Shouldn't the seamoth be able to go deeper than the cyclops?

OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
So, if I've understood correctly, a rounded shape is best for sustaining pressure. The seamoth is nearly perfectly rounded, meaning it should have a good resistance against pressure. Also, aren't all deep diving subs quite small? Bigger subs are mostly used in shallower depths. So the seamoth should be able to go way deeper than the Cyclops. That being said, we apparently lose the knoweledge needed to build subs within the next century, since 1,5 km isn't that much unless we're talking about military subs that don't really have to go that deep (their max. depth generally 1km, I think). The Cyclops is a scientific sub. The deepest going subs are generally made for scientific use.
«1

Comments

  • DaveyNYDaveyNY Schenectady, NY Join Date: 2016-08-30 Member: 221903Members
    edited May 2017
    I would guess the rather large globe of perfectly clear crystal that surrounds the top part of the Seamoth and where it attaches to the Titanium body, is probably the greatest depth limiting factor.

    Unless of course it's Transparent Aluminum.

    B)
  • LinadaLinada UK Join Date: 2017-05-21 Member: 230657Members
    You can probably pick a lot of holes in whatever explanation, but for the sake of trying:
    All the vehicles seem to be some kind of all purpose vessel. While the primary mission of the Aurora was gate building, they did have a side mission of rescuing the Degasi people. That's really the only excuse to have sea suitable equipment on board in the first place. As anything that gets close to the planet disappears, there's probably only rudimentary information on the actual surface of the planet. Having a selection of highly modifiable blueprints gives the best options for unknown circumstances. A quick scout, a long distance vessel, and a more rugged exosuit. Yes, the sea moth is squish, it starts with normal glass and titanium, as opposed to hardened glass and plasteel for the cyclops. Let's not think too hard how a small cylinder imparts the ability of several layers of plasteel to the subs.
    I assume that in theory there's many more mods for them that we never find. A true science cyclops would likely have additional scanning modules, maybe even something to hide more effectively from wildlife.
    A military cyclops might have more weapons, and tougher armour modules.
    We basically get a luck of the draw of basic modules included (in the vehicle bay for example), and stuff that's left on and around the aurora. For all we know, the inaccessible parts of the aurora hold space suitable vehicles and exosuits, an array of weaponry, and probably a database full of blueprints for quick fabrication of weapons, further vehicles, etc.
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    DaveyNY wrote: »
    I would guess the rather large globe of perfectly clear crystal that surrounds the top part of the Seamoth and where it attaches to the Titanium body, is probably the greatest depth limiting factor.

    Unless of course it's Transparent Aluminum.

    B)

    It's glass based on the recipe, but how does the MASSIVE cyclops window not break then? I don't buy it that infusing it with fish teeth makes it indestructible
  • DaveyNYDaveyNY Schenectady, NY Join Date: 2016-08-30 Member: 221903Members
    Well, those "fish teeth" do come from a creature that ingests titanium metal.

    B)
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    Linada wrote: »
    ...as opposed to hardened glass and plasteel for the cyclops....

    As I replied to @DaveyNY (And I'm not meaning this as an insult, you posted before I replied, I'm just noting that I know i'm repeating), I don't buy that infusing glass with fish teeth makes it basically indestructible. And what I definitely don't buy is that an lithium-titanium alloy is suddenly some super light and super strong material (mind you, plasteel IRL is an fiberglass-steel composite rather than a lithium-titanium alloy). Why? Well, first of all were not using said alloy already so it isn't probably very useful. It's not that complicated of an alloy. Second - I'm not sure why it's second when it's the more important one - is that we're building SUBMARINES out of LITHIUM. It reacts with freaking WATER. WATER! WERE BUILDING SUBMARINES OUT OF A MATERIAL THAT REACTS WITH WATER! Lithium's reaction isn't actually the most spectacular one, but this sub would still be destroyed in minutes.
  • SkopeSkope Wouldn't you like to know ;) Join Date: 2016-06-07 Member: 218212Members
    Well, whatever lithium we're using doesn't react with water.

