Comments on: Star formation: the game http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/ I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog. Tue, 24 Nov 2009 23:50:01 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Robert Carnegie http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/comment-page-2/#comment-172662 Robert Carnegie Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:16:37 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/#comment-172662 "The idea of these things is to transform ideas direct from research into meaningfully fun games." Fun games - your tax dollars at work. But the wizards' university in [The Science of Discworld] would have loved this toy. What they couldn't figure out though was why all the worlds they built came out round, not flat... and why were the suns all way bigger than the real one? To work at all, they'd have to be much further away! “The idea of these things is to transform ideas direct from research into meaningfully fun games.” Fun games – your tax dollars at work.

But the wizards’ university in [The Science of Discworld] would have loved this toy. What they couldn’t figure out though was why all the worlds they built came out round, not flat… and why were the suns all way bigger than the real one? To work at all, they’d have to be much further away!

]]> By: «bønez_brigade» http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/comment-page-2/#comment-172091 «bønez_brigade» Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:01:10 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/#comment-172091 As the gas wasn't technically a star yet, how about: unknown gases, or gas units, or soon-to-be solar particles... As the gas wasn’t technically a star yet, how about:
unknown gases, or gas units, or soon-to-be solar particles…

]]> By: Nick http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/comment-page-2/#comment-171868 Nick Mon, 06 Apr 2009 08:22:27 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/#comment-171868 Solar Masses? Chain x42 is my record. I wonder if that means anything? Solar Masses?

Chain x42 is my record. I wonder if that means anything?

]]> By: «bønez_brigade» http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/comment-page-2/#comment-171790 «bønez_brigade» Sun, 05 Apr 2009 20:06:14 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/#comment-171790 BTW, from the screenshot I took (yes, I'm a geek), the remaining mass after the ×67 chain was 74 cloud units. So, whatever that amount could produce would be how many more stars could be added to the chain. Mewonders if there's a bonus score for using all of the available gas. I was able to get it down to ~13 cu on another try; but a minute's worth of clicking in a circle wasn't enough to compress it further. BTW, from the screenshot I took (yes, I’m a geek), the remaining mass after the ×67 chain was 74 cloud units. So, whatever that amount could produce would be how many more stars could be added to the chain.
Mewonders if there’s a bonus score for using all of the available gas. I was able to get it down to ~13 cu on another try; but a minute’s worth of clicking in a circle wasn’t enough to compress it further.

]]> By: «bønez_brigade» http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/comment-page-2/#comment-171782 «bønez_brigade» Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:45:29 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/#comment-171782 Using the ring method (spiraling in, of course), I scored ~24,250 on the first level, with a chain reaction of 67. 2 blew prior to the 67, so the cloud wasn't at full mass of 625 (cloud units?). Some mass (~100 cu) remained. Unfortunately, I thought I had just figured out the "way" and immediately restarted the level (missing a few hundred more points on levels 2 & 3); and I've since been unable to top 8500 or 35 chains. Using the ring method (spiraling in, of course), I scored ~24,250 on the first level, with a chain reaction of 67. 2 blew prior to the 67, so the cloud wasn’t at full mass of 625 (cloud units?). Some mass (~100 cu) remained. Unfortunately, I thought I had just figured out the “way” and immediately restarted the level (missing a few hundred more points on levels 2 & 3); and I’ve since been unable to top 8500 or 35 chains.

]]> By: One Eyed Jack http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/comment-page-2/#comment-171770 One Eyed Jack Sun, 05 Apr 2009 19:01:34 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/#comment-171770 I AM A GOD !!! Wait. Was that not the point of the game? I AM A GOD !!!

Wait. Was that not the point of the game?

]]> By: Bill Glaholt http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/comment-page-2/#comment-171766 Bill Glaholt Sun, 05 Apr 2009 18:15:46 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/04/03/star-formation-the-game/#comment-171766 Woot! Third!! (Toothy Grin). Woot! Third!! (Toothy Grin).

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