[idea] stars as planets and planets as orbital bodies

makes the game smaller in scale (in real-world terms) but may give it a "more" epic feel

from Sins Forums
(just had an idea. born out of my dislike of soase's unrealistic solar-system representation. i know its meant to be a representation like gcii's representation of solar-systems but gcii's method doesn't seem to fit well in this game.)

we scale down the galaxy:
rather than creating a galaxy, we create one system.
a star becomes a planet and a planet an orbital body (e.g. moon).

in this scale, for example,
mercury, venus, earth, mars, etc... are added as suns.
and their moons are added as planets in their gravity fields.
sol can still be added of course.
and we're not really scaling it down, we can still add other stars and their planets.
we just link the phase lanes between the stars.

advantages:
1. a more realistic solar-system layout is possible
2. moons and other orbital bodies can be added
3. game-field is smaller but actually larger

questions:
1. is this possible? can't see why not at the moment.
2. visually, can we use the planetary 3d objects as stars? i've not looked at modding info yet but i can guess its just a matter of adding the new "suns" in the proper lists.

comments are welcome, of course.
modding
5,882 views 9 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
Please refrain from using the words "realistic" or "unrealistic" when talking about a game. IT IS A GAME. A rt4x game. IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE REALISTIC. it is meant to be fun and intertaining.
i beleive someone has stated this point before but i cant remember who or where
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
i second the realism comment. but aside from that, i'd be interested in seeing moons and such.
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
Greetings:
If you want stars as planets, and also planets that have moons, then you need to check out the mod 7 DEADLY SINS.
There are 5 colonizable stars, with MOONS! As well as Gas Giants that have moons (hence colonizable), and also planets that have moons.
The new release is due out soon. That is when all the MOONS will appear. In its current version, you at least get the 5 stars.

DANMAN
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Please refrain from using the words "realistic" or "unrealistic" when talking about a game. IT IS A GAME. A rt4x game. IT IS NOT MEANT TO BE REALISTIC. it is meant to be fun and intertaining.i beleive someone has stated this point before but i cant remember who or where
End of quote


i dont see why a "realistic" system couldnt be fun so why complain about a simple mod idea?
Realismn can make a lot of fun cause it adds to the emersion of a game and tbh i can see that this idea works and make for a great game experience.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Greetings:If you want stars as planets, and also planets that have moons, then you need to check out the mod 7 DEADLY SINS.There are 5 colonizable stars, with MOONS! As well as Gas Giants that have moons (hence colonizable), and also planets that have moons.The new release is due out soon. That is when all the MOONS will appear. In its current version, you at least get the 5 stars.DANMAN
End of quote


cool...danman.
i did see the posts for your mods (solar sins and 7 deadly sins). they both sound good. and i'm quite interested to see how the moons will be implemented. that's one point off "my list". thanks, danman.





and thanks guys for the other comments. realism in games is always debated on in the forums: from oblivion, dow, coh, hw2 to supreme commander. its really just a matter of taste and experience. we realism dudes don't really want true realism. we just want some representations offered in the game tweaked so as not to be jarring to us.

and game-play should never be sacrificed for realism. the game still has to be fun.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
kuertee:
You're welcome, and I agree with you on your realism. It should be real enough so that you can escape reality for awhile, but still provide the fun of a game.

DANMAN
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
I agree with wanting realism, I mean for me a game isn't fun if it's not realistic. It needs SOME sort of explination as to why something happens, something that seems plausible. Sure a game revolving around space ships n epic empires isn't technicly realistic, but that's fine, as long as the galaxy they live in is represented realisticly. I've ALLWAYS despised the way Sins handles solar systems, and I'm waiting for a mod that perfects that. One of the changes I want made, is that when you zoom way out, there's no spiral cloud, just the bright dot of light.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
Colt556,
I believe there is a mod out that does that, so that the solar systems don't look like galaxies zoomed out.
There is another mod in the works that will assign realistic planet and star sizes to everything. It is almost done. Check out the forums and you'll find it.

DANMAN
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
There was only one mod I ever saw that "removed" the spiral clouds, and all it did was dim them down a lot, it didn't actually remove the cloud.