Mars High

With the freshly terraformed mars in my opinion being one of the most Iconic and best looking planets in the game, It seems a little weird to put the station in such a high orbit so as to miss out on all the fantastic detail that went into the planet, unless of course you want to go out of the way to see it every time which is a little disappointing. I suppose the station name derived from the station being in high orbit, though it seems like a poor choice when low orbit or even medium orbit is obviously the way to go. I personally think a slower approach due to gravity well compared to having the planet be tiny from the station would be a fair trade off but its only an opinion not a fact. Anyway I would like to know what other's think, I very well could be the only one who thinks this, however i doubt it.

Obligatory Screen shots
From Mars High
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Low Orbit Mars
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Olympus Mons
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The slow gravity well approach is not the only trade off. You also get ~50% of the sky blocked forcing you to super cruise first before jumping more often.

Low orbit is just very very impractical for travellers.

And 90% of the beautiful things are out of the way of grinding anyway (take icy asteroid belts for example - nobody has a reason to go there except for the view).
I don't think that's a problem.

edit: Not to mention since planetary landing will come along for these at some point as well you will get to marvel at them in more detail. With reason.
 
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Well I don't consider having to jump into super cruise before a jump anything more then a slight inconvenience it adds maybe 30-40 sec at most onto jump time . Its also pretty rare that I have to do it even at the low orbit stations that are in game. Considering the planet only takes up the screen in one direction which is more like 16.7% of the sky as its simply 1/6. Real life Stations are all in Low orbit. If we decide to skip low orbit all together because it is impractical to waste 30 -40 sec, Then we might as well not put any stations further then 1000 LS because that is far more impractical and takes way more time. But it's there for realism over convenience.
 
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That pic of Olympus is awesome.

I wonder how is FD going to tackle atmospheric landings on known planets like Earth or Mars... HAving 1:1 scale based on procedural generation worst welll for unknown planets, but Mars and especially Earth people will be expecting to find things like they really are in the real world.
 
That pic of Olympus is awesome.

I wonder how is FD going to tackle atmospheric landings on known planets like Earth or Mars... HAving 1:1 scale based on procedural generation worst welll for unknown planets, but Mars and especially Earth people will be expecting to find things like they really are in the real world.
Thanks bro, And I do as well it's a feat that will not come easily. Games in the Past such a test Drive used satellite imagery to map the island of O'ahu to a realistic extent for that time. However creating a realistic scale earth to me seem's like an impossible task and is something I would not expect to see any time soon, though I hope I am wrong about it being impossible.
In before they pull it off and people complain about it not having their house and call it unrealistic
 
I wouldn't really mind having a longer approach and departure for an enjoyable view.
You should know though that lots of people will mind - and at lower graphic settings it isn't all that phenomenal either.

And yes, I'm looking forward to finally have in system jumps (zoom to the next largest star). I do skip all stations further out (except for Hutton right now).
 
I'm looking forward to finally have in system jumps (zoom to the next largest star). I do skip all stations further out (except for Hutton right now).
Is this a planned feature? To an extent it would be nice and possibly more realistic depending on how advanced our Frame shift technology is. However I feel like this would literally end player pirating, bounty hunting before they even had a chance to be properly implemented , as well as any interdictions in general. Which in my opinion would not be a good trade off.
 
I don't know. But it's been talked about.

Also I doubt it'd end anything as they could tweak how far away the star has to be for the inter system jump to work - so a minimum travel distance is still required. Not to mention things that are far out without an extra star still can't be jumped to. Need a large mass to lock on either way.
 
expecting to find things like they really are in the real world.

Am pretty sure the devs can get away with being creative. We have no idea what a terraformed mars will look like in reality, and who knows what Earth will look in 3000 years.
 
Am pretty sure the devs can get away with being creative. We have no idea what a terraformed mars will look like in reality, and who knows what Earth will look in 3000 years.

Best point. (only ~1000 years though?)

We already have rings on all the larger planets in sol. Is there some lore on how they formed?
 
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Is this a planned feature? To an extent it would be nice and possibly more realistic depending on how advanced our Frame shift technology is. However I feel like this would literally end player pirating, bounty hunting before they even had a chance to be properly implemented , as well as any interdictions in general. Which in my opinion would not be a good trade off.

I was just sitting on the landing pad (Asire Dock) in PARECO, off in the distance 300km away I could see the shape of the Orbis starport Neville ring, 10 minutes flying time away in a Cobra. Four other stations are within 3000km of my position, all stations can be reached under normal propulsion.

FD really missed a trick there, the Pareco system is one of only a few like that, the devs could have created inter system trading between close starports (like the x series) That would have opened up a whole new dynamic with trading/piracy/escort missions - Stealth running between stations
 
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I wouldn't really mind having a longer approach and departure for an enjoyable view.
You should know though that lots of people will mind - and at lower graphic settings it isn't all that phenomenal either.

And yes, I'm looking forward to finally have in system jumps (zoom to the next largest star). I do skip all stations further out (except for Hutton right now).

Sorry to burst your bubble: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=180372
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"Misjumps and mini-jumps are unlikely and not part of the current plan."
 
That pic of Olympus is awesome.

I wonder how is FD going to tackle atmospheric landings on known planets like Earth or Mars... HAving 1:1 scale based on procedural generation worst welll for unknown planets, but Mars and especially Earth people will be expecting to find things like they really are in the real world.

