Fuel source name question

[Mister Nice Guy]

I can't really answer the question yet - 'cause I don't know the "imaginary properties" of this fuel source.

Like.. is it depletable or is it unlimited energy? Is it magical or is it science fictional of origin? etc.

(To me the difference between magic and science fiction is i.e. with "time travel"... if you don't put the label "fantasy" on a movie with time travel.. then I will flip tables or smh, lol.. 'cause time doesn't exist, thus you can't travel back through time. Only thing you can do is blink out of existence and blink back at a later "day" so to speak.)
(TL;DR time travelling back through "time" is magic.. Where as teleportation can be explained sufficiently in a "sciency" way.)

[JestersGhost]

I voted for "Cobaltite" and "isotopes"

Both work for me - cobaltite is a pretty good metal-ish name, potentially named after it's discoverer?

And "isotopes" works too, as a nice, generic and non-conflicting name with anything. Though might make those with a chemisty and physics background wince a little, but hey, it's sci-fi

[Mister Nice Guy]

And "isotopes" works too, as a nice, generic and non-conflicting name with anything. Though might make those with a chemisty and physics background wince a little, but hey, it's sci-fi

A quick google on isotopes will tell you a different story though.. and I don't even have any particular chemistry skills on my cv.

[Kid Rad]

.

[GladDog]

I voted for Iridium. It is a real life metal that is extremely rare, and has 'undiscovered' properties... Of the listed ones, I like Cobaltite the best.

[Styrj]

I voted Other "Corbalite". I also like Iridium, as GladDog said, it has "undiscovered" properties.

[Mister Nice Guy]

.. Add in that upon researching the meaning of isotopes, they are a radioactive form of an element ..

True enough, however if you research a little further you'll find out that wasn't the whole definition of an isotope, because it doesn't have to be radioactive - it only is if it's an "unstable" isotope.

[GladDog]

I also wanted to say that I don't like the name Isotopes at all. But that's because I studied Chemistry and Quantum Physics.

Everyone probably knows the story of U235 and U238, that they had to separate the U235 out of the far more abundant U238 to get a reactive enough material for a bomb during WWII. So, what is the difference between U235 and U238 , which share the same atomic number of 92? 3 Neutrons. These three neutrons totally change the quantum properties of the Uranium. And they categorize these two... as isotopes of element 92.

Since almost all elements have isotopes, it is hard for me to consider a basic premise of the game (currently called Unobtainium, which btw is a placeholder name for undefined new elements) as an undefined isotope.

[Mister Nice Guy]

I also wanted to say that I don't like the name Isotopes at all. But that's because I studied Chemistry and Quantum Physics.

Everyone probably knows the story of U235 and U238, that they had to separate the U235 out of the far more abundant U238 to get a reactive enough material for a bomb during WWII. So, what is the difference between U235 and U238 , which share the same atomic number of 92? 3 Neutrons. These three neutrons totally change the quantum properties of the Uranium. And they categorize these two... as isotopes of element 92.

Since almost all elements have isotopes, it is hard for me to consider a basic premise of the game (currently called Unobtainium, which btw is a placeholder name for undefined new elements) as an undefined isotope.

Thank for elaborating further upon this question.

Personally I would like to see something like a crystal resonance room with a heavy and hot magnetic core. The resonance creating heat and energy in abundance and a magnetic field to protect the ship from cosmic radiation. (yes much like earth )

[Consultant]

In-game, Unobtanium is a far-trans-uranic material (atomic number in the hundreds) with multiple isotopes. This is completely possible in science. This is also an important part of the backstory. The material used to power the engine generators aboard the Justice is one particular mix of Unobtanium isotopes. This mix was chosen because the by-product radiation is particularly helpful and positive to humans, while also giving good fuel effectiveness. The byproduct radiation from this mix is not positive to other life forms, especially if the life did not originate on Earth, which is why they tend to mutate into hostile new species. In addition, the Unobtanium isotope mixture used to power enemy ships is different than ours, so when we humans raid other ships we have a slight disadvantage...we are a tiny bit weaker and our enemies are a tiny bit stronger.

Hence it would be an enormous win for an enemy species like the Nagdellians if they could seize one of humanity's few heroships and change the engine mix to benefit them, and then replace the humans with Nagdellians. Such a conquest would be strategically huge in the galactic balance of power.

Dust, the in-game money, is one of the other byproducts of the engines, and appears throughout the ship as rematerialized tiny particles. The Arch is a Dust recovery device and is integrated with the ship's engineering systems, which is why you see the Arch both above and below ground level. Dust is a nearly inert isotope of Unobtanium, which makes it suitable for use as money. The engines of all species produce identical Dust as a byproduct. It can be easily reprocessed back into other isotopes of Unobtanium, so the inert dust from one species can be converted into the exact isotopic mix that another species needs to power their ships and industrial complexes. Hence Dust is the natural currency of the galaxy.

