Aurora Feedback

[CptLoon]

Having played quite a bit with the new Auroras now, both in survival mode and story mode, I have to say I don't think they are as good as they could be.  My biggest grief with the Auroras is that they are one of the most beautiful and interesting parts of the game, and players are actively discouraged from experiencing them.  They only occur at night, so it's either A) too dark, B) too cold, or C) too dangerous because of the homing missile wolves.  

As just one example, my latest play through on Interloper, I was crafting in the Quonset garage, and I had left a couple pieces of cooked food right outside the door.  I stepped outside to grab one before sleeping, and immediately was killed by an Aurora wolf.  No bark, no warning, just instant death.  Now maybe that's an issue with the Quonset garage itself, but I think it highlights the problem.  

I've learned that if an Aurora is active, I do not go outside for any reason, even just to grab food from storage that is right outside the door.  The Auroras have been reduced from a cool, beautiful, interesting game experience to some flickering lights that warn me not to go outside.  And I think that's a shame, the Auroras should be something that encourages you to go out and experience them. 

 

[JAFO]

12 hours ago, CptLoon said:

My biggest grief with the Auroras is that they are one of the most beautiful and interesting parts of the game, and players are actively discouraged from experiencing them.  They only occur at night, so it's either A) too dark, B) too cold, or C) too dangerous because of the homing missile wolves

If there's one thing you learn in TLD, it's that there is always a price to pay for anything good that happens to you. 

[Thrasador]

12 hours ago, CptLoon said:

 

As just one example, my latest play through on Interloper, I was crafting in the Quonset garage, and I had left a couple pieces of cooked food right outside the door.  I stepped outside to grab one before sleeping, and immediately was killed by an Aurora wolf.  No bark, no warning, just instant death.  Now maybe that's an issue with the Quonset garage itself, but I think it highlights the problem.  

I've learned that if an Aurora is active, I do not go outside for any reason, even just to grab food from storage that is right outside the door.  The Auroras have been reduced from a cool, beautiful, interesting game experience to some flickering lights that warn me not to go outside.  And I think that's a shame, the Auroras should be something that encourages you to go out and experience them. 

 

When exiting the gas station at night one is expected to crouch...actually crouch whenever leaving the gas station unless you like wolf struggles....

Does crouching not work on Aurora wolves...?

Lastly always keep enough food on you for dinner before night time hits....

[JAFO]

12 hours ago, CptLoon said:

I stepped outside to grab one before sleeping, and immediately was killed by an Aurora wolf.  No bark, no warning, just instant death.  Now maybe that's an issue with the Quonset garage itself, but I think it highlights the problem.

Sounds like just extremely bad luck to me.. unfortunate timing, to be sure, but as @Thrasador points out, the Quonset is wolf-city at the best of times. I always crouch before exiting that place.

[Frosty]

13 hours ago, CptLoon said:

 I stepped outside to grab one before sleeping, and immediately was killed by an Aurora wolf.

That's the wolf that made me realize that basing out of the gas station is not a wise choice long term - most days there is a wolf right outside the front door

[godhelpme89]

On a side note, why don't the microwaves and electric stoves work during the aurora? I know it would make the game easier and all but everything else works.

[Fuarian]

That isn't the issue for me. My issue is that; cars don't work, microves and ovens don't work, the powerlines don't catch fire, the transformers don't explode, a lot of other electronics just don't turn on at all... 

[RossBondReturns]

10 minutes ago, Fuarian said:

That isn't the issue for me. My issue is that; cars don't work, microves and ovens don't work, the powerlines don't catch fire, the transformers don't explode, a lot of other electronics just don't turn on at all... 

Actually while cars don't move...could be that they have run out of gas...their headlights sometimes do in fact work and it's quite eerie.

[Fuarian]

38 minutes ago, RossBondReturns said:

Actually while cars don't move...could be that they have run out of gas...their headlights sometimes do in fact work and it's quite eerie.

WHAT? You've seen the headlights work? When? How? I haven't seen that in my or anyone else's game! I've seen it in an old teaser but that's it. And I'm aware that cars don't work in the sense that you can drive them. The headlights are what I'm talking about.