    Remember, we find lithium nodes just spread out in the middle of the ocean. Without any kind of reaction at all.
  • zetachronzetachron Germany Join Date: 2014-11-14 Member: 199655Members
    The game isn't scientific. The reason is a simple gameplay reason. The Seamoth is too fast and too easy to navigate. It alone could reach the endgame area in minutes and easily navigate around the most evil creatures, rendering a mother sub like the Cyclops completely useless. So it's cut out of the endgame area by depth limitation.

    It might be different if the devs would force air limits for vehicles with the Cyclops as a massive air carrier, which would limit the Seamoth operation range. It would also help to give the Prawn more uses that the Seamoth can't fullfill. Like making drilling more essential and making Precursor bases that dangerous that some can only be entered with a Prawn. Than the Seamoth would be a simple scout vehicle for the Cyclops and could thus be used everywhere without overpowering it.

    But right now no player wants to be forced to use the Cyclops for main map navigation, instead using the Seamoth for that. So we simply get a Seamoth depth limitation.

    Some functions that would help to increase usage over the Seamoth (function: scout) for ...

    The Cyclops (function: carrier)
    • Allow to switch to Seamoth style navigation for fast travel mode (flank speed)
    • Massive air supply to refill the smaller vehicles with air multiple times
    • The only vehicle to have stealth (silent running and cloak shield)
    • Exclusive long range scanning of large masses and power sources (Leviathans, Bases, Wrecks)

    The Prawn (function: operation tool)
    • Exclusive construction of deep base parts (foundations, reinforcements,...)
    • Defense inside alien bases or alien bases without air or flooded (some bases might flood for defense to call in Warpers)
    • Increased use of drilling
  • sayerulzsayerulz oregon Join Date: 2015-04-15 Member: 203493Members
    I would say it's simply because the cyclops has a thicker hull. Most super deep-diving subs do resemble the seamoth more than the cyclops, for various geometry and physics reasons, but that doesn't mean that a round submarine will always be able to go deeper than a cylindrical one. Of course, their enormous windows mean that neither of them would be able to go very deep at all in real life, particularly since the seamoth's is definitely made of totally ordinary glass.

    As for the "plasteel", I think titanium/lithium alloys are real and used, but no one would ever use them in a submarine. Titanium is actually slightly weaker than steel, but it's much lighter, which makes it very useful in the aircraft industry for parts that are out under too much stress for aluminum to handle, but need to be lighter than steel. Lithium is a very soft metal. You could cut a block of lithium with a knife. But it's also incredibly light. This means that alloys of it are also used in aircraft. Neither of these materials are useful in submarines.
    Skope wrote: »
    Well, whatever lithium we're using doesn't react with water.

    Remember, we find lithium nodes just spread out in the middle of the ocean. Without any kind of reaction at all.

    There is no such thing a a kind of lithium that doesn't react with water. That's not how elements work at all. If it doesn't react with water, it's not lithium. The lithium nodes are clearly not pure lithium, which is neither purple nor crystaline, and so therefor they must be lithium bonded with something else that renders it inert.
  • kingkumakingkuma cancels Work: distracted by Dwarf Fortress Join Date: 2015-09-25 Member: 208137Members
    sayerulz wrote: »
    The lithium nodes are clearly not pure lithium, which is neither purple nor crystaline, and so therefor they must be lithium bonded with something else that renders it inert.

    The lithium looks like real lithium now. That was a placeholder.

  • sayerulzsayerulz oregon Join Date: 2015-04-15 Member: 203493Members
    kingkuma wrote: »
    sayerulz wrote: »
    The lithium nodes are clearly not pure lithium, which is neither purple nor crystaline, and so therefor they must be lithium bonded with something else that renders it inert.

    The lithium looks like real lithium now. That was a placeholder.

