Pelican Transport Information?

Originally posted by CamW
That still doesn't explain why when you are at 0 kps, and Midway is at 0 kps, and then fly past it at 1500 kps, it still takes like 5 seconds to fly past it. :D
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Okay. How about...

Most 3D engines for space sims don't handle perspective very well - that is to say, the point of view you get from the cockpit isn't really that accurate. As a result, they inflate model sizes to make them appear more massive. This is especially the case in a game like WC where fighters are able to reach speeds in excess of 1000 KPS - which would mean that at full afterburner most ships would appear as little more than blurs.
 
Originally posted by dacis2

I locked ABs after complete accel and reached the starting part and hit my stopwatch, 'bout 4.37 secs later I stopped the watch. that means, Origin made a serious miscalculation, it's 4.37*1300kps is.... 5681m or 5.681 km, give or take a coupla metres.
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Actually your calculation is wrong, the speed being 1300 kps i.e. kilometers per second, not meters... 4.37secs*1300kps = 5681km, a very long distance if you ask me...

Now I don't remember what was said a while ago, about kps being a relative measurement maybe, so I wouldn't mind LOAF or someone else explaining this paradox again...
 
A copy of Joan's Fighting Spacecraft lists the Ferret's speed as 500 kps. At first glance, this would indicate that the Ferret's maximum speed is exactly 500 kilometers per second. Consider first Joan's definition of Maximum Velocity: "These are the settings to which a ship's speed-governors are set. This is always a relative velocity; a ship's computer sets it relative to (a) the flagship, (b) an escorted vessel, (c) a nearby planetary body, (d) a Confederation beacon, or (e) a value derived from radar positions of all visible ships. The velocity is expressed in kilometers per second."

The key term is relative. This means that while the Ferret's maximum speed will always be 500 kps to the Scimitar's 360 kps, it will rarely be actually moving at 500 kilometers per second.

Under optimum conditions the maximum speed of the Ferret will be 500 kilometers per second. These are the conditions that affect all craft in the same area -- things like the effect of gravity, availability of hydrogen and maneuvering requirements. They affect both the Scimitar and the Ferret, enforcing the same amount of limitations on them both. It is only when traveling in a straight line in deep space with excess spaceborn hydrogen that a Ferret can travel 500 kps actual... but it will always out-run the Scimitar at the same rate, no matter the conditions.

Optimum conditions are rarely met. Almost all fighter combat involves maneuvering inside of star systems with a more limited supply of hydrogen. For that reason a fighter may travel as slowly as a several hundred meters per second -- but it will still be traveling at the same ratio of speed compared to all other ships in the area.

Why does this seemingly confusing system exist? Because it is very difficult for a fighter pilot to gauge speed in space. Without the 'ground' as a point of reference (and taking into account the affects of high-tech shock absorbers and advanced computer targeting systems), travelling at 500 kps actual will seem exactly like travelling at 500 kps relative. Since fighter combat is as much instinct as it is technology, ship designers have wisely developed this system of speed measurement. (As a side-note, it was not until recently (2669) that this system was enhanced to include 'ground' combat. Before this point, fighter pilots had to manually set their fighters to half a kilometer per second or so to be able to sensibly engage in maneuvers in an atmosphere.)

Why, then, would it take the Ferret 5 seconds to pass the full length of a stationary Midway class heavy carrier (1.830 meters)? Because, given the situation, it is travelling only at 366 meters per second. Given the same conditions, it would take the Scimitar 7 seconds to travel the same distance.
 
Originally posted by Bandit LOAF
A copy of Joan's Fighting Spacecraft lists the Ferret's speed as 500 kps. At first glance, this would indicate that the Ferret's maximum speed is exactly 500 kilometers per second. Consider first Joan's definition of Maximum Velocity: "These are the settings to which a ship's speed-governors are set. This is always a relative velocity; a ship's computer sets it relative to (a) the flagship, (b) an escorted vessel, (c) a nearby planetary body, (d) a Confederation beacon, or (e) a value derived from radar positions of all visible ships. The velocity is expressed in kilometers per second."

