So much for FDEV’s commitment to scientific accuracy

[MartinG]

Rant time.
Frontier has dropped yet another ball; in fact, a couple of balls of astronomical proportions (pun intended).

Long story short, the person at FDEV tasked with adding astronomical bodies to our Sol system (Orcus, Vanth, Quaoar, etc.) apparently could not grasp the difference between radius and diameter. And it did not occur to them that, had 2007 OR[SUB]10[/SUB] been really larger than Eris, it would have been big news a couple of years ago. [rolleyes]

I filed a bug report as soon as I noticed that in the beta (which was more than a month ago), and guess what? This howler was not fixed before the release. Now when (and if ever) Frontier gets around to fixing it, they’ll have to face the prospect of seriously upsetting any CMDR who happens to be at the surface of any of those bodies – because if you change the radius, the procedural generator will likely generate a completely different terrain.

What makes me mad is that both David Braben and Michael Brookes have said, several times, this way or another, that they are committed to making the ED galaxy as realistic as posible (for the latest example, see the first and last of David’s replies from today’s AMA), yet again and again we get errors a first grade astronomy student should not make (and BTW, I have not studied astronomy or anything close). Dozens of fictional stars clearly visible among the familiar constellations when you’re at Sol (Duamta, Mildeptu, Zhi… the list goes on and on); Orion’s belt messed up; a Wolf-Rayet star 22.5 light-years from Sol (curiously, not visible from Sol, even though it should outshine everything other than Sol itself); planets and moons defiantly violating Kepler’s third law (and MB saying he won’t fix it); system map saying a body is tidally locked when the data indicate clearly it is not… and now this. Does nobody at Frontier review such stuff? Obviously David has no time for such details, but is there no one else who really gets it?

OK, rant out. Y’all can see I’m a bit grumpy today

 

[K-Rose]

Wow... do you need a hug?

 

[Ackoman]

Rant time.
Frontier has dropped yet another ball; in fact, a couple of balls of astronomical proportions (pun intended).

Long story short, the person at FDEV tasked with adding astronomical bodies to our Sol system (Orcus, Vanth, Quaoar, etc.) apparently could not grasp the difference between radius and diameter. And it did not occur to them that, had 2007 OR[SUB]10[/SUB] been really larger than Eris, it would have been big news a couple of years ago. [rolleyes]

I filed a bug report as soon as I noticed that in the beta (which was more than a month ago), and guess what? This howler was not fixed before the release. Now when (and if ever) Frontier gets around to fixing it, they’ll have to face the prospect of seriously upsetting any CMDR who happens to be at the surface of any of those bodies – because if you change the radius, the procedural generator will likely generate a completely different terrain.

What makes me mad is that both David Braben and Michael Brookes have said, several times, this way or another, that they are committed to making the ED galaxy as realistic as posible (for the latest example, see the first and last of David’s replies from today’s AMA), yet again and again we get errors a first grade astronomy student should not make (and BTW, I have not studied astronomy or anything close). Dozens of fictional stars clearly visible among the familiar constellations when you’re at Sol (Duamta, Mildeptu, Zhi… the list goes on and on); Orion’s belt messed up; a Wolf-Rayet star 22.5 light-years from Sol (curiously, not visible from Sol, even though it should outshine everything other than Sol itself); planets and moons defiantly violating Kepler’s third law (and MB saying he won’t fix it); system map saying a body is tidally locked when the data indicate clearly it is not… and now this. Does nobody at Frontier review such stuff? Obviously David has no time for such details, but is there no one else who really gets it?

OK, rant out. Y’all can see I’m a bit grumpy today

I’m glad I’m not alone – these things have been really bothering me too.

 

[digitalscream]

Dude, they measure capacitor charge rate in MW/s. Do you seriously think distinguishing between radius and diameter is high on their priorities?

 

[Hordriss]

Rant time.
Frontier has dropped yet another ball; in fact, a couple of balls of astronomical proportions (pun intended).

Long story short, the person at FDEV tasked with adding astronomical bodies to our Sol system (Orcus, Vanth, Quaoar, etc.) apparently could not grasp the difference between radius and diameter. And it did not occur to them that, had 2007 OR[SUB]10[/SUB] been really larger than Eris, it would have been big news a couple of years ago. [rolleyes]

I filed a bug report as soon as I noticed that in the beta (which was more than a month ago), and guess what? This howler was not fixed before the release. Now when (and if ever) Frontier gets around to fixing it, they’ll have to face the prospect of seriously upsetting any CMDR who happens to be at the surface of any of those bodies – because if you change the radius, the procedural generator will likely generate a completely different terrain.

