Mass?

[Krougal]

So what is supposed to be the unit of mass in this game?
I thought maybe tons, but then I looked up the mass of a cubic meter (I think it's safe to say the blocks are a cubic meter) of steel, about 8 tons (on average, there are many kinds of steel and they have different masses...this is why I never get anything done). Aluminum is about 2 tons.

That's for 1 block though. Which kinda defeats the purpose of dividing block count by 10, especially if mass doesn't represent a specific real-world mass measurement but just a general number. Unless there are plans to have different blocks have different masses?

 

[CyberTao]

Different mass for different blocks someday yes. Right now it's a unitless measurement that helps with figuring out Thrust:Weight ratios and comparing ships (since mass also takes into account docked ships and turrets).

 

[psteiner]

But what shall we call it?

 

[CyberTao]

But what shall we call it?

Ego. Our ships are made of solid blocks of pure ego. And in the future, each block will give differing amounts of ego depending on their swag values and bling.

I feel like gagging after saying that last bit.

 

[Mariux]

The unit of measurement can still be ton. Since it isn't written anywhere that the blocks are not hollow.

 

[AtraUnam]

Some blocks do have a lower or higher mass, for example lava has a fairly high mass.

Edit: It would seem lava does in fact have a mass of 0.1

 

[CyberTao]

Some blocks do have a lower or higher mass, for example lava has a fairly high mass.

Do they? I remember terrain blocks used to have 0.2 mass, but that was dropped back to 0.1 like everything else.

 

[FullMetalFox]

Well lets say 1m³ block would be 1 metric ton, displayed as 0.1 mass ingame, that would mean the game displays mass in metric Decatons.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix#List_of_SI_prefixes


Dont take this to serious

 

[aceface]

we aren't sure they are solid blocks though.

 

[Krougal]

Do they? I remember terrain blocks used to have 0.2 mass, but that was dropped back to 0.1 like everything else.

Yeah, it seems like everything is 0.1, even area triggers

we aren't sure they are solid blocks though.

True. And being this is a game can always fudge things one direction or another. A little bit of reality is good, too much is no fun (especially for this genre).

 

[NeonSturm]

we aren't sure they are solid blocks though.

Water blocks look like a solid aquarium.
(10 cm)³ = 1 kg
(1m)³ = 1000 kg = 1 t

Air for example is about 1.1 to 1.3 kg per m³, depending on temperature, helium about 1/7 and hydrogen about half of helium.


Perhaps Carbon-Buckyballs (nano-footballs containing for example vacuum) could have a similar weight as helium, depending on size and physical specifications.

But it is solid and is maybe able (with some strengthening rips around the ball) to compete with aluminium.

Also oxygen and other stuff in Earth's atmosphere would have a lower dispersion rate into the vacuum chamber than the light hydrogen+helium gasses have to push themselves through the material to the outside.
Just you can easily pump air out, while you can not as well pump helium back in without losses.​

 

[Krougal]

Water blocks look like a solid aquarium.
(10 cm)³ = 1 kg
(1m)³ = 1000 kg = 1 t

More math and stuff

Oh yeah, duh, I'm still used to thinking lbs first (2000 lbs in a ton, 1000 kg), so a solid cubic meter of aluminum is about 2 tons, not 1.
Water kinda has to be a solid block

 

[Megacrafter127]

Oh yeah, duh, I'm still used to thinking lbs first

metric pounds or the pound of the imperial system? (the former is exactly 0.5 kg, the latter about 0.45kg)

 

[Krougal]

16 ounce pound..SAE..imperial I guess....I didn't know there was such a thing as a metric lb.
But that's a moot point, especially since we're not talking exact measurements...the point was I was off by WAY off.