The fire starting only before we wake up would make sense.
As for the radio delay, is there any correlation between the radio delay and the depth of the lifepods? Water significantly hinders the travel of radio waves.
I don't think it works like that. Water blocks radio waves (not sure how effectively) but it doesn't delay them. And I don't think theres a correlation between that either.
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
The fire starting only before we wake up would make sense.
As for the radio delay, is there any correlation between the radio delay and the depth of the lifepods? Water significantly hinders the travel of radio waves.
I don't think it works like that. Water blocks radio waves (not sure how effectively) but it doesn't delay them. And I don't think theres a correlation between that either.
It does. Radiowaves (and all other EM waves) travel faster in a vacuum than in a medium. They travel at c in vacuum (c = speed of light in a vacuum) and slower in a medium. Mediums have a value called the refractive index, which defines how much the wave is slowed down. The speed of light can be calculated with the formula v=c/n. For a vacuum, it's 1, so EM waves travel at c (299 792 458 m/s). For air, it's 1.000293 and EM waves travel at about 0,9997 c ( about 299 702 520 m/s). For water, it's 1.333 so EM waves travel at about 0.75 c (about 224 844 343 m/s), much slower than in vacuum or air. That means that while in a vacuum it takes about thirty-three microseconds for light to travel 100 m, it takes a whopping fourty-four microseconds for the same distance in water.
As for blocking them water does also do that very effectively. Radio-based devices are basically useless underwater because of how quickly the signal deteriorates (as the radiation weakens), resulting in terrible range.
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
The pod runs on solar power, according to the wall with all the text on it. According to the audio logs they also have some kind of fuel in them, probably so that they can still operate in environments that may not get sunlight. It is also a sealed pod capable of operating in a vacuum, so it must have a mechanism for filtering and recycling the pod atmosphere to keep it breathable.
Here's my guess: Fuel is spilling on the floor when the panel comes off, but it's not spilling when we wake up. So we can assume that when the fuel line ripped, a safety mechanism clamped down. There was still a small amount of fuel in the line itself, and that's what spilled onto the floor. There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod. The panel knocks the player out for several hours, during which time the oxygen generation systems of the pod keep the air clean enough to keep the fumes from the fuel from killing you. But the pod is still damaged, and after a few hours a short in the panel lights the spilled fuel. This wakes the player, and that is when the game begins.
Well, considering the Cyclops fires and dive mechanics, it's not like either fire or breathing is the peak of realism in Subnautica.
I know. And I don't want it to be. SN isn't a realistic game and it would lose some of it's fun if it was made too realistic. Some games work better the more realistic they are, but I don't think SN is one of them. However, I refer back to the beginning of this thread. For me, this kind of overthinking is part of the fun. The less it makes sense and the more you need to force it to make sense, the better
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
The pod runs on solar power, according to the wall with all the text on it. According to the audio logs they also have some kind of fuel in them, probably so that they can still operate in environments that may not get sunlight. It is also a sealed pod capable of operating in a vacuum, so it must have a mechanism for filtering and recycling the pod atmosphere to keep it breathable.
Here's my guess: Fuel is spilling on the floor when the panel comes off, but it's not spilling when we wake up. So we can assume that when the fuel line ripped, a safety mechanism clamped down. There was still a small amount of fuel in the line itself, and that's what spilled onto the floor. There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod. The panel knocks the player out for several hours, during which time the oxygen generation systems of the pod keep the air clean enough to keep the fumes from the fuel from killing you. But the pod is still damaged, and after a few hours a short in the panel lights the spilled fuel. This wakes the player, and that is when the game begins.
All of this works except for one part:
"There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod"
The pod appears to stay somewhat stable and the movements to all directions are more or less equal. That should make a liquid move around and most likely leave a bit everywhere (think oiling a pan). If the pod was completely stationary, the liquid should spread evenly on the completely flat (except for the hatch) floor. Surface tension can keep a small droplet in one place, otherwise liquids spread evenly on any flat surface. The pond only gets thinner (so say an 1 m^2 5 mm pond vs a 4 m^2 1,25 mm pond (both are five liters))
The fuel could be quite sticky / viscous, so it would take quite a while for it to spread. I'm thinking maybe the pod isn't sitting quite level in the water (damaged / lop sided through design) and weight favours that side of the pod?
