On 28/6/20 10:15 pm, Thomas Jones-Low wrote: > On 6/28/2020 7:29 AM, Alex Goodwin wrote: >> >>> The Hop drive is quantized to 10 parsecs per jump, and each level >>> beyond that is another 10x multiple. The usual workaround is to aim >>> for the gravity well of a star at your destination, but short of the >>> 10pc. That just makes the Navigation that much more difficult. >> And higher orders are likewise quantised to their respective multiple? >> eg skip drives would be quantised to 100 pc, leap drives to 1 kpc, etc? > > Yes, that's correct. The distance from the gravity sources is also > increased as well. 100D for jump drives, 1,000D for Hop Drives, > 10,000D for Skip Drives and so on. With Skip drives and the like, > having the Jump drive is there just to get into the system from your > exit point. For the ball of gas we're orbiting, 100D is very very near 1 AU. So a Hop drive would be precipitated somewhat beyond Saturnian orbit (10 AU), a Skip drive would end up well out into the scattered disc (100 AU), a Leap drive would be out beyond Sednan aphelion, (1,000 AU) etc. (Merrily neglecting the stellar limits Das Boot buzzes past en route). At least once you hit skip drives, wouldn't that almost inevitably lead to hub-and-spoke arrangements on a nontrivial scale? Frinstance, say I'm a Sector Consul kicking around Yejiariebr 2038 (at the coreward end of the Zhodani Core Route) when the sins of my past lives catch up to me and the "good" news arrives that I am now an electee to the Qlomdlabr (the news of my elevation to the Vlanchiets Qlom council was returned to sender on the grounds it was complete bollocks) and my august presence is "requested" on Zhdant post-haste. I thus need to quickly become a card-carrying member of the Beat Feet Manifesto (by my preference, anywhere BUT rimwards). That would seem to be a Hop/Jump-powered ship (probably H3/J3) to get to the nearest major Skip route waypoint. Then me, my jailers^H^H^H^H^H^H^Hescorts and our assorted kit transfer to a Skip/Jump-powered courier which nicks off rimwards. The final approach (for maximum generality - in this particular case, Zhdant itself might well be a skip route waypoint) is to transfer to a Hop/Jump local courier for the final leg. I am thence turfed out the hatch upon docking at one of Zhdant's downports and hauled into the Qlomdlabr chamber. > >> >> From what you've described, a J-3 drive would be a good complement to >> any strain of Hop drive to allow fine(r) positioning inside that last 10 >> pc, at the cost of an extra week in transit. >> > > Once you get into using the hop-2 or beyond, this is true. For a > Hop-1/J3 drive vs a courier J4/J5 drive (just refuel, no stopover) you > can argue which is more efficient. > <snip> Good catch.
