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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16345
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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 Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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| Whill wrote: | | Even though in the past year I've combined skills more in the spirit of 1e, I agree that this division between landspeeder and airspeeder makes a lot of sense. But then the Verpine asteroid hoppers are also repulsorlift tech so where do they go? |
Based on the description, I'd classify it under Airspeeder, since it is operating in a 3-dimensional "flight" environment.
EDIT: Maybe something like the Poranji Orbital Jumper, which is designed for near-space short range flights, but can't go extra-orbital (per Wookieepedia).
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14254
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 2:15 am Post subject: |
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| crmcneill wrote: | | I'm strongly considering splitting Repulsorlift Operation into Landspeeder Operation and Airspeeder Piloting... |
Interesting. In this day and age, it seems people want to more Combine skills, rather than separate them out.. But i do agree, Repulsors get used a lot, so should get split.
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Dredwulf60
Line Captain
Joined: 07 Jan 2016
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| Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:17 pm Post subject: |
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Reading through this whole thread...'whew' a lot of ideas.
The way I have reconciled the technology with myself is simple this:
Gravity is a force that is still a big mystery to us in real life, when you get to the level of unified theory and all that stuff.
Obviously they have uncovered something that we just don't know about in order to make it work. Like when it was discovered that light behaves as a particle as well as a wave; we can use that to do some amazing feats of technology.
So what if a repulsor field generator works with gravity as a function of the space-time continuum?
You've probably seen those 2 Dimensional representations of the 4th dimensional fabric of space-time...the ones that look like planetary bodies indent a trampoline.
So I figure a repulsorlift device might cause an artificial ripple in that fabric and ride it...not unlike a surfboard. Or an impeller.
It doesn't need to interact with the ground; perhaps its 4th dimensional...it treats gravity as a ether...almost liquid.
The fact that a landspeeder coasts a uniform level over land might be a function of the fact that gravity increases closer to the core of the gravity well, the way water pressure gets more intense the deeper you go.
Maintaining height is like a submarine maintaining depth.
Maybe there is a peculiar interaction between the density of the ground as it affects the fabric of space-time. We know that real objects have a 'shadow' in hyperspace.
If I can reconcile this as plausible in my mind, then a Landspeeder is a lot like a basic motorboat. A swoop like a jetski. A sail barge...like a sail barge.
Airspeeders are different because they have more advanced repulsorlift devices that churn up gravity somehow. A neutrally buoyant object will not sink or rise in the water once it is at a certain depth. But if it had impellers, or propellers it could churn up the water and rise to a higher depth...but it could never leave the water.
We wouldn't see this churning in the real world, it'd all be happening in the 4th dimension.
And the vehicles could also have alternative tech to augment the base repulsor. Like Luke's Skyhopper had wings and thrust engines to help it fly.
Imperial speederbikes are pure repulsorlift, but 'swoops' are described to have thrusters as well to really push the speed envelope.
Luke's landspeeder appears to have jet-like thrust nacelles and flies with a jet-turbine whine. |
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16345
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 12:16 am Post subject: |
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| Dredwulf60 wrote: | | You've probably seen those 2 Dimensional representations of the 4th dimensional fabric of space-time...the ones that look like planetary bodies indent a trampoline. |
I have, and it is a great example. For instance, if I were to put a bowling ball in the center of the trampoline, it would roll to the center and create an indent. Then, if I were to put a marble on the trampoline, it would roll in towards the center of the trampoline until it came into contact with the bowling ball, at which point it would go no further, even though gravity would be trying to bring it down to the deepest point of the indent made by the bowling ball. It drops until it encounters an impassible obstruction, then goes no further, but neither does it roll back out away from the bowling ball.
However, the size of the indentation in the trampoline is directly proportionate to the mass of the bowling ball, which causes the slope to increase inward as the marble gets closer to the center of the bowling ball. As such, the energy required to move away from the surface of the bowling ball is entirely dependent on the steepness of the slope (a function of the mass of the bowling ball) and the mass of the marble, not the distance from the outer surface of the bowling ball.
| Quote: | So I figure a repulsorlift device might cause an artificial ripple in that fabric and ride it...not unlike a surfboard. Or an impeller.
It doesn't need to interact with the ground; perhaps its 4th dimensional...it treats gravity as a ether...almost liquid.
The fact that a landspeeder coasts a uniform level over land might be a function of the fact that gravity increases closer to the core of the gravity well, the way water pressure gets more intense the deeper you go. |
If I'm reading you right, this sounds something like what I suggested above, in that a repulsorlift hovering quietly 1 meter off the ground is exerting the same amount of force as a rocket providing the same effect. However, unlike the flash and fire and noise of a rocket, the repulsorlift "light show" (as it were) is all occurring beyond the capacity of human senses.
However, as in the example above, the distance above the physical surface of a planet is incidental to distance from the pull of gravity. Gravity is continually trying to pull on all mass within its reach; the strength of that pull is determined by its mass and by distance from it, in that the pull of gravity reduces in strength as the distance from the source of that gravity increases. The fact that moving away from the center of the gravity well also involves moving away from the surface of the object causing the gravity is incidental, not directly related.
| Quote: | And the vehicles could also have alternative tech to augment the base repulsor. Like Luke's Skyhopper had wings and thrust engines to help it fly.
Imperial speederbikes are pure repulsorlift, but 'swoops' are described to have thrusters as well to really push the speed envelope.
Luke's landspeeder appears to have jet-like thrust nacelles and flies with a jet-turbine whine. |
This was discussed above as well, in that repulsorlift-driven craft had to have supplementary propulsion to move quickly. Vehicles like the Floating Fortress or Heavy Tracker appeared to operate without any additional form of propulsion, but were relatively slow moving, as well.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
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