Damage could also help with the late fire start. Rough impact doesn't break the pod apart, but the full seal could be broken, and three ( or eight?) hours is enough for salt water to seep in and start shorting out things. A few good shorts, a hot joint start, melts some stuff, more insulation fails, sparks - poof - fire.
About the signals, is there anything in game about what sort of EMF fields we're working with planetwise? We have compasses, so I guess magnetically it's fine,
but
The planetary guns are automatic, plus use energy weapons. Possibly there's radio interference slowing down the signals, or the pods copped some EMF on their way down,
and it took some time for their, or our, radios to come back online?
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
The pod runs on solar power, according to the wall with all the text on it. According to the audio logs they also have some kind of fuel in them, probably so that they can still operate in environments that may not get sunlight. It is also a sealed pod capable of operating in a vacuum, so it must have a mechanism for filtering and recycling the pod atmosphere to keep it breathable.
Here's my guess: Fuel is spilling on the floor when the panel comes off, but it's not spilling when we wake up. So we can assume that when the fuel line ripped, a safety mechanism clamped down. There was still a small amount of fuel in the line itself, and that's what spilled onto the floor. There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod. The panel knocks the player out for several hours, during which time the oxygen generation systems of the pod keep the air clean enough to keep the fumes from the fuel from killing you. But the pod is still damaged, and after a few hours a short in the panel lights the spilled fuel. This wakes the player, and that is when the game begins.
All of this works except for one part:
"There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod"
The pod appears to stay somewhat stable and the movements to all directions are more or less equal. That should make a liquid move around and most likely leave a bit everywhere (think oiling a pan). If the pod was completely stationary, the liquid should spread evenly on the completely flat (except for the hatch) floor. Surface tension can keep a small droplet in one place, otherwise liquids spread evenly on any flat surface. The pond only gets thinner (so say an 1 m^2 5 mm pond vs a 4 m^2 1,25 mm pond (both are five liters))
What about this: Maybe it was a *spray* of fuel, not a puddle!
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
The pod runs on solar power, according to the wall with all the text on it. According to the audio logs they also have some kind of fuel in them, probably so that they can still operate in environments that may not get sunlight. It is also a sealed pod capable of operating in a vacuum, so it must have a mechanism for filtering and recycling the pod atmosphere to keep it breathable.
Here's my guess: Fuel is spilling on the floor when the panel comes off, but it's not spilling when we wake up. So we can assume that when the fuel line ripped, a safety mechanism clamped down. There was still a small amount of fuel in the line itself, and that's what spilled onto the floor. There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod. The panel knocks the player out for several hours, during which time the oxygen generation systems of the pod keep the air clean enough to keep the fumes from the fuel from killing you. But the pod is still damaged, and after a few hours a short in the panel lights the spilled fuel. This wakes the player, and that is when the game begins.
All of this works except for one part:
"There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod"
The pod appears to stay somewhat stable and the movements to all directions are more or less equal. That should make a liquid move around and most likely leave a bit everywhere (think oiling a pan). If the pod was completely stationary, the liquid should spread evenly on the completely flat (except for the hatch) floor. Surface tension can keep a small droplet in one place, otherwise liquids spread evenly on any flat surface. The pond only gets thinner (so say an 1 m^2 5 mm pond vs a 4 m^2 1,25 mm pond (both are five liters))
What about this: Maybe it was a *spray* of fuel, not a puddle!
for eight hours? Does it just disappear after spraying from the wall or why have we not drowned from all the fuel?
Also, use the BBCode [.b] tag (end with [./b], remove periods) for bold text, BBCode doesn't understand asterisks (I have no idea what the plural for asterisk is and can't find anything either)
The fire starting only before we wake up would make sense.
As for the radio delay, is there any correlation between the radio delay and the depth of the lifepods? Water significantly hinders the travel of radio waves.
