egde of the galaxy and you have a communication with your earth base over the radio and you get your answer seconds, or minutes later ?

Nope - all the radio waves we have send in space, since mankind got this technology, just have reached the very next star in our galaxy.

actually there is sound in space. considering that sound is a form of energy and does not need air it travels in waves much like light does. and can light be seen in space? it sure can.

and there is a little bit of drag in space

one is atmosphereic drag, some people dont know it but the shuttle is still in the earths atmosphere and theres still a littl ebit of gravity but not alot. its unmeasurable but its there.

another type of drag is caused by solar wind and stuff.

-I trade for a living, rouges piss me off, come get me, catch me if you can, i will leave you in the dust, or you'll die trying, take your pick.- #Part of the traders protection pact# @Heretic Inc. We trade because we own.@

Stregone,

You are speaking from a newtonian framework and are limiting yourself to 3D if we think 4D and throw time into the equation then in reality at some point in the future NASA should begin if not already work on a form of folding space/time to "warp", "wormhole" or otherwise take a shortcut from Point A to Point B. People thought about going to the moon more than a 100 years before the feat was acomplished. I do not subcribe to the theory of "cannot" I prefer to think we just do not know enough yet to do a thing. Einstien was way ahead of his time, in fact some of his theories are still debated and it is to be seen whether he was right or not, but Davinci had drawings of flying machines long before man flew, I am simply saying things are possible when pursued with knowledge we do not yet possess.
Cheers,
Lynx

No, I think he is working within the confines of Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity, otherwise he would not have mentioned light speed as an upper limit.

* For more on NASA's research into theoretical / practical(?) space drives, try this paper.

* You can also search for links to Alcubierre's warp drive paper. Here are several.

However, none of that has anything to do with Freelancer, which is not interested in simulating realistic forms of space travel.

--milo
www.starshatter.com

Edited by - milod on 03-03-2003 21:29:31