Realism Check: TV

[MAKAIROSI]

I haven't played the latest versions but i saw the changelog at rimworld's wiki and saw that a TV has been added for the patients. Now, i know i'm stretching it a bit here, but what exactly are they watching on TV ? They are supposedly light years away from civilization so aren't TVs and radios (with the exception of communication via radio) a bit unrealistic? I understand they could be watching news from their neighbours but i doubt they (or their neighbours) would be making movies and i also doubt they carried disks with movies with them while crashing - even so the movies would be limited to a certain maximum so after a while, after having watched all for about a billion times, you would be driven crazy even at the sight of a TV screen.

If we suppose they are getting the signal from the nearest planet, then a) why can't they signal that planet (you could say it would take ages to reach that planet, so why do it-but still it makes no sense not to do it even out of desperation) and b) supposing they are getting the signal which has travelled many light years to get to them, wouldn't it be mixed with other interferences, thus making it completely unwatchable?

Which leaves us with the first two options, either the signal is coming from a neighbour on the same planet, or from a disk that someone carried with him while crashing. I suppose we're mostly talking about the second option here, since the news can't be on all the time and they can't be worth your attention all the time. So if you're a rimkid (supposing there will be rimkids in the future) you will have watched all the movies towards the middle of your generation - either for fun or as a patient. I will, of course, assume that the movies are downloaded from the disk into the TV, otherwise only one TV can operate at any given time.

Anyway i'm saying all this mainly because when i hear TV i imagine a normal TV with different channels etc, while in this case it should be more like a computer screen, with pre-stored "fun material", and no "outside" signal whatsoever.

[Thane]

The argument given in the description/primer is that the planet you are on has risen and fallen into and out of technology many times; due to its being a rimworld. These civilizations have left broadcast stations that still play a set of programming automatically. The same explanation is given as to why there are deposits of STEEL instead of iron ore.

Though I think it is set on a pretty short loop, maybe one week's worth of programs, as people tend to hit 99% resistance to TV pretty quickly if they are bedridden.

[MAKAIROSI]

@Thane

Thanks for mentioning this, as i did not know it. However like you said, the program loop would be a week's worth.

As for the steel deposits, since it's (in my imagination, always) an alien planet, you could find anything. Even a pool of alchohol. So i never really considered finding steel or plasteel deposits as unrealistic. The things i find unrealistic are those that imply other things which aren't mentioned. For example, growing crops imply you have/gathered seeds. If you already have them, it means you brought them from your spaceship. However you never get to gather seeds in the game. Anyway, i never cared for this as well, since i thought let's just imagine you gathered them for simplicity's sake.

The reason i talked about TVs in particular was the "survival" aspect of the game. While implying the gathering or possession of every type and amount of seeds isn't removing the "cast-away" aspect of the game, watching a TV broadcast just like you would on Earth does. However, if, like you said, you are watching a "forgotten loop" then it actually adds to it if that's actually part of the game (i mean, for example, in order to have a signal you should uncover a (broadcast pylon?) in your own map first)

[Boston]

Yet, somehow, this broadcast station is:
1) still receiving power
2) receiving regular maintenance to the tower
3) the recording/playback material hasn't degraded

-facepalm-

Like most other aspects of the lore, it doesn't really hold up. I never build TV's anyway, so I can just ignore what I don't like.

[MAKAIROSI]

@Boston

If we could uncover it in our map then it would be our job to fix it / provide it with power. The material will have probably been degraded but, like i said, for the sake of simplicity, let's say it hasn't. It's still far more realistic than just implying you are receiving a signal from god knows where.

Also, it would be cool to uncover things that give bonuses to our colonies. And maybe maps would differ. One map doesn't have a broadcast station but something else, another map may have some machine that auto-crafts (i don't know i'm just saying).

[Thane]

More variety in the small rooms would be really cool. You know something beyond the mechs and pods, even if those are the majority. I think I'll make a new suggestion thread on this. It bears saying.

[Songleaves]

Just imagine a couple of solar powered satellites from a bygone era. This is the far future, so even one satellite should be able to hold enough info for much more than a week's worth entertainment.

[A Friend]

Sci-Fi magic

[MAKAIROSI]

@Songleaves

The satellite idea isn't that bad at all. But we would still need to build something to gather those signals. And it would still need to be mentioned somehow.

However i still think it would be awesome to uncover random buildings that give you bonuses - and those would be region-specific and also their appearance would be governed by luck.

[Tynan]

Think satellites, not towers.

Alternatively, maybe you're playing recordings. Maybe your starting colonist have entertainment data chips with them or under their skin. Who knows? There's enough space in the universe for lots of possible explanations.

[Zombra]

There are glitterworlds out there with extremely strong broadcast signals.  Done.

[mumblemumble]

Eh, I doubt glitter-worlds that far off could transmit that strong to that far away without frying people at the source of the transmission. Then again, Its presumed you get a comms array by the time you get a TV, so wiring it into that can be assumed, and browsing whatever is nearby seems a possibility. Either getting a soap opera from a nearby planet briefly swinging by in its orbit, old stuff on satellites, news footage, ect.... I don't imagine it would be constant quality, but it would be there.

[Vaporisor]

I have a kind of different view in my rimworld.  There are small colonies of regular and advanced tech.  The pirate drop pods being from non interstellar ships and perhaps station.  The planets are, in my views, quite active.  Just hostile and lawless where we crash in game.  There could be rimworlds with no people, or some that thrived in isolation, but those are other stories.

The end result is we have radios and beacons, drop pods, etc so in terms of transmissions and information, it probably isnt too bad.  Some town makes their own shows and we get recording via trade and such.

[Wex]

Another brief reality check.
We can build television sets, but not a radio?!? 

[Simon_The_Space_Engineer]

Another brief reality check.
We can build television sets, but not a radio?!? 

technically the coms station is a radio (at least i think it is)