Fuel !!!

[Nyrkl]

I was wondering...
When you need to go a long way and you travel at max warp..,

Is it possible to run out of fuel so you can only travel at impulse?

And if there are no star bases in the neighborhood can u extract from a asteroid that have the right components?


Anyone?

[Azurian]

Well technically Yes, Starfleet ships can run out of "gas".

But that's what the Bussard Collectors are for, they collect stellar Hydrogen and convert it into Deuterium for the Warp Core and the Impulse Engines. And starships do have Anti-Matter generators that can create Anti-Matter if you are far from home. (But it takes time to make, so it's faster to drop by a Starbase to get resupplied).

BTW, you're not going to save fuel by not traveling at Impulse. Unless you want to send a couple of years travelling to the nearest inhabited planet. :p


You know, this is such an interesting question, I really hope that fuel limits will be simulated. Gives players a reason to drop by Starbases once in a while.

[Eisenwolff]

Well technically Yes, Starfleet ships can run out of "gas".

But that's what the Bussard Collectors are for, they collect stellar hydrogen and convert it into Deuterium for the Warp Core and the Impulse Engines. And starships do have Anti-Matter generators that can create Anti-Matter if you are far from home. (But it takes time to make, so it's faster to drop by a Starbase to get resupplied).


BTW, you're not going to save fuel by not traveling at Impulse. Unless you want to send a couple of years travelling to the nearest inhabited planet. :p
Actually i think Bussard Collectors and AM gernerators can only partly help to fill up your reserves.
I seriously doubt that starships are Perpetuum Mobile

[Azurian]

Well with Bussard Collectors, it depends on how much Hydrogren you encounter. Like if you went through a nebula, you sure to score big. But if you are between Galaxies, you are going to be out of luck.

And as I said with the A/M Generators, were mainly for emergencies only when you were far from home. Like we seen in Voyager, for they did a fair job in keeping them running for the duration of their travels through the Delta Quadrant. But normally Starfleet Ships replenish their Anti-Matter at Starbases instead of making their own (since it's a slow process).

[Nyrkl]

And is it also true that when you travel at warp 6 you use less fuel that at warp 9.8?

[Azurian]

Oh that's a definitly. It's like an engine in your car. The faster you go, the more fuel you use. Which would be a nice thing in STO, so we don't see people running all over at Warp 9.8.

[cocoa-jin]

they can make anti-matter? geesh, wouldnt require being able to make mini-big bangs?...then again, they have replecators that convert energy to matter...so I guess it wouldnt be that much harder than making regular matter if you have building blocks. Since I assume there is no anti-energy, the building blocks may very well be the same stuff regular matter is made of.

[Silverspar]

I suspect, though I might be wrong, for warping, there will be a type of energy consumption that will go on. Of course some people might not agree witht hat.

There will probably be many factors to consider. However, at this time, the only thing we have heard about as far as energy consumption is concerned is there won't be a traditional power bar (aka mana bar). Instead you will have some sort og guage or some other system where you will tell your engineer to distribute power to the rest of the ship taking power away from other systems, such as taking power away from engines and weapons to boost shields, ect.

This is all a way and see scenario, but I definitely hope more information stats beocming present.

[JacobFlowers]

Actually i think Bussard Collectors and AM gernerators can only partly help to fill up your reserves.
I seriously doubt that starships are Perpetuum Mobile

I think some starships have ridiculously long travel and resource ranges such as Galaxy Class ships which were designed for extended deployment and deep space exploration.

Dinky ships such as intrepid class (aka Voyager) often had to make stops at inhabited planets for materials.

We also know that Dilithium crystals can be drained in some straining circumstances

[JacobFlowers]

Well technically Yes, Starfleet ships can run out of "gas".

But that's what the Bussard Collectors are for, they collect stellar Hydrogen and convert it into Deuterium for the Warp Core and the Impulse Engines. And starships do have Anti-Matter generators that can create Anti-Matter if you are far from home. (But it takes time to make, so it's faster to drop by a Starbase to get resupplied).

