StarDestroyer.Net BBS

Woohoo this is my first post here at the StarDestroyer.Net ! Yay

I have been surfing the board a bit since I first found it, and there seems to be a few star wars fan(atic)s here who knows a lot about star wars. So I would like to get my answer here.

MGLT (Short for MeGaLighTs according to my X-Wing Alliance manual, page 45) is a space speed used in many star wars sources. But how fast would 1 MGLT be in km/h in space and on the ground? (I know that not all ships are equally aerodynamic)

If we take the X-Wing games (XWA is the newest) and the old West End RPG the space and ground speeds of the most common starfighters are:

TIE Bomber 80 MGLT - 850 km/h
TIE Fighter 100 MGLT - 1,200 km/h
TIE Interc. 111 MGLT - 1,250 km/h

Y-Wing 80 MGLT - 1,000 km/h (Y-Wing is more aerodynamic than TIE Bomber?)
B-Wing 91 MGLT - 950 km/h
X-Wing 100 MGLT - 1,050 km/h (TIE fighters with 100 MGLT cuts through air better?)
A-Wing 120 MGLT - 1,300 km/h

Thank You!

http://www.theforce.net/swtc/units.html#propulsion

http://www.theforce.net/swtc/units.html#lucasarts

Given the better look would be at say ANH wherein Fighters are capable of making into space witin seconds and traverse a planet within minutes.

Taking any information from games especially in realtion to mechanics is hideously bad since they are skewed for a players benefit as well as usually out of sync with the movies(given the fact I can destroy a fleet of ISDs with my X-wing...alone speaks volumes why...let alone speed considerations)

The SWTC pages about propulsion is good reading stuff, but in Mr. Curtis Saxtons own opinion MGLT is an “acceleration” unit and not a “speed” unit. And therefore I can not agree with his calculations about 1 MGLT being aprox 400m/s² or 40 G

I can’t find any official sources claiming that MGLT is an acceleration measurement. All other sources I can find, where MGLT is mentioned, it is a measurement for speed. Plus even if MGLT is not mentioned, the sources still talk about the different speed capabilities of the fighters. Maybe all the authors of star wars sources who mention speeds are not scientists, but nevertheless starfighters in starwars seems to have speeds.

Ghost Rider wrote:Taking any information from games especially in realtion to mechanics is hideously bad since they are skewed for a players benefit as well as usually out of sync with the movies(given the fact I can destroy a fleet of ISDs with my X-wing...alone speaks volumes why...let alone speed considerations)

The movies themselves are out of sync with themselves. One moment you see a straighter flying at what looks to be incredible speeds from a planet and into deep space in no-time. The next minute you see them flying, attacking and dog-fighting at what can clearly be seen as speeds more equal to the speeds in the X-Wing games. Think of the space battle at endor and all the combat scenes where we see starfighters.

It’s possible to learn to take out an ISD in X-wing games. Just like its possible to solo an army of Dark Troopers in Dark Forces. You most keep in mind that you are in the role of a super hero with incredible skills and luck compared to his adversaries …. Just like the heroes in the movies. The NPCs in the same games are much more equal when facing each other. When takeing that in mind I think they have balanced the toughness of ships well in the X-Wing games.

Don't confuse straight-line acceleration with dogfighting. You wouldn't dogfight at full speed, stresses on the vehicle and the human body precludes this. Look at modern fighters. An F15 can do better than mach 2.5, but it certainly wouldn't dogfight at that speed, dogfights occur below the speed of sound.

Another analogy might be that your 2004 Chevy Corvette can go 160MPH. Would you like to take a normal street corner turn at that speed?

Hope this helps.

DavidVCSAndersen wrote:The SWTC pages about propulsion is good reading stuff, but in Mr. Curtis Saxtons own opinion MGLT is an “acceleration” unit and not a “speed” unit. And therefore I can not agree with his calculations about 1 MGLT being aprox 400m/s² or 40 G

You do know why he classifies it as an acceleration unit given...saying speed or velocity is completely pointless...

in space.

I can’t find any official sources claiming that MGLT is an acceleration measurement. All other sources I can find, where MGLT is mentioned, it is a measurement for speed. Plus even if MGLT is not mentioned, the sources still talk about the different speed capabilities of the fighters. Maybe all the authors of star wars sources who mention speeds are not scientists, but nevertheless starfighters in starwars seems to have speeds.

Ummm...you do grasp the sheer inanity of having velocity....in space, right?

