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itsaboxstravaganza2021-06-08 12:10 pm
prof) wrote in itsaboxstravaganza2021-06-08 12:10 pm
One Piece Galaxy: Technology
Hypersail
The spacefaring technology that became the backbone of the Second Age of Sail. Hyperspace is a demiplane of reality adjacent to ours; physical objects can't exist there, but it has currents that can be tapped into to accelerate ships beyond the speed of light. The main form of this is hypersapce channels that connect nearby star systems, hypersail ships using them like rivers to navigate the galaxy. While the low fuel requirements and low price of construction has made them a standard for interstellar travel, the system is not without its weaknesses. Hypersail is restricted to the existing channels between star systems and the swirling currents within them, meaning that the routes between stars may sometimes be long and meandering. They are also blocked by hyperspace faults, areas of space where hyperspace doesn't exist; there are natural faults between the four galactic arms, and artificial faults surrounding the Grand Line. Also, hypersail travel puts a lot of stress on the sails themselves, so they need to be maintained and repaired every few star systems, lest you lose your sails in deep space and be stranded.
Fold Drives
A Raiam-created alternative to hypersails, although the technology is more widely available now. A Fold Drive, as its name suggests, folds space to connect two distant points, allowing for instantaneous travel across immense distances. This would render hypersail obsolete, if it weren't for a few further drawbacks. Fold Drives are expensive and time-consuming to build, and also much larger, meaning that they aren't available for smaller starships or individuals who aren't ultra-wealthy; most Fold ships are owned by government bodies, such as the Galactic Navy. They also require immense amounts of energy to perform a jump, are blocked by hyperspace faults, and - most importantly - do not function at all within the Grand Line.
Silksteel
A miracle fabric that revolutionized countless aspects of life in the galaxy. Silksteel is dirt cheap to produce, incredibly durable, low maintenance, and can easly incorporate all kinds of special technology. Most common for starfarers is vacuum protection - either at a command or when detecting hard vacuum, a properly-equipped silksteel suit can transform to cover the whole body, introducing normal clothes that can become a space suit in the blink of an eye. They can also provide protection from the hazards of space, with armor mods absorbing impacts and distributing them over wider areas, or even transferring damage to the suit itself to the body underneath in order to prevent exposure to vacuum. Common among those expecting to do a lot of space walks is built-in thrusters, allowing you to freely navigate in three dimensions in space, and to do cool big jumps on planetside.
Communication
With the speed of light as a barrier, it's difficult to keep in communication with other star systems. There are two known ways to avoid this. First and more common is Hyperwave Broadcast, which uses hyperspace currents to carry information - this is easy and useful, but the biggest limiations are a restriction to the hyperspace current network and the fact that you can't send directed messages; if you fire off a hyperwave broadcast, anyone within lightyears can listen in. The second is the denden mushi, a rare and harmless species of space monster that looks like a mildly oversized snail. These tiny space monsters can communicate with their brethren across immense distances, allowing people to use them as phone lines across the galaxy with zero time lag. They only transmit sound, though, and you need to get your hands on one to have access to the denden network.
Starships
Starships are almost as diverse and varied as the civilizations that build them. They vary from small corvettes that need only a skeleton crew to fly, to kilometers-long hulking space dreadnoughts. Combat between ships is surprisingly close-range; laser weapons never turned out to be viable, so what beam weapons are in common use fly much slower than the speed of light. For massive starships, filling space with walls of beam weapons and missiles is a viable strategy, but for smaller ships, most ship-mounted weapons can be evaded or shot down by a skilled crew. Thus, the most useful weapons in space combat between medium-sized or smaller vessels is boarding maneuvers. Expect swordfights and gunfights on the outside of your ship to repel invading pirates or navy forces as your ships duke it out with their own weapons.
The spacefaring technology that became the backbone of the Second Age of Sail. Hyperspace is a demiplane of reality adjacent to ours; physical objects can't exist there, but it has currents that can be tapped into to accelerate ships beyond the speed of light. The main form of this is hypersapce channels that connect nearby star systems, hypersail ships using them like rivers to navigate the galaxy. While the low fuel requirements and low price of construction has made them a standard for interstellar travel, the system is not without its weaknesses. Hypersail is restricted to the existing channels between star systems and the swirling currents within them, meaning that the routes between stars may sometimes be long and meandering. They are also blocked by hyperspace faults, areas of space where hyperspace doesn't exist; there are natural faults between the four galactic arms, and artificial faults surrounding the Grand Line. Also, hypersail travel puts a lot of stress on the sails themselves, so they need to be maintained and repaired every few star systems, lest you lose your sails in deep space and be stranded.
Fold Drives
A Raiam-created alternative to hypersails, although the technology is more widely available now. A Fold Drive, as its name suggests, folds space to connect two distant points, allowing for instantaneous travel across immense distances. This would render hypersail obsolete, if it weren't for a few further drawbacks. Fold Drives are expensive and time-consuming to build, and also much larger, meaning that they aren't available for smaller starships or individuals who aren't ultra-wealthy; most Fold ships are owned by government bodies, such as the Galactic Navy. They also require immense amounts of energy to perform a jump, are blocked by hyperspace faults, and - most importantly - do not function at all within the Grand Line.
Silksteel
A miracle fabric that revolutionized countless aspects of life in the galaxy. Silksteel is dirt cheap to produce, incredibly durable, low maintenance, and can easly incorporate all kinds of special technology. Most common for starfarers is vacuum protection - either at a command or when detecting hard vacuum, a properly-equipped silksteel suit can transform to cover the whole body, introducing normal clothes that can become a space suit in the blink of an eye. They can also provide protection from the hazards of space, with armor mods absorbing impacts and distributing them over wider areas, or even transferring damage to the suit itself to the body underneath in order to prevent exposure to vacuum. Common among those expecting to do a lot of space walks is built-in thrusters, allowing you to freely navigate in three dimensions in space, and to do cool big jumps on planetside.
Communication
With the speed of light as a barrier, it's difficult to keep in communication with other star systems. There are two known ways to avoid this. First and more common is Hyperwave Broadcast, which uses hyperspace currents to carry information - this is easy and useful, but the biggest limiations are a restriction to the hyperspace current network and the fact that you can't send directed messages; if you fire off a hyperwave broadcast, anyone within lightyears can listen in. The second is the denden mushi, a rare and harmless species of space monster that looks like a mildly oversized snail. These tiny space monsters can communicate with their brethren across immense distances, allowing people to use them as phone lines across the galaxy with zero time lag. They only transmit sound, though, and you need to get your hands on one to have access to the denden network.
Starships
Starships are almost as diverse and varied as the civilizations that build them. They vary from small corvettes that need only a skeleton crew to fly, to kilometers-long hulking space dreadnoughts. Combat between ships is surprisingly close-range; laser weapons never turned out to be viable, so what beam weapons are in common use fly much slower than the speed of light. For massive starships, filling space with walls of beam weapons and missiles is a viable strategy, but for smaller ships, most ship-mounted weapons can be evaded or shot down by a skilled crew. Thus, the most useful weapons in space combat between medium-sized or smaller vessels is boarding maneuvers. Expect swordfights and gunfights on the outside of your ship to repel invading pirates or navy forces as your ships duke it out with their own weapons.