BTW, you're not going to save fuel by not traveling at Impulse. Unless you want to send a couple of years travelling to the nearest inhabited planet. :p


You know, this is such an interesting question, I really hope that fuel limits will be simulated. Gives players a reason to drop by Starbases once in a while.

Very well written post. Here here!

[Silverspar]

I think some starships have ridiculously long travel and resource ranges such as Galaxy Class ships which were designed for extended deployment and deep space exploration.

Dinky ships such as intrepid class (aka Voyager) often had to make stops at inhabited planets for materials.

We also know that Dilithium crystals can be drained in some straining circumstances

The Bussard Collectors could ony collect gases, like hydrogen, which was used in as the matter for teh matter/anti-matter reaction in the warp chamber. However, the anti-matter was still not free floating and had to be refueled regularly. Think of it this way, a starship still has to refuel, even if it has deep space missions, or, it can attempt to create it's own, but that depends on it's facilities. Another factor is that the dilithium crystals needed to channel the reaction, even though crystals can be recrystallised, they are still not indefintie and need to replace.

All in all, matter is the easiest part of the fuel to get, dilithium and anti-matter is a tad harder, with dilithium being impossible to replicate, and anti-matter being exceptionally dangerous to transport without exceptionally high level precautions in place. Of course we never see the Enterprise at a space dock being refueled, how boring of an episode would that be. Most of the time, usually at the start of a season, or sometimes a mid point episode, you would hear the captain describe it in his logs.

[Interdictor]

I'm really not fond of the idea of having to "gas up" our ships in the game. So I would be against keeping track of fuel in STO - that's a bit TOO sim-like. Keeping track of other consumables like Photon Torpedoes? Maybe. Depends on how they are implemented.

[Azurian]

Of course we never see the Enterprise at a space dock being refueled, how boring of an episode would that be. Most of the time, usually at the start of a season, or sometimes a mid point episode, you would hear the captain describe it in his logs.

Bah, of course they refuel. And at the same time, they restock on supplies such as new torpedoes and new crew members. But like you said, it's not that interesting and at best would be a footnote.

However, such minisule moments like this makes us appricate Star Trek all the more. Not to mention making Starbase Visits not so boring. ;)

[LunaticFringer]

This is probably one facet of the series in translation to game I could probably live without. If it's bogged down in keeping track of too many micro-managing items then flying your ship, for at least a percentage of us, no longer becomes fun.

I'd agree more with having to drop by from time to time to fix battle damage and reload on torpedoes rather than having to keep track of refueling.

If it is a quest scenario involving needing to fix the warp core or something more along those lines then I probably wouldn't have a problem with it because then it's meant to be a "fun" quest problem.

[Nyrkl]

Fuel can be a tactical advantage if you know to board a ship and steal it! Like stealing torpedoes and kidnapping your head engineer!


Also the refueling is a way to make a quest out of it...

Example:

You’re on your way to refuel and find out that the star base is being boarded by klingons that are stealing fuel and weapons!

Refueling should not be a great issue but it should have a place in the ST universe...


Well that is what I think.

[Interdictor]

Fuel can be a tactical advantage if you know to board a ship and steal it! Like stealing torpedoes and kidnapping your head engineer!


Also the refueling is a way to make a quest out of it...

Example:

You’re on your way to refuel and find out that the star base is being boarded by klingons that are stealing fuel and weapons!

Refueling should not be a great issue but it should have a place in the ST universe...


Well that is what I think.As part of a mission/episode? Fine. But in general gameplay? No thanks. The LAST thing I want to do is run out of gas in between missons. What am I supposed to do then - broadcast for a tow back to the nearest gas station? Nah - thats a little TOO simulationist for me.

[doser]

But if you are between Galaxies, you are going to be out of luck.

You mean star systems.

"between star systems"

It's impossible to travel to another galaxy. Even at Warp.

[Braunbaer]

It's impossible to travel to another galaxy. Even at Warp.

