While playing The Witcher 3 and marvelling at the incredibly beautiful skybox, I thought about something. Why are moons in video games fucking enormous? I can't even count the number of games I've played that have a disproportionately huge moon when you look up at the sky. Were it real life, and the moon appeared to be as big as the moon in Witcher 3, I would be freaking the fuck out.
The Moon
Location » linked to 199 games
The Moon (Latin: Luna) is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest moon in the Solar System.
Why are video game moons enormous?
Because it looks cool.
But specifically in Witcher 3 they have their own unique solar system, so there's that too.
@doctordonkey: I just want to say that Sean Murray from no man's sky wanted to have moons and planets the correct distance away but the other guys on the team pointed out that it looks really cool when planets are close. I think they're totally right.
The Witcher does not take place on Earth.
wait really? i thought it was earth but like a alternate reality type of thing. do they ever call their planet by name? I did hear a side conversation about some dude saying a snarky remark "yea right mate! whats next? that they say our planet revolves around the star!?"
- The Witcher doesn't take place on Earth last I checked - aren't there two moons even?
- If you're gonna make a fantasy world, why not have a big ass moon?
- Many things affect how the size of the moon appears, including but not limited to:
- the size of the moon
- the size of the planet
- the distance between the two
- the current position of the moon vs the planet
- the current position of the moon observer vs the moon
So I dunno. Big moons look nice in games and then can be more justifiably used as giant light sources.
Think the other way round: The moon's size is correct, it's the planet that's much smaller, think about it, you could fit whole game continents inside your town map :P
Your planet is the real moon.
It looks awesome that's why.
Having a bland clear sky at night is, well, bland. I would definitely enjoy some different ways to fill up the sky, but it's not like there's a whole lot of options other than stars, visible planets and the moon. That is, of course, outside of a sci-fi/fantasy context.
@lead_dispencer: Kinda. It's mentioned in books that humans may not actually be from the main planet. Some say they only arrived during the magic sphere touch thing. Also in the books a certain character does quite a lot of world hopping.
Probably because someone spent multiple days of their life working on the moon model and they wanted everyone to recognise how hard they worked.
Because you need that gravitational interaction brah.
Or because it's trying to eat Termina.
Take your pick.
one time in like real lyfe driving home from work the moon was so huge in sky, bigger than I have ever remembered seeing it before and I got this sinking feeling in my gut, like I was in that movie Melancholia. I like giant moons and planets in my games skybox, they just kinda freak me out in my own.
Apparently the moon has been slowly moving away from earth since it was formed. Back in pre-dino times it was about as close as games put it if not closer. And the Witcher takes place in the precambrian era iirc
As everyone has said, it's probably cause it looks cool.
Somebody's been shooting it with a sniper rifle.
Dunno if I remember correctly, but was that a cheat in Vice City? :D
EDIT: Ah yes, most of the GTAs infact
I like it from an aesthetic angle, but I can help but be reminded of Bruce Almighty every time I see a big moon.
Same reason some characters have big boobs. Pleasing to look at.
I don't think it's that pleasing. It's overdone. This looks better:
Please Log In to post.
This edit will also create new pages on Giant Bomb for:
Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.Comment and Save
Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Giant Bomb users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.
Log in to comment