crazy idea: artificial planet ring

[Thargoid]

I've just updated the script a little to make it slightly faster (thanks Eric for the tip).

It now only calculates the directional vectors once rather than for each segment, saving a few ms of run-time per system.

Same URL for download as before.

[pagroove]

Ooops




FPS=6

[CommonSenseOTB]

Very good, Thargoid. That should give the starving masses some bread to chew on. Curious to see what this starting point inspires.

[Cody]

Tizaatdi's Torq!

[CommonSenseOTB]

Tizaatdi's Torq!

Gazoontite El Viejo. Bad cold?

[DaddyHoggy]

String of Pearls?

[Smivs]

String of Pearls?

Yeah, why not? Sounds a bit more romantic than string of grey metal slabs, doesn't it? And Glenn Miller would approve if he was still alive, and played Oolite

[DaddyHoggy]

String of Pearls?

Yeah, why not? Sounds a bit more romantic than string of grey metal slabs, doesn't it? And Glenn Miller would approve if he was still alive, and played Oolite

Don't Google "String of Pearls" on a work PC - trust me it has other connotations...

[Smivs]

Ha, yes I've just found that out!
And there was little innocent ol' me thinking of Glenn Miller and his Pearl necklace. Also it's a Chinese sea trade route. Many meanings, and just to be clear I didn't mean the rude ones!

[CommonSenseOTB]

String of Pearls?

haha! That one slipped right on by DH. It seems there is a lot of sexual inuendo on different threads in the last few days.

If the ring was around a pleasure planet or moon then the title would be apt.

Way to go Smivs. You da man!

[RyanHoots]

Ooops

LOL! I need to tinker with that...

[PhantorGorth]

That's a lot of ships coming and going too, which will only compound the frame rate issue.

[pagroove]

Hi Thargoid,

I was wondering if you could make the ring segments at such a length that there is no gap in between.
Maybe you could also make a segment with your fuel station attached to it. But instead of a fuel station it serves as a docking port (or a racing ring).

Also I think (if possible) that the ring should be a little bit higher (just a little bit) above the surface.
I started texturing. But maybe Smivs could do a nice texture for this?

[Thargoid]

Hi Thargoid,

I was wondering if you could make the ring segments at such a length that there is no gap in between.
Maybe you could also make a segment with your fuel station attached to it. But instead of a fuel station it serves as a docking port (or a racing ring).

Losing the gap is difficult. Each segment is a different entity, so if they get too close you get collision and they tend to blow up (which is very pretty to watch, but not exactly useful).

To some degree that can be eased by using scripting to restore their energy, but it's not exactly a nice solution. But if you want to play with minimising the gap, look in the script.js file in line 19. The 1200 near the end is the spacing between the centre of each segment - that would be the figure to change. Each segment is 1000m wide, so there is currently a gap of 200m between each (think of it as 100m on each side). So you can decrease it down to 1000, but then the segments will be in contact and will explode. But it may be that there is a stable value between 1000-1200 that works.

As for a docking port, yes something like that can be done although the fuel station is too small and is oriented in the wrong direction. Ironically the best thing to use as a gateway is a Coriolis station...

Also I think (if possible) that the ring should be a little bit higher (just a little bit) above the surface.
I started texturing. But maybe Smivs could do a nice texture for this?

That part is easy. In the script.js, line 18 defines the height of the ring above the planet (this.ringHeight). Currently it's set at 1000m above the planet - just change the 1000 there to something larger to get it at a higher orbit. The script will automatically adjust the number of required segments in the ring to compensate.

[DaddyHoggy]

Could you put a big non-flashing flasher in the gap? Using technobabble to explain that it's a bi-directional interconnecting forcefield - that allows the ring to flex under stellar and lunar gravitational loadings as well as a safety measure that means the ring could be partitioned up quickly by shutting down forcefields to prevent the spread of fire or disease or attack...

Just a thought.