Yes, it is possible - with Q-warp! Bwahaha...hmpf...

Edit: You should not have infinite torpedos. So, why not refueling your ship from time to time?
It must not end as a sim-like game. You can implement such a feature that you do not have to care most of the time. In a way it seems to be a useless feature. ;) But it adds something to the atmosphere, I think, and because you need to recrew sometimes you will have many chances to refuel aswell.

On the other hand - while you recrew refueling could be done automatically.
Okay, maybe it's just useless....

[Silverspar]

Yes, I agree there should be resources, like torpedoes and phaser charges and so forth otherwise starship combat loses some of the tactical feel. However and over-all power pool or fuel reserve seems silly in the long run. Seriously, how would you actually and hoenstly balance out how much fuel a starship would expend going to warp? According to the shows, a starship could sustain maximum warp for 12 hours. How would that translate into fuel used for an MMO, and I think it owuld be safe to assume, timewise at least, barring alien planets we visit, teh chronometer in game will be set pretty much similar to real time.

Then there comes other factors, distance traveled versus maximum warp. If a starship can sustain warp 9 for 12 hours before having to drop out of warp and refuel, in the game how far would a ship have to go before it has to drop out of warp and "refuel" itself? A lot of these questions you ahve to ask for balance sake and the sake of fun.

[Lizzio]

Hmm refuel.. o.O

I am not sure about this because we dont know how big STO space will be.
Also i think this can be really anoying when your in battle against other fleets

I am for automatic refuel like 2minutes max and not more..

[Braunbaer]

I am for automatic refuel like 2minutes max and not more..

If you have to stay in a starbase for some minutes, 2 or 3 maybe (not too much!), to repair and re-equip, I'm fine with it. No to instant repair etc.
But this was already discussed in a different thread...

[Silverspar]

If you have to stay in a starbase for some minutes, 2 or 3 maybe (not too much!), to repair and re-equip, I'm fine with it. No to instant repair etc.
But this was already discussed in a different thread...

Youa re going to be hard pressed to sell people on spending 2 to 3 minutes stuck in a starbase doing nothing but repairs. If you go to a starbase to resupply personnel and repairs, having to go their is penalty enough. Making people have to wait extra time is just not going to sit well with many gamers.

[Braunbaer]

Yes, I know. Hm, actually I intended to say that you have to recrew your ship yourself. A little micro management. Pressing some buttons, you know. Takes enough time, I guess. Maybe that way you spend up to two minutes repairing and recrewing, you don't feel bored because you have soemthing to do and furthermore it just feels right - being repaired instantly don't.

If the game is fun enough I don't really care. I'm not one of the guys telling Cryptic how it has to be done and everything else is just wrong. But I want to point out there are many ways to bring some atmosphere into the game. Someone might even think recrewing is useless and everyone should respawn instantly after being killed....

Edit: Just one more thing. In EVE for example, you had to refill your ammo for your turrets. You could produce or buy ammo - and store it. It took you a minute to refill and from time to time you had to fly to a starbase and buy new rockets or whatever you needed. I didn't felt bored or annoyed because I accepted the game mechanics and for me it felt just right. (You could produce ammo yourself and sell it, too....)

So, in WoW you click the repair button and everything is fine and it's no big deal. Noone screams "it's too easy" or "lack of realism" - on the other hand a system like in EVE, which is totally different, is also playable.

That's what I wanted to say....

[Mattastic]

This would be fairly realistic, I suppose. However, it's really, really, REALLY not fun. Moving at a snail's pace towards the nearest starbase because you forgot to re-supply is a very good way to loose players, especially new players who might not yet understand that you don't have unlimited fuel. Meanwhile, you then get to spend half an hour doing a trip that would take four minutes, while getting dogpiled by every random encounter and anomoly on the way with no means of escape.

Not to mention that it would severely annoy anyone who actually cares about actual astronomy, since moving at just the speed of light could put you literally years or decades away from the nearest starbase or planet.

To summarise: not fun = not in the game.

