CrypticSpren

All good @IlstrawberrySeed! I'm also not that experienced; all the projects I've worked on so far have had a lot of scaffolding so the level of self-direction this project will have is definitely new for me too. One thing I really haven't been able to figure out is how to determine the strength of bind points of a drawn 9-point circle, and you seem to hint that you have some ideas there. I am aware of the simpler construction for the 9 points than using the triangle properties (pick 3 points to become the triangle midpoints, then bisect each possible arc across 2 of those points) but I'm still not sure how to check how well a particular set of 9 points fits that construction intelligently. Math ideas for the detection of various Rithmatic lines would also be appreciated. There are implementations, but they're all questionable. They calculate using a set of points as the representation of a drawn curve, under the (possibly incorrect) assumption that the points are evenly distributed and without any regard to the order of points. And the detection of lines of vigor is really finicky and bad, being based on a peak and trough detection strategy that totally fails if there's any jitter in the drawn line. The code for all curve fitting is all here if you want to take a look, but feel free to pitch suggestions without looking at it or to ask for a text explanation if you're confused (justifiably considering that my code here is kinda bad). Apologies for the long ramble. Anyhow, your help would be much appreciated.

Woah a lot of stuff has been done in this thread since I last checked! I don't know for sure how much time I'll have this upcoming college semester but assuming I have any free time to do projects, I would love to return to building a Rithmatics game. Hopefully, I should be much better prepared to pull off a project of the scale of Rithmatics now: I basically had no experience outside of AP Comp Sci when I first started, so I was definitely not ready for such a big project. By the way, the current repo was an experiment in using a functional programming paradigm for Rithmatics, but it really didn't work well with Godot being super OOP. Let's start from scratch. I'd make a repo, but I'm not sure what tech stack we want to use. I'm happy to work in Godot/DotNet or do C++ stuff. I did my last project in C++ with QtCreator so that's what I'm most familiar with at the moment, and I know @smartycope is a C++ fan too. Additionally, the physics of Rithmatics is wacky enough that it might be easier to get desired behavior with the direct control we can get from accessing Box2D directly instead of doing stuff through the more limited Godot interface. But I also know Godot probably has a lot of useful game engine features that I just don't know about, so I'll let y'all make a decision. @smartycope @SPLATPLAYS let me know y'alls thoughts. Also if we're doing this we should have some means to communicate other than 17th shard; I'm usually most responsive on discord and telegram but text is fine too. Thanks for being interested in this - I've always wanted to give something to the awesome Sanderfan community. P. S. I don't have access to a windows computer at the moment (I have a mac laptop and my desktop is in my college dorm) so I can't play the Chalked game, but I like a lot of what its feature list describes. However, I feel like it would be a real shame to not have actual drawing since chalk drawings are what gives Rithmatics its flavor. Maybe we can set up 2 different modes where you can choose to do skill checks or mouse drawings? Anyhow, I'm very excited to see what @Showman has pulled off.

I had no idea about the Jupiter and the Tenzing pictures! I'm sure that with the right filters these pictures would look just as impressive. I'm very new to astronomy, but it's kinda insane the sheer range in physical space that JWST can take pictures of (as close as Jupiter and however many billion lightyears the microlensed galaxies in the deep field are).

I guess this technology has been done... I believe the powers in the (non-Sanderson) YA series are explained to be a manifestation of the ability to control electricity in different ways, though it felt a bit like a retroactive handwavey pseudo-science explanation. I really do want to see a character with electrical power build up their toolkit of tricks from first principles.

