Warping for a Living

[vovat]

I'm not sure what the first video game was to refer to a way to skip levels as a warp zone, but it's become pretty common parlance. Of course, the word "warp" had already been associated with transportation because of Star Trek, but warp drive works a little differently than a warp zone. Still, they're manifestations of the same basic idea, which is abnormally fast transport.

The idea of such transportation is an old one, achieved in fantasy by means of seven-league boots and magic spells. In science fiction, however, it takes on a certain level of necessity, what with travel between solar systems being an integral part of many stories set in space. Since we don't know of any way to travel faster than the speed of light, and that would require a travel time of four years just to reach Proxima Centauri, writers of space stories have to come up with their own ways for spacecraft to circumvent the speed of light. One of the most common is hyperspace, which is basically an alternate universe where travel is faster for some reason. From what I've read, Star Trek's warp drive doesn't work exactly the same way that hyperspace normally does, instead having something to do with forming a bubble of normal space-time around the vehicle while it travels through subspace.



No, not THAT Subspace, although there are some definite similarities. The thing is, with hyperspace or warp drive, space travel is fast, but still takes time. Warp zones in video games tend to provide transportation that's instantaneous (allowing for processor delays). That's more like the idea of a magic door, or the means of five-dimensional travel used by the women in Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. I often find myself thinking that teleportation would be one of the most useful magical powers to have. It would save a lot of time if I could just jump into a pipe and end up at work a few seconds later, wouldn't it? Then again, if work had a dress code, that pipe might be awfully dirty. Mario and Luigi have the sense to wear overalls when making their way through warp pipes.

Comments

[alicornmoon.livejournal.com]

I don't care what any of the novels warn, I still would love having the power to fly :3. It might not always be too fast but I would never get to near the sun or planes ether :D

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, the writer of the Icarus myth didn't realize that you'd have to fly through millions of miles of cold space before getting close enough to the Sun for it to have any real effect on your wings.

[alicornmoon.livejournal.com]

Hee..well, flying really high just isn't good for you in the first place, even with wings ;)

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the air gets pretty thin up there, doesn't it?

Warp Zones vs Magic Portals vs ?

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

I wrote a book with a magic portal in it once and one of the characters asked "Like a sort of warp zone?" But I hated that phrase and always wanted to replace it somehow, but I couldn't think of a better one. "Magic Portal" is close I guess, but it doesn't necessarily imply the same sort of transport-- I mean, technically a magic portal could be any sort of magical door, maybe it's just the kind where you walk through and turn into an animal or something. Can anyone think of any other words or phrases that fit?

Although, even if I DO go back to that book someday, I think I completely changed the dialogue to avoid coming up with a word for it anyway. I'm still curious.

Re: Warp Zones vs Magic Portals vs ?

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I kind of like the term "teleportal," which I actually made up several years ago, but I wouldn't be too surprised if others had come up with the same word independently.