Lead Environment Artist Samuel "SWallrus" Wall shares details about the process behind designing the Dyson Sphere in this entry of the Season 8 News Dev Blog series.
I'm sorry but personally I don't see what all the hype is about. Maybe it's because of being a realist when it comes to STO, and every season so far having as least one major disappointment, or because their goals are always loftier than their talent.
In the TNG episode with the Dyson's sphere it was clearly stated that the radiation inside the sphere was at such a lethal level that even with shields and everything they couldn't stay inside long, yet now all of a sudden Starfleet has been studying that sphere for 40 years.
Instead of focusing on updates that so far have really only given 2 weeks to a month new content they need to focus on content that will last months, but isn't just an endlessly weak grindfest.
foundry authors can knock out a good mission in a couple hundred hours by themselves and with a much less powerful and unoptimized tool. There's no reason teams of devs can't knock out new quality content at a consistent pace and quality.
In the TNG episode with the Dyson's sphere it was clearly stated that the radiation inside the sphere was at such a lethal level that even with shields and everything they couldn't stay inside long, yet now all of a sudden Starfleet has been studying that sphere for 40 years.
The Enterprise lost all primary and aux systems and was floating toward the unstable sun due to the momentum from the tractor. They didn't have access to their systems, thus the radiation was a big problem. They managed to restore 30% of the power to the Maneuvering Thrusters and were able to stop the decent into the sun and get an unstable orbit near it - but they are still too close.
We have to assume that sometime in the 40 years they learned how to gain access to the Sphere without it taking down all their systems; thus studying it was no major problem.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Season 8: The Sphere (End of 2013) Space adventure zone in a massive Dyson sphere located far away from known space at far end of the Iconian Gateway found on New Romulus
~ Fight for strategic points against the Voth in a PvE-territory control environment
~ Will also include a ground portio
I bet the Dyson's Sphere will be a space version of New Romulus.
I cannot see it going beyond the *pew pew pew*, *scan something*, and *collect something* mentality.
I currently do not see any environmental puzzles to be solved.
I'm a gamer who likes ships and worlds.... but to be on an alien world... as any ship of my choice... ok dev crew... I may have give you a lot of flak about the numerous bugs of STO, but I will give you points for this concept (even if it's named the same as a key feature of a bran name vacuum cleaner).
I'm a gamer who likes ships and worlds.... but to be on an alien world... as any ship of my choice... ok dev crew... I may have give you a lot of flak about the numerous bugs of STO, but I will give you points for this concept (even if it's named the same as a key feature of a bran name vacuum cleaner).
Dyson Spheres are actually named after the 90 year old physicist Freeman Dyson.
STO is about my Liberated Borg Federation Captain with his Breen 1st Officer, Jem'Hadar Tactical Officer, Liberated Borg Engineering Officer, Android Ops Officer, Photonic Science Officer, Gorn Science Officer, and Reman Medical Officer jumping into their Jem'Hadar Carrier and flying off to do missions for the new Romulan Empire. But for some players allowing a T5 Connie to be used breaks the canon in the game.
Hmm must be the only one who isnt that enthusiastic about Season 8.
More bugs
More Fleet projects
More Reputation
More Grind
I may or may not log in to try this when it goes live when my computer is fixed but not so sure if it is something I will do more than once. There is still PVE stuff that I havent tried with LOR and possibly never will as they don't seem to be used
NO TO ARC
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Though looking at the picture, kind of wish you guys added a slight concave horizon to give the players a feeling that they are indeed in a Dyson Sphere. Because if you go up in an aircraft, you start to see the gradual curve of the Earth. But we are on a Dyson sphere, so the scale would be much more massive and in the other direction.
While it's not a Dyson Sphere, This Artist has a proper perspective of how the horizon would be.
But the background picture, well no offense but it gives me more an impression being on a floating island, above the sphere (looking down at the surface) than being part of the Dyson Sphere itself. Of course that experience might change once the mission is out or open testing has begun.
