Quick question from the Metroid Series

[L.T.W.]

Anyone has any idea of how many Earth years is 1 millicyle?

[SetzerGabbiani]

Anyone has any idea of how many Earth years is 1 millicyle?

My guess is 1 million years since google didnt pull anything up with my search, if you don't mind my asking, why do you want to know?

[friendlyHunter]

1000 millimeters = 1 meter

1000 millicycles = 1 cycle?

1 cycle = 24 hours?

1 cycle = 365.25 days?

1 cycle = An agreed upon length of time roughly equalling one day of some particular planet in the Metroid universe?

1 cycle = The time it takes Samus' clothes dryer to finish?

I really don't know, sorry =(

You've already tried googling cycles + "metroid prime", right?

[atmuh]

i dont understand why you could possibly care

[friendlyHunter]

Indeed, we must hear your reason, lest someone answer your question in vain!

[The Mutericator]

I have pondered this same question myself, friend. The reason he asks, OCR, is because Samus' visor uses the term "cycles" in Echoes to refer to how long any given body has been dead - as far as I can tell, a cycle is approximately one year on the planet, which seems to be roughly (on the same order of magnitude, at least) equivalent to Earth's. For instance, IIRC, most Luminoth bodies have been dead for at least a cycle, sometimes several decacycles, which is in keeping with U-Mos telling you that the war with the Ing has been going on for a long time.

By comparison, the Galaxy Federation units you find are only dead for, again IIRC, millicycles - in keeping with Samus getting the distress signal and going over as soon as she could, within hours or days of their deaths.

[Effector]

Hey, wow, someone else actually thought about this for more than two seconds.

I guess the cycle of a year makes more sense here than the cycle of a day. But we really can't assume they're Earth years, can we? I don't ever remember Earth being mentioned in Metroid.

[DarkeSword]

If you treat a cycle as a year, 1 millicycle works out to a little more than 8 hours.

[The Mutericator]

Hey, wow, someone else actually thought about this for more than two seconds.

I guess the cycle of a year makes more sense here than the cycle of a day. But we really can't assume they're Earth years, can we? I don't ever remember Earth being mentioned in Metroid.

Like I said, "roughly" meaning on the same order of magnitude - perhaps twice as long as Earth's years, perhaps half as long, just somewhere similar.

[L.T.W.]

My guess is 1 million years since google didnt pull anything up with my search, if you don't mind my asking, why do you want to know?

I have pondered this same question myself, friend. The reason he asks, OCR, is because Samus' visor uses the term "cycles" in Echoes to refer to how long any given body has been dead...

Indeed, thats why. I wasnt ever sure how long was a deca/millicycle. The word makes me feel as if it were a very long time. But I couldnt really tell.

[Drack]

Now, it's pretty ambiguous but I don't think cycles refer to days OR years, but somewhere in between.

Consider the Luminoth corpse scans in Prime 2. Years seem unlikely. Do you think corpses wouldn't decay over more than a dozen years? Do you think that the Luminoth could hold off the Ing from completely destroying them for that long, given the state of the world and the lore in Prime 2?

Days seem unlikely. Do you think Torvus, Agon, the Sanctuary, most of Temple Grounds, and the humans could all fall to the Ing within a fortnight? Are some of the corpses you scan that read something like "died 0.6 cycles ago" really only a couple hours old? It does seem that Samus arrived in the nick of time, within days of the most recent conflict, but by the time you get to U-Mos, all is said and done and all the surviving Luminoth have been sealed.

My thoughts? One cycle should equate to a week or two. Between one and 3 months sounds about right for the conquest of Aether. Most recent corpse being a few days old seems to fit the best.

[kamoh]

If you treat a cycle as a year, 1 millicycle works out to a little more than 8 hours.

lawl @ DS and his "quick-math."

8h 45m 57s

Yay google has calculator now

http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html#calculator

[Effector]

lawl @ DS and his "quick-math."

8h 45m 57s

Yay google has calculator now

http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html#calculator

It's had one for a while, but whatever. Yeah, I think 8 hours per millicycle sounds about right - The GF troops had been dead for several millicycles, seems feasible that Samus could have gotten there that quickly. As for decacycles... It would make more sense if they were decicycles (tenth of a year, rather than decades), but who knows how long the war had been going on.

