It's actually a lot of fun for flyving with the SRV, although it worries me that it had to be handcrafted to be like that.
I knew you were doing the circumnavigation - followed your thread a few times and thought you were a nutcase
I'm gonna admit that I TLDR'd your post (I've been doing that a lot lately). I see what you're getting at now. Mea culpa.
100% agreement there.
Correct, although I’ll add that it depends on what the body is made from — ice deforms under gravity better than rock or metal. For example, Mimas is quite close to spherical despite being smaller than Hygiea.
Another factor might have been LOD/distance problems (that still persist). In the alpha one of the most annoying experiences was making an SRV jump toward what looked like smooth terrain, only to have a dense field of scattered rocks materialise there when I got close.
Great find and observation!Wow. I say wow, FDEV you have done well. A quick explanation and an image.
Minor planets have up till now been badly represented in Elite Dangerous, physics tells us that very small minor planets can't form spherical shapes, there would have to be very unusual circumstances, quite rare circumstances, for that to happen. Once you get much under around 500klms radius the gravitational field isn't strong enough to force rock into a sphere. You can see this clearly in the following picture, Ceres at just under 500klm radius, spherical, the others not so much.
So what's changed with the new planetary tech? Here's an example from Horizons, this is Sadr Region Sector GW-W c1-25 A 1 at 177klm radius, the system map, you can just see a slight distortion, it's not quite spherical but nearly so. This is I have always assumed is a problem with the old tech planetary tech mesh and curvature, it's limited in the curvature radius it supports, so planets around this size down to the smallest radius get more spherical, not less;
The new planetary tech has made an astounding difference to these small planets, here is the same planet in the system map in Odyssey;
The lighting isn't good in the system map so it's hard to see, here's a before and after comparison from 30klms up, first Horizons then Odyssey, this shows the difference far better, and yes the exact same position, the exact same angle so no trickery, just swapped directly between Horizons and Odyssey without moving the ship;
This is a stunning change, it does make them harder to land on I will add, but it no longer feels like you are just driving around a very large beach ball, well done! It's very white because it's right next to the star, was quite a chase to catch it and surface temp well over 1,000k so I couldn't walk around, I might try the night side.
Have fun all!
Wow. I say wow, FDEV you have done well. A quick explanation and an image.
Minor planets have up till now been badly represented in Elite Dangerous, physics tells us that very small minor planets can't form spherical shapes, there would have to be very unusual circumstances, quite rare circumstances, for that to happen. Once you get much under around 500klms radius the gravitational field isn't strong enough to force rock into a sphere. You can see this clearly in the following picture, Ceres at just under 500klm radius, spherical, the others not so much.
So what's changed with the new planetary tech? Here's an example from Horizons, this is Sadr Region Sector GW-W c1-25 A 1 at 177klm radius, the system map, you can just see a slight distortion, it's not quite spherical but nearly so. This is I have always assumed is a problem with the old tech planetary tech mesh and curvature, it's limited in the curvature radius it supports, so planets around this size down to the smallest radius get more spherical, not less;
The new planetary tech has made an astounding difference to these small planets, here is the same planet in the system map in Odyssey;
The lighting isn't good in the system map so it's hard to see, here's a before and after comparison from 30klms up, first Horizons then Odyssey, this shows the difference far better, and yes the exact same position, the exact same angle so no trickery, just swapped directly between Horizons and Odyssey without moving the ship;
This is a stunning change, it does make them harder to land on I will add, but it no longer feels like you are just driving around a very large beach ball, well done! It's very white because it's right next to the star, was quite a chase to catch it and surface temp well over 1,000k so I couldn't walk around, I might try the night side.
Have fun all!
Yes - but they are limited to a range around 500km(?), anything smaller becomes circular again.
As this illustrates, there is plenty to be very happy and enthusiastic about. The changes made from Horizons to Odyssey are undeniable. This is one of the reasons £40 was money well spent.Wow. I say wow, FDEV you have done well. A quick explanation and an image.
Minor planets have up till now been badly represented in Elite Dangerous, physics tells us that very small minor planets can't form spherical shapes, there would have to be very unusual circumstances, quite rare circumstances, for that to happen. Once you get much under around 500klms radius the gravitational field isn't strong enough to force rock into a sphere. You can see this clearly in the following picture, Ceres at just under 500klm radius, spherical, the others not so much.
So what's changed with the new planetary tech? Here's an example from Horizons, this is Sadr Region Sector GW-W c1-25 A 1 at 177klm radius, the system map, you can just see a slight distortion, it's not quite spherical but nearly so. This is I have always assumed is a problem with the old tech planetary tech mesh and curvature, it's limited in the curvature radius it supports, so planets around this size down to the smallest radius get more spherical, not less;
The new planetary tech has made an astounding difference to these small planets, here is the same planet in the system map in Odyssey;
The lighting isn't good in the system map so it's hard to see, here's a before and after comparison from 30klms up, first Horizons then Odyssey, this shows the difference far better, and yes the exact same position, the exact same angle so no trickery, just swapped directly between Horizons and Odyssey without moving the ship;
This is a stunning change, it does make them harder to land on I will add, but it no longer feels like you are just driving around a very large beach ball, well done! It's very white because it's right next to the star, was quite a chase to catch it and surface temp well over 1,000k so I couldn't walk around, I might try the night side.
Have fun all!
Well, it's one thing to be happy and enthusiastic about anyway.
I have, sadly. Every single one I've seen, and every single spot I've been to on em. The more I see, the more of a disappointment it becomes. I'm just glad that irregular small bodies are better, because otherwise there'd be literally nothing at all positive in the entire thing.
I haven't seen many boring ones. I have seen lots and lots of Odyssey planets.I have, sadly. Every single one I've seen, and every single spot I've been to on em. The more I see, the more of a disappointment it becomes. I'm just glad that irregular small bodies are better, because otherwise there'd be literally nothing at all positive in the entire thing.
Different criteria though. Everyone's got em
Well, I'd say my criteria are realistic believable landscapes that are also exciting to fly in, but yeah - I guess we all must fly our flags in the forum to ensure balanced views
Some people's boring is when you can't recreate ID4's canyon chase, or some of Star Wars Solo's mountain skimming...
![[VR] optimal_909](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/109/109067.jpg?1553781733){kind=avatar}