    Well then that makes no sense at all.
  • scifiwriterguyscifiwriterguy Sector ZZ-9-Plural Z-α Join Date: 2017-02-14 Member: 227901Members
    sayerulz wrote: »
    There is no such thing a a kind of lithium that doesn't react with water. That's not how elements work at all. If it doesn't react with water, it's not lithium. The lithium nodes are clearly not pure lithium, which is neither purple nor crystaline, and so therefor they must be lithium bonded with something else that renders it inert.

    Li2SiO3 - lithium metasilicate...essentially lithium-bonded quartz. Not too terribly common, but vibrant purple, inert, and a good source of lithium. Pure lithium metal...which is what we appear to have in game now...you're right: it should be having some really interesting reactions with seawater. It won't blow a toilet apart - YouTube notwithstanding - but it gets pretty tetchy in water all the same.
    Ojakokko wrote: »
    As I replied to @DaveyNY (And I'm not meaning this as an insult, you posted before I replied, I'm just noting that I know i'm repeating), I don't buy that infusing glass with fish teeth makes it basically indestructible. And what I definitely don't buy is that an lithium-titanium alloy is suddenly some super light and super strong material (mind you, plasteel IRL is an fiberglass-steel composite rather than a lithium-titanium alloy). Why? Well, first of all were not using said alloy already so it isn't probably very useful. It's not that complicated of an alloy. Second - I'm not sure why it's second when it's the more important one - is that we're building SUBMARINES out of LITHIUM. It reacts with freaking WATER. WATER! WERE BUILDING SUBMARINES OUT OF A MATERIAL THAT REACTS WITH WATER! Lithium's reaction isn't actually the most spectacular one, but this sub would still be destroyed in minutes.

    We're not building subs out of lithium, buddy. :) It's a lithium alloy. Lithium is used in several alloys for various reasons, but in most cases it produces an effect called strain hardening. (Lithium-aluminium alloy is particularly noteworthy for this.) Effectively, the addition of lithium distorts the crystalline structure of the base metal, rendering it less susceptible to dislocation (cracking) and failure under strain. Consequently, our use of lithium in-game is to serve as an alloying agent rather than a pure component. :)
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    Mind you, why are they using lithium in the first place? It's not like they have lithium batteries - anymore - and surely there are other possible materials
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    sayerulz wrote: »
    There is no such thing a a kind of lithium that doesn't react with water. That's not how elements work at all. If it doesn't react with water, it's not lithium. The lithium nodes are clearly not pure lithium, which is neither purple nor crystaline, and so therefor they must be lithium bonded with something else that renders it inert.

    Li2SiO3 - lithium metasilicate...essentially lithium-bonded quartz.

    That's a compund. It doesn't react because it has reacted already. Not with water, but it still has reacted.
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    We're not building subs out of lithium, buddy. :) It's a lithium alloy. Lithium is used in several alloys for various reasons, but in most cases it produces an effect called strain hardening. (Lithium-aluminium alloy is particularly noteworthy for this.) Effectively, the addition of lithium distorts the crystalline structure of the base metal, rendering it less susceptible to dislocation (cracking) and failure under strain. Consequently, our use of lithium in-game is to serve as an alloying agent rather than a pure component. :)

    Lithium-aluminium alloys react with water. Since it's a homogenous alloy rather than a compund. The lithium is still lithium and reacts with water. You don't build subs out of lithium alloys.
  • LinadaLinada UK Join Date: 2017-05-21 Member: 230657Members
    In the subnautica universe there is obviously technology to affect things on a level similar to, but not quite as powerful as, the replicators from Star Trek. It can't quite spit out instant anything, but it can take certain ingredients and pretty much rebuild them. Live peeper into cooked peeper, titanium into corridor, random alien vine into fabric. It seems reasonable to me that the alloys in game have very little to do with what actual technology can manage.
    Let me point out again that we are able to just plug in a tube made of plasteel and it makes our vehicles tougher, without being incorporated into the actual material in any obvious way.

