Development GC thermal level to actual temperature

[pra]

So, is there any kind of definition what exactly the thermal level (as returned from IGalacticraftWorldProvider::getThermalLevelModifier) is supposed to be?

It's 5 on Venus, -1 on Mars, and -1,5 in the asteroid belt.
Wikipedia says, the average surface temperature of Venus is 735 K and of Mars 218 K, that would mean a formula to convert from °GC to Kelvin could be T_kelvin = 238,25 * T_gc + 456,25. That would mean, in the asteroids belt it has 99K or about -174°C. Also, that would place the absolute zero at about -1,9 °GC.

Have the GC developers actually put any thoughts into that?

 

[Ezer'Arch]

Not speaking on behalf of devs, but there I go:

getThermalLevelModifier works rather as rate of heat flow than as environment temperature. It's like a dev saying: how much heat per tic I want the player to lose/gain in this environment.

The following is oversimplified science:

Say, you put a 1 kg block of iron at 500 K immerse in different kinds of materials, such as oil, water, methane, air, and these at 200 K. Question: will the said block of iron lose heat at the same speed? Nope, because each material has different heat capacity.

The vacuum is at ~0 K and known to be the best insulator because it is made of nothing and its heat capacity tends to zero (astronauts are rather likely to overheating than freezing). On the other hand, you'd freeze to death in Titan, where the temperature is just 94 K, because there's a physical substance to be in contact with (the atmosphere) capable of stealing heat. Nitrogen gas, the main Titan atmospheric gas, has a heat capacity slightly higher than earthly air.

Now if you want this degree of science accuracy implemented in GC... well, what for? You'll need to add a bunch of single-use variables just for that. Unless you want to expand the idea to something bigger.

 

[pra]

Well, I was mainly asking for displaying purposes. I have this tricorder-like item in my mod. But also to better know which values to give my planets.

So, the way you explained it, the thermal level is dependent on temperature, pressure, and even actual composition of the atmosphere. The last part might be negligible, but how to estimate the thermal level basing on the first two?
Obviously warmer = higher, colder = lower. Then the pressure (or rather, atmospheric density) would exaggerate the level in either direction. So, a planet far away from it's sun with a dense atmosphere would have a lower TL than one which has no atmosphere?

 

[radfast]

the absolute zero at about -1,9 °GC.

We might round that to -2

If you want to convert to Celsius your formula looks pretty good, just put a floor on it at -273.

I have not given any thought to data for the outer planets. Along the lines EzerArch has said, I'm more interested in the player experience - like how slowly or quickly does he die, how much protective gear does he need - than recreating the solar system with scientific accuracy. I think your Tricorder item sounds great, though - really liking the creativity in your mod, especially the mothership.