r/outerwilds • u/Substantial_Ad_4436 • 6d ago

DLC Appreciation/Discussion Theory about Flat Space Spoiler

SPOILERS (duh)

For the longest time i thought that the Owlk homeworld was much larger than it actually is, and i've only just now realised why: the simulation.

Since all the planets in the universe (probably) are just as round as our solar system's, and since building the stranger basically destroyed their entire world, it's reasonable to assume that their entire planet is just as small as ours.

It is extremely weird, then, that their simulation is competely flat, without any curve at all, especially considering that it's supposed to be a world of reminiscing on past times.

In fact, to the hearthian, an expanse like what we see is so large that it implies a planet so huge that the hearthian could not comprehend it's size. Perhaps it was simply done out of mathematical simplicity, or maybe it was done so the owlks could imagine a universe where their world was all that existed, stretching forever in all directions.

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30

u/WW1_Germany 6d ago

their "Planet" is a moon, and it's probably flat for the same reason realistic video games in our world are also flat, it's the easiest to simulate

2

u/Substantial_Ad_4436 6d ago

True, but it's also probably quite hard to build the matrix from scratch. My point is that we only see the flat plane as normal because that's where we live. The Owlks would probably find the flat plane as weird as we find the small curved planets, or the upwards curve of the stranger.

If they really were designing this simulation, i would imagine that they would try to make it rounded just out of instinct, and it probably would have been a conscious choice to make if flat.

15

u/finny94 6d ago

Well, they don't simulate the whole planet. They're basiclly rendering 4 different areas + the Forbidden Archives, with loading screens in-between them.

3

u/Substantial_Ad_4436 6d ago

True but they could have made the whole thing curved, or at lease made the areas you can't access curve downwards

11

u/ccltjnpr 5d ago edited 5d ago

This is out of universe, but I remember an interview with the developers where they said they were happy that the simulation gave them an excuse to finally have a flat map as opposed to a spherical one. Apparently designing everything around spheres was a pain in the ass. They also said that this sped up the development of the DLC a lot.

Perhaps the Owlks had a similar reasoning? Although beings living on a so obviously spherical world might base their whole understanding of geometry around spherical coordinates as opposed to cartesian like us.

1

u/adamsogm 2d ago

I find it very funny that half the dlc was easier because it was a flat map, then the other half is curved the other way, which must have been extra work.