I don't think it works like that. Water blocks radio waves (not sure how effectively) but it doesn't delay them. And I don't think theres a correlation between that either.
It does. Radiowaves (and all other EM waves) travel faster in a vacuum than in a medium. They travel at c in vacuum (c = speed of light in a vacuum) and slower in a medium. Mediums have a value called the refractive index, which defines how much the wave is slowed down. The speed of light can be calculated with the formula v=c/n. For a vacuum, it's 1, so EM waves travel at c (299 792 458 m/s). For air, it's 1.000293 and EM waves travel at about 0,9997 c ( about 299 702 520 m/s). For water, it's 1.333 so EM waves travel at about 0.75 c (about 224 844 343 m/s), much slower than in vacuum or air. That means that while in a vacuum it takes about thirty-three microseconds for light to travel 100 m, it takes a whopping fourty-four microseconds for the same distance in water.
As for blocking them water does also do that very effectively. Radio-based devices are basically useless underwater because of how quickly the signal deteriorates (as the radiation weakens), resulting in terrible range.
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
The pod runs on solar power, according to the wall with all the text on it. According to the audio logs they also have some kind of fuel in them, probably so that they can still operate in environments that may not get sunlight. It is also a sealed pod capable of operating in a vacuum, so it must have a mechanism for filtering and recycling the pod atmosphere to keep it breathable.
Here's my guess: Fuel is spilling on the floor when the panel comes off, but it's not spilling when we wake up. So we can assume that when the fuel line ripped, a safety mechanism clamped down. There was still a small amount of fuel in the line itself, and that's what spilled onto the floor. There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod. The panel knocks the player out for several hours, during which time the oxygen generation systems of the pod keep the air clean enough to keep the fumes from the fuel from killing you. But the pod is still damaged, and after a few hours a short in the panel lights the spilled fuel. This wakes the player, and that is when the game begins.
All of this works except for one part:
"There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod"
The pod appears to stay somewhat stable and the movements to all directions are more or less equal. That should make a liquid move around and most likely leave a bit everywhere (think oiling a pan). If the pod was completely stationary, the liquid should spread evenly on the completely flat (except for the hatch) floor. Surface tension can keep a small droplet in one place, otherwise liquids spread evenly on any flat surface. The pond only gets thinner (so say an 1 m^2 5 mm pond vs a 4 m^2 1,25 mm pond (both are five liters))
What about this: Maybe it was a *spray* of fuel, not a puddle!
for eight hours? Does it just disappear after spraying from the wall or why have we not drowned from all the fuel?
Also, use the BBCode tag (end with [./b], remove period) for bold text, BBCode doesn't understand asterisks (I have no idea what the plural for asterisk is and can't find anything either)
As I said in my previous post, perhaps it was just a small amount of fuel in the line. If the line ruptured and a small amount sprayed out under pressure before the safety system clamped down, you'd have a number of droplets all over the floor and walls, rather than a pool on the floor.
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
The pod runs on solar power, according to the wall with all the text on it. According to the audio logs they also have some kind of fuel in them, probably so that they can still operate in environments that may not get sunlight. It is also a sealed pod capable of operating in a vacuum, so it must have a mechanism for filtering and recycling the pod atmosphere to keep it breathable.
Here's my guess: Fuel is spilling on the floor when the panel comes off, but it's not spilling when we wake up. So we can assume that when the fuel line ripped, a safety mechanism clamped down. There was still a small amount of fuel in the line itself, and that's what spilled onto the floor. There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod. The panel knocks the player out for several hours, during which time the oxygen generation systems of the pod keep the air clean enough to keep the fumes from the fuel from killing you. But the pod is still damaged, and after a few hours a short in the panel lights the spilled fuel. This wakes the player, and that is when the game begins.