    And yes, the pink crystals made much more sense. But for the suspension of disbelief, let's imagine that the new lithium is some kind of crystal too, with a column forming structure, that's no longer reactive.
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    Linada wrote: »
    In the subnautica universe there is obviously technology to affect things on a level similar to, but not quite as powerful as, the replicators from Star Trek. It can't quite spit out instant anything, but it can take certain ingredients and pretty much rebuild them. Live peeper into cooked peeper, titanium into corridor, random alien vine into fabric. It seems reasonable to me that the alloys in game have very little to do with what actual technology can manage.
    Let me point out again that we are able to just plug in a tube made of plasteel and it makes our vehicles tougher, without being incorporated into the actual material in any obvious way.

    And yes, the pink crystals made much more sense. But for the suspension of disbelief, let's imagine that the new lithium is some kind of crystal too, with a column forming structure, that's no longer reactive.

    Why did you mention "Live peeper into cooked peeper"? That's nothing special....

    The fabricator is only manufacturing stuff. Just because it can instantly craft raw materials into other sruff doesn't mean the result is magic. Peeper is cooked. It's still a peeper. Titanium is reformed to a titanium corridor, which is still titanium. Alien vine into fabric made out of teh fibers of alien vine, just like the alien vine. It's still fibers. Pretty much any plant we know can be turned into material, nothing special there.
    Just like the ST replicators, in SN the end result still acts according to what it's made out of.

    "...without being incorporated into the actual material in any obvious way"
    Not true. For everything else, the fabricator needs materials that are contained in the end product. The peeper is needed to cook the peeper, the titanium is needed in the titanium corridor and the fibers from the vine are needed to make fabric out of them. Why would the fabricator need lithium for plasteel if it isn't even used in the end product? Of course it could use nuclear reactions to turn the lithium into other elements and proceed to use chemical reactions to form the new elements into compounds (this is actually possible IRL, just inpractical because money), but why does it use this only for lithium then and not everything else? It could just grab something form the outside (mostly water) and form it into pretty much anything!

    PS (has nothing to do with this whole lithium thing): In ST, the explanations given for how the replicators work are contradictory. In TNG, it is said that they convert energy into matter much like the receiving end of a transporter does, meaning it can replicate the exact atomical structure of pretty much anything. However, in DS9 it is said that the replicator works by rearranging proteins to a similar structure as food (example used in series: chicken), but since the resulting food doesn't consist of the same substances as real food would (meaning that it doesn't replicate the exact atomical structure) it doesn't taste the same. Also all the food made by the replicators tastes the same regadless of what kind of food it is. In both series, the explanation is given for federation replicators. Apparently a Galaxy-class gets fancier replicators than other ships? Apparently Cardassian replicators are the fancier type too, since Gul Dukat uses one of them to replicate a sentry phaser. The not-so-fancy protein fabricator would only be able to replicate certain organic items, and not even them accurately.
  • RequiemfangRequiemfang Join Date: 2015-02-22 Member: 201492Members
    To simplify things with all this techno babble about the fabricator. Basically all a fabricator is in game is a less advanced version of the Star Trek Replicator. Instead you provide the materials to the machine which can use the materials by rearranging atoms, in the case of plasteel which is titanium + lithium alloy and turn it into a stronger material. Trying to put it a realistic manner shouldn't be done because this is a game and a lot of the stuff going on in the game is quite some heavy science fiction.
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    To simplify things with all this techno babble about the fabricator. Basically all a fabricator is in game is a less advanced version of the Star Trek Replicator. Instead you provide the materials to the machine which can use the materials by rearranging atoms, in the case of plasteel which is titanium + lithium alloy and turn it into a stronger material. Trying to put it a realistic manner shouldn't be done because this is a game and a lot of the stuff going on in the game is quite some heavy science fiction.

