Oolite Bulletins

Wow, didn't think this'll be the bottleneck it proves to ... (hah! could it be that everybody's watching Oolite YouTube videos now?! )

Hint #4: (about the movie I mentioned) Jedi master, travel, planet of clones.

Ummm, I don't know the StarWars saga particularly well, but surely some ships there (Millennium Chicken, for eg) have interstellar drives, while others don't (everything in the class "shuttle", but maybe not all "fighters" - didn't the Xwings in the 1st/4th film "jump" to attach the Death Star, but TIE fighters couldn't?).
So ... well, that's designer's choice, not something intrinsic to the nature of the jump itself. I've never owned a car fitted with an overdrive gearbox that was designed after 1957, but that doesn't mean the concept is not available to tomorrow's vehicle designer.

RockDoctor wrote: ↑Sun Dec 05, 2021 2:45 pm

Ummm, I don't know the StarWars saga particularly well, but surely some ships there (Millennium Chicken, for eg) have interstellar drives, while others don't[...] I've never owned a car fitted with [...] but that doesn't mean the concept is not available to tomorrow's vehicle designer.

My point exactly.

"Hint #4" is an example of a single ship "right now" that meets the requirements, in a whole universe that (otherwise) doesn't.

Hint #5: will extend the games range with another set of space games where the concept is quite close (their author got some popularity at the same time with Braben's campaign for Elite: Dangerous; they actually had a Kickstart appearance together).

... Are we closing shop here?

Commander_X wrote: ↑Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:49 am

... Are we closing shop here?

I'm sorry. I'd love to help. But a deep knowledge of the intricacies of the eschatology of the Church of St Giles just does not translate in this arcane, obscure and recondite area of study. If you had only asked a real humdinger about the Pool of Pellucid Placidity...

And anyway, the last time I dared utter a cheep...

Im having trouble working out which answers have already been given. I guess The Algebraist would do, though describing why probably counts as a spoiler for the book.

Wow, just, wow!

Cmdr James wrote: ↑Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:45 pm

Im having trouble working out which answers have already been given. [...]

Understandable, this was quite a ride

#1 - Babylon5 (ffutures)
#2 - [left as an exercise for the reader ] (RockDoctor)
#3 - Mass Effect (ffutures)
#4 - Stargate (spud42)

Cmdr James wrote: ↑Fri Dec 10, 2021 7:45 pm

[...] I guess The Algebraist would do, though describing why probably counts as a spoiler for the book.

That's a fabulous #5, with an MSB for unexpectedly bringing one of our favorite authors to the mix!
<rushing into packaging and teleporting the chalice>

The hints referred to Eve Online and (EgoSoft's) X series (both of which use sort of large gates for transfers between star regions), and Obi-Wan's small ship used to reach the planet of clones, and following Jango Fett afterwards, in (StarWars) Attack Of The Clones. That ship had a sort of "parking ring" around helping with jumps, and which was not used for in-system travel. It's sort of unique in the whole StarWars universe.
The last hint was about the Privateer game(s) by Chris Roberts, where the jumps between systems occurred in specific spatial conditions.

I was thinking about Honor Harrington and her famous preference for hot chocolate rather than coffee, and that lead me to thinking that coffee for one reason or another is mysteriously missing from much scifi.

Id like to know of 5 scifi universes in which coffee exists. It doesnt have to be a central part of the plot, it just has to exist as a substance and it has to be named coffee. For example the Honor Harrigton universe does indeed have coffee though she herself does not like it. Ill accept minor variations in spelling but I would not for example accept Black Wine from the gor universe (not sure if thats coffee or not, but it definately goes by a disctinctly different name).

Usual rules...

Cmdr James wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 5:25 pm

I was thinking about Honor Harrington and her famous preference for hot chocolate rather than coffee, and that lead me to thinking that coffee for one reason or another is mysteriously missing from much scifi.

Id like to know of 5 scifi universes in which coffee exists. It doesnt have to be a central part of the plot, it just has to exist as a substance and it has to be named coffee. For example the Honor Harrigton universe does indeed have coffee though she herself does not like it. Ill accept minor variations in spelling but I would not for example accept Black Wine from the gor universe (not sure if thats coffee or not, but it definately goes by a disctinctly different name).

Usual rules...

Modessit: the initial colonists of Cyador, landing from space, before losing their technology, had coffee (Recluce Saga)

Ill take your word for it, thats 1
4 to go.

James Holden in The Expanse series is a coffee addict.

The Stainless Steel Rat is Born.. Harry Harrison
several mentions of a large black coffee..

"Haven't seen one of these even in Europe," Owen remarked as he sat down. "What's the point? I mean, why not employ a person, or use self-service?"
"Ship a barista to Venus?" Millfoy scoffed. "Or have scientists and engineers and maintenance workers waste their time faffing about with boilers and cups?"
"Sharing such tasks can build team spirit and flatten hierarchies. I thought the Union was very much into that."
"Ha! Try flattening a hierarchy of scientists sometime."

In Ken MacLeod's new novel Beyond the Hallowed Sky, the triple-AI (anticipatory algorithmic artificial intelligence) known as Iskander keeps popping up with coffees just as people are thinking they would like one. And if you crumple your used paper cup and throw it away in a random direction, it'll be there to catch it.

Cholmondely wrote: ↑Sun Dec 12, 2021 7:26 pm

Modessit: the initial colonists of Cyador, landing from space, before losing their technology, had coffee (Recluce Saga)

Commander_X wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 12:19 am

James Holden in The Expanse series is a coffee addict.

spud42 wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 2:08 pm

The Stainless Steel Rat is Born.. Harry Harrison
several mentions of a large black coffee..

Disembodied wrote: ↑Mon Dec 13, 2021 7:19 pm

In Ken MacLeod's new novel Beyond the Hallowed Sky, the triple-AI (anticipatory algorithmic artificial intelligence) known as Iskander keeps popping up with coffees just as people are thinking they would like one. And if you crumple your used paper cup and throw it away in a random direction, it'll be there to catch it.

1 to go

I hate to admit knowing this one...

In John Norman's interminable "Gor" series the "Black Wine of Thentis" served on Gor was actually coffee, probably imported by the insectile aliens who secretly ruled the planet and used their flying saucers to kidnap young women from Earth for their human serfs to use in BDSM games.

There's an article called "The Black Wine of Thentis" by Nick Lowe which is all about the repeated appearance of coffee (under various names) on alien worlds in SF - his central hypothesis was that authors running out of inspiration go to get a coffee and end up writing it into the story. Unfortunately it was published in fanzine in the 1970s and doesn't appear to be on line anywhere, which is a great shame.

See also https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Uncoffee