Let's talk about ICE PLANETS

VR SenseiMatty

VR SenseiMatty
I think most of us remember the concept images that introduced the graphical changes to Ice Planets:

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Since we still have no info at all about these changes I thought it's a good idea to start another speculation train.

The last of the 3 images is taken from the video that was shown during last year lavecon if I'm not mistaken. What we see there is deeply different from the first two concept art. In fact the first 2 show mountains and complex structures made of ice and snow, while the last one shows only a vitreous flat ice surface. While the third one is a nice picture and a big improvement compared to what ice planets are now, the first two with the snow remain my favourite interpretation of a graphical representation of ice planets.
Let's see some questions then:
  • Do you think we will have that kind of snow in the final release of ice planets or will we only see the vitrous ice type?
  • If we're gonna have both do you think these will be applied to two different type of ice planets/biomes or will they cohexist on the same planet?
  • Do you think that the SRV behaviour on the two different type of surface will be different and improved to what we have now or is it just a graphical improvement?
  • Some ice/snow structures on the concept images look fragile, so does it worth to add phenomena like avalanches or dangerous situation on ice planets to improve the gameplay? For example when we shoot to crystals to extract material, these structure could become unstable and the vibrations may generate some minor earthquake/avalanche.
  • What type of new gameplay do these images suggest to you?
 

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
To get anything like picture 1 you'd have to make some sort of proc-gen ice movement simulation to get the correct growth and cracking.

Some features suggest some sort of weathering , so I expect some separation of the features.

The SRV wheels would act like shovels in snow unless it was melted, so I expect deep drifts of snow to make SRVs harder to turn.

No new gameplay is in these shots that does not already exist IMO, not unless you can have items trapped in ice to burn out.
 

TheSynopticVision

T
I don’t mean this with any sarcasm but: why do you torture yourself like this? We already spend so much time in this forum daydreaming about what we could have/would like to see — and for what? What we know is that, if we will ever see anything like that, we will see it in Q4 2020 at the earliest. That’s at least 15 months from now.
 

MoonRacer

MoonRacer
Rubbernuke said:
To get anything like picture 1 you'd have to make some sort of proc-gen ice movement simulation to get the correct growth and cracking.

Some features suggest some sort of weathering , so I expect some separation of the features.

The SRV wheels would act like shovels in snow unless it was melted, so I expect deep drifts of snow to make SRVs harder to turn.

No new gameplay is in these shots that does not already exist IMO, not unless you can have items trapped in ice to burn out.
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I think, they could manage the look, even with procedural generation.

The most important point: Who is served by this? It looks nice, yes. But I see no real gameplay 'emerge', you are right here. And btw: Melting materials out of the ice is not possible. This would be shooting it out. Interaction in this game is always by shooting something :D
 

Rubbernuke

Rubbernuke
MoonRacer said:
I think, they could manage the look, even with procedural generation.

The most important point: Who is served by this? It looks nice, yes. But I see no real gameplay 'emerge', you are right here. And btw: Melting materials out of the ice is not possible. This would be shooting it out. Interaction in this game is always by shooting something :D
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By proc gen I meant like lunar geology is generated currently. There is a process FD have in the Stellar Forge for it, I imagine they might do the same for ice or liquids too since they both create geological features.
 

Drelthar

Drelthar
SenseiMatty said:
I think most of us remember the concept images that introduced the graphical changes to Ice Planets:

View attachment 136813

View attachment 136811

View attachment 136812
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  • Do you think we will have that kind of snow in the final release of ice planets or will we only see the vitrous ice types - there wil be some kind of effort made to add differently textured and modelled rocks as in the two concept art pieces.
  • If we're gonna have both do you think these will be applied to two different type of ice planets/biomes or will they cohexist on the same planet? - probly just any ice planet
  • Do you think that the SRV behaviour on the two different type of surface will be different and improved to what we have now or is it just a graphical improvement? - probly slip more on icey areas.
  • Some ice/snow structures on the concept images look fragile, so does it worth to add phenomena like avalanches or dangerous situation on ice planets to improve the gameplay? For example when we shoot to crystals to extract material, these structure could become unstable and the vibrations may generate some minor earthquake/avalanche. - lol no, this would require adding some kind of gameplay element, this is just an art team project.
  • What type of new gameplay do these images suggest to you? - none, it's a graphical update.
The first two are purely concept art. They are suggestions for the technical artists to work from - there's zero indication the in game stuff will be anything like it.

