ozo

Join Date 04/2006

Ringworlds and dyson spheres

Don't know if this has been suggested already but would it possible to add Niven rings ("halos")and Dyson spheres to the game?
a Ringworld would be built over a sun and would have something like 3 times more space than a planet (max size planet ofc) and player could select it's enviroment type.
a Dyson sphere is almost same as the ring but it would have, hmm, 9 times more space as a planet and it would freeze other planets (if any) because it's blocking the sun...

The rings and sphere techs would be in the end of the tech tree and build them would require enormous amounts of money and stuff. And there should be limit how many you can build. Maybe one ring and then you could convert it to spehere.

Or could this modded to the game?

ideas

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Hahahha. You obviously have been reading Ghost's of Onyx.

A "Dyson Sphere Planet" (as you want) is NOT built around a sun, nor is a Ringworld. Do you realize how stupid of an idea that would be? Anything on the inside would be toasted to a crisp.

Also, for the record, a Dyson Sphere is NOT an artificial planet. It is a means of harvesting the sun's energy by having an array of satelittes equipped with solar panels surrounded much of the sun's surface, in an attempt to harvest as much energy as possible.

Dyson Sphere planets are basically huge steel balls (literally, HUGE) covered in grass and fitted with an artificial atmosphere.

Note that a Dyson Sphere planet is NOT a Dyson Sphere planet but is simply an artificial planet.

The same thing is done for Ringworlds, basically.

So, really, what you should do is have it as a Starbase. Each upgrade costs more cash, more maintanence, and much more research.

-Dvd

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So funny someone mentions this...

Right after I got DA, I remember in the back of my head searching for a tech that allowed you to build a Dyson's Sphere, while perusing the tech tree

Gotta love SciFi.

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Niven’s Ringworld would have ~3 million times the surface area of the Earth. There are tiny problems with stability, finding appropriate materials to construct it with, the mass of materials needed for construction (equal to all the planets in a solar system or more), keeping its orbit stable, and the amount of energy needed to build and then set the object in motion around the sun.

Details, details.

Still, it is a nifty idea.

Hydro

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KVD2007:
I think that you misunderstood my post.
I meant that player/AI could build DS around a star
I didn't mean DS planet.
And Ringworld could of course be build around a star (Niven ring) or to a Lagrange point (Halo)
And for "balance" DS' and Rings size would be only few times a planet

Oh, ring or sphere would be build at least 1AU away, sphere might be up to 3AUs (IRL)

I've read Ghost of Onyx but i got this idea before it and Dyson Sphere isn't new to me.
Ring's actually more interesting. I love Niven's Ringworld books.

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Philocthetes

Join Date 10/2003

+153

I liked most of the Ringworld stories, but IMO even a Ringworld wouldn't fit well in this game on account of scale. I can't imagine any form of the interface that could come close to letting you manage all that real estate.

But the underlying idea for both Dyson spheres and Ringworld does point to something still missing from GalCiv: truly megascale construction. Starbases are mysteriously capped in size and durability and there is no hull class or starbase type for "space habitat." I'd like to have something like that very much.

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ringworlds and dyson spheres are not only impractical to build due to the huge amount of materials and manpowerneeded, but a common solar flare will seriously damage or destroy the structure or the inhabitants and equipment on the structure. It's just not practical to live that close to a fusion bomb

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I thought both were usually built (like one ever has been

) in the habitable orbital distance from a star...where solar flares don't usually reach.

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Really? Even for a civilization millions of years more advanced than present day Earth?

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A solar flare would not be any more of a danger to a dyson sphere/ringworld built by an advanced civilisation than it'd be to a planet.
The real impracticality lies in the fact that any civilisation with the technology and resources needed to build such things wouldn't need to.

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Ringworlds, on the other hand, would be awesome additions. Have them as another kind of starbase type, that serve as space habitats, which can then be upgraded for additional size, defenses, etc. Ideally, they would function the same way as planets (capacity for improvements, starports, etc.) except that they'd be much smaller in scope, have much lower population limits, and they'd be vulnerable to both invasion AND attack from starships. They'd have no ships in orbit, and additional constructors would be used to increase PQ, add defenses, etc.

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Philocthetes

Join Date 10/2003

+153

Starstriker1, I'm glad to see you apparently agreeing with my core point: we need tech and production options to support planet-free (or even star-free) habitats.

If we take Iain Banks' Culture stories as a model, the highest end population-heavy structures should also be significantly mobile, if nowhere near as mobile as top-end warcraft.

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Mobile starbases bring up their own issues. Personally, I'd love to see it happen, but that is a step above the challenge inherent in merely having the AI deal with artificial planets. For one thing, you have the possibility of economic starbases FOLLOWING trade ships, and military starbases finding their way alongside a battle group. You'd also have to deal with the possibility that they'd be used as warships in their own right, which could be devastating early game. Finally, it'd mean an overhaul to the system that prevents starbase overcrowding... after all, if you can move a starbase OUT of a sector, then you could easily mess with the four starbases a sector rule.

I'd love to see it, but it'd be a big, big feature, AI wise.

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