[Silverspar]

So, in WoW you click the repair button and everything is fine and it's no big deal. Noone screams "it's too easy" or "lack of realism" - on the other hand a system like in EVE, which is totally different, is also playable.Hate to burst your bubble, but umm, in EVE, you go to a base, open up the repair screen and hit a button and everything is repaired. There is no repair times in EVE either at a starbase. If you are out in space (saying Deep Space in EVE is a ****** joke since there is always something nearby) it takes time to repair, but you can instantly repair at a starbase, and I haven't really run across many bases that do not have repair facilities.

[CanQua]

How else would you get more red shirts?

[Vicelance]

I'd like to explore far from any starbase or outpost where I could possibly get fuel. I wouldn't mind fuel requirements as long as the fuel took a long time to run out and I could easily find more fuel as I explore. Having to head back to fed space after every system I visit would be annoying and time consuming.

[Skelly]

Oh that's a definitly. It's like an engine in your car. The faster you go, the more fuel you use. Which would be a nice thing in STO, so we don't see people running all over at Warp 9.8.

Why, if there is no friction or wind resistance in space, could I not get to warp 9.8 and maintain it until I am faced with an opposign force?

[Nyrkl]

I'd like to explore far from any starbase or outpost where I could possibly get fuel. I wouldn't mind fuel requirements as long as the fuel took a long time to run out and I could easily find more fuel as I explore. Having to head back to fed space after every system I visit would be annoying and time consuming.

Amen to that brother ;)

[Lizzio]

If you have to stay in a starbase for some minutes, 2 or 3 maybe (not too much!), to repair and re-equip, I'm fine with it. No to instant repair etc.
But this was already discussed in a different thread...

I never said instant repair.. i hate it when i am exploring or fighting someone
and i need to go to a Starbase :S without feul and refeul there anything
it has no Logic

1). How are you going to reach a Starbase if you dont have Fuel??

2). Instant teleport to Starbase is so stupid

3). Just imagine your fighting a Fleet ''Fleet vs Fleet''
and 50% of it turns away for refueling.. wow thats fun

Solustion: Let a ship refuel it self by taking some time

[matt4tay]

You guys were talking about about traveling around at Warp 9.8.

As i recall isn't there that TNG episode where all Starfleet vessels are restricted to Warp 6 unless in times of War and emergency??

Do we think this will be imposed into the game?

[Eisenwolff]

You guys were talking about about traveling around at Warp 9.8.

As i recall isn't there that TNG episode where all Starfleet vessels are restricted to Warp 6 unless in times of War and emergency??

Do we think this will be imposed into the game?
This Question comes up fairly often again and again.
Newer Warpengines are "green" ;) (started with Voyagers adjustable Warpcoils) They don't disrupt the Supspace anymore.

[matt4tay]

This Question comes up fairly often again and again.
Newer Warpengines are "green" ;) (started with Voyagers adjustable Warpcoils) They don't disrupt the Supspace anymore.

So all Earp engines are sub space friendly??

Even the non-adjustable ones??

[Eisenwolff]

They are all adjustable now but they don't need mechanical Aid to do that Voyager was only the first in line

[matt4tay]

Sweet. Glad thats out of the way.

The idea of flying around at Warp 6 wasn't pleasing.

Link to the warp speeds.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Warptable.gif

[Azurian]

You mean star systems.

"between star systems"

It's impossible to travel to another galaxy. Even at Warp.

No, I did mean Galaxies. There is more hydrogen between us and Alpha Centauri than between the Milky Way and Andromeda.

You're obviously looking too much into what I said, especially when mentioning Warp, when I didn't say anything about Warp.

Why, if there is no friction or wind resistance in space, could I not get to warp 9.8 and maintain it until I am faced with an opposign force?

Actually, there is resistance in space. Low Orbits (which people consider space), Solar Winds, and such. But in interstellar travel it's so small it's regarded as zero.

Anyhow, your max speed is dependant on your warp core and how much stress your ship can take. Else everyone would be running at Warp 9.9999999 til their hearts content.

