Casual Interstellar Travel: Difference between revisions

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Sometimes, however, interstellar travel appears to be about as trivially easy and quick as driving an automobile a few kilometers down a paved road is in modern society. Usually this takes the form of some kind of teleportation network, but there are quite a few settings where ships capable of traveling thousands or millions of times the speed of light are available to every Tom, Richard, and Harry.

This can happen when writers do not think things through and [[Planetville|treat planets like towns]] and interstellar voyages like intercontinental flights or, at worst, [[Space Is an Ocean|like crossing an ocean]] in a steamship. If the [[Sci Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale|Sci Fi Writers Have Any Sense Of Scale]], then the scale of civilization surpasses our one planet easily. And probably mocks the [[Mundane Dogmatic|Mundane Manifesto]] while it's at it.

This can happen when writers do not think things through and [[Planetville|treat planets like towns]] and interstellar voyages like intercontinental flights or, at worst, [[Space Is an Ocean|like crossing an ocean]] in a steamship. If the [[Sci-Fi Writers Have No Sense of Scale|Sci Fi Writers Have Any Sense Of Scale]], then the scale of civilization surpasses our one planet easily. And probably mocks the [[Mundane Dogmatic|Mundane Manifesto]] while it's at it.

It can also be done deliberately, in the [[Mohs Scale of Sci Fi Hardness|very softest SF]], where all sense of realism has long since been tossed out the window. For instance, the writer just may feel that [[Conveniently Close Planet|places in space are pretty close]] and just [[Hand Wave]] it.

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* Variation in ''[[Lyrical Nanoha|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', which has Casual ''[[The Multiverse|Interdimensional]]'' Travel. It looks and acts just like your typical Casual Interstellar Travel, complete with [[Cool Starship|Cool Starships]] traveling through what looks like hyperspace, only they don't have to worry about [[Real Life]] distances between planets and tend to teleport people down to the surface rather than leave hyperspace and land. It's mostly done through [[Science Fantasy|magic]]. The "casual" part is subverted, since only [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] individuals with magical powers can casually travel interdimensionally, regular Earthlings [[The Masquerade|don't even know]] of the existence of magic and other worlds. Even these individuals need to get permission from the [[The Federation|Dimensional Administration Bureau]].

* In the [[Hentai]] OVA ''[[Bondage Queen Kate]]'', traveling to the far reaches of the galaxy is portrayed as being no more taxing than visiting another country is for humans today. The desert planet of Dune is known as a popular tourist destination.

* ''[[Macross Frontier (Anime)|Macross Frontier]]'' is a rather unconventional example. [[Faster Than Light Travel|FTL travel]] via Space Folding is possible, but has large energy requirements and is unpredictable. Travel between stars however, is casual, and quite comfortable actually, since the series takes place on what is essentially a fleet of ''island-sized'' domeships containing huge sprawling metropolises, small oceans, green fields forests and farmland [[Recycled in Space|In SPACE!]] It's actually likely that the Frontier's citizens have a higher standard of living than the people of Earth, since the planet itself is recovering from a space war.

* ''[[Macross Frontier (Anime)|Macross Frontier]]'' is a rather unconventional example. [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|FTL travel]] via Space Folding is possible, but has large energy requirements and is unpredictable. Travel between stars however, is casual, and quite comfortable actually, since the series takes place on what is essentially a fleet of ''island-sized'' domeships containing huge sprawling metropolises, small oceans, green fields forests and farmland [[Recycled in Space|In SPACE!]] It's actually likely that the Frontier's citizens have a higher standard of living than the people of Earth, since the planet itself is recovering from a space war.

* In one episode of ''[[Dirty Pair (Light Novel)|Dirty Pair]]'', Kei and Yuri decide to stop off on a planet, on [[Race Against the Clock|their way to a dinner date]] on another planet, because they have a ''nice shopping mall'' there. Another depicts commercial interstellar space travel as more or less resembling modern airlines.

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* The first six ''[[Power Rangers]]'' seasons involved travel between ''galaxies'' in a time span ranging from seconds at the quickest (via teleportation) to a day or two via [[Transforming Mecha]] spaceship thanks to alien technology. Season seven did it at a more... reasonable in-galaxy-only pace (except for a notable incident involving a wormhole) due to using a human-built ship, and later seasons involving aliens avoid mention of distances whenever possible. When they ''do'', its always something like "several galaxies away".

* Everything in the ''[[Stargate Verse]]'', but especially the titular Stargate network.

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined ~~(TV)~~|Battlestar Galactica]]'' sports at least one use of this almost every episode. While not every ship has FTL capabilities, most modern ones are outfitted; civilian and military. The FTL drives are used to skip across space for reasons such as: running away from offenders ([[Ahem]], {{spoiler|CYLONS}}.), scouting out areas of space, or just quicker travel. Granted, the ships that didn't have FTL were quickly destroyed in the genocide.

* ''[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined|Battlestar Galactica]]'' sports at least one use of this almost every episode. While not every ship has FTL capabilities, most modern ones are outfitted; civilian and military. The FTL drives are used to skip across space for reasons such as: running away from offenders ([[Ahem]], {{spoiler|CYLONS}}.), scouting out areas of space, or just quicker travel. Granted, the ships that didn't have FTL were quickly destroyed in the genocide.