The key term is relative. This means that while the Ferret's maximum speed will always be 500 kps to the Scimitar's 360 kps, it will rarely be actually moving at 500 kilometers per second.
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Ok... I apologize, but I fail to understand this. If the Ferret's speed is 500kps relative to another gravitational body (flagship, an escorted vessel, a nearby planetary body etc.) this means that to achieve the 500kps relative velocity, the Ferret must actually be travelling at an even greater velocity!

If for example, a car is traveling 50km/h relative to a walking man, who in turn is walking 6km/h (in the same direction), this means that the car is traveling a6t 56km/h... That is of course if the two bodies are traveling in the same direction...

So what I don't understand is how the measurement is taken into account in the WC world, how the fighter's speed can be matched and measured relative to something else, which from what I understood is randomly selected, and whose direction compared to the fighter's is obviously changing all the time, because of the constant manoeuvering...

Under optimum conditions the maximum speed of the Ferret will be 500 kilometers per second. These are the conditions that affect all craft in the same area -- things like the effect of gravity, availability of hydrogen and maneuvering requirements. They affect both the Scimitar and the Ferret, enforcing the same amount of limitations on them both. It is only when traveling in a straight line in deep space with excess spaceborn hydrogen that a Ferret can travel 500 kps actual... but it will always out-run the Scimitar at the same rate, no matter the conditions.

Optimum conditions are rarely met. Almost all fighter combat involves maneuvering inside of star systems with a more limited supply of hydrogen. For that reason a fighter may travel as slowly as a several hundred meters per second -- but it will still be traveling at the same ratio of speed compared to all other ships in the area.
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Ok, this a bit more clear to me. The fact that 500kps for the Ferret is only a theoretical value, that can be achieved only is optimum conditions...
However, if the Ferret would be traveling at 366 meters per second while flying over the Ferret, dropping from a theoretical value of 500kps to 266mps seems a huge drop to me, which is more confusing that it is seeming to make sense (which I guess it does, only I don't grasp it).
 
...yours is but to do and die... where did I see that before? :)

But seriously, I find this issue interesting, so I wouldn't mind an answer.
 
Bah!
If the velocity is absolute or realtive or if it´s kps or mps doesn´t matters, what matters is that the ship in good condition to FLY not destroyed by some enemy
 
The whole max. speed system used in Wing Commander and similar games is a result of the necessity of giving a speed cap to ships in gameplay. In real life, a ship would continue to accelerate as long as the engines are thrusting, but this is very diffcult for the computer to model and even more difficult for the player to adjust to. Thus, instead of being allowed to accelerate without limit, all ships are given a maximum speed which they may not exceed in combat.

Note that I say "in combat". Ships' speed relative to each other needs to stay relatively low during actual combat if they are to stay within each other's gunsights long enough to actually shoot at each other. However, one may speculate that continuous acceleration is used for cruising between waypoints--in WC3, 4, and WCP, nav points can be several million clicks apart from each other, meaning that it would take many hours to travel to the next nav point if one were traveling at a constant 400kps or so.
 
Ok... I apologize, but I fail to understand this. If the Ferret's speed is 500kps relative to another gravitational body (flagship, an escorted vessel, a nearby planetary body etc.) this means that to achieve the 500kps relative velocity, the Ferret must actually be travelling at an even greater velocity!
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The quote from Joan's says *or*, not *and*. The deciding factor is almost certainly (in every case we encounter in WC, at least) part e.

Ok, this a bit more clear to me. The fact that 500kps for the Ferret is only a theoretical value, that can be achieved only is optimum conditions...
However, if the Ferret would be traveling at 366 meters per second while flying over the Ferret, dropping from a theoretical value of 500kps to 266mps seems a huge drop to me, which is more confusing that it is seeming to make sense (which I guess it does, only I don't grasp it).
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I simply made up numbers -- we don't know how long it takes a Ferret to pass the Midway... you can't complain about the speeds <G>

Further, it is logical to assume that near a capship it would be *very* slow -- as a capship takes in all the hydrogen around it...
 
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