So you want to know about the Formidine Rift? (Part 3)
- Thread starter Legacy_LuckyLuke
- Start date
So here is my theory about the expeditions, though it might mostly pertain to Hawkins Gap.
Upon closer inspection of the Hawkins Alpha Site, it turns out that it is in fact NOT an agricultural base, as the 2 Beta sites out in the Rift and Conflux are. All 3 bases appear to have command module with what looks like a refueling station / loading platform. Several doors require a security level 2 clearance.
When Drew Wager was asked on twitter the other day if the rally points where close to landmarks, he answered that it would depend what the rally points are for.
And indeed nothing in the game is random, as anyone who has listened to Braben go on and on about how regular surface bases get rid if excess heat via those flower looking things, and how its meticulously calculated how big of a heat exchange surface area vs the size of the base is need, will surely know!.
Nothing is in-game by chance.
There is a lot about what we have learned that does not make sense, yet we as gamers have been conditioned to just write it off as "its a game asset", "its abit convoluted fit into game mechanics", "the bases are there so we have something to find" etc etc.
Why bring a bunch of low skilled labor on 10000ly long hush-hush trip? Did they really spend weeks dropping off 3-4 satellites? Why the need for security clearances so far out from the bubble?
Why the need for rally points at all?, and why are they on the surface? Why bother setting the habs up. Why are there a bunch of tire tracks?
The Hawkins Gap message 1/4 reads: "Damn we've come a long way. I really should have looked at the galactic map before I signed up to this. Weeks of endless travel and hyperspace jumps just to get into the vicinity of the place, and that's before we get down to the work".
(Emphasis mine)
So what is this "Work"?
Well: http://imgur.com/LmQ9O8D
The Alpha site is not an agricultural site, its a MINING site.
The "Work" described is DIGGING!
That is why they needed a bunch of low security clearance manual labor crew!
They spend weeks out here because they are digging, not because of old jump tech!, they need security clearance because they are looking for something secret.
The tire tracks are them driving out to dig sites! They set up the surface bases to last for months because they expected to be there that long. That's why they have refueling stations.
It all fits with the lore we have uncovered so far.
"But what about the agricultural bases?" I hear you asking.
The Hawkins Gap Alpha site is in complete darkness almost all the time, and would not be able to sustain plant growth. And 10000 Ly out, you'd need to grow your own food if you planned on staying there for months!
Plus the tire tracks at the agricultural bases suggest they also transported a lot of stuff back and forth there, maybe they brought in diggers there as well?
Who launched the expeditions?
I doubt it was the Empire. They would have used imperial slaves for manual labor, not hire a crew.
The Alliance has a lot of experienced miners, and as Brooks said not too long ago, "they are a bit shady, arent they?"
What are they looking for?
The billion credit question. I doubt they went through all this trouble, distance and secrecy to dig up metals on rocky planets.
Who knows what they are looking for?, could be Thargoids, could be Guardian ruins, could be clues to find Raxxla... It could even be more alien monkey hands, like the one found on Mars back when they first started terraforming it, considering the similarity between Mars pre-terraforming and the planets we are seaching on.
Finding the other sites.
Drew strongly implied that if we knew the "why" of the rally points, we would have an easier time locating them.
So instead of thinking near landmarks that can be seen from space, start thinking "If I were to put down a base of operations for several local mining/digging sites, where would it be?"
In addition, the fact that there is "a lot more to find" could also suggest we can in fact find the dig sites, if my theory is correct.
For now though, we have confirmation that there are bases on all the planets we are searching, so we should start there and see if the "they are digging for something" theory still makes sense once we uncover more info.
Upon closer inspection of the Hawkins Alpha Site, it turns out that it is in fact NOT an agricultural base, as the 2 Beta sites out in the Rift and Conflux are. All 3 bases appear to have command module with what looks like a refueling station / loading platform. Several doors require a security level 2 clearance.
When Drew Wager was asked on twitter the other day if the rally points where close to landmarks, he answered that it would depend what the rally points are for.
And indeed nothing in the game is random, as anyone who has listened to Braben go on and on about how regular surface bases get rid if excess heat via those flower looking things, and how its meticulously calculated how big of a heat exchange surface area vs the size of the base is need, will surely know!.
Nothing is in-game by chance.
There is a lot about what we have learned that does not make sense, yet we as gamers have been conditioned to just write it off as "its a game asset", "its abit convoluted fit into game mechanics", "the bases are there so we have something to find" etc etc.
Why bring a bunch of low skilled labor on 10000ly long hush-hush trip? Did they really spend weeks dropping off 3-4 satellites? Why the need for security clearances so far out from the bubble?
Why the need for rally points at all?, and why are they on the surface? Why bother setting the habs up. Why are there a bunch of tire tracks?
The Hawkins Gap message 1/4 reads: "Damn we've come a long way. I really should have looked at the galactic map before I signed up to this. Weeks of endless travel and hyperspace jumps just to get into the vicinity of the place, and that's before we get down to the work".
(Emphasis mine)
So what is this "Work"?
Well: http://imgur.com/LmQ9O8D
The Alpha site is not an agricultural site, its a MINING site.
The "Work" described is DIGGING!
That is why they needed a bunch of low security clearance manual labor crew!
They spend weeks out here because they are digging, not because of old jump tech!, they need security clearance because they are looking for something secret.
The tire tracks are them driving out to dig sites! They set up the surface bases to last for months because they expected to be there that long. That's why they have refueling stations.
It all fits with the lore we have uncovered so far.
"But what about the agricultural bases?" I hear you asking.
