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Warp Drive

Page history last edited by RyleyRA 6 years, 3 months ago Saved with comment

Warp Drive is the name for a faster-than-light (FTL) technology that allows starships to exceed the speed of light, and travel between stars. This "warp field" was discovered in 2098 by Alexander Fitzgerald, who was also the first Terran to die due to the failure of a Warp Drive. This system warps the space around a vessel, shortening the space between two points. This allows the vessel to travel faster than the speed of light, while its speed relative to the space around it remains under the light barrier.

 

Warp travel is non-Newtonian, meaning it lacks both momentum and inertia, at least to the extent expected for sublight space travel. No matter what speed you are travelling at Warp, you can come to a halt merely by dispelling the warp field -- albeit in a massive explosion that will wipe out the ship and any matter that happens to be nearby. The same thing will happen if the warp field collides with any matter. Fortunately, TSN shielding technology is capable of deflecting oncoming matter before such a collision occurs, although striking a massive object such as a star or planet would be fatal.

 

Maintaining the warp field requires a constant input of energy, so "coasting" at a constant speed is not possible as it is with sublight drive. Maneuvering at warp entails changing the shape of the field so the ship's course is pulled to port or starboard. Although ships can warp in reverse, TSN Warp Drives prevent this, as rear shields are not designed for deflection. TSN Warp Drives are designed to bring the vessel safely out of warp just before energy runs out, and will not engage without sufficient energy.

 

Warp has 4 levels, with Warp 4 being the fastest speed currently achieved by any race. A Warp level is not an absolute speed, it depends on the volume of the field, the mass of the ship enclosed, and power put into the field generators. The energy consumed by this process is proportional to the Warp level, but remains constant as the strength of the warp field (and thus its speed) is increased. That is, putting more power into the engines makes them MORE efficient. Warp engines are also more efficient if given time to build the field before being engaged, although TSN warships are able to "crash start" their engines in combat, at the cost of much greater energy use.

 

As may be gathered from the above, Warp Drive is not a particularly efficient means of traveling to other star systems. It is quite useful for travel within the Solar System, and it was used for that purpose for the first 30 years of Terran exploration. It took 40 years for the first settlers to reach other stars, however, and even at Warp 4, travel between those colonies can take a decade. Once Terrans made contact with the Ximni, and learned of the technology of Jump Gates, that was determined to be a much faster and more efficient form of interstellar travel.

 

Most other races in the universe do not appear to have Warp Drive. In fact, before meeting the Ximni, Earth scientists were quite puzzled about how the Kralien and their allies were able to travel interplanetary distances. It was speculated that since the stars in the center of the galaxy were closer together, the races there were able to "make do" with generational and sleeper ships, and that the Kraliens we encountered had been sent centuries earlier. The Ximni revealed the technology of Jump Drive, and it was concluded that the enemy races made use of this technology as well, either in the form of Jump Gates, or in "Jump Carriers" that transported the warships to battle and then jumped out. The only other race that has developed Warp Drive is the Skaraans, and they only appear to be capable of Warp 1.

 

All TSN ships are equipped with Warp Drive by default. When modifying a ship at the Ship Customization Screen, however, either the Captain or the Helm officer can select Jump Drive instead. Warp Drive is suited to fast ships, like the TSN Scout and Light Cruiser, while Jump Drive is more suited to slower ships like the TSN Dreadnought.

 

As part of the technology exchange with the Ximni, several of their ships have also been equipped with Warp Drive, instead of their native Jump Drive. Note that if you do not explicitly select Jump Drive when selecting a Ximni ship for your crew, you will be given Warp Drive by default. Warp Drive is much less efficient when used by Ximni ships, as their ships have an electronic signature and physical shape that interferes with the formation of warp fields. This will increase the energy cost of Warp Drive, although the speed will not be affected.

 

(As the game is intentionally vague about Warp Drive, all of the above is really speculation, intended to explain the behavior of Warp Drive. The idea that Warp 4 is the fastest speed possible is stated by the game manual, but faster speeds could be possible. I have also borrowed from the Backstory section of this site. It really depends on your inspiration when playing Artemis, if you envision a Star Trek-like universe, Warp travel can be the main or only form of FTL, if you are more a fan of Battlestar Galactica or Babylon 5, you may consider Jump Drive the FTL drive, and Warp more of a sublight "afterburner" that multiplies speed by 10)

 

(I also have not speculated about the actual technology or its power source. If other wiki editors want to add this, I would add it as an addendum, similar to the image in the entry for Light Cruiser)

 

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