I wouldn't say we're in completely different camps - we're both still on the side of Korellium Avast being on the side of the good of Roshar. Anyhow, your interpretation of Cultivation's Intent probably is more accurate that how I interpreted it on further reflection... otherwise she would just be called Growth or something along those lines. And seeing that Dalinar and Taravingian are both influential figures in Roshar even prior to gaining a boon/bane, yeah, maybe Cultivation does have an end goal. I amend my opinions. Nevertheless, I still do stand by the fact that Cultivation had to choose people who embodied the opposite of the shards that they were meant to hold and suffered as a result in order for her to bestow powers upon them

Now that you say it, it does seem plausible that Dai-Gonarthis was in the Davar family. I think we can be pretty confident that Dai-Gonarthis is now somehow involved with Moash, but I suppose there isn't evidence for Dai-Gonarthis being anywhere else at the time of Shallan's childhood. Ah well, I guess we really do know nothing about Chemoarish then. Not sure what you mean about the unmade bonding with people though - do you mean specifically Yelig-nar with Aesudan and Amaram? I think that's unique to Yelig-nar, as we haven't seen any other Unmade do something similar.

I know this has already been said, I kind of do want to reiterate that Cultivation does seem to be hoping to put the shards in the hands of whoever would grow most as a result of holding those shards. At the time of asking for a boon from the Nightwatcher, each of the three shard candidates were antithetical to the intents of the shards they were presumably being prepped to bear. Dalinar was a poor leader who acted without restraint in the name of the greater good - in short, he was dishonorable. Lift asked not to change - not to cultivate herself into whatever she had the potential to be. Taravingian strove for the ability to make logically perfect choices apart from emotion, opposite the Passion that Odium espouses himself to be. Evidently, they were all unhappy with their lives, seeking the Nightwatcher as a result. Cultivation then gave them boons that would help them realize a life acting in a way the shards intended. Dalinar, able to temporarily lose some of his guilt, is able to pick up the Codes and live honorably. Lift, having been given powers, is put in a position of power that forces some degree of responsibility on her; the fact that she is starting to physically age despite always being full of Light that shapes your body into your own self perception being symbolic of the fact that she is at least somewhat accepting that she is growing up. Taravingian, having his dumb days, learns (or at least was supposed to learn) that having empathy is something that is useful for the greater good. ... That being said, I also don't think that is evidence enough that Cultivation has no endgame. There were surely non-shardic ways that could have cultivated Dalinar, Lift, and Taravingian just as well. And if taking up shards were really such a good way of cultivating people, I would think that Cultivation would have raised people to hold them in the past (at the very least for Honor, who has no bearer at the moment). I think what we need to recognize is that even if they have been together for a very long time, there still is Cultivation the shard and Korellium Avast, its holder. Picture this. Korellium Avast has recognized that Roshar - which she very much cares for, it basically being something that she raised with Tanavast - is extremely screwed. But having her shard for so long, she isn't able to take any drastic actions not in the Intent of Cultivation. There isn't anything she can do that saves Roshar in a direct manner, so the least that she can do is cause some chaos by meddling with the affairs of the most powerful things on the planet. So, in short, I think Korellium Avast does have Roshar's best interests in mind. It's just that by virtue of being beholden to her shardic Intent, giving the shards new bearers that would be cultivated from holding them is the best that she can do. Edit: Yes, villain Cultivation would be cool. But seeing as Odium kinda murdered her lover and Unmade many of her creations, effectively reverse-cultivating them, I don't really see a team up happening.

Nice theory! I don't think I've seen all of the Unmade's purposes compiled together like this Not very well evidenced, but a theory about Chemoarish I've seen thrown around: The title of Dustmother is very reminiscent of Dustbringer, which is Chanarach's order Per WOB, the Davar household was influenced by one of the Unmade at some point There is increasing evidence that Chana is Shallan's order Therefore, that the reason the Davar Household is so screwed up is due to the influence of Chemoarish, who has some sort of emotional manipulation ability like Dai-Gonarthis or Ashertmarn. Not exactly sure what emotions are manipulated specifically, but interesting IMO

Fitting that a thread about electricity of all things would be necromanced - I probably shouldn't contribute to this but I can't help myself. Having taser hands as a magic power actually seems like it could yield a lot of really interesting results. It could potentially interesting weapon combat - one could dual wield thin long swords to effectively forcefully stick high-voltage battery terminals into an opponent, and maybe actually use the otherwise stupid nunchucks effectively (as grabbing both ends of the nunchuck would run current through it). Perhaps more interestingly, a taser-handed who is precise and knowledgeable enough could do some interesting biological manipulation. Why use CPR if you're a living defibrillator? Why use reigns on a mount if you can just forcefully contract its muscles yourself? Electricity, literally being the flow of fundamental particles that are basically ever present, is woefully underutilized as "pew pew shoot lightning bolt" in most fantasy settings.