    Did this bring anything to the converation whether we should bring lithium underwater?
  • RequiemfangRequiemfang Join Date: 2015-02-22 Member: 201492Members
    edited May 2017
    Ojakokko wrote: »
    To simplify things with all this techno babble about the fabricator. Basically all a fabricator is in game is a less advanced version of the Star Trek Replicator. Instead you provide the materials to the machine which can use the materials by rearranging atoms, in the case of plasteel which is titanium + lithium alloy and turn it into a stronger material. Trying to put it a realistic manner shouldn't be done because this is a game and a lot of the stuff going on in the game is quite some heavy science fiction.

    Did this bring anything to the converation whether we should bring lithium underwater?

    Funny you should bring up lithium and underwater. In Subnautica we're on a planet that is covered in ocean which means salt water. Lithium reacts a lot differently with salty brine water. Also the form we're gathering and harvesting in Subnautica isn't pure lithium it's a ferromanganese oxide deposit of lithium which is found IN the ocean.
    Due to its solubility as an ion, it is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines.
    taken directly from the wikipedia.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium

    Do a search on the internet about Lithium and the oceans and you'll find quite a bit of information.

    So in essence, lithium can be found within the salt water and in oxide deposits within said water. The developers aren't just adding things to the game without doing research on this stuff, some of the building materials found within the game aren't just made up stuff where you can find it mysteriously out in the ocean on another planet. There are a lot of metals and materials out in Earth's oceans both found in minute particles in the water and in solid formed deposits.
  • sayerulzsayerulz oregon Join Date: 2015-04-15 Member: 203493Members
    What you really have to wonder is why we aren't building anything in this game out of steel. It's just objectively better in every way than titanium for pretty much all the applications we use it for in-game. The only thing titanium has is that it doesn't rust, but everything we build has a coat of paint to protect it anyway, and besides that, it takes years for something like a submarine or a seabase to rust enough to cause serious damage, even without galvanization or similar preserving processes.

    On that vein, why is iron so rare on this planet? It's just a fact that there is much more of it in the universe than titanium, and it's much easier to refine.
  • RequiemfangRequiemfang Join Date: 2015-02-22 Member: 201492Members
    edited May 2017
    sayerulz wrote: »
    What you really have to wonder is why we aren't building anything in this game out of steel. It's just objectively better in every way than titanium for pretty much all the applications we use it for in-game. The only thing titanium has is that it doesn't rust, but everything we build has a coat of paint to protect it anyway, and besides that, it takes years for something like a submarine or a seabase to rust enough to cause serious damage, even without galvanization or similar preserving processes.

    On that vein, why is iron so rare on this planet? It's just a fact that there is much more of it in the universe than titanium, and it's much easier to refine.

    Actually Titanium is better, it's more durable, more corrosion resistant, lighter and deals a heck of a lot better under heat stress than steel. Why do you think the SR-71 Blackbird was made out of titanium than aluminum? due to that heat stress factor, titanium was chosen also due to it being just as strong as steel, it's better durability and also the fact that it was much lighter in weight than steel which you really can't use in a plane.

    As for the lack of iron on the planet? no idea maybe it's just something the developers haven't given a reason for? Maybe the Precursors mine it all already? who knows.
  • scifiwriterguyscifiwriterguy Sector ZZ-9-Plural Z-α Join Date: 2017-02-14 Member: 227901Members
    Ojakokko wrote: »
    We're not building subs out of lithium, buddy. :) It's a lithium alloy. Lithium is used in several alloys for various reasons, but in most cases it produces an effect called strain hardening. (Lithium-aluminium alloy is particularly noteworthy for this.) Effectively, the addition of lithium distorts the crystalline structure of the base metal, rendering it less susceptible to dislocation (cracking) and failure under strain. Consequently, our use of lithium in-game is to serve as an alloying agent rather than a pure component. :)

    Lithium-aluminium alloys react with water. Since it's a homogenous alloy rather than a compund. The lithium is still lithium and reacts with water. You don't build subs out of lithium alloys.