[CptLoon]

21 hours ago, JAFO said:

If there's one thing you learn in TLD, it's that there is always a price to pay for anything good that happens to you. 

 

21 hours ago, Thrasador said:

When exiting the gas station at night one is expected to crouch...actually crouch whenever leaving the gas station unless you like wolf struggles....

Does crouching not work on Aurora wolves...?

Lastly always keep enough food on you for dinner before night time hits....

 

21 hours ago, JAFO said:

Sounds like just extremely bad luck to me.. unfortunate timing, to be sure, but as @Thrasador points out, the Quonset is wolf-city at the best of times. I always crouch before exiting that place.

 

True, but you are all missing what I'm trying to get at (besides that the gas station is possibly the worst spot in the game for wolves).  The point is that there is no reason to go outside during an Aurora.  There's nothing in the game that says "hey, this is an event, you should go do this cool thing", but instead the game mechanics actively discourage you from going outside, due to the cold/dark/danger.  It just seems like such a shame to me that one of the coolest parts of the game is something that players are discouraged from experiencing.

If Auroras are going to be extra dangerous, there needs to be a compelling reason to venture out into them.

[JAFO]

17 minutes ago, CptLoon said:

It just seems like such a shame to me that one of the coolest parts of the game is something that players are discouraged from experiencing.

Hehehe.. yes, I do see where you're coming from.. but the same is true for the magnificent views, the spectacular sunrises and sunsets, etc.. if anything, TLD encourages you to stop what you're doing and gawk at the scenery.. but it will still kick your arse if you drop your guard. Just as if you were in Northern Canada in winter in real life.. no matter how lost in admiration of nature you get, not maintaining your situational awareness can get you killed.

One of the things I love about TLD is that it teaches us that being human doesn't make us more special than any other creature, and that nature doesn't owe us any favours just because we have big brains, opposable thumbs and the ability to walk upright. It's a great antidote to the cultural delusion we have that human beings are some kind of pinnacle of evolution.

(and if you really want to just sit there gazing in awe at the aurora, there's always Pilgrim Mode.. )

[Thrasador]

6 hours ago, Fuarian said:

That isn't the issue for me. My issue is that; cars don't work, microves and ovens don't work, the powerlines don't catch fire, the transformers don't explode, a lot of other electronics just don't turn on at all... 

Valid questions....

The simple and also most likely true answer is, this is a fictional game based on a fictional scenario that we don't fully understand. So it's under no restrictions that it HAS to make any sense at all...

That being said, the event does seem to be loosely based on a real phenomenon....a massive solar flare and/or coronal mass ejection(CME) which are related but not the same thing. 

Based on what we know about the effects of those phenomena one can try to speculate on the effects of those things in real life and in the game if it is indeed based on that. However due to the fact that a CME of the magnitude possibly being depicted in the game has never occurred in our lifetime or in our recorded history since the development of advanced electrical technology....no one really knows for certain what exactly would happen.

There was a major CME in 1859, but at that point in our technology we really only had the Telegraph. We didn't have cars with computer chips in them, or microwave ovens, or computers for that matter...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

So the closest record of what may happen with a massive CME is based on eye-witness testimony of telegraph operators from over 150 years ago...

"Telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed, in some cases giving telegraph operators electric shocks.[15] Telegraph pylons threw sparks.[16] Some telegraph operators could continue to send and receive messages despite having disconnected their power supplies.[17]"

There have been other CMEs in recorded history but none of them have been as severe as the one in 1859. We almost had one in 2012 that would have been as bad, but it narrowly missed Earth:

"Less severe storms have occurred in 1921 and 1960, when widespread radio disruption was reported. The March 1989 geomagnetic storm knocked out power across large sections of Quebec. On July 23, 2012 a "Carrington-class" solar superstorm (solar flare, coronal mass ejection, solar EMP) was observed; its trajectory missed Earth in orbit. Information about these observations was first shared publicly by NASA on April 28, 2014.[4][22]"

One could speculate that the fictional CME that occured in the game lore was greater than any CME previously imagined, and the effects were more catastrophic than anyone could have anticipated or prepared for. For instance after the event 1989 in Quebec they started making changes to transformers to prevent the likelihood that they would explode due to geomagneticly induced currents (GIC), but a severe storm could still overcome those changes.

