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stargliderx In reply to PaxAeternum [2012-06-07 08:15:28 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, landing on airships is on my 'to do' list (currently if you touch them it counts as a crash). The airships are actually steam powered; they use magically heated boilers though, so no dangerous open flames or fuel consumption bouyancy issues. If the engines take too much damage there is a dramatic boiler explosion (see [link] from 13:00 on).

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PaxAeternum In reply to stargliderx [2012-06-07 15:31:00 +0000 UTC]

I have seen! I take it the engine nacelles operate on the uniflow engine principle? What is the specific power-source that the boilers use for heat?

I dabble quite alot in steam airship technology, only mine use, of course, actual fuels. This example in particular burns natural gas. [link]

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stargliderx In reply to PaxAeternum [2012-06-17 11:34:54 +0000 UTC]

Workable uniflow engines were historically available around 1910 which is about the bleeding edge of available technology on Windhaven. Still, the airships are the most advanced single artifacts we see, so it's possible. The definitely use reciprocating engines not turbines given the engine sound. My general aesthetic for Windhaven is early-1800s for the frontier regions, mid-1800s for the main populated areas, early 1900s for some advanced prototypes and Eyrie research. Magic used by the characters is flashy and obvious (for game graphical reasons) but magical items and devices generally look and behave more like modestly enhanced versions of real-world items.

How magic works in Windhaven is not detailed to the extent of a roleplaying game or fantasy novel series, but we do know that they can manufacture 'elemental furnaces' that produce heat without a chemical source. There are a couple of highly experimental devices we see in the final mission that create other forms of energy out of nothing; the death rays create particle streams, the lightning shields create charge walls. In terms of real physics this might be some sort of zero point extraction. The history of Windhaven includes a civilisation many centuries earlier that had much more advanced, science fiction level technology, which used fantasy physics you might call magic. They were wiped out by the same enemy behind the monsters seen in the game; the implication is that with another century or two of research the current civilisation might be able to recreate all that.

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PaxAeternum In reply to stargliderx [2012-06-18 04:41:53 +0000 UTC]

You know, I actually have to say I hope they dont advance to that point again. I love the world you've created as it exists, it seems (aside from the monsters and such) really in harmony and beautiful. Must be a delightfully simple life living on the outer islands.

That and I am a sucker for the reciprocating steam engine and it's viable uses, even today. A steam engine is like an extension of ones self, unlike all other machines. I have run many, many of them in railway, stationary and marine applications and there is nothing that fulfills me so.

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PaxAeternum In reply to stargliderx [2012-06-17 16:08:44 +0000 UTC]

I see, very interesting!

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