I'd like to explore far from any starbase or outpost where I could possibly get fuel. I wouldn't mind fuel requirements as long as the fuel took a long time to run out and I could easily find more fuel as I explore. Having to head back to fed space after every system I visit would be annoying and time consuming.

Don't worry, in Star Trek it took like a month or so to run out of "gas", not days.

To be honest, I'm betting players are more likely to head home for more torpedos and upgrades than to "fuel-up"

You are going to be hard pressed to sell people on spending 2 to 3 minutes stuck in a starbase doing nothing but repairs. If you go to a starbase to resupply personnel and repairs, having to go their is penalty enough. Making people have to wait extra time is just not going to sit well with many gamers.

If people can't wait 2 to 3 minutes, then they have quite the short attention span. Because last I checked, people usually spend anywhere between 5 minutes to 1 hour in towns with resupplying food, weapons, and more.

What's to say while they are gassing up the ship and repairing, you wouldn't be off to the bank, getting a new mission, or socializing with friends? By the time you get back, it's all done so. So what's the problem?

Seems you just want STO to be so simple to the point it would be boring and uninteresting.

[Silverspar]

Why, if there is no friction or wind resistance in space, could I not get to warp 9.8 and maintain it until I am faced with an opposign force?

That's not how it works. You might use less fuel to get moving, but you wills till need the fuel to keep moving and maintaining. Furthermore, warp is not just pointing a ship and going. Warp Drive actually creates a field that essentially creates a sub-space bubble around your ship, which is what prevents you from suffering the effects of Einsteins theory.

[SolarTiger]

I don't recall the Starships "running out of gas"...mostly dilithium crystals wearing out or getting damaged...

However...*OLD SKOOL CANON ALERT*...

In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Spock deduced a way of re-crystallizing dilithium that allowed the crew to regenerate the crystals on board their Klingon Bird-of-prey...

[Silverspar]

I don't recall the Starships "running out of gas"...mostly dilithium crystals wearing out or getting damaged...

However...*OLD SKOOL CANON ALERT*...

In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Spock deduced a way of re-crystallizing dilithium that allowed the crew to regenerate the crystals on board their Klingon Bird-of-prey...

They do that now, but you can't recrystallize dilithium indefinitely, it's just like a rechargeable battery. Eventually it's jsut not gonna work anymore and they will have to be replaced.

And you haven't watched Voyager then, Fuel was always on the mind of Janeway and crew.

[Nyrkl]

No, I did mean Galaxies. There is more hydrogen between us and Alpha Centauri than between the Milky Way and Andromeda.

You're obviously looking too much into what I said, especially when mentioning Warp, when I didn't say anything about Warp.



Actually, there is resistance in space. Low Orbits (which people consider space), Solar Winds, and such. But in interstellar travel it's so small it's regarded as zero.

Anyhow, your max speed is dependant on your warp core and how much stress your ship can take. Else everyone would be running at Warp 9.9999999 til their hearts content.



Don't worry, in Star Trek it took like a month or so to run out of "gas", not days.

To be honest, I'm betting players are more likely to head home for more torpedos and upgrades than to "fuel-up"



If people can't wait 2 to 3 minutes, then they have quite the short attention span. Because last I checked, people usually spend anywhere between 5 minutes to 1 hour in towns with resupplying food, weapons, and more.

What's to say while they are gassing up the ship and repairing, you wouldn't be off to the bank, getting a new mission, or socializing with friends? By the time you get back, it's all done so. So what's the problem?

Seems you just want STO to be so simple to the point it would be boring and uninteresting.

This is exactly my point.

Thanks for making it clear for me... (English is not my native language ;) )

[PvP]

I was wondering...
When you need to go a long way and you travel at max warp..,

Is it possible to run out of fuel so you can only travel at impulse?

And if there are no star bases in the neighborhood can u extract from a asteroid that have the right components?


Anyone?

I hope you have to aquire fuel for your vessel, be silly if you didn't at some point. Make different grades of Dilithium and make it so not everyone can easily farm it, that would take away from the need of having it in the first place.