Because of the immense scale of the Dyson Sphere, and the fact that these maps take place relatively close to the surface, the perceptibility of the curved nature of the surface would be negligible. In earlier iterations we actually had the terrain under the playable map be curved, with the various spires/buildings angled to match the surface, and it didn't feel right. (Think Uncanny Valley).
While beautiful, this painting is giving you sense of the curve away from you largely due to the fact that it's a ring, not a sphere. Because it's a ring, you can see the perspective of the edges of that ring, as it appears to grow narrower at the top. This gives you much more of a sense of the curve than the actual surface contained on it. If you projected that surface in a 360 around you, it would be much more difficult to perceive.
In addition, it is my belief that it is easier to sell the whole sphere/ringworld concept when viewed from the ground. Because you get the atmospheric perspective, cloud layers, fog/haze, etc. we are more able to cope with the look of the thing. If you look at photos of Earth from Orbit, while yes, you can detect it's curvature by looking at the edge of the planet, it is more difficult to detect by looking at the center of the planet beneath you. And on the interior of a Dyson Sphere, with no edges to guide you, that flatter perception of the earth below you, is extended in all directions around you, and makes it extremely difficult to detect that curvature. Example
Please don't make the outside shell of a Dyson Sphere have some goofy design. Something so huge would, imo, be fairly featureless when viewed from a distance far enough to be seen in totality. Think of the Borg Cube. It has features up close but is pretty uniform from a distance.
I agree with this in principle. In reality, a Dyson Sphere's surface beyond the horizon (or beyond the nearest bits if you were in the space above it's surface) would devolve into a single color at the distances we are talking about. Unless there were truely massive features on the far wall (larger than the sun), they wouldn't be visible, and it would all mush together.
However, from a practical standpoint, people expect to be able to see continents and such. And we found that (as in my example above) when we had the whole surface just covered in continents and oceans, it was very difficult to perceive that curvature. As such, the major and minor structural lines were added to aid in that perception.
And a Cube's size is a joke compared to a Dyson Sphere.
The Death Star would be a more fitting example.
And even the DS is a joke compared to a sphere with a diameter of 1 AU.
Actually, the Death Star is pretty jokey as well. The Voth City Ship will be longer than the diameter of the Death Star.
Actually, the Death Star is pretty jokey as well. The Voth City Ship will be longer than the diameter of the Death Star.
Yeah, as said, the DS (Death Star) is a joke compared to a Dyson Sphere.
But: how can the Voth City Ship be longer then the diameter of the DS? The thing got a diameter of 160 kilometers. While massive, I never got the impression (neither from Voyager nor from the Beta footage from Storming the Spire) that the City Ship is that massive.
A Super Star Destroyer would be a more fitting comparison in my mind?
Yeah, as said, the DS (Death Star) is a joke compared to a Dyson Sphere.
But: how can the Voth City Ship be longer then the diameter of the DS? The thing got a diameter of 160 kilometers. While massive, I never got the impression (neither from Voyager nor from the Beta footage from Storming the Spire) that the City Ship is that massive.
A Super Star Destroyer would be a more fitting comparison in my mind?
Depends which size for the Death Star you use. The official size is 160 for the first and 900 for the second. But in actual shots, their sizes varied more than the Defiant's, ranging down as far as 9 km (which is under the city ship's length).
Depends which size for the Death Star you use. The official size is 160 for the first and 900 for the second. But in actual shots, their sizes varied more than the Defiant's, ranging down as far as 9 km (which is under the city ship's length).
I take the official lenght. There is no debate among SW fans that would make the diameter of the First DS shorter then the City Ship... the 900 kilometer of the Second DS are of course... strange, and I am not really in favor of them.
But the 160 kilometer for the First DS are pretty much given.
Comments
hey uh branflakes? can you tell the devs to go ahead and launch season 8 ? were all anxious to fly inside a dysons sphere
Im looking forward to season 8 looks AWESOME!!!!
In the TNG episode with the Dyson's sphere it was clearly stated that the radiation inside the sphere was at such a lethal level that even with shields and everything they couldn't stay inside long, yet now all of a sudden Starfleet has been studying that sphere for 40 years.