    ...no, they don't. Lithium alloys are commonplace. Lithium compounds are commonplace. Pure lithium will react with water, as will some specific compounds, but many compounds and alloys don't.

    Ojakokko wrote: »
    sayerulz wrote: »
    There is no such thing a a kind of lithium that doesn't react with water. That's not how elements work at all. If it doesn't react with water, it's not lithium. The lithium nodes are clearly not pure lithium, which is neither purple nor crystaline, and so therefor they must be lithium bonded with something else that renders it inert.

    Li2SiO3 - lithium metasilicate...essentially lithium-bonded quartz.

    That's a compund. It doesn't react because it has reacted already. Not with water, but it still has reacted.

    Yes...the statement was addressing the previous violet-crystal model and was in response to someone else.

    The weird part is that your first comment - "lithium is still lithium and reacts with water" - and your second comment - "It doesn't react because it has reacted already." - are mutually exclusive. Many lithium compounds and most alloys won't react with water. Lithium isn't antimatter. It's safe and stable in a lot of configurations.
  • sayerulzsayerulz oregon Join Date: 2015-04-15 Member: 203493Members
    sayerulz wrote: »
    What you really have to wonder is why we aren't building anything in this game out of steel. It's just objectively better in every way than titanium for pretty much all the applications we use it for in-game. The only thing titanium has is that it doesn't rust, but everything we build has a coat of paint to protect it anyway, and besides that, it takes years for something like a submarine or a seabase to rust enough to cause serious damage, even without galvanization or similar preserving processes.

    On that vein, why is iron so rare on this planet? It's just a fact that there is much more of it in the universe than titanium, and it's much easier to refine.

    Actually Titanium is better, it's more durable, more corrosion resistant, lighter and deals a heck of a lot better under heat stress than steel. Why do you think the SR-71 Blackbird was made out of titanium than aluminum? due to that heat stress factor, titanium was chosen also due to it being just as strong as steel, it's better durability and also the fact that it was much lighter in weight than steel which you really can't use in a plane.

    As for the lack of iron on the planet? no idea maybe it's just something the developers haven't given a reason for? Maybe the Precursors mine it all already? who knows.

    Titanium is, as I said before, lighter and more corrosion resistant. But it is NOT stronger. It's ALMOST as strong. Steel is stronger and harder. And the weight difference is meaningless underwater. In fact, for building submarines and seabases, heavier is better because it reduces the amount of ballast needed. That titanium is some sort of indestructible super-metal is a myth. Steel is stronger.

    The SR71 was made of titanium because it is stronger than aluminum, not steel. If they had made it out of steel, it would be much heavier, too heavy for it to be as fast as they wanted (although the MIG-25, one of the few planes made entirely of steel, may actually be as fast or faster, but only for short stretches, and going that fast destroys it's engines.)
  • Kouji_SanKouji_San Sr. Hινε Uρкεερεг - EUPT Deputy The Netherlands Join Date: 2003-05-13 Member: 16271Members, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue
    edited May 2017
    DaveyNY wrote: »
    I would guess the rather large globe of perfectly clear crystal that surrounds the top part of the Seamoth and where it attaches to the Titanium body, is probably the greatest depth limiting factor.

    Unless of course it's Transparent Aluminum.

    B)

    The way you Yanks pronounce this makes me hear this song :D

    Mahna Mahna vs Aluminum




    But the question is indeed: "Who cares?" -> and just for that some bonus stuff
  • OjekronOOjekronO Join Date: 2017-03-16 Member: 228983Members
    Ojakokko wrote: »
    So, if I've understood correctly, a rounded shape is best for sustaining pressure. The seamoth is nearly perfectly rounded, meaning it should have a good resistance against pressure. Also, aren't all deep diving subs quite small? Bigger subs are mostly used in shallower depths. So the seamoth should be able to go way deeper than the Cyclops. That being said, we apparently lose the knoweledge needed to build subs within the next century, since 1,5 km isn't that much unless we're talking about military subs that don't really have to go that deep (their max. depth generally 1km, I think). The Cyclops is a scientific sub. The deepest going subs are generally made for scientific use.

