Bay 12 Games Forum

Are you guys still waiting for the next version?

That was sooo 2009. I'm already waiting for the version after that.

Urist Presley

You aint nothing but a beak dog .... crying all the time ...

sorry

Just because you went out of your way to answer this I thought I would go out of my way to reply 

I think you have the wrong idea of what terminal velocity is.

Terminal velocity is not just a velocity you reach at which you instantly stop accelerating. In fact, your rate of acceleration is constantly falling due to the increased effects of friction.

"drag" force, as I was taught, is equal to the drag cooefficient times the density (of air, normally) times the velocity squared, all divided by two.

So yeah, the deceleration increases with the square of the velocity, all related to the 'drag coefficient' which as you will know is a function of the shape / roughness of the falling body.

Terminal velocity is just the point at which friction and gravity become equal.

All of this means two things:
1. Your velocity as you fall will be a curve, not a straight line that stops.
2. You can alter your terminal velocity by altering drag/friction.

Maybe we should have a token in the raw files for the drag coefficient of a falling creature, perhaps a different one for the creature when it is unconscious as well, as it would probably take on a different shape. We would probably need a way to model the vortices shedding off falling cylindrical bodies? And no doubt the next version should have the ISA tables so we get the correct air densities at differing heights above sea level.

Oops ... I think I might be being a bit facetious. Sorry about that.

Also, just in case you thought it does, terminal velocity has nothing to do with when you die from a fall.

Why not though? Does a slower creature not have relatively less kinetic energy than a faster one? An equal creature that stops speeding up earlier is going to be slower than one that continues speeding up for longer, ergo will need to dissipate more energy when they eventually contact a solid surface? This would tend to lead to more broken limbs?


The issue I was mainly trying to deal with, (which had I have spent as long as I now have explaining myself in the first instance would probably have been clear ) was that a fluffy mouse would be better at surviving falls than a sleek horse.

Also as was mentioned by Sphalerite we do indeed need a better physics treatment. And the absolute fundamental thing would be, we would need to know the height of a z level. I am sure this won't go in for quite a while.

So really I just was trying to propose a simple, easily implemented model that would improve on the current "constant velocity, but various damage based on height" model now. Not interested in absolute physical accuracy, just something that might generally be quantitavely correct (or at least appear to be).

And of course I just want to see more horse limbs being snapped. By falls. And somewhere to take them subsequently to turn them in to pet-food and glue.

I quite like it ... looks very natural.

Had a thought about the mountain, the answer is probably:

Reference Pictures:

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.panoramio.com/photos/original/14323582.jpg

http://www.fujisan-3776.jp/english/gallery/gallery.htm

EDIT 2: FINISHED! Tell me what you think. Don't be too harsh?

I very much like it ... I think the foreground of the picture works VERY well, that almost looks like a 'touched-up' 3D render .. the lighting / volume / shapes look VERY good there.

I think the middle bit of the picture is good, love the little people (alright goblins) hiding away, and I like the concept/composition, but (really don't want to sound negative, more try and offer a thought or two) I think maybe the moonlight is a bit wrong on the rocks. Like maybe it should get duller as you go further in the cave, or something. Or some 'fog' as you go back through the cave. Can't really comment as I'm no expert, but I think there should be some sort of variability there.

Considering the standard of the rest of the picture, the mountain maybe looks rushed? I know I am extremely tempted to rush bits of painting as I get further in ... I also struggle to do 'low detail' bits well.

All in all I like it and I want to see more ... that's my two cents ...

This all begs the question: Will the new version creature raws have a TERMINAL_VELOCITY_WHEN_FALLING tag?

Surely it's a must!

... Should I do it?...

DO IT!!

We need to see more of your pictures. Now get to it!