Instead of focusing on updates that so far have really only given 2 weeks to a month new content they need to focus on content that will last months, but isn't just an endlessly weak grindfest.
foundry authors can knock out a good mission in a couple hundred hours by themselves and with a much less powerful and unoptimized tool. There's no reason teams of devs can't knock out new quality content at a consistent pace and quality.
We have to assume that sometime in the 40 years they learned how to gain access to the Sphere without it taking down all their systems; thus studying it was no major problem.
I cannot see it going beyond the *pew pew pew*, *scan something*, and *collect something* mentality.
I currently do not see any environmental puzzles to be solved.
We will have to wait for more information.
More bugs
More Fleet projects
More Reputation
More Grind
I may or may not log in to try this when it goes live when my computer is fixed but not so sure if it is something I will do more than once. There is still PVE stuff that I havent tried with LOR and possibly never will as they don't seem to be used
Vice Admiral Volmack ISS Thundermole
Brigadier General Jokag IKS Gorkan
Centurion Kares RRW Tomalak
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Because of the immense scale of the Dyson Sphere, and the fact that these maps take place relatively close to the surface, the perceptibility of the curved nature of the surface would be negligible. In earlier iterations we actually had the terrain under the playable map be curved, with the various spires/buildings angled to match the surface, and it didn't feel right. (Think Uncanny Valley).
While beautiful, this painting is giving you sense of the curve away from you largely due to the fact that it's a ring, not a sphere. Because it's a ring, you can see the perspective of the edges of that ring, as it appears to grow narrower at the top. This gives you much more of a sense of the curve than the actual surface contained on it. If you projected that surface in a 360 around you, it would be much more difficult to perceive.
In addition, it is my belief that it is easier to sell the whole sphere/ringworld concept when viewed from the ground. Because you get the atmospheric perspective, cloud layers, fog/haze, etc. we are more able to cope with the look of the thing. If you look at photos of Earth from Orbit, while yes, you can detect it's curvature by looking at the edge of the planet, it is more difficult to detect by looking at the center of the planet beneath you. And on the interior of a Dyson Sphere, with no edges to guide you, that flatter perception of the earth below you, is extended in all directions around you, and makes it extremely difficult to detect that curvature. Example
I agree with this in principle. In reality, a Dyson Sphere's surface beyond the horizon (or beyond the nearest bits if you were in the space above it's surface) would devolve into a single color at the distances we are talking about. Unless there were truely massive features on the far wall (larger than the sun), they wouldn't be visible, and it would all mush together.
However, from a practical standpoint, people expect to be able to see continents and such. And we found that (as in my example above) when we had the whole surface just covered in continents and oceans, it was very difficult to perceive that curvature. As such, the major and minor structural lines were added to aid in that perception.
Realistic? Maybe, maybe not. But necessary.
Actually, the Death Star is pretty jokey as well. The Voth City Ship will be longer than the diameter of the Death Star.
Yeah, as said, the DS (Death Star) is a joke compared to a Dyson Sphere.
But: how can the Voth City Ship be longer then the diameter of the DS? The thing got a diameter of 160 kilometers. While massive, I never got the impression (neither from Voyager nor from the Beta footage from Storming the Spire) that the City Ship is that massive.
A Super Star Destroyer would be a more fitting comparison in my mind?
Depends which size for the Death Star you use. The official size is 160 for the first and 900 for the second. But in actual shots, their sizes varied more than the Defiant's, ranging down as far as 9 km (which is under the city ship's length).
I take the official lenght. There is no debate among SW fans that would make the diameter of the First DS shorter then the City Ship... the 900 kilometer of the Second DS are of course... strange, and I am not really in favor of them.
But the 160 kilometer for the First DS are pretty much given.
The spheres look nice to visit, but i wouldn't want to grind there.
I want to hear what is being done for alt reputations! Can i get my Romulan Science captain off the ground and in the big leagues some season?