One could also speculate that any transformers present in the game world that were going to explode, have already exploded....that's why you are not witnessing them explode during gameplay.

Also I would speculate that the Auroras we are witnessing in game are after effects of this major solar event. They are like "aftershocks" from a major earthquake. As such, they are not as severe as the initial CME. That would be another reason additional transformers are not exploding in the game.

Solar storms/solar flares/CMEs cause geomagneticly induced currents(GIC). These currents are due to the fluctuations in the magnetic field caused by the solar flares. The current caused by GICs are considered "quasi-direct current." Since most electronics run on DC currents that's why the developers probably speculated that some simpler electronic devices may seem to function to some degree such as some lightbulbs, simple transistor radios, etc.

I'm not really sure what would happen exactly. From what I was able to read on the subject via various Wiki pages and other sources they say that GICs are caused by the magnetic fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field due to the effect of the solar flares/CMEs. These fluctuations would cause anything metal and capable of conducting an electric current to actually conduct an electric current, including gas and water pipes...etc. However the voltage of this effect is measured in Voltage/kilometer. The highest voltage at surface level of the planet recorded thus far during a "moderate storm" was 20 volts/ kilometer....which isn't A LOT of voltage. The amperage measured has been from tens of amps to hundreds of amps, and depending on wire diameter this could be A LOT of amperage....

Most appliances in the USA and Canada run off 110-120 volt power outlets. When a light bulb receives less voltage than it is rated for it typically emits a dimmer light. Devices typically only draw as many amps as they are rated to draw even if additional amps are present. However from what I read if a device is not receiving enough voltage it draws more current to compensate. For these solar storms to provide enough voltage to power most devices they would have to be particularly strong....

Most wires are rated to only handle so much current, this is because thinner wires have a higher resistance. If a lot of amperage is passed through a thin wire not rated to handle that much current, the wire gets hotter and hotter until it melts/catches fire. This is the cause of electrical fires typically. So I would think most wires in homes would get hot and melt....maybe that's why so many houses are burned down in the game....

I would think many electronic devices also have relatively thin wires inside them, rated for low amperage. So I would assume most electronic devices were fried and/or caught fire during the first major CME when all the transformers blew up....

It's pretty amazing anything still turns on in the game during the Auroras....lol.

Anyways that was a lot of speculation about nothing, lol....

PS I forgot cars....well most cars these days have computer chips in them and other advanced electronic systems in them as well. Any and all of those are most likely also fried, the same way everything else is fried. My car won't even turn over if it can't tell the gear shifter is in park, because there is a sensor in there. I spilled coffee with cream and sugar in my gear shifter accidently, now the sensor is all jacked up. As a result my car wouldn't even turn over or click and I thought maybe my battery was totally dead. Then I jiggled the gear shifter and the car started like everything was fine. Think of how many other sensors and components in the car that are now fried due to the CME....Cars in the game are DEAD! Dead I tell you!

[Fuarian]

10 hours ago, Thrasador said:

Valid questions....

The simple and also most likely true answer is, this is a fictional game based on a fictional scenario that we don't fully understand. So it's under no restrictions that it HAS to make any sense at all...

That being said, the event does seem to be loosely based on a real phenomenon....a massive solar flare and/or coronal mass ejection(CME) which are related but not the same thing. 

Based on what we know about the effects of those phenomena one can try to speculate on the effects of those things in real life and in the game if it is indeed based on that. However due to the fact that a CME of the magnitude possibly being depicted in the game has never occurred in our lifetime or in our recorded history since the development of advanced electrical technology....no one really knows for certain what exactly would happen.

There was a major CME in 1859, but at that point in our technology we really only had the Telegraph. We didn't have cars with computer chips in them, or microwave ovens, or computers for that matter...

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859

So the closest record of what may happen with a massive CME is based on eye-witness testimony of telegraph operators from over 150 years ago...

"Telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed, in some cases giving telegraph operators electric shocks.[15] Telegraph pylons threw sparks.[16] Some telegraph operators could continue to send and receive messages despite having disconnected their power supplies.[17]"

There have been other CMEs in recorded history but none of them have been as severe as the one in 1859. We almost had one in 2012 that would have been as bad, but it narrowly missed Earth:

"Less severe storms have occurred in 1921 and 1960, when widespread radio disruption was reported. The March 1989 geomagnetic storm knocked out power across large sections of Quebec. On July 23, 2012 a "Carrington-class" solar superstorm (solar flare, coronal mass ejection, solar EMP) was observed; its trajectory missed Earth in orbit. Information about these observations was first shared publicly by NASA on April 28, 2014.[4][22]"

One could speculate that the fictional CME that occured in the game lore was greater than any CME previously imagined, and the effects were more catastrophic than anyone could have anticipated or prepared for. For instance after the event 1989 in Quebec they started making changes to transformers to prevent the likelihood that they would explode due to geomagneticly induced currents (GIC), but a severe storm could still overcome those changes.

One could also speculate that any transformers present in the game world that were going to explode, have already exploded....that's why you are not witnessing them explode during gameplay.

Also I would speculate that the Auroras we are witnessing in game are after effects of this major solar event. They are like "aftershocks" from a major earthquake. As such, they are not as severe as the initial CME. That would be another reason additional transformers are not exploding in the game.

Solar storms/solar flares/CMEs cause geomagneticly induced currents(GIC). These currents are due to the fluctuations in the magnetic field caused by the solar flares. The current caused by GICs are considered "quasi-direct current." Since most electronics run on DC currents that's why the developers probably speculated that some simpler electronic devices may seem to function to some degree such as some lightbulbs, simple transistor radios, etc.

I'm not really sure what would happen exactly. From what I was able to read on the subject via various Wiki pages and other sources they say that GICs are caused by the magnetic fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field due to the effect of the solar flares/CMEs. These fluctuations would cause anything metal and capable of conducting an electric current to actually conduct an electric current, including gas and water pipes...etc. However the voltage of this effect is measured in Voltage/kilometer. The highest voltage at surface level of the planet recorded thus far during a "moderate storm" was 20 volts/ kilometer....which isn't A LOT of voltage. The amperage measured has been from tens of amps to hundreds of amps, and depending on wire diameter this could be A LOT of amperage....

Most appliances in the USA and Canada run off 110-120 volt power outlets. When a light bulb receives less voltage than it is rated for it typically emits a dimmer light. Devices typically only draw as many amps as they are rated to draw even if additional amps are present. However from what I read if a device is not receiving enough voltage it draws more current to compensate. For these solar storms to provide enough voltage to power most devices they would have to be particularly strong....

Most wires are rated to only handle so much current, this is because thinner wires have a higher resistance. If a lot of amperage is passed through a thin wire not rated to handle that much current, the wire gets hotter and hotter until it melts/catches fire. This is the cause of electrical fires typically. So I would think most wires in homes would get hot and melt....maybe that's why so many houses are burned down in the game....

I would think many electronic devices also have relatively thin wires inside them, rated for low amperage. So I would assume most electronic devices were fried and/or caught fire during the first major CME when all the transformers blew up....

It's pretty amazing anything still turns on in the game during the Auroras....lol.

Anyways that was a lot of speculation about nothing, lol....

PS I forgot cars....well most cars these days have computer chips in them and other advanced electronic systems in them as well. Any and all of those are most likely also fried, the same way everything else is fried. My car won't even turn over if it can't tell the gear shifter is in park, because there is a sensor in there. I spilled coffee with cream and sugar in my gear shifter accidently, now the sensor is all jacked up. As a result my car wouldn't even turn over or click and I thought maybe my battery was totally dead. Then I jiggled the gear shifter and the car started like everything was fine. Think of how many other sensors and components in the car that are now fried due to the CME....Cars in the game are DEAD! Dead I tell you!

Well, the science behind The Long Dark's fictional event isn't clear or realistic in any way. But the way I see it is that electronics turn on during an Aurora flare up due to the high amounts of charged particles in our atmosphere. So much so that it travels through the air. Turning on any electronics regardless of weather they have a wired connection or not. This is how light bulbs and the flashlight work during the Aurora. 