* As mentioned in the trope description, ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' is not the best example of this trope... but it does have its moments. Apart from the Federation, assorted alien empires, and major shipping lines, you will occasionally come across an individual trader flying a small but [[Faster Than Light Travel|warp-capable]] vessel to ferry Tribbles or what-have-you around the galaxy. ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine (TV)|Deep Space Nine]]'''s Quark had an interstellar shuttle briefly, but it was a gift (and assassination attempt) from his ''much'' richer cousin. Swindler and smuggler Harry Mudd also had his own ship in ''[[Star Trek the Original Series (TV)|The Original Series]]'' (which he paid for with counterfeit money), and private owners of small warp ships made appearances in a few ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' episodes. So, an interstellar ship is the kind of thing the occasional well-off (or clever/lucky/dishonest) entrepreneur can afford, but not just anybody could get one. In metaphors, travelling between stars isn't as easy as getting a car, or even as easy as getting your own used single-engine Cessna, but it probably is as easy as getting your own small private jet.

* As mentioned in the trope description, ''[[Star Trek (Franchise)|Star Trek]]'' is not the best example of this trope... but it does have its moments. Apart from the Federation, assorted alien empires, and major shipping lines, you will occasionally come across an individual trader flying a small but [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|warp-capable]] vessel to ferry Tribbles or what-have-you around the galaxy. ''[[Star Trek Deep Space Nine (TV)|Deep Space Nine]]'''s Quark had an interstellar shuttle briefly, but it was a gift (and assassination attempt) from his ''much'' richer cousin. Swindler and smuggler Harry Mudd also had his own ship in ''[[Star Trek the Original Series (TV)|The Original Series]]'' (which he paid for with counterfeit money), and private owners of small warp ships made appearances in a few ''[[Star Trek the Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' episodes. So, an interstellar ship is the kind of thing the occasional well-off (or clever/lucky/dishonest) entrepreneur can afford, but not just anybody could get one. In metaphors, travelling between stars isn't as easy as getting a car, or even as easy as getting your own used single-engine Cessna, but it probably is as easy as getting your own small private jet.

* ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' is a good example. All three subtropes of [[Faster Than Light Travel]] are present; [[Hand Wave|"Hetch Drive"]] is dirt cheap and available to everyone, [[Teleporters and Transporters|"Starburst"]] is available to [[Living Ship|Leviathans]], but [[Our Wormholes Are Different|wormholes]] - which act as a [[All the Myriad Ways|metadimensional]] [[Portal Network]] - can only be utilized with the assistance of [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]], which they [[You Are Not Ready|don't give lightly]] for [[Apocalypse How|really]] [[Weapon of Mass Destruction|good]] [[Divide By Zero|reasons]].

* ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'' is a good example. All three subtropes of [[Faster-Than-Light Travel]] are present; [[Hand Wave|"Hetch Drive"]] is dirt cheap and available to everyone, [[Teleporters and Transporters|"Starburst"]] is available to [[Living Ship|Leviathans]], but [[Our Wormholes Are Different|wormholes]] - which act as a [[All the Myriad Ways|metadimensional]] [[Portal Network]] - can only be utilized with the assistance of [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]], which they [[You Are Not Ready|don't give lightly]] for [[Apocalypse How|really]] [[Weapon of Mass Destruction|good]] [[Divide By Zero|reasons]].

* In ''[[Andromeda]]'', people could travel between ''galaxies'' in small fighters and courier ships.

** Also, because of how Slipstream FTL works, which has something to do with probability, and sentience, and, um... [[A Wizard Did It|"Quantum"]], the more a route is traveled, the faster and easier to navigate it becomes. This would make Casual Travel even cheaper the more people do it.

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* For the Capsuleers (players) of ''[[Eve Online]]'', a regular shopping trip can take one through a dozen star systems. [[Muggles]] are mostly planetbound, though.

* ''[[Freelancer]]'' runneth over with this kind of travel, enabled by the Trade Lanes and the [[Portal Network|inter-system Jump Gates]], plus the Pirate-infested, naturally occuring Jumpholes.

* In both ''[[Independence War]]'' games, Linear Displacement System (LDS) drives are practically standard equipment for spacecraft, which allow for quick inter-system travel and escape from threats (if one doesn't get hit with an LDS inhibitor missile to prevent that). [[Faster Than Light Travel|Capsule drives]], on the other hand, are most certainly NOT standard equipment, as shown in ''Independence War 2'': Cal and friends don't even get a capsule drive until about the time the game transitions from Act I to Act II, where {{spoiler|they trade a blue, alien ring hidden in Lucrecia's hoard to Haven Station for the capsule drive. You're going to need it, as you'll see next mission...}}

* In both ''[[Independence War]]'' games, Linear Displacement System (LDS) drives are practically standard equipment for spacecraft, which allow for quick inter-system travel and escape from threats (if one doesn't get hit with an LDS inhibitor missile to prevent that). [[Faster-Than-Light Travel|Capsule drives]], on the other hand, are most certainly NOT standard equipment, as shown in ''Independence War 2'': Cal and friends don't even get a capsule drive until about the time the game transitions from Act I to Act II, where {{spoiler|they trade a blue, alien ring hidden in Lucrecia's hoard to Haven Station for the capsule drive. You're going to need it, as you'll see next mission...}}

* ''[[Mass Effect]]'' plays it straight and averts it.

** Played straight with Mass Relays, which are capable of transporting a starship hundreds to thousands of light years instantaneously. Because all ships have element zero drive cores, you could take off from Earth, travel to a colony world thousands of light years distant to visit a friend, and make it back to Earth in a ''single day''.

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[[Category:Faster Than Light Index]]

[[Category:Casual Interstellar Travel]]

[[Category:Trope]]