I'm working with an intergalactic world-building story in which the people are technologically advanced, yet energy-based magic plays a huge role.
This is a foreign galaxy, so the science doesn't have to exactly match our own, though it should feel familiar (their planets have similar makeup to our own). Their space travel happens only between the galaxy's 7 planets, so no ultra-long-range, out-of-the-galaxy stuff is needed! :)
It's probably also good to note that people don't really travel alone, like with their own space ship. It's mass transportation, and it takes time, money, and effort. You're probably going to go from one planet to another to stay for several days, or weeks/months, not for the weekend. Especially if you're transporting from one end of the galaxy to the other!!
I've been playing with the idea of using gravity centers made of a superdense material to "slingshot" ships (pretty much inventions of large scale magic-powered tech) from one point to the next, but I can't seem to flesh it out very well. I'm open to other ideas as well, but I want something unique and different!
Thanks in advance!! :D
I like the idea of a giant slingshot cause it kinda reminds me of a trip to the moon's space travel method of shooting a ship out of a giant gun, and I think it could be fun in a steampunk aesthetic, the one problem though would be if you throw ships across the galaxy what will catch them? like would the ships kinda have a controlled crash landing or Irl-like rockets to take them the last part of the journey? But energy bases magic has a lot of potential, maybe you could make your ships powered on the life force of its passengers, using humans almost like batteries to give it the boost to break through the atmosphere? It'd be fun if lots of tech was powered that way and it adds another layer of the more I guess greedy a person is wanting to travel and have all the these technological luxuries the more it takes it out of them. But yeah I like that whole slingshot or maybe a cannon of some sort. I should ask though, whats uh…I guess whats the aesthetic of your universe? is it like clean smooth scfi, or more like a dirty fantasy future or whats up? (Cause you know then you can tailor your invents to the vibe of the world)
if you throw ships across the galaxy what will catch them? like would the ships kinda have a controlled crash landing or Irl-like rockets to take them the last part of the journey?
I was going to have just regular rockets to take them in and out of orbit! haha :) I got the idea while watching a Stargate SG-1 episode where they use a planet's gravity to change the direction of a spacecraft. I was thinking that I could do something similar but with an engineered "planet"… something way smaller made out of a dense material. So, like if a pilot wanted to plot a course, the gravity centers in the line of travel would receive the coordinates and slingshot the ship in the right direction for them to continue on course.
as far as the aesthetic of the world, think more grungy and real-life as opposed to shiny and movie-curated, like BSG or The Expanse or the Red Rising books!
I have a similar concept for a certain project I'm trying to flesh out. Lemme just attempt to brush the rust off of my brainpan…
So, how about we create a Directional Gravity Drive with an integrated gravity type magic? It would basically be the magical equivalent of a gyro (in the simplest of terms). It would enable a vessel to (theoretically, of course) sort of slide and slip through space by utilizing gravity waves from different spacial entities and making corrections off of them. In order to counteract the pull while inbound to a destination, the drive would then counter-rotate to slow the vessel down (without killing all the occupants inside by turning them into a primordial jello).
Think… The Expanse, except instead of directly rotating the entire ship and firing thrusters in the opposite direction to slow the ship down, you're using the reverse rotational energy of your drive to slow the ship down.
Power source?
I mean… is it possible to utilize magic to create a miniaturized star in your universe?
