2018-12-17 18:30:07

So ever sense reading inheretence and the yung wizards series, I've been fascinated with scietifically justifying magic, like for example:
In Alter Aeon: The fly spell basically hardens the air below your feet, but it sounds like you still float forward. Maybe magic users have the ability to move around atoms and molecules and stuff like that, changing the air to move with them on it? Any other kinds of magic, like dungeons and dragons spells, you could try and justify. Just theories...

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“Yes, sir. I am attempting to fill a silent moment with non-relevant conversation.”
“You don’t tell me how to behave; you’re not my mother!”
“Could you please continue the petty bickering? I find it most intriguing.” – Data (Star Trek: The Next Generation)

2018-12-17 19:13:46

I'm wondering these days if someone wer to cast a lightning spel in doors would it just use charges that are already in the room such as appliances. Although, saying that I think if someone were to discover something like Hogwarts they say it makes our equipment go a bit haywire, so, how could lightning and thigns be justified in an indor environment?

2018-12-17 19:17:02

You should read Brandon Sanderson. His magic systems are all very well-developed with strict rules and limitations, and there are in-universe people who study them scientifically. For example, one of his best-known magic systems is allomancy, which consists of the user, "allomancer", ingesting various metals and "burning" them to gain magical powers. Tin enhances your senses, pewter gives you increased strength and endurance, etc etc. There are also "Sanderson's Laws of Magic", which explain how he develops his magic systems. It's very interesting reading.

Perfectly balanced, as all things should be.
"Cause in a game of life or death, you either live, or you die."
"Wake the fuck up, samurai. We have a city to burn."

2018-12-17 19:23:11

I feel like this should be in off-topic...

Discord: clemchowder633

2018-12-17 19:53:34

Magic systems are a bit of a Sanderson thing, but often I tend to find Sanderson focuses very much on magic duelling rather than the wider society. For example Mistborn is all about alomantic duels, where as any magic system which lets people push or pull metal objects could have lots of technological implications aside from awesome flying etc. He does do a much better job of this in stormlight (imho his best work), though even there as the books continue its more about awesome powers and battles and less about mages doing other things than fight each other.

If you want a book that deals with magic in a wonderfully down to earth practical way, including study of physics and chemistry, try Patric Rothfus name of the wind, there for example people studdying magic have to study science in equal measure.

That's also a cool thing in the world of the avatr series, for example imagine a power plant which is basically a bunch of  fire benders just constantly bending lightning into a battery big_smile.

Oh, and yes this probably should be in offtopic, but it is a very cool question.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2018-12-17 23:37:43

As far as Alter Aeon's fly spell goes, here's the help file.

The 'fly' spell allows you to float above the ground. In this manner
you can travel across water and even glide for short distances in instances
where you would normally fall.  Fly also reduces the amount of movement you
use as you travel.  This spell can be cast on objects to make them float.

In detail, it creates a transparent magical bubble beneath your feet, lifting
you off the ground.  Because the bubble is anchored to your feet you'll get
better traction, and being off the ground allows you to avoid many tripping
hazards and generally make better time when traveling.

This spell also allows you to walk on water - the force bubble displaces the
water beneath you, and can hold even the heaviest spellcasters.

If there is no ground present, it seems like one should fall.  Oddly enough,
it seems that this is not the case.  If ground is nearby the caster will
fall.  However if the ground is sufficiently far away, the spell allows you
to pretty much walk on air.

This strange behavior is one of the great unsolved mysteries of magic.
Prayers to Dentin for answers to this question result only in feelings
of amusement, and researchers analyzing the spell have noted that it uses
a unique spellword, the purpose of which is not at all understood.  Further,
that spellword is the only known spellword that is found in the second,
extremely advanced half of the A-layer texts, placing it well beyond our
current understanding of how magic works.

'Levitation' typically refers the enchantment derived from this spell that
can make objects float permanently.

So according to that, it doesn't actually harden the air. It somehow creates some sort of bubble that's strong enough to hold someone, yet can allow them to float. How exactly that bubble is formed and what it's even made of is the part science would have to figure out.

2018-12-18 01:04:55

Yeah put this in off topic please

Take care, it's a desert out there.

2018-12-18 01:26:42

I don't know, the fly example doesn't seem consistant from when I played last.  If I remember right, certain field penalties still apply, especially the dreaded swamp environments.  However, with the water example there, it displaces the water away so one can walk better over water...  So why not swamp environments as well?  IN fact, wouldn't it be easier to make someone walk in a swamp with levitation rather than the ocean? 


     I sort of like Lost Souls implementation of magic.  Especially the magi guilds, who tend to have histories, and casting processes that generally explains what you do with certain energies to eventually end up with a certain affect with a spell.  However, this extends outside of the magi guilds, but information on how stuff like empathic charm magic tends to work is less accessible to the playerbase, but still referenced by builders to keep empathic bonds consistant in design.

