HOME | DD
D4RKST0RM99 β Scifi FTL Methods
by-nc-nd
Published: 2013-07-13 02:59:57 +0000 UTC; Views: 5097; Favourites: 30; Downloads: 0
Redirect to original
Description
This is a rough guide I made a while back to show the more popular examples used in scifi today for Faster Than Light travel, Originaly a friend was developing his own scifi story and needed ideas for ftl so I put together these examples. I may in future rework this into a more tidier form.1. Hyperspace window generator/engine- As seen in starwars, stargate, BSG 2003, homeworld, halo and mass effect, this method appears to be the most popular choice in scifi
2. Warp drive- only appeared in Startrek as far as I know.
3. Warp gate- Appears in Babylon 5, Homeworld and supreme commander
4. Dark Matter Engines- As seen in Futurama a unique concept were these engines to achieve FTL dont move the ship through space instead they move the universe past the ship.
Related content
Comments: 31
π: 0 β©: 0
The Bloat DriveΒ in Bill the Galactic Hero
π: 0 β©: 0
BSG2003 actually has it's own semi original engine: Jump Drive. For all intents and purposes that stuff generates a wormhole for a split second and spits the ship on coordinates what-ever out again in a instant. Because of that they just flash in and out of the universe and it isn't Hyperspace at all.
And a similar engine to Warp FTL is in the original BSG used, there they move through normal space just like Warp engine when going FTL and no, there is no Hyperspace in use by Star Trek either.
π: 0 β©: 1
Cheers for the feedback 
π: 0 β©: 1
Hyperspace is still largely different and Wormholes aren't hyperspace but alright.
π: 0 β©: 0
Actually, Mass Effect has no subspace realm of any kind. The FTL is entirely in physical space.
π: 0 β©: 0
In Star Trek there also appeared the Fold Drive, which basically takes the space between you and your destination and folds it into a very tight accordion, then moves the ship through the accordion. taking very little time to get from point A to point B, almost to the point of FTL teleportation.Β
π: 0 β©: 0
god I love the episode in futerama where they show off the Dark Matter engines 
π: 0 β©: 1
Yeah I think I remember that one, the engines dont pull the craft though space, they instead put space around the craft, migh in fact be closer to how Startek's warp theory works.
π: 0 β©: 1
Nah star treks warp theory is that warps the immediate space around the craft allowing it to go faster than light they don't move the entirety of space in the universe around the craft.
π: 0 β©: 1
Guess it depends on your point of view as well, hey have you seen this, being a halo fan- www.moddb.com/mods/halo-sins-oβ¦
I've been playing it a while, one of the best Halo games I've played, and that includes the official ones
π: 0 β©: 1
Mass Effect actually uses more of a warp drive in the ship's onboard FTL drives, only the Mass Relays themselves seem to be some sort of hyperspace window generator, but they could also be a much more advanced and immensely more powerful version of the FTL technology aboard starships.
The FTL is Battlestar Galactica might actually function more like the dark matter engine in Futurama because Baltar actually mentions that The FTL drives actually fold space itself, during his explanation of why the more advanced and heavily computerized Pegasus can make longer jumps within a small margin of error.
I gotta say the FTL drives in BSG or the Covenant slipspace engines in Halo are probably the best because from a tactical standpoint being able to accurately jump in formation is a pretty major advantage for a Military ship conducting co-ordinated attacks.
For a civilian ship the simplest and cheapest method within a safe margin of error for example in Star Wars jumping into or out of hyperspace too close to a planet star or presumably any other large body of mass can result in an impact with the object in hyperspace as Han put it coming out of hyperspace in a million pieces. The UNSC's Shaw-Fujikawa drives actually require ships to jump out of slipspace further away from their intended destination and complete the trip at sublight speeds.
I am such a f***ing nerd, but now I can't help but think about the logistics of FTL travel.
π: 0 β©: 1
hey what's wrong with being a nerd I say high five for being awesome
In star wars they're also able to make coordinated jumps as fleets, although unlike the Covenant they are unable to make smaller jumpsΒ
π: 0 β©: 1
I like the Battlestar Galactica method just because jumps are pretty much instantaneous, and accurate enough to jump a ship in and out of atmosphere while falling through the atmosphere, ODSTs don't have shit on Bill Adama.
Also If you've read the Halo books the Covenant are quite capable of making short distance jumps as it was shown in Fall of Reach, and the Kilo-Five series, if the Covenant, who don't really understand the technologyΒ can do it, it would be interesting to see what the Forerunners were capable of doing with it.
Or I like the Red vs. Blue version where if you do it wrong you end up in the future because of relativity.
π: 0 β©: 1
in Red vs Blue I don't think they were trying to get anywhere... they just kind of blew up the present
π: 0 β©: 1
Grif's Sister used the wrong FTL engine and ended up in the future in season 5, of course the whole time travel thing was retconned during seasons 6,7, and 8 as the being a combination of Gamma deceiving Church, and the rest of them being stupid enough to believe they travelled through time.
π: 0 β©: 0
I believe in Starwars they're not actually making windows or holes, rather they just travel at tremendous speeds, faster than light speeds, without making any portals, they just appear to be in a wormhole.
π: 0 β©: 1
was refering mostly to the stargate version with the window generator but in Starwars they do use such terms as entering or coming out of Hyperspace meaning they do leave normal space and enter a realm were the "can not exceed the speed of light" physics could not apply to the ship in transit.
π: 0 β©: 1
Yes, but if they hit something while at that speed, they smash. Things in normal space are still obstacles in hyperspace.
π: 0 β©: 0
Phase jump used in Andromeda and Sins of a Solar Empire.
Β
Also Eve online has warp drive as well as a (trans)warp gate for long range jumps.
Β
In the pilot for Startrek they called it timewarp factor instead of warp factor
π: 0 β©: 0
lol, thought of that too, new i forgot something, loved that show.
π: 0 β©: 1
Yes indeed, I must watch it again now.
π: 0 β©: 1
"you're an original"
π: 0 β©: 1
Did I do it right? Spike Speigal line from the movie
π: 0 β©: 1