improved balloon damage visuals

[Toval]

Okay, helium is lighter than air right? yet when a balloon is damaged the tops deflate.... shouldn't the bottoms deflate.
seems simple to fix, just flip all the balloons around.

[Imagine]

The balloons almost certainly run on hot air, not helium.

[Pickle]

The balloons almost certainly run on hot air, not helium.

I thought they were hydrogen balloons? - certainly not helium to my way of thinking, because you couldn't generate helium on the fly to re-inflate a damaged balloon whilst you can generate hydrogen, hot air or steam.  Whatever the lift gas is, there's a hefty dose of Handwavium mixed into to get the physics to work.

But the question posed by the OP remains valid.  Whatever the balloon is filled with, it's lighter than air - be that hydrogen, helium, hot air or steam.

If the balloon is not highly pressurised, there's likely to be local deformation around the point of damage, and a generalised deflation from the bottom up.  Unless there's a rigid skeleton, in which case the deflation will be inwards, between the ribs/spars/struts.  The way the Junker deflates suggests a basic spar and rib skeleton, with inflated ballonets pushing against an elastic outer membrane.  The way the Spire/Galleon deflates is just odd, now you come to mention it.

[Swizy]

Never really thought about it. But logically even if it's hot air it should pump up beginning on the top like:



since the balloon always lifts the ship but not when completly destroyed it should deflate against the top.

[JaegerDelta]

the balloons are most likely hot air, as helium is actually pretty rare and hydrogen is put into the baloon as a tool to boost the lift.

but as for the accuracy of the deflating, its more like that, i believe, more for clarity during gameplay rather than any sort of mistake on the devs part.  its one of those choices between gameplay and realism that have to be made in a game like this.

[Plasmarobo]

The balloons are definitely hot air.
Ever taken a look at the balloon pump thing (balloon repair component)?
It's a heater and pump with a giant hose connecting the balloon. Hydrogen and Helium don't need to be maintained in the same way.

I do think the visuals as they are give me an excellent indication of what the enemy balloon's health is, however unrealistic they are (video game =/= 100% realistic, and I know muse is going for Authenticity instead of Realism). Also it'd be cool to take an actual hot air balloon and see how it crumbles when shot with a canon.

[Spud Nick]

On my ship the balloon is filled with hopes and dreams.

[Plasmarobo]

On my ship the balloon is filled with hopes and dreams.

Which is why I always take a Lumberjack or Carronade!

[Captain Smollett]

Ever taken a look at the balloon pump thing (balloon repair component)?
It's a heater and pump with a giant hose connecting the balloon. Hydrogen and Helium don't need to be maintained in the same way.

Hybrid airships release helium into balloons in order to displace air and raise the ship, they pump helium back into tanks to allow air back into the balloon in order to descend.

That being said I think it's pretty obvious the balloons are filled with dark matter.

[N-Sunderland]

Note: fixed a broken quote in Smollett's post.


I'm fine with balloons deflating the way they do now whether it's realistic or not. It's fine from a gameplay perspective, so it doesn't make a difference to me.

[WhiteWeasel]

I thought it said somewhere muse did, or at least kept this on purpose because it is easier to gage the damage of a balloon?

[James T. Kirk]

Also it'd be cool to take an actual hot air balloon and see how it crumbles when shot with a canon.

Make sure you bring a Mallet.

Fixing the holes by sewing could get a little tedious.