I still follow the Rithmatist threads! I love the theory of the vertical chalk entity being a bindagent that is a glyph of rending chalkling made by the church. I've often seen the drawing from the prologue header being used as a representation of the vertical chalk drawing, though I'm not sure whether that is confirmed - if it is, then that would suggest that the vertical chalk entity seen by Joel was a chalkling. If such is the case, then it has to have the glyph of rending on it, and its purpose as a bindagent makes a whole lot of sense. However, while the "vessel preparation" scene does sound like it would be dramatic, I'm not so inclined to believe in it because if the bindagents were capable of such a thing, they likely would have done it before. And as far as we know, there haven't been anyone who suddenly became a Rithmatist long after their induction ritual. Also, Brandon always says that Aztlanian is still on his radar. And I feel like he's open enough to have said that he's ditching it if he really were, so there is still hope!

Only after Roshar 1174; otherwise blasphemous

Oh no Dor Survival sounds basically impossible If Shadsmar Orienteering requires 3 orienteering courses like regular orienteering then that also sounds very hard (I failed orienteering merit badge) Wonder if metallurgy requires you to make spikes... seems morally questionable for the upright Chicken Scouts Nice list

I'd imagine it has to be both. We know for a fact that geographical features matter at least to some degree, because of the chasm. We also know that one can be taken by the Shaod without actually being in Arelon since Galladon's father lived in Duladel proper, so the territories must not be strictly geopolitical. However, as you said, the shape of the cognitive realm is shaped by people's perceptions. But geopolitical borders aren't the only things that people perceive as groupings. I personally think that if Fjordell annexed Arelon, the two magic systems would remain distinct so long as the Aonic people thought of themselves as Aonic people.

Definitely a fan of the fashion studies; could definitely see Adolin being a councilor for that. Wonder what you'd do for Light Eating if you're not a radiant, but funny . As for a couple more pitches: Fabrial/Fabrial Science: The Rosharan equivalent of Invention/Inventing, the former being the OG version that you needed a patent to earn Highstorm Survival: Consists of learning how to seek shelter during a highstorm, complete with the obnoxious first aid requirement in every badge ever. Notable lack of anything numerology, writing, or anything of relation to being a stormwarden. Sailing: Similar to the real BSA sailing, but with the option to use a madra-carried boat for those not so lucky to be in the physical realm

I assume this means that Chicken Scouts is gender inclusive? That's good to hear!

Just watched the Secret Project #1 stream and learned about the ongoing Chicken Scouts joke, and though it would be interesting to compile a list of Chicken Scout merit badges. From the original Way of Kings Leatherbound Kickstarter we have Shardblade Safety Greatshell Wrangling And from the stream we have Spore Collecting Cake Eating Are there any others confirmed?

Rithmatist actually was intended to be Cosmere for quite a while. In older versions Kinda sad it isn’t Cosmere… it would probably be a lot more popular if it did, so maybe we’d get more answers about the magic system.

@Thaidakar the Ghostblood how could you say that clearly The Rithmatist is the best (almost a) Cosmere novel

Agreed that Lirin has some serious issues... I lost all my respect for him when his "inherited" spheres were revealed to not really be that. I do think that he can be redeemed though Also with regards to waves, I know that allomantic pulses and [ROW] exist but not anything about them; I was referring to the fact I keep spamming the Rithmatics forum with line of vigor stuff Also yay for hemalurgic cookies!