EDIT: Wasn't there some reference to cycles in MP1? Something about feeding Space Pirates feeding Metroids, or changing shifts or something... I'm pretty sure they said straight cycles, too, which doesn't make any sense with what we've assumed.

The orders of magnitude seem way off for the expected length of time - maybe we're looking into it too hard. Would the devs really do that math for that kind of stuff (and keep it consistant)?

[The Mutericator]

Now, it's pretty ambiguous but I don't think cycles refer to days OR years, but somewhere in between.

Consider the Luminoth corpse scans in Prime 2. Years seem unlikely. Do you think corpses wouldn't decay over more than a dozen years? Do you think that the Luminoth could hold off the Ing from completely destroying them for that long, given the state of the world and the lore in Prime 2?

Days seem unlikely. Do you think Torvus, Agon, the Sanctuary, most of Temple Grounds, and the humans could all fall to the Ing within a fortnight? Are some of the corpses you scan that read something like "died 0.6 cycles ago" really only a couple hours old? It does seem that Samus arrived in the nick of time, within days of the most recent conflict, but by the time you get to U-Mos, all is said and done and all the surviving Luminoth have been sealed.

My thoughts? One cycle should equate to a week or two. Between one and 3 months sounds about right for the conquest of Aether. Most recent corpse being a few days old seems to fit the best.

Some of the corpses could very easily only be a few hours old, but then again I might be remembering poorly. Eventually someone will have to boot up Echoes and go exploring, methinks. I know the GF troopers can't be more than a couple of days old at most, since the reason Samus went to Aether was in response to their distress signal. The Luminoth, however, have been fighting the Ing for a very long time in comparison - several years at least. I could agree to a cycle being a week, that would make sense with the citations you're giving, but I would like to hear some individual numbers.

[DarkeSword]

This might be a good question to just ask Nintendo. I'm sure Retro would be happy to tell people how long a cycle exactly is, considering the amount of effort that went into writing all of the stuff in the MP games.

[L.T.W.]

www.retrostudios.com is not working

I'll have to check back after work...

All these theories sound really cool though, I hope at least 1 of them is right.

[The wingless]

Body's decay because of the (relatively) viciously corrosive effect of oxidation on carbon based flesh. Assuming a rate of decay on another world and an alien physiology is similar to that of earth is testicular logic.

[RocketSniper]

testicular logic.

We're assuming that they have balls now?

[Shadow Wolf]

I'd say about a month, using this math:

1 Cycle = 1 month

1 Deca-cycle = 10 cycles = 10 months

1 Centicycle = 100 decacycles = 1000 months

Reasoning goes like this. Take this Log entry from Echoes:

Lore-Space Pirate Logs-Cycle 4

================================

Log 44681 (Phazon Operations)

Scan Info: Log 4.468.1- Science Teams detected the presence of Phazon in the Dasha system four cycles ago. High Command authorized the deployment of ourteam shortly thereafter. Our orders are to establish a base on planet Aetherand evaluate local Phazon resources.

Echoes takes place in the timeline very shortly after the events of Metroid Prime. I seem to remember hearing 2 months somewhere, but I can't find anything to back that up. The point is this: Tallon IV was absolutely for certain the first place the Space Pirates had discovered Phazon. Since Metroid Prime took place RIGHT after the original Metroid in the timeline (The frigate at the beginning of the game was a Noah’s Ark from Zebes), that means they had just discovered Phazon on Tallon IV. Therefore, If a cycle was anything long, like a year, that would mean they’d known about Phazon on Aether for almost 4 years. 4 years would be well before the Metroid timeline even began. 4 months, on the other hand, is a conceivable amount of time, since it could be after the discovery of Phazon on Tallon IV.

All that is to say that a cycle is a short(ish) amount of time.

Now, take the next log entry:

U-Mos

Scan Info:Subject is U-Mos, a Sentinel of the Luminoth. Scans indicate

numerous beneficial abilities, including hightened reflexes, durability,

psionics, and flight. Ability to generate and manipulate energy on par with

that of the Chozo. Dating scans indicate an age of 2.15 centicycles. Only

known active member of the species:remaining Luminoth locked in protective

stasis until crisis is resolved.

2.15 centicycles would come out to 2150 cycles, or months. Translated into Earth years, U-Mos would be 179.2 years old, a figure in line with the known facts that a.) The war for Aether had been going on a LONG time, and b.) U-Mos was REALLY old.

