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This guild is intended for those who have a love of the fantasy genre, perhaps a growing interest in it, and for those who write in it. 

Tags: Fantasy, Writing, RPGs, Magic, Myth 

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SirKirbance

PostPosted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:54 pm


DM_Melkhar
Perhaps they hadn't mapped the entire world at that point.

Has anyone got a reason why floating continents might work at all?
I suppose the explanation needs to be scientific if possible. If you just say "magic" then there's no discussion or debate really.

In response to your current question - and comments above - there are two ways you might explain keeping a landmass aloft for an extended period of time. The first would be, as you mentioned earlier, a continuous expenditure of power, energy, or magic. Perhaps a strong magnetic field or gravitational anomoly. The second idea might be more along the lines of a single powerful spell being cast. This might be explained by the land that is made to float being given a different property than regular land has, something that makes it lighter like gas pockets perhaps. This is a bit of a stretch, but it lends a little scientificic reasoning to the idea of magic.
PostPosted: Thu Apr 10, 2008 3:56 pm


Hmm, I suppose yer correct about that little detail Mel. I bet that FFTA's sequel will have floating continents since it has something to do with "Revenant Wings", some of its characters even show up in the story, or so I hear. mrgreen

Hey, very interesting topic there SK. A bit of a stretch indeed, he-he.

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DM_Melkhar
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:19 am


I just HATE explaining everything that people think doesn't exist or couldn't exist as "magic". It's lazy to explain everything that way. Fantasy doesn't have to mean anything and everything that's impossible or improbable.

I like to try and find possible ways that things could realistically occur.
Floating continents is rather a difficult one to think about. I suppose you'd need to know an awful lot about chemistry and physics to be able to work anything out.
PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2008 3:57 pm


I agree with you on both counts Mel!

I was trying to think about a way to explain the possibility of a floating continent in real life but since I don't know much about those subjects, well...

I suppose explaining a flying ship is a bit easier than a whole continent, wouldn't you say? I suppose that the makers of Magic the Gathering wanted to pay a homage to the FF series when they made the "Weatherlight", an elegant flying vessel that is quite fragile when compared to other flying ships.

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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:11 am


Well if you think about airships, you can look at the types of aircraft we have today and apply them to designs that may still be able to work and have clarity. Airships that look like seagoing ships just wouldn't work though.

With continents, the physics of the entire world would have to be quite messed up to be perfectly honest and to find a way to make one or two continents airborne and still inhabitable realistically would take an awful lot of work.

Considering I've been studying tall ships for about three years, I'm still having trouble with several aspects of their anatomy. The ship I am designing needs to be roughly the same size as HMS Victory, but it needs to have the capability to sail faster, the helm needs to be easier to manage and have less people manning it, and the capstan needs to take much less time to raise when taking an anchor up from the sea bed. Last time I was on Victory I learned that sometimes it could take up to 8 hours to raise the main anchor.

I can't reveal too much information as to why these things are the way they are, but I have to find methods/mechanisms that would work realistically and have clarity. If I added a mechanism like gears/cogs to the helm and capstain, it may work, but there would need to be a larger area of the ship for it to be located. The concept is not of a gearbox, but of something that would work a bit like the axle of a car. You don't know HOW LONG it has taken me to find out that something like this would actually be feasible despite technology's tendency to switch from manual to mechanical immediately.

I'm still nowhere near being able to explain these methods clearly. I am still researching. Imagine the time it would take to work out a formula for a floating continent?
PostPosted: Tue Apr 22, 2008 4:53 pm


Yer right, I have no idea how long it has taken you to find out something like this but, thanks for researching about it. 3nodding
I don't think I have anything to add for the time being... sweatdrop

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B-rad the Vampiric Shadow

PostPosted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:23 pm


Has anyone here ever heard of the game Septerra Core??
In the world of Septerra, there are 7 shells (floating continents) revolving around an inner core, each shell higher than the last. This could be explained by the pull of gravity.
PostPosted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 3:35 pm


Sorry dude, never heard of that till now... sweatdrop
Which console is it for anyway?

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Nyxix

PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 12:44 am


Where floating continents are concerned I don't think it's possible. But on a smaller scale.... maybe a city... look at it this way: magic is what you make of it. Reality is something all together different, and in an interesting light. What you can do with gears, clogs, clanks and clockwork is amazing. I can imagine a city floating in the air and powered by steam, especially in a water world.... but to make that feasable would take a lot of research and knowledge of mechanics. It's an idea, and now I want a floating city in my world! Hovering naught but two to three metres from the ground, or even the sea! *giggles* Oh no, my imagination has gone into overdrive.... thank you...
PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:45 pm


Thanks for yer post Nyxix! But if it's a smaller scale, it would probably fit more in the discussion of places in the sky. Not that I'm complaining mind you, I'm just saying... sweatdrop
BTW, come back and let us know if yer imagination being in overdrive helps you even better when writing or not. And if you like what you create maybe tell us how much you like it, it's yer choice to go into details or not. 3nodding

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Nyxix

PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 7:49 pm


It has helped me quite a lot, I've come up with a brilliant idea for a city. Of course I ditched the idea for a floating continent, instead came up with an idea for a city in the trees. It's feasible, especially if it's powered by both water and wind and made from light materials. Though that subject doesn't quite fit in with the floating city idea, it's close razz Course, I still need ideas what to do with this city, and I'm coming up blank. I love the idea, and have taken to drawing it from a few concepts I've looked up on the internet.

Seriously though, on the topic of floating cities, going away and thinking about it means that I just can't think of a way it could be done, unless it were hovering maybe inches and metres from the ground. Like those jets in star wars, which only hovered metres, even inches, I can't imagine an engine powerful enough do power a city in the skies, let alone give it the hovering capabilities that it would need to stabilize, unless it was in a zone where gravity didn't exist. Even then they'd have to make some kind of technology to make sure it stayed put, rather than rotating around and around and around.... dizzy thoughts...! razz
PostPosted: Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:18 pm


hypnocrown
Sorry dude, never heard of that till now... sweatdrop
Which console is it for anyway?


its a game for the Computer/PC

B-rad the Vampiric Shadow


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 4:51 pm


Sounds good Nyxix! I always thought that a zone where there were gravity fluxes or anomalies, could work for those purposes but, to me, it's more feasible that such a place could exist in the vastness of space, not on the surface of a planet. You know? I figure that antigravity devices could work but, I don't know much about the subject.

Thanks B-rad! I had no idea about it being for PC...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:19 am


Other than gravity anomalies, another example I can think of also exists in the Jetsons. Their cities were in the skies, abet supported by singular poles. It couldn't work unless there were several support systems, which would totally defeat the purpose of a floating city. Now, another idea from Star Wars had Cloud City, if only I could remember if that was a city in the sky or on the ground, it would be fantastic. Damn, working with gravity is hard and coming up with a non-magical explanation does rather suck.

I think I know what to do with my tree city at last! I can incorporate it into a place where one of my MC's live before they start travelling, which will be fantastic! Booyah, I love getting ideas for things.

Nyxix


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PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 4:34 pm


Ah yes, I barely remember the Jetsons. I am pretty sure Cloud City was done in a similar context as the Jetsons world but, I'm not entirely sure. And since this is a fantasy guild, not sci-fi, we shouldn't keep talking about such concepts.
But yer right, thinking of a non magical explanation is rather tough. Especially for one who knows nothing about science, like myself. mrgreen

Those are great news Nyxix! Best of luck with the development of that idea!
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Fantasy Conference

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