Olympus Mons makes me dream. I also dream to fly over the Himalayas, the Pyrenees, the Alps, the Cordillera of the Andes etc ...
 
Sorry to burst your bubble: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=180372
Last Question:
"Misjumps and mini-jumps are unlikely and not part of the current plan."

No need to be sorry :p
There would also be the option of selecting which major system star to jump to instead of mini jumps.
Either way I still hear Braben say "you don't design a game to have really long, boring, frustrating sections in it" - and with some of these travels it certainly is like "a long car journey" - exactly what was gracefully avoided for the most part. So whatever the solution - I expect one.
 
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I was just sitting on the landing pad (Asire Dock) in PARECO, off in the distance 300km away I could see the shape of the Orbis starport Neville ring, 10 minutes flying time away in a Cobra. Four other stations are within 3000km of my position, all stations can be reached under normal propulsion.

FD really missed a trick there, the Pareco system is one of only a few like that, the devs could have created inter system trading between close starports (like the x series) That would have opened up a whole new dynamic with trading/piracy/escort missions - Stealth running between stations
Dude that's awesome I don't think I have seen anything like that yet, so I will have to make a pilgrimage. I totally with agree with everything you said those mechanics could be a game changer for sure though I suspect we could be seeing something like it in the future, possibly even some similar mechanic's with horizon's but maybe that is just me dreaming
 
Am pretty sure the devs can get away with being creative. We have no idea what a terraformed mars will look like in reality, and who knows what Earth will look in 3000 years.

I trust that FD will be able to tackle it, I'm just curious how earth for instance is goind to fit with procedural generation. Of course I'm not expecting to see my street, or even the same cityscapes we have in the present, but geological features and geography must still be the same. The grand canyon, mount fuji, the alps, the seas, the nile, etc will still be the same in 1000 years.

Maybe earth could actually be the "seed" for "PGing" other planets of its type.
 
It IS odd that Mars High is quite so.. High.

It wasnt so in previous incarnations of the game.

And If I recall, Mars High was the High end of the one and only Space Elevator ever built in the Elite Universe... which would have to be in Marsocentric orbit directly over "Mars Low" (to not wrap the planet in the elevator cables)

hmm.. so maybe the farther out placement is more scientifically accurate. I'm no Rocket Surgeon, So I could not tell you the marsocentric orbital distance of such a foreign world.

although re-re-rethinking it all, it would be severely cool if the tether was still there, and rendered in the game. Talk about a navigation hazard, tho..
 
I trust that FD will be able to tackle it, I'm just curious how earth for instance is goind to fit with procedural generation. Of course I'm not expecting to see my street, or even the same cityscapes we have in the present, but geological features and geography must still be the same. The grand canyon, mount fuji, the alps, the seas, the nile, etc will still be the same in 1000 years.

Maybe earth could actually be the "seed" for "PGing" other planets of its type.

Only way I know is to use SRTM data (from the space shuttle missions) That's what all the devs have used in the past, it is very accurate, only issue is the size (around 80 gig for 19m terrain mesh of the entire planet)

I guess the guy's at FD have there own plan. I wouldn't be surprised if the Elevation mapping is pretty low resolution, am not getting my hopes up.
 
With the freshly terraformed mars in my opinion being one of the most Iconic and best looking planets in the game...

"Freshly" terraformed? According to game lore, Mars was terraformed in 2290 - a thousand years ago, in-game. Mars was the first planet to be terraformed, though many worlds in more distant star systems (eg. Tau Ceti) had already been colonized by the time the terraforming was complete.

The lore also agrees with the skeptical viewpoint discussed here and elsewhere that a planet like Mars cannot be successfully terraformed permanently. The lack of magnetic fields means the atmosphere is constantly being irradiated away and in need of constant maintenance to keep the surface moist and breathable. The Federation can afford to do this, and it does this primarily to show off its wealth and power. The Federation even made Mars their official capital so that foreign emissaries and dignitaries are forced to go there and be shocked and awed at the resources squandered in maintaining their artificial garden planet.

...Marsocentric....

I believe the word you seek is "areosyncrhronous" or perhaps "areostarionary". An areosynchronous orbit needs to be at 17,000 km altitude, assuming the terraforming hasn't included altering the rotation period of the planet to more exactly match that of Earth. Mars High in-game is in a 30,000 km radius orbit, too high to be areosynchronous.
 
"Freshly" terraformed? According to game lore, Mars was terraformed in 2290 - a thousand years ago, in-game. Mars was the first planet to be terraformed, though many worlds in more distant star systems (eg. Tau Ceti) had already been colonized by the time the terraforming was complete.

The lore also agrees with the skeptical viewpoint discussed here and elsewhere that a planet like Mars cannot be successfully terraformed permanently. The lack of magnetic fields means the atmosphere is constantly being irradiated away and in need of constant maintenance to keep the surface moist and breathable. The Federation can afford to do this, and it does this primarily to show off its wealth and power. The Federation even made Mars their official capital so that foreign emissaries and dignitaries are forced to go there and be shocked and awed at the resources squandered in maintaining their artificial garden planet.
Not really familiar with the lore at all. However I wouldn't consider 1000 years a long time in the grand scheme of things, say comparing the thousand years to how old the planet is i'd say there is merit to both statements.
 
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