[Blackfire2]

I would agree, lets look at the refueling idea for a moment. Honestly I think anyone who says having to bother with doing this is an annoyance we can do without is a liar. Why?

Simple, I dont know of anyone in any MMO who does'nt refuel and resupply. In fantasy games do we not restock our supply of healing potions and mana potions as well as other helpful magics and repair weapons and armour at the local smithy? Do we not during this process occasionally bump into someone we know and drop what were doing to say hi? We've done it so often in fantasy games we dont think about it anymore we just do it and it can be very enjoyable.
I remember on one occasion in LOTRO, me and two friends went into the prancing pony to ditch some junk we picked up, two players were working on their music compositions. Well we decided to have some drinks only I had'nt realized there were some side effects to drinking too much. After a few minutes and before I realized it the five people there became 14 all either drinking and laughing their butts off as their monitors blurred and went wonky ( like you had too much to drink ) or playing music . We all had a great time.

But I digress here, Itf we can stop and refuel and resupply in a fantasy game then we should still do so in STO, how it's handled will be up to the devs, but I would hate it if we never had to make a pit stop, you never know what could happpen or who you might meet. :)

[Grey2ham]

From a purely game-mechanic perspective:
Fuel could also be used as a money sink mechanic. This along with repair prices etc creates a counter to inflation.
Make it reasonably cheap for low lvl ships, then more expensive up lvls. Or better components put more strain (power requirements or some such) on the ship.
From a gameplay perspective: I wouldn't be adverse to having to stop off at a station every now and again to refuel and resupply, Im quite used to it. However, i would like to have a minimum speed to get places, and a graphic overlay of range on the map. Perhaps a dynamic shape (max travel distance, based upon known refuelling points) where once you are on the edge you know you have to return?
I might expect certain ships to be able to go further without resupply. For example science vessels could have larger fuel reserves, allowing them to stay out in the field longer, than a battle focused ship.

Sorry for lack of trek-ness in the post I'm not a massive trekie.

[Nyrkl]

Refueling is a way to get people together. The universe is big and everyone is doing missions so if you need to refuel once in a while you can step on a starbase and meet some people at vince on the holodeck!

[web_spy_der]

I can see Collecting Dilithium Crystals as A good side mission or an Amateur Quest to Level Up.

[THORN74]

Well technically Yes, Starfleet ships can run out of "gas".

But that's what the Bussard Collectors are for, they collect stellar Hydrogen and convert it into Deuterium for the Warp Core and the Impulse Engines. And starships do have Anti-Matter generators that can create Anti-Matter if you are far from home. (But it takes time to make, so it's faster to drop by a Starbase to get resupplied).

BTW, you're not going to save fuel by not traveling at Impulse. Unless you want to send a couple of years travelling to the nearest inhabited planet. :p


You know, this is such an interesting question, I really hope that fuel limits will be simulated. Gives players a reason to drop by Starbases once in a while.

impulse power has always bothered me in Star Trek. talking strictly about propultion here (forget power generation for the ships systems for a sec) I understand the need for the warp engines to be on continuesly, as the way warp drive works its constantly pushing against the fabric of normal space. But impulse should work much like an ION drive or even a conventional rocket drive. Once the desired speed is achieved they should be abole to turn off and the ship would coast in a vacume indefinately. so having the Impulse drive engaged all the time durring sublight flight wouldnt make sence. at sublight speeds we are still dealing with Newtonian Physics.


Yes i realize there are other factors involved like corse corrections and debris, etc.... but the engines would only activated when needed. the rest ofr the time the ship would be coasting, just like the shuttle or any other real spacecraft of today.


so, back to the point u would save quite a bit of feul by fliying sublight speeds, but it would litteraly take generations to get anywhere.

[Azurian]

That's what I really want to see refueling as a type of minor inconvience, like how in some MMORPGs you needed food and drink on your character to retain attributes. So why not have it the same when it comes to refueling your starship?

