warning: heavy theorycrafting inbound
what if objects in LT would be slowed by the "medium" which i described on the first page of this thread
it could also be used as a gameplay device.
as to why stations are static regardless of their size (there could be an outpost smaller than a big carrier)
they artificially
amplify the drag effect and "anchor" themself in space
this anchor can be retracted at any time, making the station mobile again
(this takes a long time or lot of power or both)
they also offload relatively big parts of their structural stress into subspace, leading to stations having more structural strenght (hitpoints) than ships of comparable size
this also prevents stations that would be too big for the physics engine to handle as mobile objects from remobilizing, they'd fall apart if they did
(so a viable method of destroying a big station would be to unanchor it, a nice pathway for sabotage
)
the medium could also impart some kind of "activation energy" for movement, which is the cause for asteroids to be static, but for wrecks and stations to be mobile if pushed hard enough.
if we go for full consistency bigger and bigger asteroids could be ever harder to get moving and the biggest ones would be static again.
a small shot to the side of a rock wouldnt send it tumbling away, but if you put your over-engined, powerful tug against a rock and push you can get it going.
i like theorycrafting :3 <3