- #1
AotrsCommander
- 74
- 4
And some other questions.
An alien civilisation, for reasons best known only to them, build a form of ringworld, in which the inside of the outer half (i.e. the concave surface) is the habitable surface and the inner half is essentially a giant window. (That nominally darkens to simulate night.) The diameter of said tube is on the order of planet size (for simplicity, assume similar to Earth, a diameter of about 8k miles and thus a 12k "surface").
(The ringworld was never "completed" and as such, only one or more portions, book-ended by giant walls to contain a stretch of (say) 24k miles, have been finished and are inhabited.)
It is assumed that the tubeworld is accelerated to beyond orbital speed to create gravity (either that or "standard" artifical gravity is generated by "conventional," if epic, means on the interior surface).
If one were to be standing inside at the edge of the point where the ground gives way to "glass" (the "top" as it were, as defined by the up-oribital-plane), first of all, would you see the other side of the world, or would is disappear into atmospheric haze? I'm assuming there would be no horizon.
Would it, in fact, have to have a 100 mile atmosphere "skin" over the habitable period to retain conventional atmospheric properties or could it be simply full of gas? (Either one may create... problems I could see.)
Secondly, would I be vastly far out in assuming that the upper (and nearest) parts of the land would be more tropical (like a conventional planet's equator) and the lower portions would be colder (like the poles), on the assumption that the further parts would disperse heat and light in a similar manner to the poles?
Any other commentary or suggestions about issues this setup would create would be welcome.
I'm not hugely worried about going too hard on the science - this is essentially for a one-shot adventure, and I'm prepared to plaster over the worst of it with some "because advanced technology," but even so, I like to have at least some basis, at the very least so I can describe to the players what they should be seeing.
An alien civilisation, for reasons best known only to them, build a form of ringworld, in which the inside of the outer half (i.e. the concave surface) is the habitable surface and the inner half is essentially a giant window. (That nominally darkens to simulate night.) The diameter of said tube is on the order of planet size (for simplicity, assume similar to Earth, a diameter of about 8k miles and thus a 12k "surface").
(The ringworld was never "completed" and as such, only one or more portions, book-ended by giant walls to contain a stretch of (say) 24k miles, have been finished and are inhabited.)
It is assumed that the tubeworld is accelerated to beyond orbital speed to create gravity (either that or "standard" artifical gravity is generated by "conventional," if epic, means on the interior surface).
If one were to be standing inside at the edge of the point where the ground gives way to "glass" (the "top" as it were, as defined by the up-oribital-plane), first of all, would you see the other side of the world, or would is disappear into atmospheric haze? I'm assuming there would be no horizon.
Would it, in fact, have to have a 100 mile atmosphere "skin" over the habitable period to retain conventional atmospheric properties or could it be simply full of gas? (Either one may create... problems I could see.)
Secondly, would I be vastly far out in assuming that the upper (and nearest) parts of the land would be more tropical (like a conventional planet's equator) and the lower portions would be colder (like the poles), on the assumption that the further parts would disperse heat and light in a similar manner to the poles?
Any other commentary or suggestions about issues this setup would create would be welcome.
I'm not hugely worried about going too hard on the science - this is essentially for a one-shot adventure, and I'm prepared to plaster over the worst of it with some "because advanced technology," but even so, I like to have at least some basis, at the very least so I can describe to the players what they should be seeing.