Imperial Core Worlds and STL...

[Ben Wilson]

Okay, I still want ships/units to travel at %C, where the fastest
units can top upwards of 10%C, no more during a decline.

The underlying issue are the Imperial Core Worlds, which retained
communication during the decline with STL. So, how can we reconcile?

At 10%C, it would take ten years to travel 1LY. So, I propose that the
Core Worlds are somehow less-than 1LY out. We could manage that if
they were part of a star cluster. I propose [Pleiades] or like
Pleiades as there are several stars that could satisfy this. But, you
would also need some binaries with habitable biozones that allow
faster transit than 10Y. Or, argue that the nature of the area lets
them use gravity slingshots and brakes that allow faster than 10%C
speeds. They would have to have altruistic reasons for keeping
together if travel times exceed 10Y.

The issue is that Soup distances do not correspond. However, the
mechanics I argue is that maximum distance in Soup is 5600, which can
be covered as quickly as 560hours (24 days) with a Scout/Courier.

[Pleiades]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleiades_(star_cluster));
esp. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e1/M45map.jpg

--
Ben Wilson
"We cannot determine the character or nature of a system within
itself. Efforts to do so will only generate confusion and disorder."
Boyd

[Aaron Clausen]

I'm away from my computer right now. Can you confirm whether Alpha
Centauri was explicitely a core world or not? If it is, that might
cause us some problems.

Aaron Clausen

--
Aaron Clausen
mightym...@gmail.com

[Ben Wilson]

If AC is a core world, we should consider moving it. There are likely
to be inconsistencies in the Macropedia, many of which can remain due
to the fickleness of the Scholars. But, we do need to change a few to
fit in with a valid reality.

More on clusters shows that there are [star cluster]s that have 10,000
to millions of Population II stars within 10 to 30 LY. So, putting the
Core Worlds in a cluster is possible, with us setting the conditions
of the cluster.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_cluster

[Aaron Clausen]

On Sat, Oct 10, 2009 at 10:33, Ben Wilson <dau...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> If AC is a core world, we should consider moving it. There are likely
> to be inconsistencies in the Macropedia, many of which can remain due
> to the fickleness of the Scholars. But, we do need to change a few to
> fit in with a valid reality.
>
> More on clusters shows that there are [star cluster]s that have 10,000
> to millions of Population II stars within 10 to 30 LY. So, putting the
> Core Worlds in a cluster is possible, with us setting the conditions
> of the cluster.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_cluster

Actually, looking back, I'm not sure we ever solidly declared any
world part of the Core Worlds. It is was the home world of the
Tawmeriks, which may have been what I was thinking of.

In fact, it doesn't appear on a quick perusal that we ever declared
which worlds were the Core worlds. I'm going to guess that Novya
Siberia and Belshane were
(http://espacesociety.org/Macropedia/NovyaSiberiaBelshaneWar), simply
because of their early importance. The only other obvious candidate
is the Corrigan System
(http://espacesociety.org/Macropedia/CorriganSystem), since it seems
from what we've written to have been the most powerful world in the
pre-Imperium period.

So I think we're safe :-)

--
Aaron Clausen
mightym...@gmail.com

[Ben Wilson]

We're basically safe from that standpoint. My novel includes none of
the worlds we've discussed. I pulled the names from the game I'm
playing (Astro Empires). I game them fairly mundane names from the
first time I played (including "Vendetta" for having raised the income
to build the base by hitting a guy who hit me first). I then
translated the names into Esperanto and gave different suffices based
on whether the base was Planet, Moon or Asteroid based.

Regardless, I'd like to resolve the nature of the Core Worlds. To
stick by our guns of enforcing the entries as much as possible, we
need them to be available via STL, which limits their distance to only
a couple LYs away. That's not hard to do in a core.

I'd say that with effective use of gravity (so many stars makes it
easy to gravity accelerate and brake) that they could get away with
somewhere like 20 to 30 %C, which would shorten a 1LY trip to 3-5
years. Distant, but not impossible. Maybe not too practical.

[Aaron Clausen]

I'll send you the outline of my ambitious little short story
project... If nothing else, we created some damn fruitful ground.

As to the Core Worlds, we know that at the very least they must be
within reasonable radio communication distance (say no more than 40
light years), but that some sort of slow boat technology is possible
(which probably means no more than 5 or 6 lightyears, depending on
what fraction of C you want them traveling). So a star cluster seems
the most reasonable.

Do you want to create an actual list of the Core Worlds?

Aaron

[Ben Wilson]

So, the first issue, IMO, is the mechanics. As I've said before, I've
been influenced by the game Astro Empires (which is free, if you want
to tinker with it).I'm using the base speeds in that game to be the
percentage of C for a given unit.[unit] As you can see, a "Scout" can
travel 10, or 10%C. A "Cruiser" can travel 4%C. I use the Fudge trait
levels, so "Fair" is 5%C. Or, 20 years to 1LY. That is a base
technology. (A Frigate travels at 5%C.)

There's also the change in tech based on the period, as you'll
recall.[scale] It is focused on AI tech, but provides a rough guide.
That shows the Mind of an AI (i.e., IQ) compared to a human, where
Fair is Fairly Human. To make this work as scale with %C, we have to
decide which time period is the baseline Scale.

Following that assumption, let's say the First Decline is that
baseline. The AI Mind level is Poor, or Fair -2. Thus, in the First
Decline, a "Fairly Speedy" unit (Frigate) would go 5%C. The Imperium
is Mediocre, or a Scale faster; or a Fair Speed Imperium Frigate is as
fast as a Good Speed Decline Frigate. Unfortunately, that's only 1%
faster. A Federation Frigate is five trait levels faster, or 10%C.

If we make the worst technology the baseline (Emergence), then
Terrible is the baseline. Superb is obviously seven levels higher. A
Decline unit would be one level faster.

So, the other issue is this: are the speeds "acceptable?" First, I did
not consider the technology scale at the base speeds; it was a quick
capture. If I were to do it now, I would pick a Fibonacci sequence
because it sounds like enough of a natural coincidence; but with an
upward boundary of 99%C.[Fibbonacci] The following are the first 12
Fibonacci numbers that make sense. The left most is Terrible, followed
by Poor, Mediocre, etc. Superb at the baseline would be 13%C, which is
close to the 10%C I have for Scouts. I've put another arbitrary value
(94) for a reason I explain below.

1/2, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 94, 99

This makes it easier to determine the scale. Federation Superb is 99;
Federation Fair would be 55.

Federation Fair = 55
Hege, Xeno Fair = 34
First Contact Fair = 21
Reunification Fair = 13
Imperial Fair = 8
Declines, 1 Expanse Fair = 5
Emergence Fair = 3 (Terrible would be 1/2%C)

Thoughts?

[unit]: http://espacesociety.org/SpaceTravel/ShipTypes
[scale]:http://espacesociety.org/Technology/AIComputers
[Fibbonacci]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_number

On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 9:32 PM, Aaron Clausen

[Aaron Clausen]

That seems reasonable enough. It certainly means the Core Worlds are
going to be very tightly packed. At 5% C, I can't reasonably see them
being any two neighbors being more than three or four light years
away.

Aaron Clausen