In the Intro for Episode 2 the final scene shows transformers and cars turning on/catching fire. In an old teaser video we see the Aurora turning on lights but also burning a power line. We also got a teaser image of a car with it's headlights on (I've been told people have seen this but not me, the rail cars however do work). Cars still wouldn't be driveable, only the electronics would work. 

But there's still laptops, screens and other things that should be working during an aurora despite having no wires as a connection.

Also for the record the 1989 Solar Flare wasn't that bad. I live there. 

[Thrasador]

1 hour ago, Fuarian said:

But the way I see it is that electronics turn on during an Aurora flare up due to the high amounts of charged particles in our atmosphere. So much so that it travels through the air.

Yes, what you are describing is geomagneticly induced currents (GIC) which I described....

1 hour ago, Fuarian said:

Cars still wouldn't be driveable, only the electronics would work. 

But there's still laptops, screens and other things that should be working during an aurora despite having no wires as a connection.

No, and no....

Just because GIC cause some amount of electicity to coarse through electronics, that doesn't mean they work.

I already described that GICs cause some random amount of low voltage at some random amount of high amperage.....

Advanced electronics like the computers in cars, and actual computers, new LCD, LED, or Plasma TVs, and anything else with small circuits and transistors and things take very specific amounts of voltage to operate. Too much variance in voltage and they fry....permantly. Small electronic components literally heat up and melt, or short circuit, and if any one tiny component on a circuit board breaks then the device breaks(typically). Then you have to use a volt meter to test each component one at a time and figure out wich component failed and then remove it, and solder in a replacement component. My father owned his own electronics company when I was a kid, so I might know slightly more about electronics than average....but still you don't need to know a lot to know that random power from the sky isn't safe for advanced electronics.....

Static electric shocks from your fingers can destroy components in your computer, that's why you are supposed to ground yourself before touching the inside of your computer. If you ever tried to use someone else's AC adapter to charge your different model Nokia phone....even if the charger fits, if it's too much voltage it fries your phone....and we are talking one or two volts here. (That actually happened to me....I sent the phone back and lied and said it broke on its own )

Flash lights and lightbulbs are VERY simple. A flashlight uses DC current from batteries to produce light. If the voltage is too low you get a dim light, if it's too high you get a bright light, if its WAY too high it burns out the filament in the bulb too fast and you need a new light bulb....

What's improbable in the game is that the flashlight would generate a specific amount of light that we could control, or even turn up as a "high beam," or that the batteries would "recharge" from the Aurora. That is taking certain liberties with the situation for the sake of game mechanics. I don't have an issue with it....I think the flashlight is a "cool" idea even if it is scientifically implausible.....

Headlights, taillights, and interior lights in a car might flicker on and off.....if they are not blown out. Electric cable cars, subway car's, and similar type electric transportation might gain some amount of power....

As far as power lines and electical wires sparking and heating up, that is possible, or even probable. As I described in my OP the GIC will affect ANYTHING metal that is capable of conducting electicity, including water pipes and gas pipes under ground. I would say anything metal in the game....including the metal exterior of a car would be capable of delivering an electric shock if you touch it. I wouldn't touch anything metal in the game...

[Fuarian]

35 minutes ago, Thrasador said:

Yes, what you are describing is geomagneticly induced currents (GIC) which I described....

No, and no....

Just because GIC cause some amount of electicity to coarse through electronics, that doesn't mean they work.

I already described that GICs cause some random amount of low voltage at some random amount of high amperage.....

Advanced electronics like the computers in cars, and actual computers, new LCD, LED, or Plasma TVs, and anything else with small circuits and transistors and things take very specific amounts of voltage to operate. Too much variance in voltage and they fry....permantly. Small electronic components literally heat up and melt, or short circuit, and if any one tiny component on a circuit board breaks then the device breaks(typically). Then you have to use a volt meter to test each component one at a time and figure out wich component failed and then remove it, and solder in a replacement component. My father owned his own electronics company when I was a kid, so I might know slightly more about electronics than average....but still you don't need to know a lot to know that random power from the sky isn't safe for advanced electronics.....

