Dyson Sphere

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In The Real World

A Dyson Sphere is a hypothetical megastructure that completely encompasses a star and captures a large percentage of its power output. The first appearance of a Dyson Sphere is in the 1937 Science Fiction novel Star Maker by Olaf Stapledon. This book inspired physicist and mathematician Freeman Dyson to formalize the concept in a 1960 paper "Search for Artificial Stellar Source of Infra-Red Radiation", published in the journal Science. There is no known real-world example of a Dyson Sphere - the sheer quantity of resources and technological advancements required to achieve one can only be dreamed of by the human race, for now.

In DSP, the player's goal is to construct a Dyson Sphere, though there are indications in pre-release footage that it may be possible to stop at a partial sphere, as well as construct more than one layer of sphere. It is also expected that players will be able to construct Dyson Spheres around multiple different stars in the same save.

In The Game

In Dyson Sphere Program, constructing a Dyson Sphere is one of the primary goals for "completion" (though the game cannot really be completed, as you can continue playing after researching all technologies and building a complete Dyson Sphere). Building a Dyson Sphere takes a few stages:

The Dyson Swarm

Players typically start testing their ability to build a Dyson Sphere by first launching several Solar Sails into a Dyson Swarm, which is an orbital ring around the host star of a loose collection of Solar Sails. They do not link up to one another, instead working independently to provide energy. At the default range of a Dyson Swarm, each solar sail provides 30 kW of energy, and they are inexpensive to manufacture so can be launched in the thousands. However, the player will soon realize that Solar Sails have a lifespan after which they disappear. The base lifespan is 3600 seconds (1 hour). Thus, the maximum energy obtainable from a Dyson Swarm is dependent upon how many solar sails they can manufacture and fire, per hour, on a continuous basis.

An additional hindrance to maintaining a Dyson Swarm is that the EM-Rail Ejectors used to fire the Solar Sails require a line of sight to the target orbit. This can become more difficult to achieve depending upon how many EM-Rail Ejectors the player constructs, whether their planet has a significant axial tilt, where on the planet the EM-Rails are placed, and whether there is a Gas Giant host planet in the way to block their view on occasion.

The Dyson Shell

The next phase of building a Dyson Sphere is the Dyson Shell. A Dyson Shell requires additional technologies to unlock - they are comprised not just of Solar Sails, but also Dyson Sphere Components. The player defines the location of Nodes and, for Nodes within a certain distance of each other, Frame segments to connect them. When enough Frame segments are defined such that an enclosed area is defined, that area can be designated as a Dyson Shell. This area can have any shape, it does not need to be a proper polygon, though guidelines are available in the Editor for rectangular and triangular shapes.

Once the Nodes and/or Frame are defined, the player then uses a Vertical Launching Silo to fire a number of Small Carrier Rockets to construct the frame. These rockets can be considerably difficult to make in large quantities, depending on the player's industrial setup.

As soon as any Frame segment is put in place, the frame itself can begin to generate power, even before it is completed. Once all Frames encompassing a defined Shell are completed, it will draw any Solar Sails from nearby Dyson Swarms into the Shell to create a hexagonal-lattice panel between the frame segments. The Solar Sails' energy output is combined with that of the Frame segments, and the lifespan limitation of Solar Sails in a Swarm is negated - they last forever once placed in a Shell.

Deconstructing

It is possible to deconstruct a Dyson Shell, at any stage of its construction. Take note, however, that doing so will not return all of the materials to the player. All Solar Sails that were absorbed into the Shell from a Dyson Swarm will be jettisoned back into space, immediately beginning their Lifespan countdown timer again. If left alone, they will spread out into an orbital ring. The Frame segments that were constructed of Small Carrier Rockets are converted into Solar Sails upon deconstruction, and these too join the new Swarm and get a lifespan timer. No Frame segments or Small Carrier Rockets will be returned to the player.