Boron tanks and cockpits - the watery solution

[AndrewR]

Water-filled space-suits with robotic legs.

Ta-daaa,

Andrew

[linolafett]

That was a clickbait title

[furirkeeper]

I gave this some though a while back and to me it would make no sense for the Boron not to make a space ship completely filled with water. So either a diving suit for non-boron or separate compartments depending on race. Might be the reason why there is no plan to add Boron factions now?

[Fazmaster]

Boron stearing their own ships or walking their own stations in water-filled space-suits? Nah.

Guess the problem is less how Boron manage other species environment but how others manage the borons.

Air-filled space-suits with robotic swim legs.

[Buzz2005]

we get subnautica like submarines

[furirkeeper]

Maybe it can be as simple as a bubble animation overlay on the screen and a small glass bubble over all non-boron heads?
Might look comical though.

[AndrewR]

.....So either a diving suit for non-boron or separate compartments depending on race....

Would be good, though the station / ship transitions would be more tricky to do than the Boron spacesuit.

However I do agree that their home environment would ideally be more aquatic. Perhaps ships would have duplicated control consoles and Borons would float in a vertical tube-like compartment where they then exit through the floor into the station waterway... Now I am liking this better

Andrew

[Skeeter]

Star trek had fish men with a suit covering its body, star wars had akabar (its a trap), why do ego think its that hard. If they can build space ships and have adv tech surely they have the means to walk amongst the air breathers ok with some gizmo.

[Buzz2005]

Star trek had fish men with a suit covering its body, star wars had akabar (its a trap), why do ego think its that hard. If they can build space ships and have adv tech surely they have the means to walk amongst the air breathers ok with some gizmo.

its not about the lore or that its explainable tech wise, its about presenting it to the player in a normal (not just have floating fish going about lol) and functional way, and of course assets should be as simple as possible to build and compatible with all the previous ones

[Pesanur]

In the Collectors Edition, comes a concept art PDF where appears the boron spacesuit, is basically a water capsule with robotic legs.

[Lord Crc]

I gave this some though a while back and to me it would make no sense for the Boron not to make a space ship completely filled with water. So either a diving suit for non-boron or separate compartments depending on race. Might be the reason why there is no plan to add Boron factions now?

IRL the very good reason would be that water has a very high density compared to a gas, so would require a lot more energy to move a water-filled ship around.

[Tomonor]

I gave this some though a while back and to me it would make no sense for the Boron not to make a space ship completely filled with water. So either a diving suit for non-boron or separate compartments depending on race. Might be the reason why there is no plan to add Boron factions now?

IRL the very good reason would be that water has a very high density compared to a gas, so would require a lot more energy to move a water-filled ship around.

That may be true, however the X-series always dwelled deep into the space magic theme to create its unique atmosphere. X Rebirth's environments could be the best indication for that - giant industrial cities floating in space with open docks almost exposed to the vacuum of space, connected by magnetic highway tubes and space-car traffic.

Ships filled with ammonic water can very well fit into this theme, for the vision outlives imminent logic. Besides, it has been established since X-Beyond the Frontier that Boron ships/stations are filled with water to accomodate their native species.

[furirkeeper]

I gave this some though a while back and to me it would make no sense for the Boron not to make a space ship completely filled with water. So either a diving suit for non-boron or separate compartments depending on race. Might be the reason why there is no plan to add Boron factions now?

IRL the very good reason would be that water has a very high density compared to a gas, so would require a lot more energy to move a water-filled ship around.

That is a very good point. While I would imagine that the Boron could have the technology to pull that off anyway, I guess the ships would suffer unnecessarily in maneuverability.
I am leaning back towards air-filled ships and water suits, unless that breaks some pre-established lore.
(But why not go all the way and pump the whole ship full of some lighter than air gas .)

[Berserk Knight]

Here are some snapshots from X4's own encyclopedia lore videos.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SRsNQx ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Hu9zIK ... sp=sharing

No need to even animate the legs. Just wave the tentacles around a little, and it's done.


Also, there would be a visibly whole Boron in the tank, so it's clearly a mixture, not a solution.

[Nort The Fragrent]

I can not see what the problem is, Boron can slither around, leaving a trail like a slug.
It’s a computer game !!!!! You can draw what ever you want !!!
And when we get to pilot their ships we slip and slide about on the slime. Stuff dripping from the roof, all gooyeeeee.

ES have flapping goldfish in tanks already, so why not a mobility tank.

It’s a lame excuse to not re introduce the Boron, The real reason is the Boron ships are too cool for ES to cope with. They did in the past look so good.

But wait !

Have not the Boron evolved? Little Legs ! Gills, Amphibious creatures Who build brilliant looking ships.

But Wait once more !

I want to marry a Boron Girl,

[Imperial Good]

Liquid filled ships and stations pose a problem for development as it would mean all faction character models need another variation and to change variation depending on if liquid filled or not.

Liquid filled -> all humanoids wear diving suits and swim around while boron swim freely.
Air filled -> all humanoids walk in their normal attire while boron float around slowly in pods.

This would mean an entire set of assets, including animations as well as shader and engine logic to cope with this. Not easy to do and certainly not worth it considering how little time you spend walking around platforms or space ships as there is little to do on them. Far better those resources are devoted to making new ships, station modules, e.t.c.

[AndrewR]

Liquid filled ships and stations pose a problem for development as it would mean all faction character models need another variation and to change variation depending on if liquid filled or not.

True. The good compromise with lore is that the station habitation modules would be the water-filled areas, which we don’t need to see. Whereas the dock would be a shared communal area.

Andrew

[Crux_72]

Solution Boron models in oxygen environment:

The Borons 'sit' or 'stand' on a small floating platform surrounded by an oval force field. The water is kept within the force field. The movement of the boron takes place via the platform. Since the force field emanates from the platform, it moves with the platform - voila, a moving water environment. The existing Boron model only needs to be extended by one platform and the force field. Effort: Low.

Solution Non-Boron in Water Environment

Each non-Boron carries a small force field generator which generates an air bubble around the person. The force field displaces all water in its field of action. In this way, the player's interaction always takes place in the dry, which has no real effect on the gameplay. Boron models without a platform are used here, of course. The existing non- Boron models would only have to be supplemented by a simple force field effect. Effort: Very low

Solution different environments (water / not water)

Assumption: It would only be logical if the Borons set up special landing areas for non- Borons. These can be easily represented by existing assets. Borons that move within these areas use the models described above. Boron areas are reached via the Turbo Lift. When selecting a destination inside the station, the lift is flooded in a short animation and the player's force field is activated. The opposite happens when leaving the area, e.g. to return to the ship. A simple animation would have to be generated for the flooding of the lift. Effort; Low

Solution inside the ship

Basically, a few design features must be defined for Boron ships: First, access must always be through a elevator (as is already the case with L-class ships). Second: The ships are flown standing up, so no chairs. After that each ship can be given the status Boron Off or On. Boron On; The player moves in the force field, Borons are moving free and without platform. Boron Off; The Borons move on their platforms through the ship (hence the standing steering consoles - in this way Borons acting as captains can be embedded more easily). Effort: Not much higher than creating a new ship model anyway.

Implementation and test of my ingenious solution

Can already be implemented in version 3.0 by implementing a single Boron ship as part of the story. A single Boronic Station can also be implemented. Boron models can also be integrated in isolated cases, as with the split models this can also be done in limited variation. In this way, with relatively little effort, feedback can be obtained which can then be used in a future update. Moreover, I think that a Boron station and a Boron ship would be a strong motivator to follow the story, as it actually offers some added value for the player.

What do you think?

What does @Lino think?

[Nort The Fragrent]

The one thing that keeps cropping up is it will be too hard to do !

My Job is hard to do, yet I do it.

There are lots of things that are hard to do, yet they get dun.
Going the easy rout gives you cheep, rubbish results. Resulting in a non worthy project.
Succeeding with a hard project is not only satisfying, but generates brilliant results.

Any one who says it’s too hard to do, is the wrong person to be talking too.

I am a strong believer in anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Get smart, get going, and introduce the Boron. It;s a game, not reality! So whatever you can imagine can be done.

You just have to get it done.



(. Any one who says it’s too hard to do, is the wrong person to be talking too. )

[Falcrack]

The one thing that keeps cropping up is it will be too hard to do !

My Job is hard to do, yet I do it.

There are lots of things that are hard to do, yet they get dun.
Going the easy rout gives you cheep, rubbish results. Resulting in a non worthy project.
Succeeding with a hard project is not only satisfying, but generates brilliant results.

Any one who says it’s too hard to do, is the wrong person to be talking too.

I am a strong believer in anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Get smart, get going, and introduce the Boron. It;s a game, not reality! So whatever you can imagine can be done.

You just have to get it done.



(. Any one who says it’s too hard to do, is the wrong person to be talking too. )

They have to balance how hard it is with the potential reward. There are many hard things they could do in the game, but not all would be worth the effort.

I personally feel that they should just give Boron floating spacesuits, like in the timelines pictures, that would be the easiest way to implement them, yet still be acceptable.