The answer to your question is forum.audiogames.net/search

2018-12-18 01:35:57 (edited by gisco_tn 2018-12-18 01:38:26)

@Vazbol The surface of a pond, lake or ocean is usually fairly flat, barring inclement weather, but marshes and swamps are often choked with vegetation. While you'll avoid getting your feet caught in the mud, you'll still have to avoid trees, thickets, brambles, cypress knees, stumps and who knows what else. Walking on water across the ocean would be like walking on (mostly) level ground, while walking on top of the water in a swamp is more like walking through a forest.

Edit: also hanging branches, vines and Spanish (or the Alter Aeon equivalent of) moss

A.K.A. Draak - talk to me about any Alter Aeon questions or concerns!

2018-12-18 06:26:47

I don't quite remember oceans always being flat to maintain a bubble atop fairly well.  Though I guess the way to portray this when walking on an ocean is step, step step, oh dear god that wave took out my mv.  Though that does clear up the exact bubble usage for swamp territories being so mv draining even when above the obstacles.  Guess hovering above the ground is too advanced for us mortal plebs.  Practicing to become Rosco, the Russian circus bear running atop it's magical ball is the way of travel  ( i know it's not like that, but for some reason walking atop a force bubble put a picture of a circus bear to my mind).


    Though I mean, looking at the game skills itself, I'm just going to assume the levitation spell works like that to avoid deprecating the navigation skills if one could just float over everything without contact.  My memory is faulty but I'm 99% sure that help file was something totally different from what it originally was.  but I mean, there's nothing wrong with organizing through old help files, and establishing a common lore behind all the abilities a player has access to,.  Especially if mechanics change over the years and some of this stuff becomes warranted. 


    ...Probably an alternative topic to scientific workings of magic systems, having a historical context is just as important, and honestly gives the explanations a point a reference to start off.  There's oddly a lot of games where not even the origins of the spell are described, let alone how it works.  What experiments were done to turn a dart of flame into an exploding fireball.  How many puppies were burnt to eventually bring up the fires of hell in a prayer?  Why did anyone think magic missile was a good idea?


    I see some popular games, especially the rp oriented ones, introducing new things into the game with experiments by players, whether through a long series of monitored rp to establish a new spell, or the knowledge being passed down after an epic quest.  I Know Altar Aeon does this with stuff released during events, along with one event ago in Materia Magica, and another set on Tempest Seasons.

The answer to your question is forum.audiogames.net/search

2018-12-18 09:06:30

When thinking of Alteraeon in terms of fly, also don't forget the druid's mud walk spell. I would assume mud walk in addition to hardening the mud beneith the druid's feet, encourages the plants, vines etc to get out of the way as well.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2018-12-18 12:23:31

About the fly spell in alter, remember that this spell requires to master magic misil/force shield in order to be casted, so it's clearly a partially stable buble of energy that you form bellow your feat. Basically it looks like this is the same energy, just used in a subtiler way.
It could explain, along with the irregularity of the swampy ground, why the fly spelle doesn't reduce the movement  consumption in swampland. Actually even the forcefield created with a shielding spell is not absolutly reliable. Some projectiles or strikes will pass through it, otherwise it would simply be an invincibility spell.
Also if you remember, the fly spell can prevent you from being tripped up, but not with a 100 percent probability. So we can assume that, if the terrain is irregular enough, some obstacle will disturb the buble, forcing you to act physically and, therefor, to spend movement.

About justification of magic, no mather the room in which it's launched, the discussion is pretty interresting. Actually every discussion concerning lore and world background i games /fictions looks really attractive to me.
You were mentionning Brandon Sanderson, and you're right. Magic justification is quite well built in the mistborn saga. But it sometimes tends to be a justification for the storyline itself, which is a danger for the universe's realism.
In a totally different way, discworld does have a pretty good magic system. It's mostly absurde of cours,e but you can find justifications for the physical impact and source of magic, as well as a kind of scientifical justification for reality's alteration while casting spells. Discworld mud uses these concepts with brilliant creation and background building skills if you want my opinion.
ON the contrary, let me ask you on equestoni to conclude. Harry Potter  : if magic is really what it is in this universe, if casting a spell is so easy and if it only requires a little practice and knowledge of an inquentation, can you explain why Voldemort and Grindelwald were the only one in Europe to try to start a revolution. I mean, considering human's nature, such a power should be under control, and not only under constant observation with eventual sanction. We're talking about a magic that can, without any energy cost, burn buildings, kill, destroy bridges and even an entiere city if one has the power to try to do so. And forget about justification of magic in Hp's universe, there are mostly two or three rules that put some kind of limits to its use, but for the most part it's simply... well.. magic tongue

Best regard,
Simon

2018-12-19 01:45:12

moderation:
Thanks for the catch, moving this one to off topic. Not sure how I didn't notice it before when posting earlier. Now, back to the discussion of magic and science!