Karak Terrel
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Posted - 2010.04.13 13:02:00 -
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The problem is not that there are deep safespots, the problem is that you have to use an exploit to create one.
Just introduce a way to create one and i would prefer a challenging way, not just "move probe here. warp". Something where you have to think, calculate, solve problems.. whatever, it should not be easy to do.
My idea for this is a new warpdrive mechanic, and also the techi **** behind (cause this is scifi k  ):
1. The theory of why you can't just...
If you have a bookmark of a point in space it is not just coordinates, it contains also a lot of information about the spacetime topology itself in this target region. Only with this information the warpdrive is able to lock on and warp to this point. Without the information of the topologie the warp bubble may not terminate at a specific point but spread over some distance which results in you and your ship also "spread" over the same distance..
However, probes are small and unmaned so they can use different warp mechanics which lead to very high accl/decl forces (which can't be compensated) but prevent them from beeing vaporized while exiting warp in unknown spacetime topology. If used to scan signatures, probes use an active scann system to eventualy find the object and use it as a reference point to measure the topology at the target. Without this artificial reference point it is impossible for a probe to determine the point it should measure. They can also not act as they'r own reference point, they are too small to act as a beacon that is strong enought.
2. One first Idea how you can do it (maybe this is a bad idea cause it may be boring)
There are other "probes" that act as a beacon, but they are not able to enter warp, they have to use the relativistic way, while sending out a signal that can be tracked down. To launch such a probe you need to anchor an accelerator which accelerates the beacon into a specific direction. You can also use gravitation of planets to increase the speed of the beacon (there should be various other factors), but this will result in a different direction. Once the beacon is on its way to the outer solar system you can track it down with your probes, but it will always move while you are scanning. The beacon will not deccelerate except from the cosmic medium which "scources" the beacon at this high velocity and limits its lifetime. As the beacon can not pass the lightspeed barrier it will take some time to travel and you don't exactly know how long it will last. The faster it travels the more likely it is that it gets destroyed early and the harder it is to track down.
3. Other
Maybe someone has a better idea, there was always this deadspace thing which may also result in a interesting and maybe more challenging idea how to get deep safespots. At least CCP talked at fanfest about some plans around deadspace.
Would like to see some thought from others on this or other ideas.
less whining more thinking!!
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