All of this works except for one part:
"There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod"
The pod appears to stay somewhat stable and the movements to all directions are more or less equal. That should make a liquid move around and most likely leave a bit everywhere (think oiling a pan). If the pod was completely stationary, the liquid should spread evenly on the completely flat (except for the hatch) floor. Surface tension can keep a small droplet in one place, otherwise liquids spread evenly on any flat surface. The pond only gets thinner (so say an 1 m^2 5 mm pond vs a 4 m^2 1,25 mm pond (both are five liters))
What about this: Maybe it was a *spray* of fuel, not a puddle!
for eight hours? Does it just disappear after spraying from the wall or why have we not drowned from all the fuel?
Also, use the BBCode tag (end with [./b], remove period) for bold text, BBCode doesn't understand asterisks (I have no idea what the plural for asterisk is and can't find anything either)
As I said in my previous post, perhaps it was just a small amount of fuel in the line. If the line ruptured and a small amount sprayed out under pressure before the safety system clamped down, you'd have a number of droplets all over the floor and walls, rather than a pool on the floor.
Maybe. The droplets on the wall would slide down though, no matter how small.
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
The pod runs on solar power, according to the wall with all the text on it. According to the audio logs they also have some kind of fuel in them, probably so that they can still operate in environments that may not get sunlight. It is also a sealed pod capable of operating in a vacuum, so it must have a mechanism for filtering and recycling the pod atmosphere to keep it breathable.
Here's my guess: Fuel is spilling on the floor when the panel comes off, but it's not spilling when we wake up. So we can assume that when the fuel line ripped, a safety mechanism clamped down. There was still a small amount of fuel in the line itself, and that's what spilled onto the floor. There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod. The panel knocks the player out for several hours, during which time the oxygen generation systems of the pod keep the air clean enough to keep the fumes from the fuel from killing you. But the pod is still damaged, and after a few hours a short in the panel lights the spilled fuel. This wakes the player, and that is when the game begins.
All of this works except for one part:
"There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod"
The pod appears to stay somewhat stable and the movements to all directions are more or less equal. That should make a liquid move around and most likely leave a bit everywhere (think oiling a pan). If the pod was completely stationary, the liquid should spread evenly on the completely flat (except for the hatch) floor. Surface tension can keep a small droplet in one place, otherwise liquids spread evenly on any flat surface. The pond only gets thinner (so say an 1 m^2 5 mm pond vs a 4 m^2 1,25 mm pond (both are five liters))
What about this: Maybe it was a *spray* of fuel, not a puddle!
for eight hours? Does it just disappear after spraying from the wall or why have we not drowned from all the fuel?
Also, use the BBCode tag (end with [./b], remove period) for bold text, BBCode doesn't understand asterisks (I have no idea what the plural for asterisk is and can't find anything either)
As I said in my previous post, perhaps it was just a small amount of fuel in the line. If the line ruptured and a small amount sprayed out under pressure before the safety system clamped down, you'd have a number of droplets all over the floor and walls, rather than a pool on the floor.
Maybe. The droplets on the wall would slide down though, no matter how small.
What about this: The flotation devices on one side of the pod are only 80% inflated, so the pod is listing very slightly to starboard. Not enough so we'd notice, but enough for physics to keep the spilt fuel over on one end.
@DaveyNY@Ojakokko actually in the beginning cutscene you can see a bunch of black, oily liquid spilling out of the lifepod's repairable box just before you get the metal plate from it slammed in your face.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
The pod runs on solar power, according to the wall with all the text on it. According to the audio logs they also have some kind of fuel in them, probably so that they can still operate in environments that may not get sunlight. It is also a sealed pod capable of operating in a vacuum, so it must have a mechanism for filtering and recycling the pod atmosphere to keep it breathable.
Here's my guess: Fuel is spilling on the floor when the panel comes off, but it's not spilling when we wake up. So we can assume that when the fuel line ripped, a safety mechanism clamped down. There was still a small amount of fuel in the line itself, and that's what spilled onto the floor. There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod. The panel knocks the player out for several hours, during which time the oxygen generation systems of the pod keep the air clean enough to keep the fumes from the fuel from killing you. But the pod is still damaged, and after a few hours a short in the panel lights the spilled fuel. This wakes the player, and that is when the game begins.