What makes me mad is that both David Braben and Michael Brookes have said, several times, this way or another, that they are committed to making the ED galaxy as realistic as posible (for the latest example, see the first and last of David’s replies from today’s AMA), yet again and again we get errors a first grade astronomy student should not make (and BTW, I have not studied astronomy or anything close). Dozens of fictional stars clearly visible among the familiar constellations when you’re at Sol (Duamta, Mildeptu, Zhi… the list goes on and on); Orion’s belt messed up; a Wolf-Rayet star 22.5 light-years from Sol (curiously, not visible from Sol, even though it should outshine everything other than Sol itself); planets and moons defiantly violating Kepler’s third law (and MB saying he won’t fix it); system map saying a body is tidally locked when the data indicate clearly it is not… and now this. Does nobody at Frontier review such stuff? Obviously David has no time for such details, but is there no one else who really gets it?

OK, rant out. Y’all can see I’m a bit grumpy today

Crikey, I never realised there was a Wolf Rayet in the bubble. I travelled over 3,000LY just to see one as that was the first one I found on the galaxy map!!

 

[Ian Phillips]

Rant time.
< Snip >
yet again and again we get errors a first grade astronomy student should not make

< Snip >

Tell you what.

Next time a first grade astronomy student upgrades a whole galaxy, do let us know how they got on.

 

[Sunsol]

Does it matter?
No.

 

[Lateralus]

Literally unplayable....

 

[Agony_Aunt]

and guess what? This howler was not fixed before the release.

I suggest you write to your MP forthwith!

Go! Now! For the good of humanity!

 

[shadragon]

Not the bug forum OP. Maybe if you posted it there, it might actually get fixed.

Not as sexy as a rant, I know. It is tried and true, however.

 

[MartinG]

Wow... do you need a hug?

Not from someone who looks like this.

Not the bug forum OP. Maybe if you posted it there, it might actually get fixed.

I did. A month ago, as I said in the OP.

Crikey, I never realised there was a Wolf Rayet in the bubble. I travelled over 3,000LY just to see one as that was the first one I found on the galaxy map!!

TBH I would not have noticed it either, had the system not been mentioned in an unrelated Galnet article more than a year ago.

Does it matter? No.

For the overwhelming majority of players, surely. I happen to be in the underwhelming minority, though.

 

[babelfisch]

Does it matter?
No.

It does matter. It doesn't need a first class rant though.

 

[Colonel Kenney]

They are worried people will lose credit for their discoveries.

In the AMA they did ask him about the stellar forge and how it actually is quite wrong and if they plan on tweaking or fixing it and in summary he basically said nope.

 

[roryclague]

Frontier have created a more accurate space game, in terms of astronomy, than any other. I appreciate all of this effort. However, it is understandable that errors will occur. David Braben can't oversee everything all the time.

All that said, as a fellow science geek, the radius of one TNO being off doesn't bother me as much as the lack of Haumea's distinctive potato shape. [big grin]

Frontier, get Mike Brown on the phone to sort you lot out!

[tongue firmly planted in cheek. love the game, FD]

 

[xondk]

Rant time.
Frontier has dropped yet another ball; in fact, a couple of balls of astronomical proportions (pun intended).

Long story short, the person at FDEV tasked with adding astronomical bodies to our Sol system (Orcus, Vanth, Quaoar, etc.) apparently could not grasp the difference between radius and diameter. And it did not occur to them that, had 2007 OR[SUB]10[/SUB] been really larger than Eris, it would have been big news a couple of years ago. [rolleyes]

I filed a bug report as soon as I noticed that in the beta (which was more than a month ago), and guess what? This howler was not fixed before the release. Now when (and if ever) Frontier gets around to fixing it, they’ll have to face the prospect of seriously upsetting any CMDR who happens to be at the surface of any of those bodies – because if you change the radius, the procedural generator will likely generate a completely different terrain.

What makes me mad is that both David Braben and Michael Brookes have said, several times, this way or another, that they are committed to making the ED galaxy as realistic as posible (for the latest example, see the first and last of David’s replies from today’s AMA), yet again and again we get errors a first grade astronomy student should not make (and BTW, I have not studied astronomy or anything close). Dozens of fictional stars clearly visible among the familiar constellations when you’re at Sol (Duamta, Mildeptu, Zhi… the list goes on and on); Orion’s belt messed up; a Wolf-Rayet star 22.5 light-years from Sol (curiously, not visible from Sol, even though it should outshine everything other than Sol itself); planets and moons defiantly violating Kepler’s third law (and MB saying he won’t fix it); system map saying a body is tidally locked when the data indicate clearly it is not… and now this. Does nobody at Frontier review such stuff? Obviously David has no time for such details, but is there no one else who really gets it?

