Game Theory: Why Living on BioShock Infinite's Floating City Would Suck!

[MatthewPatrick13]

Why Living on BioShock Infinite's Floating City Would Suck!

BioShock Infinite is one smart game. But does its science hold up? In this SPOILER-FREE episode, we look at the logistics of a floating city. Would you actually want to live above the clouds, like in BioShock Infinite's Columbia? Is it even possible? The answers may surprise and amaze you!

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[Krai]

So motion sickness would be another problem. What about people who long term live on boats surely they would be experiencing similar effects. What about Columbia prevents them from dealing with the sickness the same way that a sailor would?

 

[Spankable]

Just on the temperature angel, refrigeration is mainly based on heat exchange rather than creating cold. So a by product of keeping a super conductor cool is VAST quantity's of heat to be vented . I not going to do the math on this but heat shouldn't really be an issue.

 

[IrenIvy]

This was surprisingly interesting.
And picture of Spoony as Mad Doctor was certainly a bonus

 

[daxterx2005]

Did you guys admit Wario ISN'T ten feet tall?

 

[False Messiah]

Can't the motionsickness be supressed by spiking the watersupply with anti-motionsickness drugs? I would imagine that people would get used to the movements of the clouds after a few weeks of living there.

Just on the temperature angel, refrigeration is mainly based on heat exchange rather than creating cold. So a by product of keeping a super conductor cool is VAST quantity's of heat to be vented . I not going to do the math on this but heat shouldn't really be an issue.

This could be a viable way of keeping the city itself warm, pumping the heat created trough the walls of the buildings and keeping people inside warm. But walking outside would still be a very cold experience.

 

[Chimichanga]

Dear Christ, I could not get through this video beyond 3 minutes. I actually had to stop and then watch it later.

It's yet another case of a web-based show where the content is interesting, but the presentation is so bad it's causes me to cringe. The innuendo falls flat, the passes at humor are stale, and as a whole the guy talking sounds like he's trying way too hard to be funny or hip. As I said before I would have probably watched the entire thing in one go on the first try had whoever narrated it shut up with the "It has some balls, GLOVER BALLS! I'M REFERRING TO TESTICLES! HA HA HA HA! LOL SO RANDUMB XD" kind of shit and actually got back to the "science" being presented. It's not even that I'm some kind of prude or that I'm against puerile humor - it's just it all sucked. It felt like the episode was written by a 14 year-old on Reddit spouting memes to pad for time.

 

[Scorpid]

When is the series going to start making content exclusive for you guys? Or whats the arrangement exactly? Is the creator on the books and taking marching orders from you guys? Will he be at Escapist Expo? So many questions the community demands to know!... please?

 

[Story]

One of my favorite episodes, pretty neat.

Dear Christ, I could not get through this video beyond 3 minutes. I actually had to stop and then watch it later.

It's yet another case of a web-based show where the content is interesting, but the presentation is so bad it's causes me to cringe. The innuendo falls flat, the passes at humor are stale, and as a whole the guy talking sounds like he's trying way too hard to be funny or hip. As I said before I would have probably watched the entire thing in one go on the first try had whoever narrated it shut up with the "It has some balls, GLOVER BALLS! I'M REFERRING TO TESTICLES! HA HA HA HA! LOL SO RANDUMB XD" kind of shit and actually got back to the "science" being presented. It's not even that I'm some kind of prude or that I'm against puerile humor - it's just it all sucked. It felt like the episode was written by a 14 year-old on Reddit spouting memes to pad for time.

While I see your point. You should also probably consider who these videos are being catered towards. Which are generally speaking, teen and young adult males who would find this humor very funny (and even relatable). I recommend Scishow, Vsause, or Extra Credits as something more up to your speed.
I find Game Theory's humor lacking most of the time. That and their often self congratulatory attitude are reasons why I don't watch them religiously.

 

[Redem]

I think regardless of physic, the fact the city just full of racists is what would make life in the city suck big time.

 

[Sampler]

Narrator's annoying but also I think they failed to think around the issues - superconductors need to have heat removed: bingo, altitude related coldness can be heated with the vented thermal energy (or, you know, just produce some more).

Lack of oxygen at the height is mainly due to lack of anything producing oxygen at that height, put plenty of flora in and you're going to be better off.

Motion sickness, acclimatable and can be eased with drugs.

But then, it's science fiction, the science isn't supposed to stand up to scrutiny but given a setting to allow us to explore the human condition through a particular lens.

 

[Dalisclock]

So motion sickness would be another problem. What about people who long term live on boats surely they would be experiencing similar effects. What about Columbia prevents them from dealing with the sickness the same way that a sailor would?

Good question, because as a sailor, I will say that the whole "motion sickness/sea sickness" thing doesn't last very long. Most people get over it after a couple of hours, days at most.

 

[Dalisclock]

I think regardless of physic, the fact the city just full of racists is what would make life in the city suck big time.

Not to mention the 18 hour work days and having to lowball your way into a job.

 

[go-10]

So motion sickness would be another problem. What about people who long term live on boats surely they would be experiencing similar effects. What about Columbia prevents them from dealing with the sickness the same way that a sailor would?

good point, like when you go on one of these Xbox HUGE cruise ships and stuff, even though you, the sea around you, and sky are moving at different speeds sometimes in different directions, because the ship is so big and it practically IS a floating city you don't even realize the fact that you're moving

 

[Diceman]

Maybe there's a Vigor for altitude sickness. You don't think they got that big just selling Fire-hands and machine-charmer?

And I agree with some of the above- "lol balls" written or shown isn't a joke. It's a bad reference and you could just avoid the lol-i-am-a-man/hur hur everything is testicles intro and cut 3 minutes off your video.
Make passing joke about how you're surrounded by flying racists like being in a Nationalists wet dream and move on to the science stuff. It was amusing enough without the intro.

 

[chikusho]

Well.. The city has propellers and balloons possibly to be able to change altitude and move laterally.

 

[rgrekejin]

How about because there are apparently, like, ten types of food in Columbia, total?

 

[Jessta]

The motion sickness thing would be the equivalent to living on a boat or a submarine and there are literally tens of thousands of people all over the world that either are doing that currently or have done so in the past.

 

[Maze1125]

Lack of oxygen at the height is mainly due to lack of anything producing oxygen at that height,

No it isn't. Lack of oxygen at that height is due to the fact the oxygen is falling to the ground. If it was due to lack of plants then deserts would lack oxygen too, but they don't.
Adding plants at that altitude would help little as the oxygen from them would just fall downwards too. (Not to mention that plants need both oxygen and carbon-dioxide themselves, both of which are at reduced levels at such a height.)

 

[Skeleon]

Wait. If the structures are "pinned to space-time", whatever that means exactly... wouldn't they go out into space as the Earth moves around the sun and the solar system moves around the galactic center and the galaxy moves around itself and so in? Everything is always moving. Or is it, like, pinned to the "space-time" of the Earth's core or some such or something? Also, the superconductor explanation seems to be about electricity and magnetism rather than quantum physics.