Idea to rationalize floating island not floating away

0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
in Ideas and Suggestions
How about having other floaters attached to the sea floor, with the rationalization that the artificial anti-grav locks the island above it in place, sort of like a magnet? I mean, seems weird, but so does gravity modifying creatures. *shrug* Or do they modify gravity? I don't think they're large enough to displace a weight of water equal to the weight of the island (or the rocks the smaller ones attach to).
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  • RequiemfangRequiemfang Join Date: 2015-02-22 Member: 201492Members
    edited January 2017
    According to the in game databank entry the reason why floaters float is because of Helium, seeing how it only takes 4, 5 or even 6 of the little ones to make a large boulder, boulders that are larger than a seamoth float. Looking at the size of the much larger floaters I would assume those things must have a large amount of helium in them to hold up that land mass.

    I mean really it's not like Pandora where there's an element in the rocks that acts like a super conductor and gives off huge amounts of EM fields to cause artificial gravity and cause floating mountains in the sky :p
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  • 0x6A72320x6A7232 US Join Date: 2016-10-06 Member: 222906Members
    Requiemfang wrote: »
    According to the in game databank entry the reason why floaters float is because of Helium, seeing how it only takes 4, 5 or even 6 of the little ones to make a large boulder, boulders that are larger than a seamoth float. Looking at the size of the much larger floaters I would assume those things must have a large amount of helium in them to hold up that land mass.

    I mean really it's not like Pandora where there's an element in the rocks that acts like a super conductor and gives off huge amounts of EM fields to cause artificial gravity and cause floating mountains in the sky :p

    Eh. That's not how displacement works, you can have helium be lighter than air, but it will only create as much lift as {weight of water displaced by object} - {weight of object + gas filling it}. So, pretending the floaters and the helium gas weigh nothing just for the sake of simplicity, you could only have as much 'lift' as the weight of the water that would otherwise occupy their space. It's why you feel lighter when swimming, your body displaces water. It's also why hot air balloons / blimps work. The amount of air they displace weighs more than themselves (because they use helium or hot air, which weighs less than normal air, and the difference is more than the weight of the craft).

    So, to be feasible, what's the weight of the boulder -- ah, I forgot. Silly me. The boulder doesn't weigh as much because it's under water. So, weight of boulder - weight of water boulder displaces + / - whatever the net weight the floaters are considering the water they displace and their weight.

    I rambled a bit badly on that, but I think you can catch what I mean. I think the floaters for the boulder *might* work, as they are under water. The floating island, though? IDK, it's pretty far above water.

    Is anyone ridiculously good at math and material weight etc that would like to take a stab at all of this?
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  • 04Leonhardt04Leonhardt I came here to laugh at you Join Date: 2015-08-01 Member: 206618Members
    In the Concept Art it was in a much shallower area anchored to the seabed by giant roots
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  • RequiemfangRequiemfang Join Date: 2015-02-22 Member: 201492Members
    Could be that this is a design oversight by the devs and they just haven't gotten around to fixing it. Now that 04Leonhardt mentions it I do recall seeing the concept art and it would make more sense. I can understand the underwater floating islands being held up somewhat by the giant floaters but the floating island is a lot bigger than that.
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  • almisamialmisami Join Date: 2017-01-22 Member: 227094Members
    Besides the aforementionned idea of roots going all the way down, perhaps we could have a single precursor power tendril serving as a tether to the island.

    Bonus points if it is snagged taut and coiled around around a few of the rocks in the Grand reef.
    Sprinkle a bit of rubble to make it look like it was ripped out of the dirt from its original location, denoting the storm the Degasi crew had to deal with and it would tie in with both the lore and fixing this little issue I've had withthe fixed location for a while.

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