Next Entry:

Research-Mechanisms-GF Security

================================

GF Bridge

Scan Info:This bridge is durable, but often locks in place, leading the

Marine's to call for a new design. The MK III should enter service within

the next eight cycles.

I doubt it’s gonna take the military 8 years to replace the bridge, nor will it be ready in 8 days or weeks. 8 months though, would be a reasonable timeframe.

And finally:

Research-Biology-Plantforms

================================

Sandgrass

Scan Info:Sandgrass scans indicate that the plant requires no moisture to

survive. It relies exclusively on solar energy for sustenance, making it well

adapted for life in the desert enviroment. Evidence of extensive mutation

present, suggesting radical bio-adjustments within the last centicycle.

Mutation source is not natural:plant strain was genetically engineered

possible by the Luminoth.

One centicycle by my reckoning is 83.3 years. According to evolutionary theory, 83 year for any mutation is friggin’ fast, so it would be sufficiently ‘radical.’

Now, about Millicycles. A month is an average of 30 days, which works out to 720 hours. 720 divided by 1000 is .72 hours. Therefore, A marine that had been dead for 8 millicycles would have been dead for 5.76 hours, which is the only place the theory might break down a little, because the marines didn’t look that fresh.

Of course, if you consider that every time demarcation in the game is base 10, I think its much more likely that if Retro even HAS a definite answer, the base unit of time for the game is 10 of something. So what we really wanna know is: Hey Retro? What is the base unit of time in the Metroid series, and how does it translate to Earth time, IF you even took the time to figure it out?

So there you have it. Maybe it’s dead wrong, but it kept me entertained for quite some time.

Hah. Fuck you, 10 character limit.

[Thylacine]

It's had one for a while, but whatever. Yeah, I think 8 hours per millicycle sounds about right - The GF troops had been dead for several millicycles, seems feasible that Samus could have gotten there that quickly. As for decacycles... It would make more sense if they were decicycles (tenth of a year, rather than decades), but who knows how long the war had been going on.

EDIT: Wasn't there some reference to cycles in MP1? Something about feeding Space Pirates feeding Metroids, or changing shifts or something... I'm pretty sure they said straight cycles, too, which doesn't make any sense with what we've assumed.

The orders of magnitude seem way off for the expected length of time - maybe we're looking into it too hard. Would the devs really do that math for that kind of stuff (and keep it consistant)?

Yes, there were. Space Pirates feeding Metroids would lose food rations for three cycles. (Again, this is IIRC - an acronym that's appearing far too much in this thread.)

I like Shadowolf's explanation of it.

[Effector]

Yes, there were. Space Pirates feeding Metroids would lose food rations for three cycles. (Again, this is IIRC - an acronym that's appearing far too much in this thread.)

I like Shadowolf's explanation of it.

Three cycles = nine months, by Shadowolf's reckoning. That doesn't make much sense then.

Booted up Prime just now to check. (Seems like SW has got MP2 under control). Under Pirate scans, they said that modifications to change Ridley into Meta Ridley took a full cycle. Also, the SPs want to "rise to dominance in this sector within the deca-cycle".

Sounds more like a year than a month to me.

EDIT: Also, the SPs said they could implement beam weaponry within 3 cycles.

[Drack]

2.15 centicycles would come out to 2150 cycles

Failure. Centi = hundredth. Kilo = Thousand.

Is 2.15 centimeters (one inch...) = 2150 meters?!

This makes me lean toward a much longer cycle time period than I thought previously.

[The Mutericator]

I'd say about a month, using this math:

1 Cycle = 1 month

1 Deca-cycle = 10 cycles = 10 months

1 Centicycle = 100 decacycles = 1000 months

Reasoning goes like this. Take this Log entry from Echoes:

Lore-Space Pirate Logs-Cycle 4

================================

Log 44681 (Phazon Operations)

Scan Info: Log 4.468.1- Science Teams detected the presence of Phazon in the Dasha system four cycles ago. High Command authorized the deployment of ourteam shortly thereafter. Our orders are to establish a base on planet Aetherand evaluate local Phazon resources.