The Hawkins Gap Alpha site is in complete darkness almost all the time, and would not be able to sustain plant growth. And 10000 Ly out, you'd need to grow your own food if you planned on staying there for months!
Plus the tire tracks at the agricultural bases suggest they also transported a lot of stuff back and forth there, maybe they brought in diggers there as well?
Who launched the expeditions?
I doubt it was the Empire. They would have used imperial slaves for manual labor, not hire a crew.
The Alliance has a lot of experienced miners, and as Brooks said not too long ago, "they are a bit shady, arent they?"
What are they looking for?
The billion credit question. I doubt they went through all this trouble, distance and secrecy to dig up metals on rocky planets.
Who knows what they are looking for?, could be Thargoids, could be Guardian ruins, could be clues to find Raxxla... It could even be more alien monkey hands, like the one found on Mars back when they first started terraforming it, considering the similarity between Mars pre-terraforming and the planets we are seaching on.
Finding the other sites.
Drew strongly implied that if we knew the "why" of the rally points, we would have an easier time locating them.
So instead of thinking near landmarks that can be seen from space, start thinking "If I were to put down a base of operations for several local mining/digging sites, where would it be?"
In addition, the fact that there is "a lot more to find" could also suggest we can in fact find the dig sites, if my theory is correct.
For now though, we have confirmation that there are bases on all the planets we are searching, so we should start there and see if the "they are digging for something" theory still makes sense once we uncover more info.
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Oh I love a good theory.
Is it possible to follow the tire tracks? if not, then maybe follow the direction of the main exit path for a few clicks to see if there's something there,(The SRV have range limits on their fuel, so unless you find refueling stations).
What is the range of an SRV fuel tank? Divide it by half (there and back again) and that's the radius of your search area.
Not a bad theory. One note to add to this - *all* of the Hawkin's Gap rally planets have antimony as the rare.
Its so god damn dark
and its something like 18 days till the next sunrise. Driving around in VR, its like Im in the movie "Pitch Black"There is a reproducible spooky audio que at around 4-5km away from the site, but I have a feeling its tied to the site itself, to help you locate it.
Like when you get near the crashed alien ships, you can hear spooky music long before you can actually see the ship.
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So we can say that we have 'Incidental music' sensors? [big grin]
This is good job cmdr, i was thinking about importance of comms. Im not sure about mission target as mining. EAFOTS site comms mention something about advanced communication equipment. But - if mining is the "thing" we can look for planets/moons with similar minerals.
Also
If Alpha bases are mining type we should probably look in low altidue/inside craters
Betas as comm sites on high groud.
habitable can also mean proper teperature - we have a lot of information describing planet.
My idea is - check similirarities between Conflux and Eafots site planets and search such planet in Hawking's/Hawkin's
gap
Nice avatar! (although it looks kinda chubby)
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Awww. When do you start?
This is good job cmdr, i was thinking about importance of comms. Im not sure about mission target as mining. EAFOTS site comms mention something about advanced communication equipment. But - if mining is the "thing" we can look for planets/moons with similar minerals.
Also
If Alpha bases are mining type we should probably look in low altidue/inside craters
Betas as comm sites on high groud.
habitable can also mean proper teperature - we have a lot of information describing planet.
My idea is - check similirarities between Conflux and Eafots site planets and search such planet in Hawking's/Hawkin's
I dont think its mining as much as it is archaeology.
I also think its fair to assume that all the Alpha sites are going to be mining, all Beta sites are going to be agriculture, and all gamma or delta or whatever sites are identical as well.
If we look at the types of station interiors introduced in 2.2 and apply that logic to these sites, I would not be surprised if the gamma/delta sites turn out to be High Tech / Scientific.
+1 from me. You could be right and they created serveral bases in each region, each with a different purpose, i.e. alpha for the mining/search, beta for food production, gamma and epsilon for something else.
Assuming you are right, the big question is what did they try to dig up? I doubt that this was are normal mining operation looking for mineral (unless someone tells me that there are certain mineables in the ED universe which are very rare), so how can this help us locate the bases.
Yea, good theory , but I also think archeology is more likely than mining.
Re SRVs, don't forget they may of had material storage too, massively increasing range.
, but I also think archeology is more likely than mining. Re SRVs, don't forget they may of had material storage too, massively increasing range.
Aren't both of the Beta settlements on tidally locked planets? If this theory is correct then the Hawking's Gap beta settlement should also be on a tidally locked planet and near the equator to maximize exposure to sun light.
Archeology 10k away from bubble seems more reasonable
Checked comms about communication equipment - its about beacon - so Betas are trully like hydroponics farms
Can be wrong - but didnt someone mentioned Conflux outpost is on night site and tidally locked ? this could be bad place for growing plants...
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Hawkin's is alpha/archeology type so no such need of sunlight i think.
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The trello site hasn't got pictures of the sites (once scanned) from high orbit - I know the EAFOTS is next to a valley and there is one next to a crater - maybe the difference between Alpha and beta sites might be more obvious if we could compare those pictures?
This was my line of thinking, yes.
And the Alpha sites in the Conflux and Rift might be somewhere dark, or somewhere that has 18 days rotational periods like the Gap Alpha site has. Somewhere you cant grow plants.
I think we need pictures of all three planet parameters. If betas are similar thats clue we need
It really depends on what they intended to grow (if anything) at the agri sites. Crops don't actually need to have light to grow. The light converts into stored energy, and once 'switched off' this stored energy allows the plant to continue to grow. Some are better at that than others. But, conceivably, you could grow shoots and freeze them and transport them out, replant and they would grow. Or use artificial light to create the energy store. Or use other energy transference to encourage growth. And then there are some things, like mushrooms, that grow perfectly fine in the dark.
