Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Illustration - Ship's Ladder/Iris Valves

Preliminary illustration showing the connectivity between decks using iris valve hatches and a ladder.

3 comments:

  1. What is the ladder for? I thought the iris grav plates shut off and you float to the next level (with a little jump).

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    Replies
    1. It's a game, so it can work however you envision it, but even if the grav plates shut off not everyone on the ship (passengers for example) will have zero-G training. Those people would need a ladder (or multiple handrails or something) to stabilize themselves.

      Here is how I see it working: For a floor mounted iris valve in a corridor as I've shown, I think you would have to assume the iris valve itself contains its own grav plating, otherwise just walking through the corridor you would experience a "pocket" of zero-G every time you walked over one. That being the case, on the deck below the iris valve you would either have another iris valve (to the deck below that) or standard decking. Either way the deck below you would be pulling you down. Assuming standard 1G deck plating, you wouldn't float down, you would fall about 10ft. Roll for damage. If you assume the deck below you has its grav plates turned off, you still couldn't "jump down" (i.e using your legs), you would need to push yourself down using your arms, in which case you would still need a ladder or something to push against. Or you could rotate yourself upside down and pull yourself through the floor iris valve in the down direction, but I imagine that would be too acrobatic for most people. If you are going up, the iris valve below you is still pulling you down, so you would need the ladder to climb up.

      I've seen something like a low-G elevator shaft recently ( I think it was in the video game "Prey") where you stepped into a shaft and floated up or down to the next deck. For a ship in zero-G on all decks you could float/jump/push yourself between decks, but again you would need something to exert force against to make you move in any case.

      Like anything in Traveller, you can make the science as hard or as soft as you like. Enjoy!

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    2. Now I am wondering about safety interlocks to make sure the iris doesn't open with someone standing on it. Unless the gravity is off, or the rungs are pulled out, etc.

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