Echoes takes place in the timeline very shortly after the events of Metroid Prime. I seem to remember hearing 2 months somewhere, but I can't find anything to back that up. The point is this: Tallon IV was absolutely for certain the first place the Space Pirates had discovered Phazon. Since Metroid Prime took place RIGHT after the original Metroid in the timeline (The frigate at the beginning of the game was a Noah’s Ark from Zebes), that means they had just discovered Phazon on Tallon IV. Therefore, If a cycle was anything long, like a year, that would mean they’d known about Phazon on Aether for almost 4 years. 4 years would be well before the Metroid timeline even began. 4 months, on the other hand, is a conceivable amount of time, since it could be after the discovery of Phazon on Tallon IV.

All that is to say that a cycle is a short(ish) amount of time.

Now, take the next log entry:

U-Mos

Scan Info:Subject is U-Mos, a Sentinel of the Luminoth. Scans indicate

numerous beneficial abilities, including hightened reflexes, durability,

psionics, and flight. Ability to generate and manipulate energy on par with

that of the Chozo. Dating scans indicate an age of 2.15 centicycles. Only

known active member of the species:remaining Luminoth locked in protective

stasis until crisis is resolved.

2.15 centicycles would come out to 2150 cycles, or months. Translated into Earth years, U-Mos would be 179.2 years old, a figure in line with the known facts that a.) The war for Aether had been going on a LONG time, and b.) U-Mos was REALLY old.

Next Entry:

Research-Mechanisms-GF Security

================================

GF Bridge

Scan Info:This bridge is durable, but often locks in place, leading the

Marine's to call for a new design. The MK III should enter service within

the next eight cycles.

I doubt it’s gonna take the military 8 years to replace the bridge, nor will it be ready in 8 days or weeks. 8 months though, would be a reasonable timeframe.

And finally:

Research-Biology-Plantforms

================================

Sandgrass

Scan Info:Sandgrass scans indicate that the plant requires no moisture to

survive. It relies exclusively on solar energy for sustenance, making it well

adapted for life in the desert enviroment. Evidence of extensive mutation

present, suggesting radical bio-adjustments within the last centicycle.

Mutation source is not natural:plant strain was genetically engineered

possible by the Luminoth.

One centicycle by my reckoning is 83.3 years. According to evolutionary theory, 83 year for any mutation is friggin’ fast, so it would be sufficiently ‘radical.’

Now, about Millicycles. A month is an average of 30 days, which works out to 720 hours. 720 divided by 1000 is .72 hours. Therefore, A marine that had been dead for 8 millicycles would have been dead for 5.76 hours, which is the only place the theory might break down a little, because the marines didn’t look that fresh.

Of course, if you consider that every time demarcation in the game is base 10, I think its much more likely that if Retro even HAS a definite answer, the base unit of time for the game is 10 of something. So what we really wanna know is: Hey Retro? What is the base unit of time in the Metroid series, and how does it translate to Earth time, IF you even took the time to figure it out?

So there you have it. Maybe it’s dead wrong, but it kept me entertained for quite some time.

Hah. Fuck you, 10 character limit.

Although your theory seems mostly secure... a centicycle would be one one-hundreth of a cycle, according to metric units, which Retro seems to be following. Or if Retro didn't do their research, which is possible (pretty much everyone knows "centi-" refers to 100), it's likely that centicycle actually refers to 100 cycles - prefixes refer to the base unit, not to the measurement before it (by your theory, the order of magnitude before a centicycle would be a "decadecacycle").

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meter has the more common metric prefixes on it if you scroll down.

Also I'd like to introduce the idea of "cycles" being directly related to the planet's own length of a year and length of a day, meaning it could be different for Tallon IV than for Aether.

[Drack]

I believe the term you (and possibly Retro) were looking for is hectocycle.

This would make U-Mos 215 cycles old.

Still very young if cycles = months (18 years) and pitifully so if cycles = weeks or days lol.

No idea about Luminoth lifespans, but years or multiple months are looking a lot more likely.

[Effector]

Also I'd like to introduce the idea of "cycles" being directly related to the planet's own length of a year and length of a day, meaning it could be different for Tallon IV than for Aether.

Damn you, I was going to say this in my post. Actually, though, that doesn't make much sense for galactic organizations. Plus, both Chozo (via the Power Suit, at least) and Space Pirates use the cycle system, with agreeing lengths of time (on different planets, no less).