In article <389611F2.161B9993@aol.com>, Mike <pov### [at] aolcom> wrote:

> What creates it is a little idea that I got from Enders game-
> that is, a single bomb that can destroy everything on the surface of a
> planet. 

(Note: May contain spoilers for people who plan to or are reading 
Ender's Game)
I read that book recently(and am now reading it's sequel, Speaker for 
the Dead). As I recall, their weapon temporarily removed some of the 
forces holding molecules together within a certain area, it was beam 
based and had to be focused. Because objects within it's effect were no 
longer held together, they expanded into a cloud of dust(which could 
then come back together under gravitational pull if there is enough of 
it). The disintegration also produced more of the field, so if ships 
were close enough together and one of them was hit, the others would go 
too.

So the bugger homeworld wasn't consumed by a firey explosion, it just 
ballooned into a cloud of dust. Just try to do that in POV. :-)
(An idea: Difference another sphere from the planet sphere to simulate 
the effect of the disintegration, and have media-containing spheres 
flying outward from the area as though it is dissolving.)

Still, it is a very good animation, the first thing I thought was 
"global warming". :-)
It kind of reminded me of the effects of the Genesis device from Star 
Trek, except kind of in reverse.(they showed a rocky, lifeless planet 
with a very similar wave of fire spreading from the impact point, and 
leaving behind greenery and oceans.)

-- 
Chris Huff
e-mail: chr### [at] yahoocom
Web page: http://chrishuff.dhs.org/

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