Welcome to the Shard! Nice to see a fellow appreciator of sine waves (I'm assuming by your profile picture) who's approaching a complete readthrough of the Cosmere. Who's your favorite Cosmere character?

My last book was Elantris too; I still have White Sand and Dawnshard to go through though. Welcome!

So, I'm reworking lines of vigor and it seems like I was probably wrong about this post... The way that I implemented lines of vigor when I made my original post here worked as follows: OLD VERSION: When a line of vigor impacts a line of forbiddance, a sine wave of equal amplitude with its axis through the point of impact is generated. That ends up looking like red reflection (in LOV_bad.png). Notice the gap between the axis lines of the shot and reflected lines of vigor. I originally thought this was actually how Lines of Vigor are work: just take a look at how far behind the lines of forbiddance the axis lines intersect in the book illustrations! However, if Lines of Vigor are supposed to function similar to light waves, this really shouldn't be the case. Just look at the image from the actual physics site image shown. The way that lines of vigor, shown in LOV_good.png, should actually function is as follows: NEW VERSION: When a line of vigor impacts a line of forbiddance, a sine wave of equal amplitude with its axis intersecting the original line of vigor's axis along the line of forbiddance hit is generated. This may not seem like a big deal, but there are some fairly significant consequences of this change. In most scenarios, the displacement caused by the old version is not all that significant. However, when a line of vigor has a significant enough amplitude and/or is close enough to parallel to a line of forbiddance that it hits, this displacement adds up, creating the skipping effect in the GIF in the original post. With the new version, parallel shots should instead ricochet back and forth between the same two spots, thus unloading all its energy in the same localized area. Thus, nearly-parallel lines of vigor actually may function as a fun line of forbiddance destruction technique, just not in the way that was originally expected! It probably doesn't have any actual use though, since getting the right angle to land it would be ludicrously difficult in most circumstances, and the size of the line of vigor would have to be massive to hit somewhere in the middle (as opposed to the tip) of a line of forbiddance... Also noteworthy, shots close to but not quite parallel and with a large enough amplitude to multi-hit a line of vigor will ricochet back and forth in the same area for a little while before either shooting outwards in roughly the direction it should on a single hit (on an odd number of bounces) or return directly back to the sender along the path it came (on an odd number of hits). I don't have a good image because desmos is hard, but I kinda did half of one in riccochet.png... Just trust me that the end result will shoot outwards along one of the pale blue lines. Perhaps most interesting, shots that hook around a line of forbiddance (see hookshot.png) will guaranteed double hit and return to sender on the path it came. This is actually a pretty interesting result, as it creates a potentially actually viable rithmatic technique. If a rithmatist draws a line of forbiddance to force a line of vigor to be a hookshot, it would send back the line of vigor on a more precise path and not box in the rithmatist as much! Sorry for thread necromancy, but I felt the need to share!

I'm not sure if the in-world writer of the entry would be aware enough to come upon this conclusion if it were the case, but I feel like it would make sense if the conch canin were given its sentience by a specific type of spren of cultivation that resides within its gemheart. This would be fitting with the worldbuilding of Roshar, as it is implied that Ryshadium gain their sentience in such a manner. If so, you could explain the conch canin's fear of highstorms to be the fear of losing its bond with its spren in the same way that the Parshendi change their forms when inside a highstorm. Perhaps a bond with a logicspren gives a conch canin sapience, but being taken by a windspren brings a conch canin to a feral state. If such were the case, then a conch canin, wanting to keep its sentience, would shelter from highstorms to keep its logicspren. With this logic, you could then write something about the recent discovery of conch canins found dead on the street, completely intact, except for a small incision where there would otherwise be a gemheart - too small to soulcast more than a few grains of rice, only the size of a clip. Taken by either a sadist like Nan Balat ... or perhaps someone seeking the secrets behind the sentience that the spren inside can provide. Just a suggestion.

Welcome! Getting through the Cosmere in 9 months is an impressive feat. This is indeed the place where the geniuses that come up with realmatic theories congregate, so you'll fit right in.