I want to start this post with a sincere thank you to the Art Team that have made the night sky in Sea of Thieves. I’m enamoured by it, however cheesy that might sound. It is truly beautiful, and I am incredibly happy that so much detail has gone into it. As someone who has a gamertag named after one of the small moons of Jupiter, it does me much joy to find such beauty in the night sky in a videogame. So, I want to again sincerely thank the Art Team for making it so beautiful! I really enjoy it, and I know many others do too. It’s why some of us, including myself, keep asking for more! This is a long post! I warned you.
Interestingly/uninterestingly enough, it has actually led to me picking up an old habit; stargazing. When I was younger, I used to lay on my bed underneath the skylight in my room while looking up at the night sky pondering all sorts of things. And since playing Sea of Thieves I’ve started to end my days on the balcony of my home; having a drink, listening to some music (becalmed now one of them, thank you beta!) whilst stargazing. I often think about all sorts of things while I sit there, staring into space. It is always a calming experience, a great way to kind of wind down and just think about stuff while breathing in some fresh air. Balconies are nice.. I digress. Tonight, my mind started wondering towards the, potential, implications of a question that was answered in one of the recent podcasts.
This was a question in regards to the possibility of an evolving night sky, to which the answer was yes. Which got me very excited. And so as I was pondering the implications of that answer some ideas that I had thought/posted before re-surfaced. (I recently saw another post about something similar also, to my great joy. Someone who shared my love for the night-sky!) And while I couldn’t find my old post. The recent post, and my latest stargazing venture helped me fleshen out my ideas. And motivated me to post an idea, something I haven't done in a long time. So thank you, whomever you were!
This brings me to the secondary reason for this post which is to answer: Why would the evolution of the night sky, and the inclusion of constellations be an interesting development for this game?
For two reasons. The first, it could add a very interesting aspect to riddles where the location would be to follow a constellation, rather than a specific island being described. Because constellations move and follow a pattern, due to orbital positioning (like the moon), it would add an extra challenge. The constellation would, essentially just move in position using the north star as an anchor point. It would most likely be much easier if constellations were in a fixed location like the north star. But having to determine the correct position of the constellation depending on when that riddle was “written” would be very interesting and have a definite learning curve. So, perhaps these could be higher difficulty voyages? I dunno.
To aid with remembering stars, I would suggest something like a navigational star chart, something that looks like http://www.usno.navy.mil/USNO/astronomical-applications/data-services/navstarchart.pdf . Ofcourse, much more simplified and using pattented SoT Stars. A map which can be placed on the map table, to indicate the constellations. It would be up to you to then determine the position of the constellation based on the time and complete the riddle that way.
To give an example: You get a riddle that says “Find Cassiopeia’s gaze during a crescent moon’s waning phase” which would tell you to find the island underneath the constellation of Cassiopeia during a certain moon phase. You would then look at your star chart to help you find the shape of the constellation, as well as it’s general position. The next step would be to consult the night sky, to determine the constelation's current position. Then you would have to look at the moon, and think how the constellation would have shifted during a different moonphase. Which would have then, hopefully, given you enough clues to figure out which Island the constellation would have been above. Is that too complicated?
It would, basically, just be another map that you have to consult. With the added element of the stars changing position, so depending on when the riddle was written (indicated by the status of the moon) the island would be different. And so, it would be unpredictable as to what constellation is always where. There would certainly be an order to the islands/positions, but that's something to learn!
The second reason, for the evolution of the night sky, is that if the night sky can evolve, so can perhaps the influences of the night sky. The Moon influencing the tide is an obvious one, and a great one, as the uncovering of hidden things is very appealing. Furthermore, depending on the position of the Sun/Moon/planets? in the game there could also be certain caves that you could enter due to their light working some Mumbo magic onto some rocks to create a cave entrance. Sea of Thieves is a mystical place after all right? … Right?! … Players are already rewarded for exploration, why not reward them for visiting islands during different times of day? Giving people a reason to explore them at day/night!
Perhaps these are but the ramblings of a man who loves the Sea of Thieves night Sky, and who would love to see the sky play a more interesting role in the game. And, so I will leave you with two of my favourite night-time screenshots. Thank you again Art Team, it always makes me happy to look up. I haven't written an idea down in so long, the art team really inspires.
