[Spoiler] Math

[dr_hallii]

I'd rather not have to reverse engineer this on paper... Does anyone know the exact ratio equation the code uses to balance mass and drag against engine values for total movement speeds?

[Avior]

Max speed is just thrust divided by drag.
Acceleration and turning are just thrust and steering force divided by mass, respectively.

[dr_hallii]

That makes alot of sense from the numbers I've come up with so far... Thank you.

On a realistic note, I'm assuming the "drag" listed is gravitational drag, not atmospheric/frictional drag?

If so, the drag itself should be dynamic, based on mass, and not static per ship's(let's call it shape) shape. If this were the case, then it should also behave similar to a ramscoop, where its value is highest when near a system's star, and lowest when in deep space. No?

[Avior]

It's just for gameplay purposes, to cap ships' speeds. There is no drag in space.
If you want to remove this cap, feel free to do so in your own copy of the game.

[dr_hallii]

Originally posted by Avior:

It's just for gameplay purposes, to cap ships' speeds

I completely understand, I was just pitching an idea.

Originally posted by Avior:

There is no drag in space.

There certainly is. Its called weight, which only exists in relation to other bodies in space (ie. a star/planet/another ship)

Originally posted by Avior:

If you want to remove this cap, feel free to do so in your own copy of the game.

I've tried, it breaks everything.

Again, just pitching an idea.

[warp_core]

Weight is not a form of drag. Drag is a force that acts against the motion of an object. The weight of an object doesn't necessarily have to act against it's motion.

[dr_hallii]

Except that the object is drawn toward its nearest, heaviest neighbor, causing it to lose momentum in any outward direction and gain momentum inward. This is what causes an object to orbit another object

I've basically stepped all over my original idea proposal, by all laws of physics, if you're beyond the edge of your system and begin accelerating toward the center, you won't be able to stop accelerating until you collide with the sun.

Screw my idea, this has become a physics war.

[dr_hallii]

My original point was to offer an afk captain the ability to get back to his fleet (potentially after hours or days of drifting away from the center) without taking a commensurate amount of time to regroup, and without slapping that J button. So, changing drag doesn't work for this for... reasons (laziness and lack of math, it seems). Would it instead be feasible for the game to alter an afk flagship's course so it orbits the systems star, just outside aggro range? Nah, probably not... same reasons.

[Avior]

What we meant by "drag" was more of the sort on planets: atmospheric drag, not anything gravitational.
Actual gravity, really, would just make the game too complex, although it has been considered (and even partially developed) before.[github.com]

Originally posted by dr_hallii:

My original point was to offer an afk captain the ability to get back to his fleet (potentially after hours or days of drifting away from the center) without taking a commensurate amount of time to regroup, and without slapping that J button.
[...] Would it instead be feasible for the game to alter an afk flagship's course so it orbits the systems star, just outside aggro range? Nah, probably not... same reasons.

Although I myself cannot deny having fallen victim to this many, many times, if someone is so lazy enough so as to do this, they probably deserve to be stranded far out from the sun. And Michael doesn't really want [hand-holding? automation?] for this kind of stuff.

[Sinsling]

Its what you get for afk farming XD

[warp_core]

Originally posted by dr_hallii:

Except that the object is drawn toward its nearest, heaviest neighbor, causing it to lose momentum in any outward direction and gain momentum inward. This is what causes an object to orbit another object

I've basically stepped all over my original idea proposal, by all laws of physics, if you're beyond the edge of your system and begin accelerating toward the center, you won't be able to stop accelerating until you collide with the sun.

Screw my idea, this has become a physics war.

I don't think you understand that `drag is a resistive force that acts against the motion of an object`. (When the motion is in a situation where there is something to produce the drag.)

[dr_hallii]

A gravity well exerts a force that acts against the motion of any (and all) objects within range. This covers the definition you've given for drag, in spades (considering it's one of the most influential drag forces at work on our own planet.)

That being said, Avior has twice now given concise, acceptable answers, and I'll drop this line of reasoning tuit suit. Au revoir.

[warp_core]

The force from the object's weight doesn't act against it's motion if the motion is towards the centre of gravity of the system and therefore is not always acting against the motion of the object. Drag, like air resistance or friction, always acts against the motion of an object and has a value of 0 when the object is not in motion.

[dr_hallii]

An objects weight always acts against it's motion. Weight itself resists accelleration, be it lateral or rotational. The gravity wells of nearby or even infinitely distant bodies will ALWAYS affect trajectory, speed and acceleration at all times, be the affectation positive, negative, or so miniscule as to be negligible.

[TheFlyingPotato]

Well you seem not to know what drag is (nor inertia =P). You can describe a drag force as F = lambda * (velocity) >= 0 in the direction opposed to the motion (in some case, its velocity² and in some there isn't such a simple relation, see no newtonian fluid).

So gravitity is NOT a drag. You just have to look at our satellites which are going in circles around the earth, and the gravity force is NOT in the direction of the motion nor in the opposed direction (that's why it's a circle and not an ellipse)

[dr_hallii]

My comment about weight resisting acceleration (any change in momentum) was a direct reference to inertia, and satellites have orbit because gravity is constantly affecting their direction.
I'll admit I was misusing the term 'drag', but i've moved beyond that. Now the topic at hand has been "Does gravity act upon an object with mass?" warp seems to think not.