Hi,
I accept it as a game design and part of the gameplay but technically, I've been wondering why the long-range visibility of space fleets and objects, even stations, is so unrealistic and unscientific. Sadly, this is not how space works -- at all. Our solar system is mostly a mystery to us, especially surface details, bigger objects that are not planets yet, and we barely learned recently about the surface of Pluto at all -- after years of travel.
And here is today's an example where they finally spotted a 1.5 km asteroid between Earth and Venus: https://www.independent.co.uk/space/pot ... 14814.html
In reality, space is extremely dark. You cannot use radar or anything along these lines. You are not in Kansas anymore. It means unless the object moves "into the light" and you happen to be online at the time, looking with your long-range "eye extension equipment" (i.e. telescope) at that specific location or area, well, you see nothing and you do not know much about your neighborhood.
Terra Invicta is neglecting this entirely, and I wonder why. Is it for gameplay reasons only?
Unrealistic Long Range Visibility In Space
Re: Unrealistic Long Range Visibility In Space
Anything that gives off heat (bases, spaceships, etc). can be detected a long way out.
Anything else can be detected by observing the gravitational lensing of light or adjustments in the spectrum of light as objects pass between stars that generate light and us.
We can use techniques like this to detect planets in other solar systems my dude.
The only reason we aren’t keeping a very close watch on what’s in the solar system is because it’s not a huge priority - although there are new platforms being developed all the time*. If aliens started arriving you bet we’d develop the technology to track absolutely everything that gives off EM radiation to faint changes in gravitational fields, and that research is reflected in the game.
* https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/s ... 00999.html
^^ Wide array space based IR telescopes plus neural networks to scan the data.
Anything else can be detected by observing the gravitational lensing of light or adjustments in the spectrum of light as objects pass between stars that generate light and us.
We can use techniques like this to detect planets in other solar systems my dude.
The only reason we aren’t keeping a very close watch on what’s in the solar system is because it’s not a huge priority - although there are new platforms being developed all the time*. If aliens started arriving you bet we’d develop the technology to track absolutely everything that gives off EM radiation to faint changes in gravitational fields, and that research is reflected in the game.
* https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/s ... 00999.html
^^ Wide array space based IR telescopes plus neural networks to scan the data.
Last edited by Davedash on Wed Nov 02, 2022 1:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Unrealistic Long Range Visibility In Space
This is all fancy, and something for non-engineers. Yet, humanity barely discovered a few days ago a 1.5 km asteroid between Earth and Venus.
So, tell me, how did humanity in reality miss out on that 1.5 km asteroid for 100+ years?
So, tell me, how did humanity in reality miss out on that 1.5 km asteroid for 100+ years?
Re: Unrealistic Long Range Visibility In Space
It was hiding in a partially sun obscured orbit.
In simple terms: It sits next to a big blob of superheated gas which makes relatively small and faint objects hard to detect. There are a few places like that in the solar system but they are the exceptions, not the rule.
If you want to hide the best place is probably in a very close orbit to the sun, as long as you don't fry you will be very hard to detect against the backdrop. If you have a reactor and a habitat on a kuiper belt object the extra heat you generate/radiate will give you away...
In simple terms: It sits next to a big blob of superheated gas which makes relatively small and faint objects hard to detect. There are a few places like that in the solar system but they are the exceptions, not the rule.
If you want to hide the best place is probably in a very close orbit to the sun, as long as you don't fry you will be very hard to detect against the backdrop. If you have a reactor and a habitat on a kuiper belt object the extra heat you generate/radiate will give you away...
Re: Unrealistic Long Range Visibility In Space
Found a paper written on the subject. https://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu//fu ... 5.000.htmlSnipe wrote: ↑Thu Nov 03, 2022 10:23 am It was hiding in a partially sun obscured orbit.
In simple terms: It sits next to a big blob of superheated gas which makes relatively small and faint objects hard to detect. There are a few places like that in the solar system but they are the exceptions, not the rule.
If you want to hide the best place is probably in a very close orbit to the sun, as long as you don't fry you will be very hard to detect against the backdrop. If you have a reactor and a habitat on a kuiper belt object the extra heat you generate/radiate will give you away...
Basically depending on alien tech being used, they could be detectable at LY distance scales.
Anything inside the Solar System would be detectable using mid 90s technology.
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SpiteIsRight
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Re: Unrealistic Long Range Visibility In Space
I think there is a difference between being able to detect something and how large it appears to the naked eye. The planets and satellites seem comically large to me when viewed from a distance, the earth would be barely visible from Jupiter. It's fine for a game UI, clicking on Earth would be impossible if it was only a pixel in height, but it's not realistic at all. Think about it, from Earth's surface without magnification Jupiter looks like a pretty big star, Jupiter is 11 times larger than Earth. Orbit is a tiny fraction of the distance closer.