User blog:Thunder Luigi/"Taking a Supernova to the Ginoya" (part 1)

Warning: Contains Math

The percentage values of the gamma shields within Supernova baffle me. What does the GS-I's 40% mean? Does it increase time in irradiated space by 40%? Will my ship emerge from Ginoya 60% unscathed?

Will only 60% of the radiation shrivel the reproductive systems of Terrans?

Rather dumb questions, but that was the ambiguity in the percentage got me into wanting to confirm those values. As I type this post, I am running tests with the gamma shields to see if those percentages hold true in some simple mathematical way. My run in Tadram about a week ago, and today in Var Lupra however, seems to not fit with those values.

Piloting a Veteran with T'yool and Particle Shield

Tadram:

None: 5 minutes, 30 seconds

GS-I: 9 minutes, 10 seconds

GS-II: 13 minutes, 45 seconds

Var Lupra:

None: 3 minutes, 18 seconds

GS-I: 5 minutes, 30 seconds

GS-II: 8 minutes, 15 seconds

That was the most boring 14 minutes I have ever spent in this game.

After dividing the gamma shield times with the baseline time, and assuming the percentages are increases in time in irradiated space, the GS-I in Tadram shields 66%, while the GS-II shields an impossible 150% of radiation. Expected values, determined by multiplying the baseline time with one plus the percent (1.40 and 1.60), were 7:42 and 8:29 in Tadram, and 4:37 and 5:16 in Var Lupra.

''Who's wrong? Me or the info page?''

A gamma shield with 100% shielding would imply that you could fly around Nivelian supernovas indefinitely. Considering that, it seems that a function used to describe the effectiveness of a gamma shield has to have a higher degree than one, because its graph would reach an asymptote at 100%. However, as every statistician and scientist would see, an asymptote and three data points doesn't make too great of a graph of which to draw a function into. That is, unless the graphs have a relation besides their increasing interval, probably somewhere in their derivative graph, but I haven't finished getting the raw data as to analyze them further just yet.

tl;dr gamma shield effectiveness cannot be described with a linear graph

There may be other variables in play as well, besides the gamma shielding level and the planet one is travelling in. I have ran these tests only in the Veteran, but since the performance of a ship is spelled out explicitly in their info page--no mention of speed or any weak/strong points on a ship--perhaps all of the player-controlled ships have the same resistance to gamma radiation. And certainly the regular shields and armour have no gamma protection, as explicitly stated on their info page.

But hey, makes testing easier for me!

Any input for the mathematically versed will be very helpful as I gather the rest of the data!

Thunder Luigi (talk) 07:47, January 31, 2013 (UTC)