constellations?

[manwitch]

Would it be too hard or demanding on computers? I Just thought it would be nice at the start (before finding a compass) it would be nice to be able to get some bearing while navigating at night. I did a search for a topic like this and didn't find any thing.

[Skarmo]

In reality you would use the polar star (=North) for navigation, since it is the only fixed point in the night sky. Problem is that the polar star comes nearer to the horizon the more South you go. It is hardly to see at the equator and invisible in the Southern hemisphere, and there is no counterpart.

Star constellations, if realistically made, are not static. They wander through the sky just like sun and moon, so they would not help much for navigation.

[lpvader]

If you know the constellations you can find north and south without seeing the north star directly, just not 100% precise. You even have a functioning clock (wich unfortunately for some strange reason is set to local time instead of a known timezone, otherwise you could even calculate your current coordinates).

[Skarmo]

Then you will have to know which constellation is at which position in which hour, considering the time of year - a bit much knowledge for an average stranded.

The Milky Way could give you an impression of East-West, however. And if you watch the stars long enough, you might find out where they rise and set.

Calculating your coordinates would at least require a sextant plus some additional knowledge/tables.

[manwitch]

I was just thinking that if I looked up and saw a star formation i could keep it in basically the same spot while travelling and then the opposite side while going back. I don't think the constellations change position so quickly that over the course of a couple days it wouldn't help a little. And the real base of my question was if it was too much to ask most computers to handle that much detail in the sky. I think I read that the devs were trying to keep this game playable on even minimal computers.

[manwitch]

BUT! Thanks for adding to the discussion! :)

[razberrie]

I wonder if you could predict semi-accurate navigation direction by the flight patterns of the planes that we see flying over.

I havent been smart enough to note the time and direction as I see them fly over as of yet.... but it may be worth investigating for fun.

[manwitch]

MMMMM, good food for thought. :) Now I'm wondering if srdines migrate and in what direction.... ;)

[razberrie]

scratch that idea then....I'm having nothing to do with those staring evil sardines.

dang.... that ruined the whole concept for me. ;)

[lpvader]

Knowledge would be the limiting factor, since you can't look up things on wikipedia.
Then again, you have a lot of time to try hard and remember what you learned long ago at school or whatever ;)

You would get a feeling for the constellations quite fast though, with not much other things to do in the night.
Just watch the sky "rotate" around you during the night, the axis is north-south. East-West is easy to find anyway, the moon, sun and planets rise and set around there.

No need for a sextant if you have enough time and are on fixed soil.

Put a stick in the sand, and mark the tip of its shadow. Repeat that during the day until you found the position where it is closest to the base of the stick, this happens at midday local time. You have a basic sun clock now.
If you had a clock with you set to the time of a KNOWN longitude* you can now easily calculate your current longitude from the time difference.

The angle between the tip of the stick and the end of its shadow at midday is directly related to your latitude and the date. Twice a year, at equinox (20 march and 22 september) this is even equal to the latitude. For example if you are on the equator, the stick will throw no shadow at all at midday at these dates since the sun is directly above.
For other dates it would be a bit more complicated, involving the earth tilt angle etc and I'm currently too lazy to look that up (or trying to remember ;))

Of course all this is not extremely helpful unless you happen to find a map..

* main problem here: reasonably you would know what timezone your clock is set to, but what longitude exactly corresponds to that? Probably you would have to make a rough estimate for this.

[Sistermatic™]

Originally posted by lpvader:

* main problem here: reasonably you would know what timezone your clock is set to, but what longitude exactly corresponds to that? Probably you would have to make a rough estimate for this.

Would it matter? Knowing Lat/Lon would not be accurate enough to use as a navigation aid over such small distances. And you knowing Lat/Lon isn't much help for rescuers either. :)

It is hardly to see at the equator and invisible in the Southern hemisphere, and there is no counterpart.

The Southern Cross (Crux) can be seen as far north as Tropic of Cancer which this area would most certainly be below (somewhere between Eq' and TC is my guess). The position changes during the year but it's relatively simple to find south, and subsequently north.

(In fact basic rule of thumb is the highest point it rises - if you can detect it - is due south. There's also another more accurate way, easily Googled for those interested...)

....
For others, in game, the moon and sun always set due west (I've checked several time with the compass to confirm). Simply waiting for dusk (sunset) / dawn (moonset) is a good way to travel east/west without a compass.

[lpvader]

Of course lat/lon is not helpful for traveling between small islands. For that the general bearing and remembering land marks (if only that would be possible ingame...) is sufficient.
But if you planned to try and make the big trip to the next land mass..

Or if you found a radio tranceiver (I guess the buoys could have one, though at best usable for morse code), that would at least narrow it down for recuers. At least in RL, where there are no small islands every kilometer all the way to the infinite ;)

[Sistermatic™]

Originally posted by lpvader:

Of course lat/lon is not helpful for traveling between small islands. For that the general bearing and remembering land marks (if only that would be possible ingame...) is sufficient.
But if you planned to try and make the big trip to the next land mass..

Or if you found a radio tranceiver (I guess the buoys could have one, though at best usable for morse code), that would at least narrow it down for recuers. At least in RL, where there are no small islands every kilometer all the way to the infinite ;)

True enough. But "big land mass" is something devs are going to need to reconcile one day.

I've always wondered where "rescue" is going to come from. Which island, as yet uncreated, has the airport/helipad/docks for said rescue vehicles? :)