Static electric shocks from your fingers can destroy components in your computer, that's why you are supposed to ground yourself before touching the inside of your computer. If you ever tried to use someone else's AC adapter to charge your different model Nokia phone....even if the charger fits, if it's too much voltage it fries your phone....and we are talking one or two volts here. (That actually happened to me....I sent the phone back and lied and said it broke on its own )

Flash lights and lightbulbs are VERY simple. A flashlight uses DC current from batteries to produce light. If the voltage is too low you get a dim light, if it's too high you get a bright light, if its WAY too high it burns out the filament in the bulb too fast and you need a new light bulb....

What's improbable in the game is that the flashlight would generate a specific amount of light that we could control, or even turn up as a "high beam," or that the batteries would "recharge" from the Aurora. That is taking certain liberties with the situation for the sake of game mechanics. I don't have an issue with it....I think the flashlight is a "cool" idea even if it is scientifically implausible.....

Headlights, taillights, and interior lights in a car might flicker on and off.....if they are not blown out. Electric cable cars, subway car's, and similar type electric transportation might gain some amount of power....

As far as power lines and electical wires sparking and heating up, that is possible, or even probable. As I described in my OP the GIC will affect ANYTHING metal that is capable of conducting electicity, including water pipes and gas pipes under ground. I would say anything metal in the game....including the metal exterior of a car would be capable of delivering an electric shock if you touch it. I wouldn't touch anything metal in the game...

When I say "work" I mean they just turn on. I don't mean you can actually use them for anything. I think I made that a bit unclear. 

But in the context of the Aurora, I don't think it cares about voltage. I don't think the devs went THAT scientific into it. I think things just get powered up because of the charged particles in the atmosphere. Wirelessly powering anything up, even if it has no wire to it. So a computer SCREEN would still light up, the RGB lights in the screen wouldn't have melted so... 

and when you say "ground yourself before touching the inside of your computer". Do you mean that in a spiritual sense? 

[Thrasador]

11 minutes ago, Fuarian said:

And when you say "ground yourself before touching the inside of your computer". Do you mean that in a spiritual sense? 

No you are supposed to buy this wrist band thing attached to a wire with an alligator clip so you can ground yourself to the metal in the computer case, before you handle any parts in your computer.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Kingwin-Anti-Static-Yellow-Wrist-Strap-Multi-Pack/51083377

That's why computer parts like your graphics card come inside that special "silvery" bag. That's an anti-static bag. Computer components are very susceptible to static electric charges. It states this in the documents that come with computer parts.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.howtogeek.com/169994/how-to-protect-your-pcs-hardware-from-static-electricity-when-working-on-it/amp/

[Thrasador]

23 minutes ago, Fuarian said:

When I say "work" I mean they just turn on. I don't mean you can actually use them for anything. I think I made that a bit unclear. 

I understood what you meant....I can't make what I am trying to explain to you anymore clear than I already have...

Maybe @JAFO or someone else that understands how electronics work can weigh in when they wake up tonight.

TVs today and computer monitors are not just a piece of glass with a light bulb behind it that lights up....it's not even a picture tube TV. TV screens light up by power being fed to them in a very specific way with a very specific amount of power being governed by a circuit board that is now totally fried as I just explained.

Many of the TVs in houses in the game are cracked. They probably caught fire or exploded from the event. They aern't going to just turn on and light up. If anything the components in them are going to continue to heat up and/or melt more every time there is an Aurora.

 

[Fuarian]

23 minutes ago, Thrasador said:

I understood what you meant....I can't make what I am trying to explain to you anymore clear than I already have...

Maybe @JAFO or someone else that understands how electronics work can weigh in when they wake up tonight.

TVs today and computer monitors are not just a piece of glass with a light bulb behind it that lights up....it's not even a picture tube TV. TV screens light up by power being fed to them in a very specific way with a very specific amount of power being governed by a circuit board that is now totally fried as I just explained.

Many of the TVs in houses in the game are cracked. They probably caught fire or exploded from the event. They aern't going to just turn on and light up. If anything the components in them are going to continue to heat up and/or melt more every time there is an Aurora.

