Roofs underground?

[paxx]

Mtownse, Sorry.

I did not realize you where new to the boards and thought you where just asking stupid questions, not out of lack of knowledge but out of the typical, I?d do it better then you, but I?m not going to bother attitude prevalent on the boards at time. Sorry for my comments towards you, you caught me in the one week I decided to respond the way I feel about questions and not the way I should.

[kyp14]

I wouldn\'t bother abouting telling people a scientific definition of why it rains it just does i mean nobody seams to care that for some strange reason in Star Wars that there is sound in space i say just let it go it rains cause it does

[Maresedotes]

Lol about star wars!!! Ya, but I DO think it rains a little too much but thats just my opinion... then again, we ARE in a cave so, it should be damp... I dunno.

[Funhouse]

ok, so the rain is explainable....but whats up with the thunder and lightning? How does that work?



oh, right, magic. Sorry my bad.    

[Maresedotes]

Thats right dude. Magic explains it all. That whole world is Magic. lol... thats how that world was created, magic!!! so, ya... also... btw, in case y\'all didn\'t know it\'s a computer game      

[Fanomatic2000]

It\'s called the \"Harry Potthead\" Syndrome  

Remember that \"fantasy\" is a middlething between reality and imagination. It\'s great to know that the \"club-of-intrest\" has joined us, but don\'t take these things too serious. As Maresedotes say, it\'s a computer-game!

BTW. About Star-wars...it wouldn\'t be cool if they didn\'t add any \"pzaff\", \"ptjii\" and explosions to the space-scenes right?

[Whaleman]

I just have to add a note on the tree issue. Plants don\'t need actual sunlight to photosythesize. Any light of the correct wavelenght is sufficient.  It has nothing to do with Ultra-violet radiation. Indoor plants grow even though glass is an efficient shield towards UV. And there are plants that handle different wavelengths of light, seaweed and algae are the best example of this since they absorb different wavelenghts as the light diminishes with the distance from the surface. All these adaptations would be usable for plants in a illuminated cavern as well.

Since I can\'t test PS yet since I\'m still waiting for the mac version, I can\'t tell how impossible the ecosystem looks from my perspective as an ecologist yet, but I will probably post if I find something that is unbearable through my eyes... but then on the other hand, I play D&D based games without complaining and I don\'t know if Wizards of the Coast ever heard of functional eco-systems

[Maresedotes]

he he, lol. Absolutely.

That is funny.

[Grey]

Kinshadow, if you need help with any explanations and geology or biology workwork, I am an Paleobiology major.  Meaning I can tell you about geology, biology, and adaptivity.  It would be nice to create an ecosystem that makes sense in terms of science.

[kinshadow]

Originally posted by Grey
Kinshadow, if you need help with any explanations and geology or biology workwork, I am an Paleobiology major.  Meaning I can tell you about geology, biology, and adaptivity.  It would be nice to create an ecosystem that makes sense in terms of science.

Thanks, if you have any specific suggestions or if you see something wrong that is mentioned in prior thread, let me know.   I have a good Geology/Anthropology background and I am supplementing my Biology info with heavy doses of the Discovery Channel, but I will appreciate any other expertise offered.

I\'d bounce ideas off the forum, but that would violate my NDA.  You can get an idea of my current direction (at least as far as the geology and meteorology) by reading through the linked thread  (toward the end).  Never the less, I am very open to suggestion, so if you have any ideas on the way life would be effected by the environment and magic/radiation, send me a PM or throw it in a thread.

[rainmaker]

Well I\'m by no means an expert on geology, aside from what i learned in a high school class, but...

The only way i could see this make any sence in a real world aspect is for the PS stalacite to be located under a relativly high area (above the ocean of the surface world). Perhaps even inside a mountain range but reaching far beneath that into the underground. For example in our world the stalacite would be under the mountains in tibet or perhaps under the midwest of the US.

