37 replies to this topic

[Joseph Mallan]

stjobe, on 11 July 2015 - 05:55 AM, said:

Depending on which rules you're talking about, sure. Laws of physics? Yep, should be the same everywhere. Lots and lots of evidence of the laws of physics being the same on each and every non-terrestrial place we've looked at.

Biology though? There's a sample size of exactly one here. We haven't found anything even remotely like life anywhere else but here on Earth.

Sure, if there was this planet like Earth, and if it had trees, and if it had the same kind of atmosphere, soil composition, etc etc, basically if it was an exact copy of Earth, we could reasonably expect trees there to look the same as here.

But the odds of any other planet being exactly like home???

[stjobe]

Joseph Mallan, on 11 July 2015 - 06:04 AM, said:

But the odds of any other planet being exactly like home???

Statistically, with the number of stars and planetary system in the universe, it's almost a certainty there's at least one planet that's virtually indistinguishable from Earth. The only issue is that it might be orbiting a star in a galaxy several million light-years away, which means it's so far out of our reach it might as well not exist.

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

[Otto Cannon]

It makes no difference at all whether trees can be that big. Putting really huge ones in a game that already suffers from severe scaling perception issues is probably a really bad idea.

[AlexEss]

Well on the other hand... They need to make some differences in the cover, or it will end up being you hopping form one obelisk to the next.. =)

Also... In the BT lore there are several references to trees that cover or even tower over the mechs. But i agree that a better mix of sizes are needed.

[Burktross]

stjobe, on 11 July 2015 - 05:55 AM, said:

Depending on which rules you're talking about, sure. Laws of physics? Yep, should be the same everywhere. Lots and lots of evidence of the laws of physics being the same on each and every non-terrestrial place we've looked at.

Biology though? There's a sample size of exactly one here. We haven't found anything even remotely like life anywhere else but here on Earth.

Sure, if there was this planet like Earth, and if it had trees, and if it had the same kind of atmosphere, soil composition, etc etc, basically if it was an exact copy of Earth, we could reasonably expect trees there to look the same as here.

Wasn't there a lot of human terraforming and transplanting species planet to planet?

[stjobe]

Burktross, on 11 July 2015 - 06:48 AM, said:

Wasn't there a lot of human terraforming and transplanting species planet to planet?

Oh, in the BattleTech universe? Sure, Vega is a good example:

Quote

Vega is a world rich in minerals, metallic ores, and fresh water, and has three landmasses: North Nanturo, South Nanturo and Forsair. By the time it joined the Draconis Combine, Vega was home to a series of industrial concerns producing everything from medical equipment to armored vehicle components. These businesses were required to follow strict environmental protection laws to support the terraforming process. The success of these terraforming efforts allowed the Vegans to import horses and camels from Terra; These animals thrived in the environment.

[Lightfoot]

stjobe, on 11 July 2015 - 06:13 AM, said:

Statistically, with the number of stars and planetary system in the universe, it's almost a certainty there's at least one planet that's virtually indistinguishable from Earth. The only issue is that it might be orbiting a star in a galaxy several million light-years away, which means it's so far out of our reach it might as well not exist.

"Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space."
- Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Well to live on an alien world humans would need to bring their own eco-system to at least part of the planet. It's unlikely that the things there to eat would have any of the complex nutrients like sugar, carbohydrates, proteins, in a form that humans could digest since the native life would have evolved in a totally different way even if it does similar things to earth life, like trees. You have a lot in common with a cucumber or potato, that's why you can eat it and assimilate it's nutrients.

But yes, the new Forest Colony looks good. Like a sunny realistic day with a little haze.

[Burktross]

Lightfoot, on 11 July 2015 - 08:36 AM, said:

Well to live on an alien world humans would need to bring their own eco-system to at least part of the planet. It's unlikely that the things there to eat would have any of the complex nutrients like sugar, carbohydrates, proteins, in a form that humans could digest since the native life would have evolved in a totally different way even if it does similar things to earth life, like trees. You have a lot in common with a cucumber or potato, that's why you can eat it and assimilate it's nutrients.

But yes, the new Forest Colony looks good. Like a sunny realistic day with a little haze.

Silicon based life, anybody?

stjobe, on 11 July 2015 - 07:12 AM, said:

Oh, in the BattleTech universe? Sure, Vega is a good example:

Good. my memory isn't as bad as I thought!

[RedlineHunter]

So looking forward to this. Endor!

[El Bandito]

RedlineHunter, on 11 July 2015 - 10:02 PM, said:

So looking forward to this. Endor!

And bad Light pilots crashing into trees, slowing down, and get shot.

[Hit the Deck]

There's new preview of the map by NGNG:









It seems like there will be giant "Redwood trees" like Andi Nagasia posted on the 1st page.

[bad arcade kitty]

Joseph Mallan, on 11 July 2015 - 06:04 AM, said:

But the odds of any other planet being exactly like home???

if the hypothesis of panspermia is right, the life on the other planets can be pretty close to ours considering the convergent evolution and the same origin; actually the convergent evolution may be the answer even if the panspermia hypothesis is wrong

https://en.wikipedia...wiki/Panspermia
https://en.wikipedia...rgent_evolution

Edited by bad arcade kitty, 12 July 2015 - 03:02 AM.

[GeistHrafn]

bad arcade kitty, on 12 July 2015 - 03:01 AM, said:

if the hypothesis of panspermia is right, the life on the other planets can be pretty close to ours considering the convergent evolution and the same origin; actually the convergent evolution may be the answer even if the panspermia hypothesis is wrong

https://en.wikipedia...wiki/Panspermia
https://en.wikipedia...rgent_evolution

Exactly.

The books describe species of plants and animals that don't exist on earth. A couple thousand years is not long enough for evolution to occur from terraforming, so it stands to reason the plants and animals are native to the planets they are on.

Several places in the "Legend of the Jade Phoenix" trilogy alone describe trees tall enough to completely hide mechs, in at least one case I can remember one of those mechs was a Warhawk.

[stjobe]

Rhazien, on 12 July 2015 - 03:18 AM, said:

Several places in the "Legend of the Jade Phoenix" trilogy alone describe trees tall enough to completely hide mechs, in at least one case I can remember one of those mechs was a Warhawk.

Trees "tall enough to completely hide mechs" does not need to be much taller than 20 m. These trees look more like 120+ m.

And that's fine, if there's also lots of other detail so that those trees do not completely throw off our sense of scale.

We have enough of that on the old maps, we really don't need it on the new maps.

[GeistHrafn]

stjobe, on 12 July 2015 - 03:25 AM, said:

And that's fine, if there's also lots of other detail so that those trees do not completely throw off our sense of scale.

Completely agree with you here. Needs to feel like big stompy mechs, not CoD style shooter.

[El Bandito]

Guys, can't we just be happy that the blue-grey mist is gone?

Now I can actually spot an ECM Raven standing few dozen meters away from me.

[Juodas Varnas]

I'm just hoping it has some sort of settlement to establish the scale.
You know? Since it's called Forest COLONY.

[El Bandito]

Juodas Varnas, on 12 July 2015 - 03:50 AM, said:

I'm just hoping it has some sort of settlement to establish the scale.
You know? Since it's called Forest COLONY.

There should be few houses to the side of the map and people in the front porch, playing banjo.