Children of a Dead Earth

[panzerde]

Haven't played it yet. But what is the deal with the glowing orange fins and solar panel looking things? In the videos, every ship has several. Why do they glow orange?

Also, anyone else find it odd that there is really no mention or discussion of this game anywhere? No reviews, no previews, nothing.

Yes, the fins are the heat radiators. These work exactly like the radiators described on the ships in Through Struggle, the Stars, Mike. They glow because they are radiating waste heat from the nuclear power plant. You can achieve a mission kill on a ship by explicitly targeting these, causing the enemy to have to shut down their power or boil.


In addition to the excellent web site that JH linked, which exhaustively explains the science and choices behind virtually every facet of the game, there is a game forum at http://childrenofadeadearth.boards.net/. It isn't obvious that this exists by reading the blog; the developer has clearly been more focused on finishing the game that he has been on marketing and promoting it.


As for reviews, discussions, etc.: this is in no way a mainstream game. The developer is an indie developer. Everything about this is very, very niche, even more niche than KSP. If you are debating getting the game and can't decide after reading here, on the game's blog or the game's discussion board, wander over to Atomic Rockets. If you enjoy reading the articles there, you'll probably like this game/simulation.

[mikeck]

Appreciate the answers. I had found the site and the forum buy have not had the time to read through it. I already purchased it after JH's review so no concerns there. I KNOW I'll like it, was just curious as to some things. i could never get into Kerbal BECAUSE it wasn't a war game so I'm sure I will be fine with this

[panzerde]

i could never get into Kerbal BECAUSE it wasn't a war game so I'm sure I will be fine with this

I know the feeling. Cool game, but I never could get into it because I never felt there was a point to what I was doing.

[panzerde]

question for the active players: how are nukes (warheads) handled in the simulation.

There are basically two kinds of missiles I've encountered so far "flak" missiles that explode and throw shrapnel at the target, and a couple varieties of nukes. There are some small, 2.5kt warheads and larger (20kt?) warheads. Missiles have enough delta-v to be fired at targets in a different orbit on hyperbolic paths, or can be set to coast after an initial burn and intercept some time later.


The nukes themselves are not as effective in space as they would be on a planet - there's no shock wave, no massive fireball due to the atmosphere, etc. Effects are pretty much the immediate blast and then radiation. One important thing to know is that an exploding nuke can kill other, nearby missiles, and being nukes, that doesn't cause a larger explosion, just vaporized missiles. So, there's a trade-off between firing a large enough group of missiles to get through the target's countermeasures but not firing so many that fratricide leaves you with empty magazines for a follow-up strike. Sending waves of 20 to 25 missiles at a time seems effective.


So far I've managed kills using the bigger nukes.  I've also had some luck in a scenario where I needed to disable an enemy ship by firing 100 flak missiles at it, which just sandpapered all of the radiators, guns, and engines right off the hull. The scenario warned against doing that, but it worked a treat!

[mikeck]

 I'm not sure if the engine would allow for it, but I would love to see this game expanded to include ship building and resource extensions.  Basically one side is attacking the other and you have to hold certain locations to gather the necessary resources to be able to operate your space Navy. You design ships and based on resources and money available field them. Then figure out your strategy.

Don't get me wrong, I would never want to waste a realistic space combat simulator by turning it into yet another space f don't get me wrong, I would never want to waste a realistic space combat simulator by turning it into yet another space 4x;  just looking for some purpose in the sandbox other than basic ship and weapon testing.  Maybe an expansion

[Pinetree]

Apparently the ships from AVT are possible to build in the game with "black box" tech so you never know we might see a Wasp vs Rafik fight soon. That also means the ships from the Human Reach series are possible too.

[mikeck]

I Was trying to remember the name of the book series. "Through Struggle the Stars" was the first book... But yes..."The Human Reach"

Different ships is always good. Hopefully the Dev can add a strategic layer of some sort to sandbox. If not, I'm still thankful someone finally made some realistic combay

[jomni]

Nukes don't have EMP effect?

[Jarhead0331]

Nukes don't have EMP effect?

From Atomic Rockets....

When it comes to the dreaded EMP created by nuclear detonations, matters become somewhat complicated. Please, do NOT confuse EMP (electromagnetic Pulse) with EM (electromagnetic Radiation).

Most SF fans have a somewhat superficial understanding of EMP: an evil foreign nation launches an ICBM at the United States, the nuke detonates in the upper atmosphere over the Midwest, an EMP is generated, the EMP causes all stateside computers to explode, all the TVs melt, all the automobile electrical systems short out, all the cell phones catch fire, basically anything that uses electricity is destroyed.

This is true as far as it goes, but when you start talking about deep space warfare, certain things change. Thanks to Andrew Presby for setting me straight on this matter.