If you really think about it, it's something for your Engineer to do. After all, how many times in Star Trek we heard Geordi, Trip, Torres, or O'Brian tweeking the engines to be more efficent? So the more skilled your engineer, the less refueling stops you have to make.

And you never know, the Devs could even throw in surprises like a new crystal that's more efficent than Dilithium, which gives your ship certain attribute bonuses that doesn't you need to stop for refueling for a year. Or the opposite with a crystal that boosts your power output, but eats up fuel like crazy?

Just from that, I say refueling just got a ton more interesting, don't you?

This is exactly my point.

Thanks for making it clear for me... (English is not my native language ;) )

You're welcome! :)

impulse power has always bothered me in Star Trek. talking strictly about propultion here (forget power generation for the ships systems for a sec) I understand the need for the warp engines to be on continuesly, as the way warp drive works its constantly pushing against the fabric of normal space. But impulse should work much like an ION drive or even a conventional rocket drive. Once the desired speed is achieved they should be abole to turn off and the ship would coast in a vacume indefinately. so having the Impulse drive engaged all the time durring sublight flight wouldnt make sence. at sublight speeds we are still dealing with Newtonian Physics.

Yes i realize there are other factors involved like course corrections and debris, etc.... but the engines would only activated when needed. the rest ofr the time the ship would be coasting, just like the shuttle or any other real spacecraft of today.[/QUOTE]

True, due to Newton's third law that would be the case. So perhaps we can assume there is a type of drag that's present that requires Impulse Engines to be running to a degree to counter it?

Who knows, perhaps it's an effect due to the gravitational fields onboard a starship?


While on the subject, it's always bothered me how they slow down without having impulse engines at the front. I know they got thrusters in front, but they obviously arn't powerful enough to slow a ship to a full stop in a short time. Truely a mystery. :p

So, back to the point u would save quite a bit of fuel by fliying sublight speeds, but it would litteraly take generations to get anywhere.

Yep, because both the Impulse Engines and the Warp Engines both require Deuterium, so that's burning twice the fuel than just using the Impulse Engines alone.

[THORN74]

True, due to Newton's third law that would be the case. So perhaps we can assume there is a type of drag that's present that requires Impulse Engines to be running to a degree to counter it?

Who knows, perhaps it's an effect due to the gravitational fields onboard a starship?


While on the subject, it's always bothered me how they slow down without having impulse engines at the front. I know they got thrusters in front, but they obviously arn't powerful enough to slow a ship to a full stop in a short time. Truely a mystery. :p

yeah i was mainly getting at the lack of explination "in-show" and the fact the writers/SFX guys getting it wrong. it always bothered me.

as fro slowing from warp ... they just reverse the field coils so they fire in reverse order . but slowing at impulse, thats a whole different story. i dont ever remeber seeing thrust reversers (like on an aircraft), and like u said there are no forward facing impulse drive.

[Azurian]

Exactly! All I can think of is, "those are some good thrusters". ;)

[titanticjj]

well what if its like a cars, and how the wheels can go forward or backwards?

[THORN74]

well what if its like a cars, and how the wheels can go forward or backwards?

ummmm....... no. its not like that at all. The impulse engines would be like a jet engine or rocket motor, only cabable of releasing thrust in one direction. so there would need to be some form of reverse thrust equal and greater than the forward thrust. the shuttle does a flip and then applies the OMS thrusters to "break" and aircraft have thrust-reversers, which are large blast sheilds that slide/swivel into the line of thrust so it nolonger pushes on the air but against the aircraft frame to slow down. (they also use airbrakes, but they wont work in space .... no air)

[Loekii]

You know, this is such an interesting question, I really hope that fuel limits will be simulated. Gives players a reason to drop by Starbases once in a while.

I would prefer the motivation to be things like:

re-crew - non-bridge pets can die, and thus need to be replaced.
retro-fits and major upgrades beyond you engineer's skill.
resurrection after space-battle defeat.
barter/sell/buy resources and supplies.