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Select Planetary Orbit option in SMAX - What does it do?

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  • Select Planetary Orbit option in SMAX - What does it do?

    After a few google searches uncovered exactly 2 results (?) I began to wonder if I was going crazy. I've played SMAC quite a bit but never SMAX so when I loaded it up tonight the first thing I noticed was the new Customize Map option Select Planetary Orbit - 100, 90, 80 million miles.

    Right now I'm overwhelmed with confusion, not so much with the purpose or result of this new option, but rather by the idea that I could be the first person in history to ask about it in the internet.

    Also, the SMAX manual doesn't seem to mention it either. If I'm just bad at finding things then I apologize in advance.

    (I just found out that it is part of Yitzi's patch so no wonder I can't find much about it.)

    Sort of answered my own question. A little about it here if anyone cares. Still doesn't really explain exactly how it affects the game. alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=4322.0

    At least I don't feel like I'm nuts anymore! :-)
    Last edited by xerkon; March 23, 2014, 07:33.

  • #2
    Welcome to Chiron!
    The standard orbit for the planet is about 90 million miles. By moving the planet in to 80 million, you warm it up so there will be more arid land and less rainy. By moving the planet out to 100 million, you cool it down so there will be more rainy land and less arid. At least, that's how it's supposed to work.
    Please let us know what you see in-game.
    I am on a mission to see how much coffee it takes to actually achieve time travel.

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    • #3
      Wich would be completely wrong - if you want rain you need energy to have water evaporate from oceans etc., so it would rain way more in the lower orbit. It's not a coinsidence that you have the heaviest rain on earth in the warmest areas
      With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

      Steven Weinberg

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      • #4
        I wouldn't be surprise if I got it backward. I'll have to test it for myself (soon).
        I am on a mission to see how much coffee it takes to actually achieve time travel.

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        • #5
          Well, it's not nessecarily you that got it wrong - it could be you remembering right but Yitzi that got it wrong
          With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.

          Steven Weinberg

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          • #6
            I would guess that over billions of years, it's correct. More heat, more evaporation, more outgassing.
            AC2- the most active SMAC(X) community on the web.
            JKStudio - Masks and other Art

            No pasarán

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            • #7
              Originally posted by gwillybj View Post
              Welcome to Chiron!
              The standard orbit for the planet is about 90 million miles. By moving the planet in to 80 million, you warm it up so there will be more arid land and less rainy. By moving the planet out to 100 million, you cool it down so there will be more rainy land and less arid. At least, that's how it's supposed to work.
              Please let us know what you see in-game.
              Hi, and thanks for that. Doesn't the cloud cover option account for rainy or dry? Does it work in conjunction with orbit? (I guess I should just play a game or two and find out for myself...)

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              • #8
                Well, I started a few games with different cloud covers/orbit distances and after enabling scenario editor to view the whole map I couldn't see any differences in 100/dense, 100/sparse vs. 80/dense, 80/sparse. Maybe things change as the game progresses? Does it have anything to do with polar ice caps and launching solar shade?

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                • #9
                  The orbit and cloud cover do work together with many other factors to generate the overall picture. The differences can be anywhere from subtle to striking, depending some on hills and peaks.
                  Things will change during the game as the factions raise/lower land.
                  I'm not sure if the polar caps are just flavor or if they affect anything.
                  The solar shade does not affect raininess, but cools the planet, making sea levels fall. Once launched, it can be increased or decreased.
                  I am on a mission to see how much coffee it takes to actually achieve time travel.

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                  • #10
                    Aha! Thank you. I took another look and saw the difference. It looks to me like cloud cover affects the planet uniformly at 100 million miles whether sparse or dense, whereas at 80 million miles the equator is greener than the rest.

                    My thread-cred is too poor to post clickable links but here are the urls of screens I uploaded if anyone cares. (Put https:// in front of the db). If someone with more posts than me wants to link to them that's fine by me.

                    So is this setting (Planetary Orbit) a part of the game the designers implemented but then left out of the finished product, and Yitzi reinstated it?

                    80/dense - db.tt/mz1jupWh
                    80/sparse - db.tt/OJveMOM0
                    100/dense - db.tt/IfgWmC6I
                    100/sparse - db.tt/11QsaTFx

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                    • #11
                      There's discussion of the feature here: http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php...32813#msg32813 but I see nothing about that. You can ask Yitzi yourself, there...
                      AC2- the most active SMAC(X) community on the web.
                      JKStudio - Masks and other Art

                      No pasarán

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                      • #12
                        Excellent examples. Now I really do need to get that patch, as I make new maps for games almost monthly.
                        I am on a mission to see how much coffee it takes to actually achieve time travel.

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