First off, the EMP I just described is High Altitude EMP (HEMP). This EMP can only be generated if there is a Terra strength magnetic field and a tenuous atmosphere present. A nuke going off in deep space will not generate HEMP. Please be aware, however, if a nuke over Iowa generates a HEMP event, the EMP will travel through the airless vacuum of space just fine and fry any spacecraft that are too close.

Secondly, EMP can also be generated in airless space by an e-Bomb, which uses chemical explosives and an armature. No magnetic field nor atmosphere required. This is called a Non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NNEMP). As with all EMPs, once generated they will travel through space and kill spacecraft.

Thirdly, there is System Generated EMP (SGEMP) to consider. HEMP is created when the gamma rays from the nuclear detonation produce Compton electrons in air molecules, and the electrons interact with a magnetic field to produce EMP. But with SGEMP, gamma rays penetrating the body of the spacecraft accelerated electrons, creating electromagnetic transients.

SGEMP impacts space system electronics in three ways. First, x-rays arriving at the spacecraft skin cause an accumulation of electrons there. The electron charge, which is not uniformly distributed on the skin, causes current to flow on the outside of the system. These currents can penetrate into the interior through various apertures, as well as into and through the solar cell power transmission system. Secondly, x-rays can also penetrate the skin to produce electrons on the interior walls of the various compartments. The resulting interior electron currents generate cavity electromagnetic fields that induce voltages on the associated electronics which produce spurious currents that can cause upset or burnout of these systems. Finally, x-rays can produce electrons that find their way directly into signal and power cables to cause extraneous cable currents. These currents are also propagated through the satellite wiring harness.

[undercovergeek]

Is the ship building completely open? Are there set templates or can you make a massive battleship/carrier to your own specifications?

[Hofstadter]

Okay. I had a go.

Thats hardcore. I was going okay, then it started talking about other frames of reference. I got confused. So I just started tugging on the blue and red balls until i got that green signal.

Absolutely no idea what I did. May need several thousand more playthroughs.

[Jarhead0331]

Is the ship building completely open? Are there set templates or can you make a massive battleship/carrier to your own specifications?

I haven't really explored the ship builder, but it looks pretty robust and open-ended. That being said, you will still be hampered by hard science and the reality of physics in the void. You will not be making star destroyers in this game. Science will unquestionably limit your designs.

[mikeck]

Okay. I had a go.

Thats hardcore. I was going okay, then it started talking about other frames of reference. I got confused. So I just started tugging on the blue and red balls until i got that green signal.

Absolutely no idea what I did. May need several thousand more playthroughs.

It's fine..that's exactly what NASA does. So far so good.

[Jarhead0331]

I had a chance to retry the 3rd campaign mission last night and I succeeded on the first attempt.

Again, I transitioned to the enemy Corvette's orbital plane, launched all of my drones and then initiated an intercept with the drone fleet. When we caught up to the enemy, we again had about 12 seconds to engage. I made sure the drones were formed up for a broadside and then initiated the attack. The drone pass shot the corvette up to $hit, disabling a few of the critical modules, but not destroying the vessel outright. Most important, the 236mm coil gun was disabled. So with no more delta-v on the drones, and with that massive coil gun no longer a threat, I intercepted the corvette with my escort carrier and upon attack, bombarded it for close to 2 minutes before she finally exploded. Mission accomplished.

I really love how each and every impact really shows on the target. You can clearly see how the rounds impact, and how they do damage. I truly dread the time when humans will kill one another in space. As if the harsh jungles, deserts and wastes of the planet were not cruel enough, death in the void will be extremely nasty. 

[panzerde]

I had a chance to retry the 3rd campaign mission last night and I succeeded on the first attempt.

Again, I transitioned to the enemy Corvette's orbital plane, launched all of my drones and then initiated an intercept with the drone fleet. When we caught up to the enemy, we again had about 12 seconds to engage. I made sure the drones were formed up for a broadside and then initiated the attack. The drone pass shot the corvette up to $hit, disabling a few of the critical modules, but not destroying the vessel outright. Most important, the 236mm coil gun was disabled. So with no more delta-v on the drones, and with that massive coil gun no longer a threat, I intercepted the corvette with my escort carrier and upon attack, bombarded it for close to 2 minutes before she finally exploded. Mission accomplished.

I really love how each and every impact really shows on the target. You can clearly see how the rounds impact, and how they do damage. I truly dread the time when humans will kill one another in space. As if the harsh jungles, deserts and wastes of the planet were not cruel enough, death in the void will be extremely nasty.

Agreed. This sim really demonstrates just how violent and fast space combat will be.


I'm also really impressed with how laser damage is depicted. Mission 5, I think it is, requires you to disable but not completely destroy the target. I chose to use a UV laser for that. You can't see the laser in space, but you can see where it hits the target, and the path across the hull as it moves around and causes damage. If you're viewing your ship from the enemy ship, you can also see the light of the laser as it fires - it looks exactly like the description of the launch laser in the beginning of A mote in God's Eye.


This is a very cool game.