Suggestion: Smash the Sun

From time to time I feel like I want to destroy a planet, but I don't want to destroy any other planets in the solar system. Might be nice to have the option to send a planet into the sun via Halleys. I don't expect that it would always be useful, but it seems like the option should be there.

I see something like this as an extension of changing orbits. The idea of planets having set collision times has been tossed around, and I think it should be possible to do this with Halleys as well. Make the change-orbit UI allow for any possible orbits to be set.

This has been suggested before, the general consensus is "It'd be pretty damn awesome, but not very practical."
I'm personally for it.

I used to be heavily against the concept of this but I'm warming up to it.

There are times where perhaps you have got a foothold on a largish planet but can't or don't want to grind away to finsh them off. Creating a decaying orbit into the sun could create an exciting race for them to try and destroy the halleys in time. I also think you could potentially reduce the number of halleys you need to cause this compared to a planet smash.

This has been suggested quite a few times.

I don't see the practical application.

Hehehe, 'warming up'

Reminds me of that very bugged match I saw on youtube recently with a contested moon flying to its target. What was so exciting was nobody knew what would happen if one engine was destroyed! With real orbital mechanics it would depend if was destroyed before or after it's closest approach to the sun.

I can see why game mechanically it would need a lower cost, the effort required to build Halley on a contested planetlet/moon is much more difficult.

Physically though you'd need more DeltaV to lower an object's perihelion (point of closet orbit) into the sun. Though from the current orbital layer physics seems a bit out the window! PS Wait! Found a good compromise, while planet smashing needs well timed firing of engines to adjust orbits at key points requiring larger accelerations, a simple lowering of orbit could work with less engines firing continuously giving an inward spiral! Yay

This. Especially when there are only two planets in the system, and you don't want to smash the other planet (which has your commander).

"If I'm going to burn, I'm going to take you all with me!"

I for one would love the option. It'd be awesome.

Practical applications could be:

• Orbits which decay/eventually go into the sun, forcing people to 'abandon ship'.
• Asteroid impacts affecting orbits (not sure if this is off or not?)

I like it, would be handy if you control one planet and have haleys on the planet with the enemy. Then you send your enemy into the sun without sacrificing your own planet

Really??

I control the main planet, a second planet is hotly contested but I am able to build Hailey's. Target Sun... by by planet I win. Had this happen vs the AI yesterday. ( except in this case I had to toss the planet at the main planet after getting my commander off it )

Uhh, the practical reason is pretty simple. You are losing on one planet, but have enough space to protect those halleys being made and you'
re on another planet and ahead or have won that planet. So you change the battlefield if you can't win it completely.

I believe they should make the sun "planetized" in the engine, for nothing more than spreading equal rules across the board.

So basically, the sun is a planet, obviously you can't land on it, maybe if anything tries it is instantly destroyed like halley smash kill does. So, you can orbit it's "orbital shell". Any player can, although reason to do so is just isolation at best, and to balance that of course orbital needs worked on of course. Anyway, at least then every celestial body would act like a celestial body just the same.

Even with current balance, you could avenger drop right on top of the commander's orbiting astraeus, and then kill it before anchors react to fire. Thus, you can't camp space with the commander unless your willing to risk snipe.

Way way outside the scope of anything any time soon, but that would be an awesome mod. Send a planet into the sun, trigger a massive solar flare that hits anything it its path.

Would be so hard to plan usage properly, but man, it would look epic.

I was looking up what would happen if a planet was thrown into the sun in real life. Turns out it's a lot less impressive than that.
At least in PA the scale makes sense for it.

Games are so much more fun than reality.

Since we're going for pure ridiculousness, how about shooting a planet through the sun (like shooting a bullet through a water balloon) and then smashing your flaming molten planet into your enemy... Obviously you'd have to be going at ludicrous speed to pass through the sun though.

Havent you watched "Lost in Space"? You would teleport or travel in time or something, I didn't get the point of that movie, but the point is if you flew at the sun with enough speed to pass through then you wouldn't just be traveling anymore.

Although slamming a magma ball into a planet would show excellent finesse.

I thought the point was, you might want to destroy a planet without destroying anything else. Like, if you own one planet, you fight over another planet, there is no 3rd planet, and your fighting over halleys against your enemy, if you build more halleys you can't use them so you must simply sit on them just to deny your enemy... ...You could just dump that SOB into the sun.

You can accomplish those things by smashing into another planet.

Halleys take a long time to build, and if you're on the same planet as another player, any competent player would snipe them.

Even if sniped, if 2 planets exist, you are on enemy's, they were going to dump their planet into you, and you stopped them and are building halleys to prevent, then you fight over halleys, but you could just dump the planet into the sun when you get enough, instead of then having to fight a land battle to get to the commander you could just end it early.