All of this works except for one part:
"There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod"
The pod appears to stay somewhat stable and the movements to all directions are more or less equal. That should make a liquid move around and most likely leave a bit everywhere (think oiling a pan). If the pod was completely stationary, the liquid should spread evenly on the completely flat (except for the hatch) floor. Surface tension can keep a small droplet in one place, otherwise liquids spread evenly on any flat surface. The pond only gets thinner (so say an 1 m^2 5 mm pond vs a 4 m^2 1,25 mm pond (both are five liters))
What about this: Maybe it was a *spray* of fuel, not a puddle!
for eight hours? Does it just disappear after spraying from the wall or why have we not drowned from all the fuel?
Also, use the BBCode tag (end with [./b], remove period) for bold text, BBCode doesn't understand asterisks (I have no idea what the plural for asterisk is and can't find anything either)
As I said in my previous post, perhaps it was just a small amount of fuel in the line. If the line ruptured and a small amount sprayed out under pressure before the safety system clamped down, you'd have a number of droplets all over the floor and walls, rather than a pool on the floor.
Maybe. The droplets on the wall would slide down though, no matter how small.
What about this: The flotation devices on one side of the pod are only 80% inflated, so the pod is listing very slightly to starboard. Not enough so we'd notice, but enough for physics to keep the spilt fuel over on one end.
Possible. Would also make sense considering the landing was pretty rough
Why have you resurrected this thread? I think I've got a few more smite evils in here... one sec. ... aha! Be troubled no longer, for this thread shall recede deep into the abysmal darkness from whence it has arisen! Be vanquished from this waking world and return to your rest!
Considering that there was a fire on board - and that was most likely either due to the impact with the water or possibly deployment of the chute (overloading the already compromised circuitry?) the fire would have started only minutes after the main protagonist was knocked out. Going by that the main protagonist had to have woken up before the fire asphyxiated him and so... only a few minutes. Also going by other messages and their timeline - I doubt everyone got knocked out in the same way so other "off screen" survivors confirm it was minutes, or by the game's time scale only a couple of hours (but you'd be dead from the fire).
I suspect the implication is that the irritation from the smoke woke you up more than anything. Also electrical fires smell absolutely awful and the scent would be stuck on him for days.
In game it states you were knocked out for 3 hours. During those 3 hours the most of people in the lifepods tried to get to the floater island. The rest were just crying as a creature knocked on the door asking for "a friendly cup of tea" Only two made it they later died. Lifepod 6 died because it had an idiot in it.
Three hours? That fire must be self-oxidating... Strangely well contained too. Had to click awesome just for seeing a comment actually on topic
Fire didn't start immediately? There isn't exactly alot in the way of fuel for a fire inside the pod. My wife is an Avionics Engineer, she says that most delayed electrical fires begin with heat from shorts or failed fuses. The heat makes molecules in available materials (like wire shielding and plastics) break down into different molecules that can be used as a fuel source for fires.
We know that the pod uses solar power so whatever power was expended during the fall would be getting replaced during the three hours you are out cold, until the damaged "primary systems" sufficiently overheated to the point where a fire started. The increased levels of CO2 could be sufficient to wake you up (depending on the injury that put you to sleep).
Comments
It does. Radiowaves (and all other EM waves) travel faster in a vacuum than in a medium. They travel at c in vacuum (c = speed of light in a vacuum) and slower in a medium. Mediums have a value called the refractive index, which defines how much the wave is slowed down. The speed of light can be calculated with the formula v=c/n. For a vacuum, it's 1, so EM waves travel at c (299 792 458 m/s). For air, it's 1.000293 and EM waves travel at about 0,9997 c ( about 299 702 520 m/s). For water, it's 1.333 so EM waves travel at about 0.75 c (about 224 844 343 m/s), much slower than in vacuum or air. That means that while in a vacuum it takes about thirty-three microseconds for light to travel 100 m, it takes a whopping fourty-four microseconds for the same distance in water.
As for blocking them water does also do that very effectively. Radio-based devices are basically useless underwater because of how quickly the signal deteriorates (as the radiation weakens), resulting in terrible range.
