Plot Devices: Should we use them? (part 9)

The fact that the Star Legation visual novel involves a journey across the universe meant that the characters would be spending a lot of time together. But where? Faster Than Light (FTL) travel is a plot device in itself that allows us to accept the idea of people traveling to different planets, different solar systems, and even different galaxies. Yet, despite FTL being a plot device that allows interstellar travel, in science fiction there are a number of opinions about how long these journeys actually take. In some stories, a pilot will “go to hyperspace” and arrive wherever they want in a matter of minutes or hours. In others, the entire crew enters into some kind of cryo-freeze suspended-animation to make the long journey, waking up when they finally arrive, years later. I chose something closer to the middle—traveling to different star systems could take days or weeks, adding up to a few months total. That in itself became a sort of plot device that helped with my art budget. How? Because my characters would be spending much of their time interacting aboard their starship!