 

Well, the screens in the dam light up... so hey.

[JAFO]

9 hours ago, Thrasador said:

Maybe @JAFO or someone else that understands how electronics work can weigh in when they wake up tonight.

Your magic invocation worked... 

 

10 hours ago, Fuarian said:

I think things just get powered up because of the charged particles in the atmosphere. Wirelessly powering anything up, even if it has no wire to it. So a computer SCREEN would still light up, the RGB lights in the screen wouldn't have melted so... 

Others have commented before on the curious anomaly of what look like very old computers (they have floppy disks, FFS!) with modern LCD screens attached, and the flat-screen TVs in houses. Interestingly enough, the modern displays in the game are actually necessary to the aurora plot. I'll have more to say about that below. For now, I'll just mention in passing that there are no "RGB lights" inside such screens. They're Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) with a backlight. In normal operation the light from the backlight is coloured by the LCD as it passes through, enroute to your eyeballs. The backlight is usually a standard fluorescent light tube, or more recently Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are beginning to be used. For the purposes of the game narrative, LED displays would not work, however.

 

9 hours ago, Thrasador said:

TVs today and computer monitors are not just a piece of glass with a light bulb behind it that lights up....it's not even a picture tube TV. TV screens light up by power being fed to them in a very specific way with a very specific amount of power being governed by a circuit board that is now totally fried as I just explained.

Many of the TVs in houses in the game are cracked. They probably caught fire or exploded from the event. They aern't going to just turn on and light up.

Yes and no.. There is no "light bulb" inside.. as mentioned above, it's a fluorescent tube. and even with a cracked screen in a TV/monitor that's not going to turn on, in a situation like we see in-game, the fluorescent tubes inside them may very well light up. How much light would get past the dark un-powered liquid crystals (which are controlled by transistors that would almost certainly have burned out) is open to debate, but at least a faint overall glow (brighter where the cracks are) ought to be visible. Which pretty much describes what we see in-game.

High levels of electric charge in the air, such as occur with the GIC phenomenon described above by @Thrasador, are very capable of causing fluorescent tubes to glow, even if there are no wires attached. I've seen this done in person, and it's very cool.. Here's a couple of examples, one using a plasma globe and the other a Tesla coil to provide the charge:

 

So yes, flat-screen TVs and monitors glowing during an aurora event is entirely possible.

 

10 hours ago, Thrasador said:

What's improbable in the game is that the flashlight would generate a specific amount of light that we could control, or even turn up as a "high beam," or that the batteries would "recharge" from the Aurora.

Agreed.. a high-intensity switch on a flashlight isn't that improbable, but I don't see any way whereby a battery could build up even a small charge in such circumstances.

[Thrasador]

36 minutes ago, JAFO said:

Your magic invocation worked... 

 

Others have commented before on the curious anomaly of what look like very old computers (they have floppy disks, FFS!) with modern LCD screens attached, and the flat-screen TVs in houses. Interestingly enough, the modern displays in the game are actually necessary to the aurora plot. I'll have more to say about that below. For now, I'll just mention in passing that there are no "RGB lights" inside such screens. They're Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) with a backlight. In normal operation the light from the backlight is coloured by the LCD as it passes through, enroute to your eyeballs. The backlight is usually a standard fluorescent light tube, or more recently Light Emitting Diodes (LED) are beginning to be used. For the purposes of the game narrative, LED displays would not work, however.

 

Yes and no.. There is no "light bulb" inside.. as mentioned above, it's a fluorescent tube. and even with a cracked screen in a TV/monitor that's not going to turn on, in a situation like we see in-game, the fluorescent tubes inside them may very well light up. How much light would get past the dark un-powered liquid crystals (which are controlled by transistors that would almost certainly have burned out) is open to debate, but at least a faint overall glow (brighter where the cracks are) ought to be visible. Which pretty much describes what we see in-game.

High levels of electric charge in the air, such as occur with the GIC phenomenon described above by @Thrasador, are very capable of causing fluorescent tubes to glow, even if there are no wires attached. I've seen this done in person, and it's very cool.. Here's a couple of examples, one using a plasma globe and the other a Tesla coil to provide the charge:

 

So yes, flat-screen TVs and monitors glowing during an aurora event is entirely possible.

