It would be more scientific to use AU/pc instead of ls/ly. Could FD please make an option for it? It makes me a little of bit tired while tring to divide numbers by 499 and 3.26 :/
Unit options
- Thread starter Korytryn Morningstar
- Start date
I get 15 rods to the hogshead, and that's the way i like it!
OP - why not approximate. 499 is practically 500, which is an easy division. 3.26, call it 3 for most things, its close enough. Or multiply by ten, shift to binary, makes things simple.... what? Why are you looking at me like that?
OP - why not approximate. 499 is practically 500, which is an easy division. 3.26, call it 3 for most things, its close enough. Or multiply by ten, shift to binary, makes things simple.... what? Why are you looking at me like that?
Why do you need to calculate anything?
Care to explain why?
Actually it wouldn't be more scientific. AU is a randomly defined number, abstracted from an average of a constantly changing distance. It's the worst kind of measurement. It's the same as measuring distance in multiples of the length of your left shoe. Light seconds on the other hand is completely dependent on SI units and universal constants.
AU are used in the game and they should maybe be replaced, but who the Hek uses parsecs?
AU/pc may be the scientifically correct units but to the layman it means absolutely nothing.
Now most people know light is darn fast and a good number know it takes about 8 minutes odd for it to get from the sun to the earth. That means that we can visualise Ls and Ly a lot better than AU. I mean astronomical units and parsecs won't mean anything to most people, I only know because I studied a space flight and satellite module as part of my Aerospace Engineering degree.
Also AU is a measure of the distance from the earth to the sun, in a universe of different systems and planets why would people still measure the Sol distance, Ls/LY are universal.
Now most people know light is darn fast and a good number know it takes about 8 minutes odd for it to get from the sun to the earth. That means that we can visualise Ls and Ly a lot better than AU. I mean astronomical units and parsecs won't mean anything to most people, I only know because I studied a space flight and satellite module as part of my Aerospace Engineering degree.
Also AU is a measure of the distance from the earth to the sun, in a universe of different systems and planets why would people still measure the Sol distance, Ls/LY are universal.
Last edited:
Han Solo
Hrm while AU/pc is more scientific, we are still dealing with pilots, not scientists even lore wise, and sticking to metric and ls/ly is easy to relate to for most everyone, yes, sure you could switch to the others, but what about then when you begin flying onto planets, then you suddenly need to switch units to get useful data there?
Edit addition: I realize after a bit of thought that I might be looking at it the wrong way though, AU could easily switch to meters and such just like it does when close as well, so it wouldn't really make that big of a difference, though I still think ly/ls would be easier for most because of again solid definitions would be easier for universal adaptation especially if encountering aliens and such?
easier 'overall' just to stick to one measurement metric + light? they are pretty universal, where AU is defined around the earth's orbit. A metre is based around something solid, a wavelength I think currently and then light speed, those are two pretty solid definitions, where AU is from the standing point of anyone not on earth, planet#####'s orbit around star######
When I think about it, it is a bit odd that AU/pc is even needed to me at least. What is their advantage?
Last edited:
^This.
AUs and Parsecs are only really used because they are convenient measurements for Earth-based astronomy, what with the AU being the average radius of the Earth's orbit and the parsec being defined using the AU as a base. Lightyears and light-seconds are much easier to use for the type of play based in game, particularly when transitioning from megametres to ls (1ls is close to 300Mm).
Last edited:
Only 15 rods to an entire hogshead? 'Sounds like you need some of Cmdr. Snakeoil's efficency-enhancing catalyzing tonic! It'll put pep back in your pistons and transmute your craft's consumption to lightyears to the liter! That's Cmdr. Snakeoil's efficency-enhancing catalyzing tonic -- probably not made from thargoid eggs!
OP: Like the others have said, AU are dopey units based a slightly changing average of a single planet's wobbly- orbit. Hardly a good universal measure of distance. And like SpocksOddSocks said, paralax seconds are based on that exact same orbit and just sort of strange to use for linear distances. Light-years work better for actual spacefaring, while parsecs work better for figuring the distance from a fixed mostly circular orbit.
I object. I'd rather see the AU notation replaced with a Ls figure in the system map, entirely removing AU as a meaningful unit in ED (probably in the year 3300 it feels as outdated as some weird units used in ancient egypt).
Only idiots use yards. Meter unit is scientific.
i don't want to divide it to 500 and 3 (which is not a good number to divide, 1000ly is 307 pc, if i divide it to 3 i would get 333) too. I want to see unites in Au and parsec
Read some papers it is scientific measure. Every unit is "randomly" defined number.
"The metre was originally defined in 1793 as one ten-millionth of the distance from the equator to the North Pole. In 1889, it was redefined in terms of a prototype metre bar (the actual bar used was subsequently changed twice). In 1960, the metre was redefined in terms of a certain number of wavelengths of a certain emission line of krypton-86. In 1983, the current definition was adopted. In 1959, the imperial inch was re-defined as 0.0254 metres (2.54 centimetres or 25.4 millimetres). One metre is about 3 3⁄[SUB]8[/SUB] inches longer than a yard, i.e. about 39 3⁄[SUB]8[/SUB] inches."
"The gram, Originally defined as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to the cube of the hundredth part of a metre, and at the temperature of melting ice"[URL="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gram#cite_note-2"][2][/URL] (later 4 °C), a gram is now defined as one one-thousandth of the SI base unit, the kilogram, or 1×10−3 kg, which itself is defined as being equal to the mass of a physical prototype preserved by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures."
I want an option. You "pilots" can use lightyears or lightseconds... Like "drivers/riders" use miles, yards.
Look above meter is based on earth too, but in the game we use meter distances less than 0,1 Ls and also speed of our spacecraft is in meters.
Please read some scientific papers before blabbering "uh oh... use rods uh oh..." kinda language. In papers Au and pc are commonly used. Lightsecond is the our "rod" here by the way where the hell rods come in to your mind instead of yards, miles etc...
Edit note: I don't satisfy myself with rods, maybe that's not it comes to my mind in an instant.
Last edited:
OP I wouldn't be against having it as an option. It would be a nice nod back to Elite:Frontier 1 & 2 for those who wish to use them.
If they're going to change it they should use furlongs and lengths (of an Orca).
why don't we just use the metric prefixes above megameter? I mean, we use ly in astronomy because it's more of a measurement of time AND space, because those objects are so far away, their light is literately from the past. but since we go faster than light, time isn't a constrain anymore. so why do we need units from astronomy? just use SI prefixes for very large distances
but to be totally honest, does it really matter? why do you need to do calculations? last time I checked, this was a game, and not a scientific experiment.
on second thought, maybe this is a scientific experiment in disguise . lol
Last edited: