22. Give planets gravity or motion.
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This article is from the netrek Frequently Offered Clever Suggestions list, by Tom Holub doosh@best.com with numerous contributions by others.
22. Give planets gravity or motion.
Problem: Planets are boring.
Proposal: Give planets a gravitational attraction. Also, make them
move around, perhaps in some sort of localized circular pattern.
Why Not: Gravity is really sort of silly. It won't do anything but
make it harder to get away from a planet. Might be useful for dodging
sideways or running, but you either need to make it too weak to be
interesting or too strong to be playable.
Moving planets is harder than it seems. The client wasn't designed to
allow planets to move. You will also increase the amount of network
traffic (by quite a bit, since planet positions are currently only
sent right after you log on) and the CPU load, which are Bad
Things. It really isn't all that exciting anyway. It can change the
galaxy around making Kli or Ori space more "fair", but any serious
amount of movement will have to be carefully tested so you don't end
up with cluster-galaxies and huge neutral zones. It's been done once
or twice and hasn't been really popular.
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