Explored universe

Blaster

Blaster

Rear Admiral
The Wing Commander Prophecy map has a section titled “explored galactic region” with a large part of the galaxy highlighted in yellow. I’m not an astronomer but I’m pretty sure that area of the galaxy has billions of stars in it, or at least millions, but the systems show in the middle of the map are not even close to that number. Are there a lot of explored stars that are not show on the map or do most stars not have jump points and get passed over or something?
 
I'd guess that they're just passed over. I remember jump points are a phenomenon and that probably means that there are only a few in all those stars.
 
There are probably a gazillion (it's a real number!!) of systems that are not connected to jump points.

Maybe that would change after confed learns how to use the Bug's portal stuff.
 
not to mention that as boring as it sounds, the galaxy is really an empty and uninteresting place for the most part.. and while there are probably planets and cool things in most starsystems.. virtually NONE of those starsystems have planets that can sustain life.
 
A star may have a hundred neighbors within a ten-light-year radius, but only four or five of them might be connected to it. Notice how systems with more than six or so jump points are rare. There are a VERY few systems that have been explored by Hopper Drive that can not be reached via Jump Drive. It is entirely possible that two stars that are only a few light-years apart might be separated by a dozen or more jump points--the standard Akwende projection map only shows jump links and not realspace relationships, and only those areas within thirty or so jumps of Earth and Kilrah have been charted.
 
The systems shown on the map aren't all of the known systems. For example, the Armada sectors in the campaign mode aren't on the WCP map.
 
In spite of the 'area of explored space' diagram, the map also includes a notation that it isn't at all to scale -- it's a political map, not a chart of all of space.
 
Thanks for all the answers everyone.

Exactly how fast can a ship travel using a hopper drive?
 
Isn't it almost instantaneous? I though it was like the "fold two points together so they touch" type system, so it's pretty darned fast.

IIRC the range was limited on the hopper drive though, and then you have to wait for a recharge so it took time to get anywhere, but the actual "jump" itself is instant. I believe there was also some limitation on using the Hopper near a natural gravity field (I would have to confirm this with the confed handbook, but that's how I remember it).

I guess the answer is that the speed is relative. When it's actually on, the hopper is really, really fast, but then you have the down time so the actual speed varies.
 
Ijuin said:
There are a VERY few systems that have been explored by Hopper Drive that can not be reached via Jump Drive.
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Can anyone answer my related questions?

I have not heard of a Hopper drive. In what part of WC canon is it referred to? How is it different to the normal jump drive we've all come to know and love? How does it work?

Is this by any chance the engine that propels ships around the tri-system in Privateer 2?

thanks

interesting thread!
 
The Hopper drive was first introduced to the viewers in the WC movie book The Confederation Handbook, effectively a manual for the movie. Within the universe continuity, it's been in existence for centuries as of the time of the games, and was humanity's first practical FTL drive.
 
Practically speaking, Jump (Akwende) drives allow a vessel to travel through a jump line (wormhole) that naturally exists between star systems. Hopper drives, however, allow you to create your own single-use-only wormhole, with the limitations that you have to wait some time between "hops" and that each "hop" is only a fraction of a light year--it takes dozens of hops and weeks of travel time to go from one system to its neighbor, but most of the travel time consists of waiting for the Hopper drive to cool down for the next hop. The Jump Drive has the advantage that travel between systems is over in a single jump, while the Hopper drive has the advantage that it allows you to "hop" to anywhere within its range that is not too deep in a gravity well, and through dozens of successive hops, to reach systems that do not have a convenient Jump route leading to them.
 
This reminds me, I've always wondered what the mini jump in wc2 was, did Enigma have a pair of jump points leading from one part of the system to another?
 
I remember Enigma being something of an anomaly compared to other known sectors because of the unusual web of jump lines, allowing ships to travel distances that they wouldn't ordinarily be able to. Probably how it got its name.
 
McGruff said:
I remember Enigma being something of an anomaly compared to other known sectors because of the unusual web of jump lines, allowing ships to travel distances that they wouldn't ordinarily be able to. Probably how it got its name.
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I think I remember there being a black hole in Enigma
 
Yes, there was a black hole in Enigma, which was responsible for the in-system mini-jumps.
 
The mini-jumps were in Firekka, in SM2. As far as I can remember (...though it has been a while) there were no mini-jumps in WC2. Enigma's black hole allowed the exact opposite, though - you could make unusually long jumps.
 
Ijuin said:
Practically speaking, Jump (Akwende) drives allow a vessel to travel through a jump line (wormhole) that naturally exists between star systems. Hopper drives, however, allow you to create your own single-use-only wormhole, with the limitations that you have to wait some time between "hops" and that each "hop" is only a fraction of a light year--it takes dozens of hops and weeks of travel time to go from one system to its neighbor, but most of the travel time consists of waiting for the Hopper drive to cool down for the next hop. The Jump Drive has the advantage that travel between systems is over in a single jump, while the Hopper drive has the advantage that it allows you to "hop" to anywhere within its range that is not too deep in a gravity well, and through dozens of successive hops, to reach systems that do not have a convenient Jump route leading to them.
Click to expand...

In that case, I would think that hopper drives would be used commonly during actual combat. It sounds like it would be a handy tool to have to get out of a tight spot in a hurry. For example, if the Tarawa was able to "hop" away from the Kilrathi pursuers after the Kilrah mission, it could have just layed low somewhere in deep space, far away from usual lanes of travel until eventually making it back to a regular jump point and escaping.
 
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