This is because for water to drain from the surface down into the stalicite and thereafter drain in a meaningfull way out of the stalicite the water flow would have to be a part of the surface worlds eco-system. So rainfall from the surface world drains down into the stalicite. Thereafter it runs to the bottem of the stalicite and into the lake at the bottem. However this lake is in reality part of the surface worlds ground water system. So if the stalicite was under a high landmass above the ocean of the surface world it would be able to run from the bottem of the stalicite down/across the continent of the surface world and into the ocean. This is why locating the stalicite in a mountain range of the surface world might be a good idea so the water of the lake is higher then the water level of the surface worlds oceans. Sorry if I repeat myself but i\'m not sure if people understand what i\'m saying.

Basicaly I think there\'s a misconception with the original idea because water is being introduced into the stalicite but not really disapearing (from what i can see). In the real world water doesn\'t just sink into the core of the world it slowly drains back into the ocean following the ground water system of a continent and from the ocean evaporates into the air and from there rains back onto land. For the stalicites water system to make sence it would therefor have to be involved in this system.

[Ravenmaster]

Why is everyone attacking mtownse for asking for a logical explanation?  Valfaran gave a good explanation, but then went on to say \"go away, so those of us with imagination can enjoy ourselves.\" or something to that effect.  I think that saying, \"It\'s magic\" doesn\'t explain anything.  Magic has laws to it. If you were a wizard, you\'d quickly discover that everything doesn\'t automatically do itself just because there\'s magic around.  For example, some dude wants to make a cloak that allows him to store an infinite amount of things on the inside without showing any sign of change on the outside.  So, he does, and then when he puts it on, he falls into the new universe he has created within the cloak and can\'t get out.  You have to define everything you do with magic, it\'s like programming or, well, just about anything else.  As for Star Wars, people do wonder why it makes noise and why there are large explosions that don\'t immediately extinguish do to lack of oxygen.  As for the devs, you say there are more explanations on their way. Okay, that\'s cool.

[Maresedotes]

so rave, do YOU believe in magic? You seem to speak with such authority lol.

[kinshadow]

Originally posted by Ravenmaster
Why is everyone attacking mtownse for asking for a logical explanation?  Valfaran gave a good explanation, but then went on to say \"go away, so those of us with imagination can enjoy ourselves.\" or something to that effect.  I think that saying, \"It\'s magic\" doesn\'t explain anything.  

Well, the simplest explanation for all questions asked is that you can compare the Crystal\'s behavior to this environment as the sun\'s behavior in ours.  It provides heat, light, and other additive effects.   This creates an entire weather system (wind, rain, clouds, etc) and allows plants to grow.  Of course, there are many other aspects to the environment (the fact that the system is so small, the darker lower levels, and integrity issues with the underground world, etc.) that are sustained by magical means via the crystal and other \"divine\" sources.  I can\'t explain these here, but do not fear.  A \"rational\" system of explanations for these various issues is in the works (or has been done, depending on the topic).

Originally posted by rainmaker
The only way i could see this make any sence in a real world aspect is for the PS stalacite to be located under a relativly high area (above the ocean of the surface world). Perhaps even inside a mountain range but reaching far beneath that into the underground. For example in our world the stalacite would be under the mountains in tibet or perhaps under the midwest of the US.

The dynamics of the PS environment provides several challenges in that its scale is rather unwieldy.  An offset of the cave\'s altitude would explain the position of the water table, but that is not the only feasible explanation.  The position of the water supply can also be effected by the porousness of the native rock, the gravity on the planet (and satellites), atmospheric considerations (content, pressure, etc.), and, of course, magic.  The end dynamic will most likely be a combination of these factors.   The presence of higher elevations above the environment might also explain why the system may have been naturally formed in the first place (water channeling, possible tectonic influences, etc.).  Thank you for your insight.

[Ravenmaster]

I always figured this stalactite was just like a regular stalactite in a humongous cave in a humongous world.  Is this the case, or is the outside world regular sized and there\'s just this gargantuan stalactite many times larger than mammoth cave itself hidden within some humongous cave that takes up a good deal of the planet\'s mantle?  Like if you dug through the walls of this cave, or went up through the top to the outside world, would animals be miles tall and small insects eat pterosaurs?