Thu, Mar 4, 2021 at 5:30 AM
David,
Wanted your expert opinion on jump emitters before I dive into visual development of same.
When writing about this aspect of the space technology did you envision the shape and/or distribution of these along the hull of any particular space vessels?
I could just 'wing it', but would feel more comfortable with input from you to begin with.
Cheers,
- Ignatz
Thu, Mar 4, 2021 at 7:42 AM
Ignatz,
Starjump emitters come in all shapes and sizes. First off, I suppose one might consider that I used the wrong name for them: the first device on the ship that was broadcasting the "signal" would be the emitter, and all the rest on the ship would be repeaters or boosters. I figure though, that the radio technology analogy would only go so far, and anyway, it's a fictional tech, so I can use whatever terms I want.
For the Tottenberg, the drone emitters that would fly out and attach themselves to the boxes wouldn't look much like the emitters that the ship, itself, has installed, even though they'd do the same job, only on a larger scale.
But to answer your question directly, no, I never had any ideas for this vessel. When I came up with the ship, it was specifically for the junk version in the playtest. The emitters had long before been scavenged, so I didn't have to think about them.
Emitters can run the gamut from Soviet-era looking blocky/bulky things, to exposed girders with rivets, for a Victorian industrial vibe, all the way to gossamer-like antennae, looking like filaments or downy feathers from a distance. The Tottenberg class probably has a dense, armored quality to them, but smoothed over a bit. Structure-wise, maybe something like a hand-held fan, curved in a half-funnel, and covered along one side by a protective shell? I don't know. Ignore me.
This type of ship may only need a couple of exposed emitters on it; maybe slightly over-sized ones on port and starboard, so that the extra-dimensional bubble balloons out and can be easily picked up by the drone emitters in place on the cargo box? With at least two of these ships operating their starjump equipment in concert, the box emitters would easily pick up and amplify the signal.
-David