    I know it seems to make sense that smaller vessels would go deeper but this on not the case.
    The smaller the object usually the more pressure it takes :P being round doesnt always matter
    and at deep DEEP depths it probably doesnt matter much.
  • RequiemfangRequiemfang Join Date: 2015-02-22 Member: 201492Members
    sayerulz wrote: »

    Actually Titanium is better, it's more durable, more corrosion resistant, lighter and deals a heck of a lot better under heat stress than steel. Why do you think the SR-71 Blackbird was made out of titanium than aluminum? due to that heat stress factor, titanium was chosen also due to it being just as strong as steel, it's better durability and also the fact that it was much lighter in weight than steel which you really can't use in a plane.

    As for the lack of iron on the planet? no idea maybe it's just something the developers haven't given a reason for? Maybe the Precursors mine it all already? who knows.

    Titanium is, as I said before, lighter and more corrosion resistant. But it is NOT stronger. It's ALMOST as strong. Steel is stronger and harder. And the weight difference is meaningless underwater. In fact, for building submarines and seabases, heavier is better because it reduces the amount of ballast needed. That titanium is some sort of indestructible super-metal is a myth. Steel is stronger.

    The SR71 was made of titanium because it is stronger than aluminum, not steel. If they had made it out of steel, it would be much heavier, too heavy for it to be as fast as they wanted (although the MIG-25, one of the few planes made entirely of steel, may actually be as fast or faster, but only for short stretches, and going that fast destroys it's engines.)[/quote]

    point taken, I looked back at what I was reading and you are correct.
  • LinadaLinada UK Join Date: 2017-05-21 Member: 230657Members
    Ojakokko wrote: »

    Why did you mention "Live peeper into cooked peeper"? That's nothing special....

    The fabricator is only manufacturing stuff. Just because it can instantly craft raw materials into other sruff doesn't mean the result is magic. Peeper is cooked. It's still a peeper. Titanium is reformed to a titanium corridor, which is still titanium. Alien vine into fabric made out of teh fibers of alien vine, just like the alien vine. It's still fibers. Pretty much any plant we know can be turned into material, nothing special there.
    Just like the ST replicators, in SN the end result still acts according to what it's made out of.

    "...without being incorporated into the actual material in any obvious way"

    Sorry if I wrote in a confusing manner, I'll try to clarify.

    The peeper is just an example. It's special because it beams out a gutted and cooked peeper right in front of you. Traditional cooking is not involved.

    Materials: I was trying to point out that the fabricator is able to substantially alter materials without going through traditional processes. I know nothing about metallurgy, so let's stick with fabric. First, not any plant is good for fibre. You can't make a shirt out of lettuce. There are some unlikely fibres, but they are essentially synthetics. Then there are things like cotton, which produce stuff you can spin straight from the plant. Our creep vine falls under the category of fibrous stem, like nettles, flax and ginster. First, you need to figure out how to get rid of the useless stuff without damaging the fibres. That often involves a multistep process of rotting and chemical treatment, followed by breaking up the remaining material, than combing the bits out. Only then can it be spun and woven.
    The fabricator skips all that and spits out a ready bolt of cloth, and not just any cloth, but one that can be anything from bandages and dive reels to diving suits.
    As far as I can tell it basically takes the molecules it needs and spits them out in a new form. I don't see why it shouldn't be able to spit out a plasteel that has a different structure and therefore properties compared to what we have.

