Toulan, a planet where the sun always shines!

[Fifth]

Disclaimer: It was kind of hard to figure out the right section for this thread - it's not about any specific geographic location, but it's not about space either.
In a way it looks like a suggestion, but I don't want to put any pressure on the developers. I believe they can see the big picture better than any single player. So, it's not a suggestion, more like an idea (quite possibly a stupid one) and it's directed mostly at other players to see what most people think (or at least most forum visitors).​

Anyway, the idea is simple: A Planet Where The Sun Always Shines!


Some players still remember the old Gamebryo engine that didn't have day-night cycle. Those were times when you could log into Entropia and you knew, sun always shined there - no matter how bleak it was in your real life. Many ppl have said later they really miss that.

Today it's all different. I believe everyone is familiar with the feeling when u log in with great plans for some hunting, only to find out it's midnight. Darn... Well, it doesn't really stop you from doing anything, but it can be a little annoying.

Then again, you might argue this is realistic. There is this day/night cycle on most planets in the Universe. Well, there's also planets that have 2 suns. They are relatively rare but they do exist.
Also, these nights we have in EU are realistic for a place somewhere near the North Pole at the summer time. For Arabian nights that are always pitch black this is very unrealistic.

So what to do about it?

First possibility, do nothing. Every change means taking risks. What if people don't like it? Most planets went for these relatively short and very bright nights to decrease the negative impact but decided to keep this classical day-night cycle. This is the safest option for sure.

Then again, no risk no reward. What if u make the night very short. I mean really short, more like a solar eclipse than a real night. Like, within a minute it gets really dark (I mean dark as a real night not this twilight thing we have now), which is then followed by a few minutes of total darkness - and then it gets lighter again very quickly, a new morning.

Or, you can go for a planet orbiting a dual-sun system. In the game engine u can probably switch the moon for another sun, change the lightning to: normal daylight. Optionally, maybe give the 2 suns a slightly different hue.


OK, so, that's the idea - and maybe a stupid one. So, tell us what u think?

 

[Miles Stardust]

I'm a big fan of the day night cycle - I love seeing Toulan in different light at different times, from the Sunrise in Nahar City, to looking out across the desert in the low light of evening.

I was playing on the old engine, and I dreamed of days and nights, along with space, and other planets. I remember going to Jason Centre for the 'night', it was always night - constant daylight makes the environment so static and sterile, lifeless and dull.

Personally, I would dim the moon (move in farther away) so that nighttime is darker, but I've been on the wrong side of that debate since Day/Night was introduced. I think the bright moon concept has been a fair compromise - it's never really too dark to see (oh, but once it was) and Day/Night adds so much of the feeling of immersion.

As far as I know, all planets in EU have the same sun, so I don't know if creating a duel star system is really an option, but I do think it really important that the light changes - it could be pretty cool. The cycle on Toulan seems fairly slow, which is nice. Calypso's day is so short now it seems gimmicky.

I voted to keep it as is.

Cheers,
Miles

 

[Jetman]

I don't mind it, its still fairly bright compared to cryene and ark, so even in full darkness it doesn't interfere with hunts.
Also a few mobs glow at night which can make identifying maturities easier

 

[Fifth]

OK, so far we have 2 ppl who want to keep it as it is (or make the night even darker). Nothing unexpected in that result and I can understand the reasons why.

2 remarks:

Should the suggested changes become reality it would NOT mean the sun will be fixed to a static point in the sky (like with the old game engine). With both cases there would still be constant dynamic changes in the lightning as we have em now - sunrise, noon and sunset.
With 2 suns that have slightly different hue we would actually have even more of different light at different times.
The only drastic difference would be - no more night.
With the 1st variant the night would be very short and with 2nd the sunset of one sun would be immediately followed by the sunrise of another. I'm not sure if the engine allows such a drastic change "out of the box" and customization of the code would probably get quite troublesome for the PP.

I was the one who argued for darker nights for Cyrene as well (they started out with those glorious pitch black nights where u could hardly find your way back to the TP when the night caught you out on the field). Why? Because I believed (and still do) that dark nights would fit perfectly with the overall mysterious-somber-strange-alien feeling of Cyrene.



I mean, the planets should dare to be different and bring their own unique vision out rather than keep the status quo and fall in line with everyone else. This might seem like safe bet but it could actually turn out to be a very risky one.

So why not Toulan - the clouds in the Arabian sky are very very rare. It's always dark blue and the sun is always very bright. A perfect candidate for the world of the eternal sunshine!



Anyway, it's not meant to be argument that makes u big fans of eternal daylight.
Just trying to clarify the idea.

Thanx for posts, keep em coming!

 

[Me Really Never]

id say its a lot more important to finally get some UL gear. even if its low level but there should be one to attract players...

 

[Miles Stardust]

The desert should be traveled/hunted at night - what fool crosses the desert in the full sun ;)

Cheers,
Miles

 

[JaK]

I like it the way it is.. I agree that we need UL weapons looted and that would be the next big event I look for.. Real dark at night is cool maybe a moon cycle that had full and half moons this would have lighter night and darker ones too.. I dont see the developers being about to actually create moon and sun sets with cycles.. Might have to wait on the next VU for that one lol.. I would like to see seasons with snow and rain maybe some moving rivers with currents, would be kinda cool..

 

[toecutter]

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...I voted "yes" but seeing this beautiful pic, made me change my mind!

 

[Eleni Von Estlla]

Very easy..... Toulan is based on the theme of the Arabian NIGHTS...

I mean.. Come on.........

Vote = No, and they wont change this regardless this thread hee hee

 

[Fifth]

Right. Looks like Calypso did it instead.