I Have not finished it yet but i am working on an improbability drive MFD. donations of random object models welcome. i am mostly posting it here to see how people think the drive itself should work. in short when you enter an improbability(43343114423144343 to 1 for example) how should it understand what that means and where you should go. i was hoping to have some kind of math formula that you enter your location into and then it converts it to a probability, then that probabilities inverse would be an improbability. the problem is, what should the equation be? any suggestions?
Project The Infinite Improbability Drive
- Thread starter sfpilot
- Start date
Urwumpe
Not funny anymore
- Joined
- Feb 6, 2008
- Messages
- 37,762
- Reaction score
- 2,518
- Points
- 203
- Location
- Wolfsburg
- Preferred Pronouns
- Sire
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
I doubt making such a drive is possible in orbiter. It is not even slightly Newtonian and the endless impossibilities of it are hard to model.
The Hitch Hikers Guide To the Galexy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Improbability_drive#Infinite_Improbability_Drive
---------- Post added at 04:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:58 PM ----------
it wouldn't be that hard, you just have to make up a bit of your own physics. i already have the basics i just need to figure out how the movements should work.
---------- Post added at 04:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:58 PM ----------
it wouldn't be that hard, you just have to make up a bit of your own physics. i already have the basics i just need to figure out how the movements should work.
PhantomCruiser
Wanderer
Can you make the MFD display the words "DON'T PANIC" in large friendly yellow letters?
Hay Good idea
Artlav
Aperiodic traveller
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2008
- Messages
- 5,791
- Reaction score
- 782
- Points
- 203
- Location
- Earth
- Website
- orbides.org
- Preferred Pronouns
- she/her
It doesn't work that way, unfortunately.
You have a chaotic system, for example, a room with air in it.
Theoretically, all air molecules can move into one side of the room, leaving vacuum in the other. Practically, it's so improbable it never happens.
Similarily, each atom can suddenly tunnel into any place in the universe.
If all the atoms in the ship tunnel at once, the ship will relocate.
If they tunnel into an interesting place, you have an engine.
In the book, there was a kind of arcane odds-bending machine, that aligned the atoms just right to go to the needed location, making infinitely improbable event of "ship teleported to Earth orbit" happen.
So, the controls will be something like "Enter location".
You have a chaotic system, for example, a room with air in it.
Theoretically, all air molecules can move into one side of the room, leaving vacuum in the other. Practically, it's so improbable it never happens.
Similarily, each atom can suddenly tunnel into any place in the universe.
If all the atoms in the ship tunnel at once, the ship will relocate.
If they tunnel into an interesting place, you have an engine.
In the book, there was a kind of arcane odds-bending machine, that aligned the atoms just right to go to the needed location, making infinitely improbable event of "ship teleported to Earth orbit" happen.
So, the controls will be something like "Enter location".
yes i suppose so. in that case you as the user would not worry about the math of the drive, the ship itself would. i also found an interesting detail on wikipedia saying that the drive was based off of a particular perception of quantum theory. this means it does actually have some real physics in it. with infinite improbability anything can and will happen. and i think it might be fun to add the risk of a "Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure." to the engine just to add adventure.
[edit]
the reason why i was asking for models is because if anything can happen that means random object can pop into existence. or change into something else like the missiles in the book. i think it would be particularly entertaining to include the whale and bowl of petunias.
[edit]
the reason why i was asking for models is because if anything can happen that means random object can pop into existence. or change into something else like the missiles in the book. i think it would be particularly entertaining to include the whale and bowl of petunias.
garyw
O-F Administrator
- Joined
- May 14, 2008
- Messages
- 10,485
- Reaction score
- 209
- Points
- 138
- Location
- Kent
- Website
- blog.gdwnet.com
Ask the bowl of petinuias.
insane_alien
New member
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2009
- Messages
- 144
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
you could have the ship teleport a random distance (with a higher the improbability the further away the maximum range is) and always on a random direction.
perhaps a random velocity vector as well.
you could also hardcode a few probabilities that put you in a nice orbit around a planet or moon.
a subset should also randomly turn the ship into a teapot as well.
perhaps a random velocity vector as well.
you could also hardcode a few probabilities that put you in a nice orbit around a planet or moon.
a subset should also randomly turn the ship into a teapot as well.
i think stuff like that would work. basically you have several options. one could be you enter an improbability and watch what happens, i think the presets are a good idea, then orbiter could have an accurate and easy to use teleporter. although i'm not sure how you could turn the ship into a teacup
. i haven't tried altering the ship mesh before. of course one thing i do know how to do is alter the dynamics of the ship or completely deleting it .---------- Post added at 08:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:40 PM ----------
oh yes i forgot
Talon1
Semi-Intermediate Add-on Dev.
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2008
- Messages
- 282
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
- Location
- Secret Underground Moon Base? XD
Nice idea! Looking forward to it!
:speakcool::lol:
:speakcool::lol:
jedidia
shoemaker without legs
You could simply replace it. DGIV does that when it breaks up.
martins
Orbiter Founder
Well, you would have to express your destination as a random variable. For example, given an infinite number of equally likely destinations, picking the correct one at random would be infinitely improbable. So the point of an infinite improbability drive is to get you precisely to your intended destination without you telling it where you want to go. Trouble is, it might instead get you to the place you least wanted to go (which, oddly, is equally improbable).
Imagine the IID as a black box wired to your ship's controls. Instead of entering a destination, you shake it violently and set it off ...
Edit: if you want a finite instead of an infinite improbability (e.g. 43343114423144343 to 1) you just have to limit the number of possible outcomes of your random experiment, e.g. by reducing the destinaton space to a finite volume and segmenting it into a finite number of cells. The FID (finite improbability drive) then just has to drop you in the correct cell.
EtherDragon
Addon Developer
Here's what the Infinite Improbability Drive - could do - in Orbiter:
Have whatever set of numbers x:y be used as seeds in a procedural math engine - link the results to the Orulex code (the code that procedurally generates planetary systems) and also have the "engine" place you in a procedural math engine to determine a location, and speed in the new planetary system.
Whever you do - the phone number given in the book should return you to earth orbit.
What would be really cool is - people would enter coordinates and explore places!
Have whatever set of numbers x:y be used as seeds in a procedural math engine - link the results to the Orulex code (the code that procedurally generates planetary systems) and also have the "engine" place you in a procedural math engine to determine a location, and speed in the new planetary system.
Whever you do - the phone number given in the book should return you to earth orbit.
What would be really cool is - people would enter coordinates and explore places!
Similar threads