    As for the last part, I was talking about the upgrades modules. They are basically tubes of condensed plasteel etc and get plugged into the upgrade console. you're not putting another layer of plasteel on your cyclops by doing so, yet somehow it makes it more pressure resistant. And you can just unplug it again. I like making up explanations, but that ones has me beat so far.
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    Ojakokko wrote: »
    To simplify things with all this techno babble about the fabricator. Basically all a fabricator is in game is a less advanced version of the Star Trek Replicator. Instead you provide the materials to the machine which can use the materials by rearranging atoms, in the case of plasteel which is titanium + lithium alloy and turn it into a stronger material. Trying to put it a realistic manner shouldn't be done because this is a game and a lot of the stuff going on in the game is quite some heavy science fiction.

    Did this bring anything to the converation whether we should bring lithium underwater?

    Funny you should bring up lithium and underwater. In Subnautica we're on a planet that is covered in ocean which means salt water. Lithium reacts a lot differently with salty brine water. Also the form we're gathering and harvesting in Subnautica isn't pure lithium it's a ferromanganese oxide deposit of lithium which is found IN the ocean.
    Due to its solubility as an ion, it is present in ocean water and is commonly obtained from brines.
    taken directly from the wikipedia.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium

    Do a search on the internet about Lithium and the oceans and you'll find quite a bit of information.

    So in essence, lithium can be found within the salt water and in oxide deposits within said water. The developers aren't just adding things to the game without doing research on this stuff, some of the building materials found within the game aren't just made up stuff where you can find it mysteriously out in the ocean on another planet. There are a lot of metals and materials out in Earth's oceans both found in minute particles in the water and in solid formed deposits.

    so the fabricator doens't purify it then?
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    edited May 2017
    Ojakokko wrote: »
    We're not building subs out of lithium, buddy. :) It's a lithium alloy. Lithium is used in several alloys for various reasons, but in most cases it produces an effect called strain hardening. (Lithium-aluminium alloy is particularly noteworthy for this.) Effectively, the addition of lithium distorts the crystalline structure of the base metal, rendering it less susceptible to dislocation (cracking) and failure under strain. Consequently, our use of lithium in-game is to serve as an alloying agent rather than a pure component. :)

    Lithium-aluminium alloys react with water. Since it's a homogenous alloy rather than a compund. The lithium is still lithium and reacts with water. You don't build subs out of lithium alloys.

    ...no, they don't. Lithium alloys are commonplace. Lithium compounds are commonplace. Pure lithium will react with water, as will some specific compounds, but many compounds and alloys don't.

    I checked this. From what I found, lithium-aluminium alloys react with water. I feel actually slightly insulted from the fact that you think I do no research whatsoever before commenting. Even if I'm wrong, at least I've done research.

    But still, lithium aluminium alloys do react with water. The original source was wikipedia, but researching more, this has actually been tested by the US Navy. It's understandable why a navy would want to know whether a material is safe in water...
  • OjakokkoOjakokko Finland Join Date: 2017-01-20 Member: 226999Members
    edited May 2017
    Ojakokko wrote: »
    sayerulz wrote: »
    There is no such thing a a kind of lithium that doesn't react with water. That's not how elements work at all. If it doesn't react with water, it's not lithium. The lithium nodes are clearly not pure lithium, which is neither purple nor crystaline, and so therefor they must be lithium bonded with something else that renders it inert.

    Li2SiO3 - lithium metasilicate...essentially lithium-bonded quartz.

    That's a compund. It doesn't react because it has reacted already. Not with water, but it still has reacted.

    Yes...the statement was addressing the previous violet-crystal model and was in response to someone else.

    The weird part is that your first comment - "lithium is still lithium and reacts with water" - and your second comment - "It doesn't react because it has reacted already." - are mutually exclusive. Many lithium compounds and most alloys won't react with water. Lithium isn't antimatter. It's safe and stable in a lot of configurations.

    My point may have been lost in translation. Alloys aren't the same as compounds. Alloys are a homogenous mixture, and the lithium is still lithium. In compounds the lithium atoms are bonded to other atoms either by a covalent bond or ionic bonding
Sign In or Register to comment.