 

Agreed.. a high-intensity switch on a flashlight isn't that improbable, but I don't see any way whereby a battery could build up even a small charge in such circumstances.

Thanks @JAFO for your two cents worth....it's always appreciated and informative...

Actually you explained a few things I wasn't really aware of....

What did you think of all the stuff I dug up on my own?

Before these questions were asked, I didn't know any of the crap I wrote, lol. I just learned all that for the sake of this debate about theoretical situation in a fictional video game....

[JAFO]

4 hours ago, Thrasador said:

What did you think of all the stuff I dug up on my own?

Before these questions were asked, I didn't know any of the crap I wrote, lol. I just learned all that for the sake of this debate about theoretical situation in a fictional video game....

I thought you did a pretty good job. 

[TROY]

Can someone spare a couple pain pills? I have a sprained brain from this. 

I don't understand how it works, but we have wireless battery charging technology now.  If there's an electromagnetic charge in the atmosphere, batteries building a charge seems plausible to me.   

[Thrasador]

31 minutes ago, TROY said:

Can someone spare a couple pain pills? I have a sprained brain from this. 

I don't understand how it works, but we have wireless battery charging technology now.  If there's an electromagnetic charge in the atmosphere, batteries building a charge seems plausible to me.   

It might work with batteries designed to be rechargeable....

Normal non-rechargeable batteries work by a chemical reaction. The reaction uses a finite amount chemicals stored in the battery. Once the chemical has reacted and changed states, adding electricity to the battery doesn't just reverse the reaction....

Have you ever recharged non-rechargeable batteries, or do you throw used batteries out like the rest of us?

How regular batteries work:

https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Analytical_Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Case_Studies/Batteries%3A_Electricity_though_chemical_reactions

How rechargeable batteries work:

https://chem.libretexts.org/Core/Analytical_Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Case_Studies/Rechargeable_Batteries

Determining the electric potential of a chemical battery and stoichiometry were the primary types of questions on my Quantitative Chemical Analysis exams....and it was my WORST subject in college. I needed A LOT of pain pills for my head too....

Stoichiometry:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stoichiometry

I still remember Avogadro's number is 6.022×10^23...

That's the number of atoms/molecules in one mole of any element/substance.....

Typically Stoichiometry and Avagadro's number are covered in High School Chemistry....I sucked at it then too....

 

[shade_grey]

On 9/2/2017 at 0:54 PM, Thrasador said:

Does crouching not work on Aurora wolves...?

In short it doesn't, but...

Well, it does but not like normal wolves. Aurora wolves and bears are basically super sensing counterparts of their normal versions. The distance from which they can see, hear, and smell you is much farther than normal wolves (and bears). The main thing with crouching is that aurora wolves can see and hear you from about 100 meters even when crouched (when not crouched, they can see you from much farther than normal). You can exit a building crouched and there may be an aurora wolf that hasn't spotted you yet but the moment you move, even if you are crouched, it will hear you, turn towards you, and spot you.

[Ruruwawa]

6 hours ago, shade_grey said:

In short it doesn't, but...

Well, it does but not like normal wolves. Aurora wolves and bears are basically super sensing counterparts of their normal versions. The distance from which they can see, hear, and smell you is much farther than normal wolves (and bears). The main thing with crouching is that aurora wolves can see and hear you from about 100 meters even when crouched (when not crouched, they can see you from much farther than normal). You can exit a building crouched and there may be an aurora wolf that hasn't spotted you yet but the moment you move, even if you are crouched, it will hear you, turn towards you, and spot you.

I just experienced this while trying the DP to Summit challenge.  As I left the Log Sort in CH a couple aurora wolves found me.  I tried ducking into the trailer and then stealthing out via crouch... no effect.  Lantern.. no effect.  Flare... no effect.  I struggled with one (got out alive) and a campfire feared the other.

I have very little experience with aurora wolves since I spent August playing a v110 sandbox that didn't have a single aurora.   Any tips for how to deal with them?