Okay, I'm going to make this short and sweet before I forget about it.
Spaceships (can) travel by expelling an ion jet into an ion cloud (I like ions because they are small). The same way a rocket works, more or less, only rockets push off from the cloud formed by their own jet, which already has a negative vector (with respect to the vector of the rocket). By producing a cloud at the same velocity as the body you are moving, you can increase thrust (or so my limited knowledge of high school level physics and logic would suggest).
Does this matter? Not really. Maybe a little for engine design.
The important thing is the ion trail that is produced which can obviously be tracked. If someone picks up your ion trail, they can determine how long ago you were there (or somewhere. the trail will obviously move in the opposite direction of the spaceship) based on the dispersion of the ions and, I'm sure, a number of other technical criteria.
How does one avoid being tracked? Simple. Use your main ion thrusters to get you going in a direction that isn't exactly where you are going (most useful if it appears to be headed somewhere else) then dart using standard gas thrusters in very short bursts. Your pursuer will track your ion trail in a straight vector. Meanwhile, while moving in roughly the same direction (your forward vector will be constant in space unless you add a counter force which simply cancels all the energy you put into firing your ion thrusters) you are now on your way to a destination that becomes increasingly different the longer you drift. More darting means a harder track to follow. However, a trained gas dynamic physicist/astro-navigator/three-dimension trigonometric analyst may be able to detect the unusual small gas pocket that you have expelled in the opposite direction and deduce from dispersion pattern the age and origin of the gas and, when compared with the vector given by the ion trail, the new vector of the ship.
Ohh sweet science, how I missed you!
Funny, I thought of this while I was thinking about relationships...
Showing posts with label FbfM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FbfM. Show all posts
January 5, 2009
December 15, 2008
Okay, okay, business
Okay, so I read Hellboy the other day and it came across as a very real story for several reasons. These reasons I think each apply to one, if not more, of our projects.
Hellboy is not an extreme character. He is rational, but gets mad. But getting mad doesn't mean he loses all rational thought. Part of his brain is always thinking. Untitled needs this kind of middle ground character. Not pathetic, not God, not painfully average, not a prophecy... a protagonist that you actually like right from the get-go.
The story integrates and manipulates history. In fact, a grade school education would supply you with all the historical knowledge you need to follow what they allude to. Things aren't stated unless the story wouldn't make sense without it. In other words, being clever isn't overt. I think that's what I need to focus on when I write FbfM. Yeah, I've thought everything out, but I don't need to explain everything in detail, so long as everything is consistent.
Finally, Hellboy is the protagonist, but you love and appreciate Liz and Abe. They're all important, powerful, capable, and useful in their own ways. The protagonist just happens to be Hellboy. These secontagonists, or possibly cotagonists, are exactly what Untitled needs. Like this guy: The man with the long sided face.
So there are just a few things I noticed that I want to make sure we do. Also, I want to doodle more. This little guy is pretty fun.
Oh, also, I totally made up the words "secontagonist" and "cotagonist," although I think "cotagonist" should actually be a word... "Contagonist" is a word (sort of), but you heard it here first!
Cotagonist, (noun), \kō-ˈta-gə-nist\ - A character that is of equal importance to a story, but is not the protagonist.
Hellboy is not an extreme character. He is rational, but gets mad. But getting mad doesn't mean he loses all rational thought. Part of his brain is always thinking. Untitled needs this kind of middle ground character. Not pathetic, not God, not painfully average, not a prophecy... a protagonist that you actually like right from the get-go.
The story integrates and manipulates history. In fact, a grade school education would supply you with all the historical knowledge you need to follow what they allude to. Things aren't stated unless the story wouldn't make sense without it. In other words, being clever isn't overt. I think that's what I need to focus on when I write FbfM. Yeah, I've thought everything out, but I don't need to explain everything in detail, so long as everything is consistent.
Finally, Hellboy is the protagonist, but you love and appreciate Liz and Abe. They're all important, powerful, capable, and useful in their own ways. The protagonist just happens to be Hellboy. These secontagonists, or possibly cotagonists, are exactly what Untitled needs. Like this guy: The man with the long sided face.
So there are just a few things I noticed that I want to make sure we do. Also, I want to doodle more. This little guy is pretty fun.
Oh, also, I totally made up the words "secontagonist" and "cotagonist," although I think "cotagonist" should actually be a word... "Contagonist" is a word (sort of), but you heard it here first!
Cotagonist, (noun), \kō-ˈta-gə-nist\ - A character that is of equal importance to a story, but is not the protagonist.
December 13, 2008
Official News I
The Projects:
The Company, if you can call it that, feels it necessary to divulge some information about our projects to you, our non-existent audience; rather than complain about the lack of climbing for a change.
Thom and Alex met in late 2002 and have been working on numerous writing projects since mid 2003. A few of these were somewhat short-lived, but many aspects of these evolved into larger, more large, and extremely larger large projects.
