If I recall correctly, the terrain generating algorithm outputs a single height value for every spot on the surface of a planet, which would mean it doesn’t support overhangs. Since my idea of a spoon has overhangs regardless of how you turn it, that would indicate Infinity will not have spoon-like terrain generated by the terrain engine, unless said engine is expanded to add 3D models to the generated terrain or switched to a voxel based system.
The exotic formations @Arkenbrien mentions should be no problem, though. They are recognizable even without overhangs.
IIRC, INE doesn’t model overhangs as the generation is not 3D based but height based, a surface coordinate point will only have one height value, so no chance of generating mind bending spoons…
Flavien has experimented with horizontal displacement maps in the past. That was eight years ago however and I don’t know if the current generation engine still supports them.
My belief is based on something a bit more “recent” in terms of this project, a post by Keith IIRC, just don’t ask me to find it, could be the good old forums post…
Last I checked, the density of lava was quite a bit higher than that of spaceships, meaning they would float, and the temperature a lot cooler than the Sun’s corona, meaning the heat would cause less issues than harvesting fuel from stars.
A star’s heat is reflected away from the spaceship, little energy actually gets absorbed by the ship, thus allowing it to stay close to a star (or simply energy shield magic). The lava would melt the ship slowly as it comes in contact with the molten rock and all that heat is absorbed. Unless the ships are made of a ceramic or metamaterial able to withstand direct contact like that.
Yeah, but the energy density is way higher, and conduction between two solids is way more effective at heat transfer than collisions with a rarefied gas.
Remember, it’s not the temperature that matters, but the amount of heat transferred.
Same volcanic planet as last week, but with variable atmospheric settings, and different location on the planet.
These are my personal favorites so far. Enjoy!
These are my new favourites too! The volcanic textures and general haze are looking really excellent. It’ll look even better when clouds are eventually implemented…!
I think I have a new desktop wallpaper.
Are there plans for types of planet having particular effects on the player? It was mentioned earlier about possible melting if landing on lava! Maybe not that specific example, but it would be cool to have some effect to watch out for.
