Post
Sat Dec 08, 2012 7:10 am
#180
by Asmodai
I voted for Carriers (I had apparently just assumed they were already in but if not we need to get them in there!)
That said the Beautiful Planets one intrigues me. I'm not sure what's already being done, what will be added if the Beautiful Planets goal is hit, and what is simply beyond the scope of what can be implemented at all so I'll make a wish list and hope for insight in which of these categories those things belong.
From Space:
Visible rotation (surface features such as continents moving from light to dark side of planet)
Dynamic could systems on plants with clouds (clouds form and move differently from the movement noted above)
On habited planets lights on the dark side. (One should be able to get a basic idea of population density on a planet by the density of lights on the dark side)
Surface:
Can you actually fly around the surface when you go through the seam to a planet? I had just assumed that landing on planets meant that you'd go from space to a space port on a planet not actually be able to fly around. If you CAN fly around doesn't that open a HUGE can of worms? Wouldn't the flight model have to change? Do planets only have a single environment (forest planet, desert planet, jungle planet, etc.) or on appropriate planets can you fly from the frozen poles past forests and deserts to jungles at the equator??? What about day/night cycles, weather, heck even seasons. On inhabited planets are there cites, towns, roads, other air/spacecraft, etc.? I would think trying to simulate a planet would be a huge game in itself and well beyond the scope of this one (plus do inhabited planets really just let any joe with a spaceship fly all over their planets? Wouldn't traffic potentially be a nightmare and policing damn near impossible?