Two days ago, the executives met about the current state of The Projects and have concluded the following:
Chronicles (volumes I – V)
Vectorevolution’s oldest project. A series of five dealing with the nature of friendship and the strain that time travel has on that bond. Currently, the first three volumes (Déjà Vu, Vhere's ze Dänger, and Vous N’étiez Jamais Aussi Futé; respectively) are written with the fourth script’s plot detailed. Currently, the first two scripts are deemed unworthy of the respect the company gives them; they are the oldest and despite having been subjected to numerous re-writes, they still reflect the style and humour Thom and Alex shared over five years ago. Chronicles currently sits on the backburners simply because the writers feel too pressured to be hilarious with every other line of dialogue and the fact that CI and CII need a screenplay’s equivalent of brain surgery.
Fireballs from Mercury
This is a project that has recently taken up the mantle of Thom’s oldest creative endeavour; FbfM was conceived sometime in 1996. This series is about the relationships that people have and how they change when an outsider begins to live with them. In space. Originally set as a space-comedy, FbfM has evolved into more of a space drama. The Company feels that the problem with Fireballs, again, is the restraints that the writers have placed on the project: it’s serious, it’s romantic, it’s funny, and it’s not going anywhere fast right now. Vectorevolution regrets to inform you that Fireballs from Mercury is sitting next to Chronicles on the backburner due to an extensive case of space-writer’s-block.
Remorse
This is the as “normal” as Vectorevolution gets. This project deals with the nature of romantic relationships and whether to sacrifice... wait no, that’s not right. This project deals with the strain a romantic entanglement puts on established relationships with... hold on, that’s not it. This project deals with romance and stuff. This project has actually been on the backburner since late 2005 simply because we feel that there is nothing more to add to the project and even if there was, we do not feel competent enough to complete it simply because we feel that it has to be that damn good. This is what the industry refers to as “development hell.”
[Untitled Fantasy Project]
This newest project has only surfaced in the past week, and deals with Old Gods that created the world only to have people lose faith in them, and sight of their humanity. We feel that it needs to exist in a very contained environment (as in no ludicrous amount of scripts, plots, and/or spin-offs) and scarily enough this will be the first project that does not include an overlapping character. Rather than putting restrictions on this project, the writers (and artists in this case) are going to... what’s the phrase? Go bat-shit crazy with the artistic and creative direction of the project. This is not a romance; this is not a space-drama; this is not a comedy. This is a new direction for the creative minds at Vectorevolution, and we are very, very excited.
So, we hope that this information session has sparked some interest in our projects and the nature of the Company, and we promise to actually get something done real soon. We promise. No, really.
VR out.
The Company, if you can call it that, feels it necessary to divulge some information about our projects to you, our non-existent audience; rather than complain about the lack of climbing for a change.
Thom and Alex met in late 2002 and have been working on numerous writing projects since mid 2003. A few of these were somewhat short-lived, but many aspects of these evolved into larger, more large, and extremely larger large projects.
Two days ago, the executives met about the current state of The Projects and have concluded the following:
Chronicles (volumes I – V)
Vectorevolution’s oldest project. A series of five dealing with the nature of friendship and the strain that time travel has on that bond. Currently, the first three volumes (Déjà Vu, Vhere's ze Dänger, and Vous N’étiez Jamais Aussi Futé; respectively) are written with the fourth script’s plot detailed. Currently, the first two scripts are deemed unworthy of the respect the company gives them; they are the oldest and despite having been subjected to numerous re-writes, they still reflect the style and humour Thom and Alex shared over five years ago. Chronicles currently sits on the backburners simply because the writers feel too pressured to be hilarious with every other line of dialogue and the fact that CI and CII need a screenplay’s equivalent of brain surgery.
Fireballs from Mercury
This is a project that has recently taken up the mantle of Thom’s oldest creative endeavour; FbfM was conceived sometime in 1996. This series is about the relationships that people have and how they change when an outsider begins to live with them. In space. Originally set as a space-comedy, FbfM has evolved into more of a space drama. The Company feels that the problem with Fireballs, again, is the restraints that the writers have placed on the project: it’s serious, it’s romantic, it’s funny, and it’s not going anywhere fast right now. Vectorevolution regrets to inform you that Fireballs from Mercury is sitting next to Chronicles on the backburner due to an extensive case of space-writer’s-block.
Remorse
This is the as “normal” as Vectorevolution gets. This project deals with the nature of romantic relationships and whether to sacrifice... wait no, that’s not right. This project deals with the strain a romantic entanglement puts on established relationships with... hold on, that’s not it. This project deals with romance and stuff. This project has actually been on the backburner since late 2005 simply because we feel that there is nothing more to add to the project and even if there was, we do not feel competent enough to complete it simply because we feel that it has to be that damn good. This is what the industry refers to as “development hell.”
[Untitled Fantasy Project]
This newest project has only surfaced in the past week, and deals with Old Gods that created the world only to have people lose faith in them, and sight of their humanity. We feel that it needs to exist in a very contained environment (as in no ludicrous amount of scripts, plots, and/or spin-offs) and scarily enough this will be the first project that does not include an overlapping character. Rather than putting restrictions on this project, the writers (and artists in this case) are going to... what’s the phrase? Go bat-shit crazy with the artistic and creative direction of the project. This is not a romance; this is not a space-drama; this is not a comedy. This is a new direction for the creative minds at Vectorevolution, and we are very, very excited.
So, we hope that this information session has sparked some interest in our projects and the nature of the Company, and we promise to actually get something done real soon. We promise. No, really.
VR out.
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