OK, rant out. Y’all can see I’m a bit grumpy today

I just want to hope bring something to your attention.
Just because frontier hasn't fixed this yet, doesn't mean they aren't interested in fixing it, there is...quite a few other things that take priority over accuracy, it doesn't mean they do not want it to be accurate, draw in a breath and blow out, and realise they will likely get to it.

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Frontier have created a more accurate space game, in terms of astronomy, than any other. I appreciate all of this effort. However, it is understandable that errors will occur. David Braben can't oversee everything all the time.

All that said, as a fellow science geek, the radius of one TNO being off doesn't bother me as much as the lack of Haumea's distinctive potato shape. [big grin]

Frontier, get Mike Brown on the phone to sort you lot out!

[tongue firmly planted in cheek. love the game, FD]

This.

 

[JerryLove]

Frontier have created a more accurate space game, in terms of astronomy, than any other. I appreciate all of this effort. However, it is understandable that errors will occur. David Braben can't oversee everything all the time.

This is of course true... but when the error is regarding the Sol system, and is an order-of-magnitude issue, and is pointed out by the player community while in Beta; we'd expect to see these errors fixed.

 

[MartinG]

Just because frontier hasn't fixed this yet, doesn't mean they aren't interested in fixing it, there is...quite a few other things that take priority over accuracy, it doesn't mean they do not want it to be accurate, draw in a breath and blow out, and realise they will likely get to it.

Oh, but of course. I felt I have to vent my frustration

That said, some mistakes are a lot harder to fix once the game goes live. I’m afraid this may be one of those.

Frontier have created a more accurate space game, in terms of astronomy, than any other. I appreciate all of this effort. However, it is understandable that errors will occur. David Braben can't oversee everything all the time.

All true. (Not counting SpaceEngine, which is hardly a game in itself.)

All that said, as a fellow science geek, the radius of one TNO being off doesn't bother me as much as the lack of Haumea's distinctive potato shape. [big grin]

Sure, but that is excusable due to lack of the underlying engine’s support. Likewise, close binary stars and planets are not distorted as they should be.
OTOH, in my eyes there’s no excuse for mistaking dimensions for radius

 

[Mohrgan]

This is of course true... but when the error is regarding the Sol system, and is an order-of-magnitude issue, and is pointed out by the player community while in Beta; we'd expect to see these errors fixed.

Sure but, where does it sit in the list of priories, and does it affect the playability of the game? I certainly, can see pointing out the issue. Even again if it was found in Beta but, the attitude expressed by the OP is kind of 'over the top' if you ask me.

 

[Jack Schitt]

Come on, guys, the rant might be a bit frothy (and I must admit in my head I read some of it in Molly Wood's nerd voice) but the OP does have a point. I hadn't even considered checking whether fictional stars would be visible from Sol, and now that I know they are... well it won't affect my gameplay one iota but it's one of those issues that is kind of annoying once you know it's there. For hard-core astronomy enthusiasts it must be really annoying to find these issues in a game whose creator is such a space geek himself.

 

[Jesse30]

Rant time.
Frontier has dropped yet another ball; in fact, a couple of balls of astronomical proportions (pun intended).

Long story short, the person at FDEV tasked with adding astronomical bodies to our Sol system (Orcus, Vanth, Quaoar, etc.) apparently could not grasp the difference between radius and diameter. And it did not occur to them that, had 2007 OR[SUB]10[/SUB] been really larger than Eris, it would have been big news a couple of years ago. [rolleyes]

I filed a bug report as soon as I noticed that in the beta (which was more than a month ago), and guess what? This howler was not fixed before the release. Now when (and if ever) Frontier gets around to fixing it, they’ll have to face the prospect of seriously upsetting any CMDR who happens to be at the surface of any of those bodies – because if you change the radius, the procedural generator will likely generate a completely different terrain.

What makes me mad is that both David Braben and Michael Brookes have said, several times, this way or another, that they are committed to making the ED galaxy as realistic as posible (for the latest example, see the first and last of David’s replies from today’s AMA), yet again and again we get errors a first grade astronomy student should not make (and BTW, I have not studied astronomy or anything close). Dozens of fictional stars clearly visible among the familiar constellations when you’re at Sol (Duamta, Mildeptu, Zhi… the list goes on and on); Orion’s belt messed up; a Wolf-Rayet star 22.5 light-years from Sol (curiously, not visible from Sol, even though it should outshine everything other than Sol itself); planets and moons defiantly violating Kepler’s third law (and MB saying he won’t fix it); system map saying a body is tidally locked when the data indicate clearly it is not… and now this. Does nobody at Frontier review such stuff? Obviously David has no time for such details, but is there no one else who really gets it?

OK, rant out. Y’all can see I’m a bit grumpy today

wow dude, you acted like you been to those stars personally. Where is your undisputed evidence to back up your claims? NASA?