DavidVCSAndersen wrote:

Ghost Rider wrote:Taking any information from games especially in realtion to mechanics is hideously bad since they are skewed for a players benefit as well as usually out of sync with the movies(given the fact I can destroy a fleet of ISDs with my X-wing...alone speaks volumes why...let alone speed considerations)

The movies themselves are out of sync with themselves. One moment you see a straighter flying at what looks to be incredible speeds from a planet and into deep space in no-time. The next minute you see them flying, attacking and dog-fighting at what can clearly be seen as speeds more equal to the speeds in the X-Wing games. Think of the space battle at endor and all the combat scenes where we see starfighters.

Gee...so we throw out all the examples of fighters moving thousands of times faster?

No, but it definitly shows that while they can do slower...saying that the speeds in the games are anything but the lowest end of acceleration, and even by watching ANH...you can see what the games use are grossly under anything even dogfights are.

It’s possible to learn to take out an ISD in X-wing games. Just like its possible to solo an army of Dark Troopers in Dark Forces. You most keep in mind that you are in the role of a super hero with incredible skills and luck compared to his adversaries …. Just like the heroes in the movies. The NPCs in the same games are much more equal when facing each other. When takeing that in mind I think they have balanced the toughness of ships well in the X-Wing games.

That's why a X-Wing Squadron can still destroy a ISD

don't even go near the games (X-w, T/F, XvT and XwA), according to them, 1mglt = ~1m/s. (fly toward a stationary object at 100mglt, see how long it takes you to cover a kilometer(about ten seconds))
Which would supposedly translate the X-wing's maximum speed to be about 250-300mph

Obviously the speeds in the games are more than a little bit broken.

There is no "speed" in space. Any ship with any propulsion and an indefinite supply of fuel can accelerate asymptotically toward c.

DavidVCSAndersen wrote:The SWTC pages about propulsion is good reading stuff, but in Mr. Curtis Saxtons own opinion MGLT is an “acceleration” unit and not a “speed” unit. And therefore I can not agree with his calculations about 1 MGLT being aprox 400m/s² or 40 G.

I can’t find any official sources claiming that MGLT is an acceleration measurement. All other sources I can find, where MGLT is mentioned, it is a measurement for speed. Plus even if MGLT is not mentioned, the sources still talk about the different speed capabilities of the fighters.

Try checking the games again (particularily X-wing vs TIE and X-wing Alliance.) They do rate accelerations in MGLT as well, IIRC. Many of the "acceleration" ratings given in the NEGV&V also seem to have been derived from the MGLT ratings as well (compare an A-wing to an X-wing, for example.)

Since we know SW fighters are capable of relatavistic speeds.. a "top speed" is rather redundant.

Maybe all the authors of star wars sources who mention speeds are not scientists, but nevertheless starfighters in starwars seems to have speeds.

Well, duh. Anything that moves is going to have velocity. But you also need acceleration in order to attain any sort of "speed" to begin with.

The movies themselves are out of sync with themselves. One moment you see a straighter flying at what looks to be incredible speeds from a planet and into deep space in no-time. The next minute you see them flying, attacking and dog-fighting at what can clearly be seen as speeds more equal to the speeds in the X-Wing games. Think of the space battle at endor and all the combat scenes where we see starfighters.

Noncombat linear acceleration over long distances differs greatly from a close-in dogfight close over what is effectively a planetary surface. Especially in light of jamming (they only have their eyes/visual sensors to rely upon, remember? that tends to complicate things for them necessitating closer ranges.) Would you want to rocket down the trench blind at 100+ km/s?

Secondly, the maximum acceleration values used to cross the distance between the DS and Yavin's moon undoubtably required mos t if not all of the starfighter's powerplant (it takes a shitload of energy to propel a fighter or capital ship at a rate of thousands of gravities by using an ion drive...) Once they start attacking, their weapons and other systems (jamming, shields, etc.) are gonna start drawing power, which means that there is less power available for acceleration.

It’s possible to learn to take out an ISD in X-wing games. Just like its possible to solo an army of Dark Troopers in Dark Forces. You most keep in mind that you are in the role of a super hero with incredible skills and luck compared to his adversaries …. Just like the heroes in the movies. The NPCs in the same games are much more equal when facing each other. When takeing that in mind I think they have balanced the toughness of ships well in the X-Wing games.

Which would tend to make the video game MGLT ratings rather questionalbe, one might think. (of course there are the ILM MGLT ratings as well.)

If they've 'balanced the ships toughnesses' or whatever you said, why do games have super-durable x-wings and weak-ass TIEs, when in the movies they're basically the same? The games suck as any kind of source. Lets not go into the TIE-D having similar shields to a CRV... good thing they did a good job of balancing it eh??