Stutterwarp Navigation and Speeds

Note:
  *    The radius is measured from the center of the planet, for the orbit's height subtract the radius of the planet's surface.
  **  Pluto's orbit is very elliptic, sometimes it is within Neptune's orbit.  The figures here are the average AUs.  Pluto has no discharge orbit ( it would be 901 kilometers from the center of the planet, which is still below the surface).

• AU = Astronomical Unit(s) - approximately 500 LS or 8.33 LM
• LS = Light second(s) = the distance light travels in one second - approximately 300,000 km
• LM = Light minute(s) = 30 Star Cruiser hexes per minute
• LH = Light hour(s)
• LY = Light year(s)

Note: The 2300AD Director's Guide on page 62 has an error in the formula for calculating the Stutterwarp thresholds. It is the square root of ( the planet's MASS divided by either 0.1 or 0.0001). They mistakenly say planet's SURFACE GRAVITY. Only by using mass, do the numbers generated agree with the distances given on that same page.

In Deep Space or the Outer Solar System

Beyond any and all 0.0001 g gravity wells, for Sol system this is beyond 2.45 AU ( 20.42 LM) of the sun, then:

A starship with a stutterwarp efficiency of 1.00 travels 1.00 LY ( lightyears) per day ( defined in the 2300AD Director's Guide on page 62).

This is 365.26 times the Speed of Light. Since the ship is traveling in one day what light takes a year's worth of days to travel.

Beyond any gravity wells, Stutterwarp Efficiency of 1.00 is equal to:

• 365.26 the Speed of Light
• 365.26 LS travelled per second
• 365.26 LM travelled per minute ( a Star Cruiser turn length)= 10,957.8 Star Cruiser hexes per minute
• 365.26 LH travelled per hour

So lets say you wanted to orbit the Sun, just inside Uranus's orbit, say 150 LM, in you 1.00 efficiency ship.

A circle with a radius of 150 LM, will have a circumferance of 942 LM. Since you travel 365.26 LM / minute, it will take just 2.58 minutes to circle the solar system at 150 LM radius.

As a joke, here are some Stutterwarp speeds translated to classic 1960's sci-fi television Enterprise's speed ratings ( where Enterprise Speed³ = your speed in terms of multiples of the speed of light).

The Inner Solar System or Planetary/Solar Gravity Well

Within the 0.0001 g gravity well of the sun or a planet, yet outside any 0.1 g gravity well ( where stutterwarp drives cannot escape the pull of 0.1 g by themselves) then:

A starship with a stutterwarp efficiency of 1.00 travels 0.645 AU per day ( defined in the Travel table at the back of the 2300AD Director's Guide under the heading Interplanetary Travel Time -- the value in this table is correct).

This is only 0.0037207 times the Speed of Light ( just 0.37%).

Light travels 0.645 AU in just ( 0.645 AU * 500 seconds/AU = 322.5 seconds).
Yet this same distance takes you all day ( 86,400 seconds).
Light's time / your time = 0.0037207 ( or just 0.37%).

This is 1 / 97,855th of your Deep Space pseudovelocity ( by a factor of approx. 100,000 not 10,000 like the 2300 DG p62 says).

Within the 0.0001 g gravity well of the sun or a planet,Stutterwarp Efficiency of 1.00 is equal to:

• 0.645 AU per day is equal to:
• 0.0037207 times the Speed of Light ( just 0.37%)
• 322.5 LS / day
• 13.4375 LS / hr or a pseudovelocity of 4,031,250 km / hour ( kph)
• 0.2239583 LS / min
• 0.1119792 Star Cruiser hexes / min ( a Star Cruiser hex is 2 LS = 600,000 km in size)

There is a time/distance/range conflict between this and Star Cruiser.

A Stutterwarp Efficiency 1.00 ship has a tactical movement of 2 Star Cruiser hexes / minute turn. This is two 2 LS hexes per minute, which equals 4 LS / minute, this is 17.86 times too fast.

This is because Star Cruiser uses three different scales ( time, range, weapon distance), so you cannot calculate any valid strategic speeds based on just Star Cruiser values.  Read the Official Answer to this very question.

A FIX

If you really want one integrated scale for both strategic travel and tactical starship combat.

By proper speed/distance/time calculations above Star Cruiser hex should be 0.1119792 hex /min, which is 33,593.76 km/min.

Rounding to a nice even number, just say each Star Cruiser hex is only 30,000 km ( conveniently 0.1 LS), then play the Star Cruiser as usual ( since you play in hexes not km). This is only off by -11% not the +1686% error shown above.

Using values of light to measure distance has definite advantages above the tactical Star Cruiser scale. If I am 50 LM from Earth, any transmission will take 50 minutes to get from my ship to Earth, and then the response will take another 50 minutes to return ( assuming neither of us has moved, and they reply instantly on receipt of my message).

Just remember you can convert any stutterwarp efficiency into LS, LM, LH, or LY by multipling by the equivalent values listed above. To change back to stutterwarp efficiency divide by the equivalent values.

Kennedy-class Guided Missile Cruiser:

Stutterwarp Efficiency ( with all power to the stutterwarp drive): 4.81

• In Deep Space/Outer System, she travels:
  • 4.81 LY / day
  • 1,756.9 times the Speed of Light
  • 1,756.9 LS per second
  • 1,756.9 LM per minute ( a Star Cruiser turn length) = 52,707 Traditional 2 LS Star Cruiser hexes per turn
  • 1,756.9 LH per hour
• In the Inner System or a 0.0001 g Gravity Well, she travels:
  • 3.10 AU / day ( = 4.81 * 0.645 AU/day)
  • 0.01795 times the Speed of Light ( just 1.795%)
  • 1,551.23 LS / day
  • 64.63 LS / hr or a pseudovelocity of 19,390,313 km / hour ( kph)
  • 1.077240 LS / min
  • 0.538620 Star Cruiser hexes / min ( a Star Cruiser hex is 2 LS = 600,000 km in size)