Ask Your Planetary Tech Questions!

[Lazerus Artificial]

With light Atmospherics coming, will we also see Weather?
Rain, Snow, or even dangerous Blizzards and Sandstorms?
If yes, how will they affect us, our Weapons, Ships and SRVs?

Will we see some form of Liquid? Like Seas? Or will all Planets be just as "dead" as the current ones?

 

[hisstus]

what are the minimum and maximum gravity values for planets that we can travel on our feet?

 

[Rubbernuke]

How much data defines an average landable moon in game? Do some surfaces require more information than others, or are they all the same?

What strengths does Cobras engine have in comparison to other engines for surface generation?

 

[WINGBACON]

The planet surface in Elite: Dangerous is, as it stands now, very simple and doesn't allow for special landscape such as cliffs, caves, giant vulcanos and the like.
Are there any plans to add (possibly handcrafted) such kind of special landscape effects to the game in the future?

I believe there will be because the Thargoid bases will have caves that we can 'walk' into. Mountains are confirmed already I thought?

 

[Justinian Octavius]

Also, what's holding back the possibility of landing in our moon? Will it be unlocked in Odyssey?

It has a 'city' on it.

CMDR Justinian Octavius

 

[Bob McBobblehead]

What are the gravity and temperature ranges to be able to walk on planets?
Will ships just glide down to the planet like they do currently, or do we need heat shields and come in at an angle?
Does the new planet tech need more CPU and GPU power than the current tech?

 

[Norsikan]

Greetings commanders,

At 19:00 UTC tonight we’ll be joined live on stream by the awesome Dr. Kay Ross to chat about the new planetary tech coming to Elite Dangerous: Odyssey. Twitch drops will also be making a return so we expect the chat to be lively.

To help us see and answer the questions you have on planetary tech in Elite Dangerous: Odyssey we have created this thread! Please post your questions here and we’ll do our best to answer as many of them as we can on stream.

Please note that for this stream we will ONLY be focusing on questions relating to planetary tech. This relates to the Stellar Forge, how planets are generated, land formations etc.

How varied will the terrain be?

 

[CMDRAnadon]

Will the side of the planets exposed to the main star of the planets or the shaded side dynamically generate a maximum or minimum temperature value that might preclude the SRV module from leaving? Or will the value always be the same as currently indicated in the internal system map? It would be interesting how within a shaded area, even within a crater that momentarily obscures the light of the star, the same temperature drop would occur as ships have when they blast ice asteroids.
It would allow for dynamic gameplay between SRV only or even through extra vehicular activity.

 

[Justinian Octavius]

Question:
Are geographic features such as caves primarily not in Elite Dangerous as FDev wants to generate them procedurally to seamlessly mash with the landscapes and be unique to every planet rather than use pre-crafted components which would be obviously the 'same cave' to the player every couple of planets?

CMDR Justinian Octavius

 

[Rubbernuke]

Will non landable planets have graphics updates as well?

 

[Teall]

You guys selected a great time for your stream.
Today,

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Land on Mars​

EXACTLY at the time you going to do your stream.
What I supposed to do? Run both streams at once?...

 

[Vetinari]

Will 'atmosphere' actually be reflected in 'entry' from space. Will we need to account for an atmosphere with Glide vectoring ie Shallow only on atmos, deep is ok on a moon, heat increases with atmosphere and friction so will need to be accounted for?

Will there be more geo features or more variety.

And can we have geo fields that go on for miles and miles that are as flat as a football field for Mat collecting. ideally in rows like the guardian columns for ease

 

[orcx]

What are the min and max values of planets gravity limitations for on foot gameplay?

 

[Vetinari]

You guys selected a great time for your stream.
Today,

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Land on Mars​

EXACTLY at the time you going to do your stream.
What I supposed to do? Run both streams at once?...

Wait for the weather, fuel, telemetrics or radio signal to mess up and it gets delayed then switch to ED stream. Should only have missed the introductions.

 

[Angus]

Caves? If they are not supported by the engine, why not? Presumably there are workarounds, like the Thargoid bases, could something like that, but a natural version, be incorporated across the galaxy? Thanks.

 

[Bob McBobblehead]

Does the Raxxla structure still work with this new planet tech and will we be able to walk inside it?

 

[Speedcuffs]

You guys selected a great time for your stream.
Today,

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Land on Mars​

EXACTLY at the time you going to do your stream.
What I supposed to do? Run both streams at once?...

NASA isn't giving twitch drops.

Will there be any change to planet surface colours?

 

[cmdr the dude is me]

Does the Raxxla structure still work with this new planet tech and will we be able to walk inside it?

it will be added now for sure
locked by

PERSONAL NARRATIVE!!

 

[Alec Turner]

Will the new Planetary Tech 'change' any of the well-known and 'loved' bodies (Pomeche comes to mind) noticably, if at all?

Anyone who wants to get their name on the current Pomeche Ridge Challenge leaderboard ... might I suggest you do so sooner rather than later!

 

[bioxlapatsa]

Will there be weather such as Rain, snow, tornados, meteor showers?

To add to this, Aurora visible in atmospheres ? Since the conditions exist and atmosphere will be a new feature, are we likely to encounter aurora based on geomagnetic activity from a star's ejecta (CMEs etc.) ? FWIW, we do get outbursts sometimes when you fly close to stars..