Why Is It That Almost Every Sci-Fi Series Has ONE Kind Of FTL?

veinglory · Aug 27, 2019

The liaden universe has FTL accomplished different ways -- but some are less efficient than others. It makes sense to me that mostly all users would converge on the most effective/efficient method.

18-Till-I-Die · Sep 1, 2019

I didn't have time to respond to every comment for a while here, so I'll just kind of throw my opinion there:

In the setting I'm working with one of the major ideas is that there are numerous types both relativistic and FTL drive. It's mainly in the background, but it can also directly effect both the plot and the militaries of various nations. The example I would give is, imagine that your entire civilization uses something akin to a wormhole network (like man-made versions of the DS9 wormhole) as a primary means of faster-than-light travel, and then you have to invade a neighboring power who have their own FTL network (akin to the Supergates from Stargate) but have no wormholes. They don't need them, since they don't use smaller wormholes for communications, they have a different method, and they have their jump gates so why would they ever develop them? That means to even get to them you need a separate FTL drive, ship-based, and likewise they need one too to retaliate. Now imagine also the huge disparity in speed, where your FTL drive may be hugely slower but longer ranges while theirs is faster but only over short regions.

So all military ships, and most commercial or merchant ships, have at least one FTL drive and the capacity to use one or more "network" of "fixed" FTL systems. Unless they want to use pure relativistic travel, which is entirely within reason but extremely slow, by comparison. And given the differences between the races, factions, nations, etc this expands considerably. It all kind of happens in the background, but it means going to different regions has different effects on travel time and range. Like in ancient times, some regions had actual traversable roads, and some regions depended on caravans traveling across trackless deserts, and some were dependent on fleets of ships as they were islands, etc.

Samscript · Sep 3, 2019

18-Till-I-Die said:
I didn't have time to respond to every comment for a while here, so I'll just kind of throw my opinion there:

In the setting I'm working with one of the major ideas is that there are numerous types both relativistic and FTL drive. It's mainly in the background, but it can also directly effect both the plot and the militaries of various nations. The example I would give is, imagine that your entire civilization uses something akin to a wormhole network (like man-made versions of the DS9 wormhole) as a primary means of faster-than-light travel, and then you have to invade a neighboring power who have their own FTL network (akin to the Supergates from Stargate) but have no wormholes. They don't need them, since they don't use smaller wormholes for communications, they have a different method, and they have their jump gates so why would they ever develop them? That means to even get to them you need a separate FTL drive, ship-based, and likewise they need one too to retaliate. Now imagine also the huge disparity in speed, where your FTL drive may be hugely slower but longer ranges while theirs is faster but only over short regions.

So all military ships, and most commercial or merchant ships, have at least one FTL drive and the capacity to use one or more "network" of "fixed" FTL systems. Unless they want to use pure relativistic travel, which is entirely within reason but extremely slow, by comparison. And given the differences between the races, factions, nations, etc this expands considerably. It all kind of happens in the background, but it means going to different regions has different effects on travel time and range. Like in ancient times, some regions had actual traversable roads, and some regions depended on caravans traveling across trackless deserts, and some were dependent on fleets of ships as they were islands, etc.

I like this. It's a nice way of world building, and in many ways, realistic. Especially if many of the races are in competition or at war; they're not sharing. Of course, the execution of the idea will be important -- background stuff that will affect plot at some point. But I like the idea that there would be different technologies based on needs, allies, culture, geography, and heck, maybe even religion/belief systems. I think FTL has been seen as like cars or airplanes. At some point, everybody gets the same kind of car and airplane. But realistically, I think FTL systems would be much bigger, more akin to infrastructure. Countries in real life have different infrastructures. Some good, some not so good.

dickson · Oct 4, 2019

Probably because FTL travel is so expensive (usually requiring exotic matter) that a civilization feels it can only afford one kind.

Roxxsmom · Oct 4, 2019

I think others have raised possible explanations. I think it's likely a combination of the idea of what Introversion said: coming up with even one way to circumvent the speed of light seems like a big deal (and technological convergence is likely, just as it might be for other inventions that apply basic physics, like jet engines, rockets etc) and what lizmonster said: most SF stories aren't focused on the why of FTL travel. It's simply something within the world background that allows the story to happen.

If different alien technologies that allow ships to exceed the speed of light are relevant to your story, however, I don't see why you couldn't have this.

I do have a vague memory of reading a novel some time ago where one alien race had a technology that was much more efficient than the others, but I can't remember the details now.

I've also read novels where different races had more or less efficient applications of a given technology. In Cherryh's Chanur books, one alien race could change vectors in jump space, something the other races could not do, for instance. I liked the way she handled FTL travel in that particular expanded universe (most of her earlier books were set in it), because it wasn't effortless, and it had consequences and potential hazards ship crews had to be cognizant of--very different from Star Trek's pushing a button and bam, you were there with no ill effects.

Of all the SF universes I can think of with a FTL technology of some kind, I think Cherryh's explored the intricacies of the technology most intensely. There was a large focus on how the mechanics of their FTL technology (as she presented it) affected the culture, politics and economics of space faring races. If you have not read her merchanter-alliance and Chanuur books, I strongly recommend them.

Why Is It That Almost Every Sci-Fi Series Has ONE Kind Of FTL?

veinglory

volitare nequeo

18-Till-I-Die

Samscript

dickson

Hairy on the inside

Roxxsmom

Beastly Fido