I haven't noticed that. Well, that would explain where it gets the fuel from, but it also raises another question; why did it not spread evenly to the pod in eight hours? We should be burning as soon as the liquid catches fire.
The pod runs on solar power, according to the wall with all the text on it. According to the audio logs they also have some kind of fuel in them, probably so that they can still operate in environments that may not get sunlight. It is also a sealed pod capable of operating in a vacuum, so it must have a mechanism for filtering and recycling the pod atmosphere to keep it breathable.
Here's my guess: Fuel is spilling on the floor when the panel comes off, but it's not spilling when we wake up. So we can assume that when the fuel line ripped, a safety mechanism clamped down. There was still a small amount of fuel in the line itself, and that's what spilled onto the floor. There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod. The panel knocks the player out for several hours, during which time the oxygen generation systems of the pod keep the air clean enough to keep the fumes from the fuel from killing you. But the pod is still damaged, and after a few hours a short in the panel lights the spilled fuel. This wakes the player, and that is when the game begins.
Might be the sound of the ignition of the fire, that wakes you up.
That and the sudden coughing fit you get from the fumes/smoke.
I know. And I don't want it to be. SN isn't a realistic game and it would lose some of it's fun if it was made too realistic. Some games work better the more realistic they are, but I don't think SN is one of them. However, I refer back to the beginning of this thread. For me, this kind of overthinking is part of the fun. The less it makes sense and the more you need to force it to make sense, the better
All of this works except for one part:
"There wasn't enough to cover the entire floor, just the left half of the pod"
The pod appears to stay somewhat stable and the movements to all directions are more or less equal. That should make a liquid move around and most likely leave a bit everywhere (think oiling a pan). If the pod was completely stationary, the liquid should spread evenly on the completely flat (except for the hatch) floor. Surface tension can keep a small droplet in one place, otherwise liquids spread evenly on any flat surface. The pond only gets thinner (so say an 1 m^2 5 mm pond vs a 4 m^2 1,25 mm pond (both are five liters))
Damage could also help with the late fire start. Rough impact doesn't break the pod apart, but the full seal could be broken, and three ( or eight?) hours is enough for salt water to seep in and start shorting out things. A few good shorts, a hot joint start, melts some stuff, more insulation fails, sparks - poof - fire.
About the signals, is there anything in game about what sort of EMF fields we're working with planetwise? We have compasses, so I guess magnetically it's fine,
but
and it took some time for their, or our, radios to come back online?
What about this: Maybe it was a *spray* of fuel, not a puddle!
for eight hours? Does it just disappear after spraying from the wall or why have we not drowned from all the fuel?
Also, use the BBCode [.b] tag (end with [./b], remove periods) for bold text, BBCode doesn't understand asterisks (I have no idea what the plural for asterisk is and can't find anything either)
Damn son you just got scienced
As I said in my previous post, perhaps it was just a small amount of fuel in the line. If the line ruptured and a small amount sprayed out under pressure before the safety system clamped down, you'd have a number of droplets all over the floor and walls, rather than a pool on the floor.
Maybe. The droplets on the wall would slide down though, no matter how small.
What about this: The flotation devices on one side of the pod are only 80% inflated, so the pod is listing very slightly to starboard. Not enough so we'd notice, but enough for physics to keep the spilt fuel over on one end.
Possible. Would also make sense considering the landing was pretty rough
Are you talking to yourself? This thread had been dead for eleven days until you commented
I suspect the implication is that the irritation from the smoke woke you up more than anything. Also electrical fires smell absolutely awful and the scent would be stuck on him for days.
Fire didn't start immediately? There isn't exactly alot in the way of fuel for a fire inside the pod. My wife is an Avionics Engineer, she says that most delayed electrical fires begin with heat from shorts or failed fuses. The heat makes molecules in available materials (like wire shielding and plastics) break down into different molecules that can be used as a fuel source for fires.
We know that the pod uses solar power so whatever power was expended during the fall would be getting replaced during the three hours you are out cold, until the damaged "primary systems" sufficiently overheated to the point where a fire started. The increased levels of CO2 could be sufficient to wake you up (depending on the injury that put you to sleep).