One of our posters made the analogy to the Dust of the American West, which was of course, gold dust. That analogy is extremely apt as gold is also nearly inert (you need aqua regia to dissolve it, or some other nasty stuff, like HCN). But the difference is that gold has limited industrial of commercial uses, other than jewelry. Unobtanium in Ship of Heroes actually combines the best elements of gold and crude oil into a single commodity, and at a stroke sets up a galactic currency that can be recognized, consumed, produced, traded and transformed, but not counterfeited.

It's actually a pretty cool bit of backstory, that allows a lot of good elements of the game to come together -- raiding, manufacturing and production, ship economics, enemy faction motives, crafting, galactic balance of power...there's quite a bit involved with Unobtanium.

[GasCanGerry]

I submitted a suggestion for "Cornidium" because it is common for new chemical elements to be named after the person who discovered them. Plus, it also gives a grim reminder to everyone that the person who invented the material that has helped humankind advance technologically is now trying to destroy them.

[Mister Nice Guy]

In-game, Unobtanium is a far-trans-uranic material (atomic number in the hundreds) with multiple isotopes. This is completely possible in science. This is also an important part of the backstory. The material used to power the engine generators aboard the Justice is one particular mix of Unobtanium isotopes. This mix was chosen because the by-product radiation is particularly helpful and positive to humans, while also giving good fuel effectiveness. The byproduct radiation from this mix is not positive to other life forms, especially if the life did not originate on Earth, which is why they tend to mutate into hostile new species. In addition, the Unobtanium isotope mixture used to power enemy ships is different than ours, so when we humans raid other ships we have a slight disadvantage...we are a tiny bit weaker and our enemies are a tiny bit stronger.

Hence it would be an enormous win for an enemy species like the Nagdellians if they could seize one of humanity's few heroships and change the engine mix to benefit them, and then replace the humans with Nagdellians. Such a conquest would be strategically huge in the galactic balance of power.

Dust, the in-game money, is one of the other byproducts of the engines, and appears throughout the ship as rematerialized tiny particles. The Arch is a Dust recovery device and is integrated with the ship's engineering systems, which is why you see the Arch both above and below ground level. Dust is a nearly inert isotope of Unobtanium, which makes it suitable for use as money. The engines of all species produce identical Dust as a byproduct. It can be easily reprocessed back into other isotopes of Unobtanium, so the inert dust from one species can be converted into the exact isotopic mix that another species needs to power their ships and industrial complexes. Hence Dust is the natural currency of the galaxy.

One of our posters made the analogy to the Dust of the American West, which was of course, gold dust. That analogy is extremely apt as gold is also nearly inert (you need aqua regia to dissolve it, or some other nasty stuff, like HCN). But the difference is that gold has limited industrial of commercial uses, other than jewelry. Unobtanium in Ship of Heroes actually combines the best elements of gold and crude oil into a single commodity, and at a stroke sets up a galactic currency that can be recognized, consumed, produced, traded and transformed, but not counterfeited.

It's actually a pretty cool bit of backstory, that allows a lot of good elements of the game to come together -- raiding, manufacturing and production, ship economics, enemy faction motives, crafting, galactic balance of power...there's quite a bit involved with Unobtanium.

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation.

It's definitely not a bad idea - it's just not along the lines for my own premonition of how the future will be for space travelling. As I see viable options for clean "green" energies that in a sense are "infinite" in supply but limited in output.

But to travel super fast you most likely will need some kind of higher output (read explosion) which is where this "Unobtanium" could go towards... However with stuff like super conducters we can already today actually deliver really large power outputs in an "instant"... (and that's without even having magic .. as far as I know )

I think I will have to go with "other" and state something like "green magically enhanced energy".
Simply because fossil fuels and the like are a thing of the past very soon. (-ish)

[Eulb]

I don't want to change what the DEV's started with .... i need not discourage then in any way or fashion... i'm going with UN-dust and the malleability of the fiction stuff .... who knows what will happen to UN-dust inside the " magnetic collider environment " inside the arch when other elements are introduced into the swirling stream ... like ... thrust , force plates, shield spheres . gravity wells , etc, etc ...use that imagination .... fellow adventures.

[JestersGhost]

Considering that explanation of the usage of the fuel, calling it "Isotopes" would make a lot more sense. I can very easily see "Isotopes of XXXX" becoming shortened to just "Isotopes" when discussing it in media, etc. and then the name would stick.

[Pyrion]

Physics nerd speaking here:

If unobtanium is just a higher "normal" element, then the energy output of if would be quite limited. Maybe a bit better than normal fission material. I would make it a bit more exotic. Lets say unobtanium is just a somehow stable form of neutralino matter. Neutralinos (hypothetical particle, strong candidate for dark matter) are their own anti particle and future tech might be able to use that feature to convert them to energy, 100%. That would be far better than just another heavy element. And of course, since that is just a hypothetic particle it can have all kinds of "magic" properties.