The last one is a render from in game - that means they had that kind of thing running in game, however, it may have been really really none optimised, and so would likely change a whole lot. Also, it's just... a texture(material/shader), I never really understood why people got so exicted about it. (don't get me wrong, it's a nice shader, really well made, but it is... just a shader.)

What they are doing, according to the art director, is improving their "Scatter rocks" system, which places various rocks procedurally around planet surfaces. This will likely include some large rocks, with icey textures on them. Then you'll get those little icey textured bits of ground.

That's it, it's not exciting.
 
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CMDR-ss47ply

CMDR-ss47ply
I like the idea and the art work but you cant have wind blowen ice carvings with out wind you cant have ice burge build ups with out some king of water run offs so maybe we might see them. I hope so
 

Han Zulu

Han Zulu
Borko said:
Back to the point, i like the third pic most. The deep detailing under the ice surface screams ‘DO DONUTS ON ME!!’
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Donuts? Someone mentioned donuts? Good, because I want some with my coffee!

Regarding ice planets, I like the third picture as well. I rather have atmo planets though than ice planets.
 

JesusRocks1988

JesusRocks1988
I was so sure that the ice planet re-prioritisation meant that we were getting atmospheric landings, and they decided there was no point doing just the airless ice planets like this and so rolled it into the kind of wider planetary overhaul at atmospherics would require (after all there's plenty of ice worlds with atmospheres)... But the incredible veracity of the roadmap leak suggests that's not the case.

On the other hand I thought that since the fleet carriers were re-prioritised at the same time, that we would see ice planet improvements come around the same time. But again, current revelations suggest that may not be the case either. If FD were planning on bringing ice planets along with fleet carriers, surely they would have mentioned them at Lavecon as well.

So ice planets are in an even stranger place than fleet carriers were. No word on them, anything that could have suggested a timeframe has now become very unlikely, what I personally thought appealed to common sense doesn't seem to apply... Maybe we should start shifting the focus of our badgering to ice planets now 🤔
 

VR SenseiMatty

VR SenseiMatty
JesusRocks1988 said:
I was so sure that the ice planet re-prioritisation meant that we were getting atmospheric landings, and they decided there was no point doing just the airless ice planets like this and so rolled it into the kind of wider planetary overhaul at atmospherics would require (after all there's plenty of ice worlds with atmospheres)... But the incredible veracity of the roadmap leak suggests that's not the case.

On the other hand I thought that since the fleet carriers were re-prioritised at the same time, that we would see ice planet improvements come around the same time. But again, current revelations suggest that may not be the case either. If FD were planning on bringing ice planets along with fleet carriers, surely they would have mentioned them at Lavecon as well.

So ice planets are in an even stranger place than fleet carriers were. No word on them, anything that could have suggested a timeframe has now become very unlikely, what I personally thought appealed to common sense doesn't seem to apply... Maybe we should start shifting the focus of our badgering to ice planets now 🤔
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I remember most people got upset with the delay of fleet carriers and only a few with ice planets.. That's probably what shifted the development priorities. In the end I think many will be upset by FC as these will only be a squadron tool for multiplayer.
 

Vasco Sapien

Vasco Sapien
SenseiMatty said:
I remember most people got upset with the delay of fleet carriers and only a few with ice planets.. That's probably what shifted the development priorities. In the end I think many will be upset by FC as these will only be a squadron tool for multiplayer.
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I thought the disappointment in this community was equal to both features being cut from 3.3.
Me personally Ice planets were my number 1 feature for that update and it being cut was a huge disappointment for me.
Planet surfaces in ED are coloured height maps and are in need of some improvement, this feature update was the first step in creating something more dynamic and realistic looking.
 

Vardaugas

Vardaugas
Can't wait to impale my SRV on an icicle. Seriously, the more details they add to planet surfaces, the more complicated it will be to get from A to B. Good think geo sites are a thing now because hunting outcrops will a right nightmare with obstacles everywhere.
 
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