In an effort to understand how existing space travel mechanics will 'feel' when our playground expands, I did some rough calculations. The ARK Starmap lists distances in AU, so the first factoid required was the SC value of 1 astronomical unit. For that, I reached out to the humble fountain of knowledge that is @grafton -
"Question for your most extensive reference abilities; what is the value that SC uses for 1 Astronomical Unit?"
His response was the usual well referenced reply, of which I'll share the opening line "to the best of my knowledge, CIG have never given the number. However, they have stated .." and he goes on to address what he could find on the topic.
Lacking a solid reference then, I pulled out the scientific calculator.. somewhat dusty, and of course solar powered for solar system calculations.
Did some math based around distances in the PU, travel times, the Ark Starmap, and a bit of interpretation. 1 AU in game seems to be 1/10 of 1 AU in real life, about 1495980 km. Using the distance from Crusader to the Stanton sun, it comes close to that number.. I don't think the Starmap values are precise enough to be spot on. I may dig into this further but am satisfied for the moment.
So theoretically, the 48.06 AU distance from Port Olisar to Earth (ref Starmap) is 718,967,988 km. Flying the route in a FL Max w/Odyssey QT (10.9 QF/Gm) would require ~7836 QF, cost 512.8 uec (fuel cost at HUR-L1) and take just under 97 minutes of flight (play) time based on current game specs. As the Max holds 2500 QF, that also means at least 3 stops along the way.
This was a theoretical, back-of-envelope exercise to get a better grasp of the size of the 'verse, especially related to QT values and moving stuff around. Precise details were not required and will likely change anyway as we get closer to Beta.
tl;dr - moving around the galaxy is going to be an involved process. Not difficult imo, but time consuming.
"Question for your most extensive reference abilities; what is the value that SC uses for 1 Astronomical Unit?"
His response was the usual well referenced reply, of which I'll share the opening line "to the best of my knowledge, CIG have never given the number. However, they have stated .." and he goes on to address what he could find on the topic.
Lacking a solid reference then, I pulled out the scientific calculator.. somewhat dusty, and of course solar powered for solar system calculations.
Did some math based around distances in the PU, travel times, the Ark Starmap, and a bit of interpretation. 1 AU in game seems to be 1/10 of 1 AU in real life, about 1495980 km. Using the distance from Crusader to the Stanton sun, it comes close to that number.. I don't think the Starmap values are precise enough to be spot on. I may dig into this further but am satisfied for the moment.
So theoretically, the 48.06 AU distance from Port Olisar to Earth (ref Starmap) is 718,967,988 km. Flying the route in a FL Max w/Odyssey QT (10.9 QF/Gm) would require ~7836 QF, cost 512.8 uec (fuel cost at HUR-L1) and take just under 97 minutes of flight (play) time based on current game specs. As the Max holds 2500 QF, that also means at least 3 stops along the way.
This was a theoretical, back-of-envelope exercise to get a better grasp of the size of the 'verse, especially related to QT values and moving stuff around. Precise details were not required and will likely change anyway as we get closer to Beta.
tl;dr - moving around the galaxy is going to be an involved process. Not difficult imo, but time consuming.
