What powers the spinning door?

[Jamie Marchant]

Here is a good question? What powers the spinning door on the starting island?

[dgelessus]

I'd expect it to be steam just like everything else on Riven, but it is quite large for just one of those small steam vents that we keep seeing. Maybe there is a bigger source of pressure near it. Or it works like the fortresses in Gahreesen, driven by currents. The buttons would just put a gear in place for a few seconds, exactly enough for a full rotation.

[Charura]

Or it works like the fortresses in Gahreesen

Where, in Riven, is Gahreesen?

[Vector Cramp]

Or it works like the fortresses in Gahreesen

Where, in Riven, is Gahreesen?

Gahreesen is an age in Uru.



As for its power source, I would imagine steam, as its right next to the Super Dome.

[dgelessus]

As for its power source, I would imagine steam, as its right next to the Super Dome.

No, the super dome was powered by fire marbles - you align them correctly on the top level, and once you turn on the device, they are shaken so they give off their energy. The fire marbles have been modified by Gehn so they don't just glow, but explode. That's what powers the book domes. No idea how the energy is transported though...
Back on topic - because the dome is only activated later on and you can (and have to) spin the room before, the room can't possibly be powered by the dome.

[Ahlisendar]

As for its power source, I would imagine steam, as its right next to the Super Dome.

No, the super dome was powered by fire marbles - you align them correctly on the top level, and once you turn on the device, they are shaken so they give off their energy. The fire marbles have been modified by Gehn so they don't just glow, but explode. That's what powers the book domes. No idea how the energy is transported though...
Back on topic - because the dome is only activated later on and you can (and have to) spin the room before, the room can't possibly be powered by the dome.

I'm guessing that there are more major sources of steam power that you just can't see in-game. Underground vents, maybe?

[Ainia]

Hmm, interesting topic!

I agree that steam is a likely power source since there are a number of working steam pipes on dome island upon The Stranger's arrival there. It's not a stretch to think that the same source for that steam is piped to the rotating room.

[Charura]

So where is the boiler to make the steam other than on the island where you have to turn it on first? If the steam is already present then why should you need to ignite the flame on that island (under the boiler - hut)?

[Jamie Marchant]

What about that weird thing in the middle of the large dome it looks kind of like a boiler?

[dgelessus]

What about that weird thing in the middle of the large dome it looks kind of like a boiler?

That distributes the power from the fire marbles to the book domes. Don't ask me how it is transmitted (electricity, steam, pressure?), but it cannot power the spinning room for reasons that I already stated before.

Also, regarding where the steam comes from - Riven probably has lots of volcanic activity, so the steam vents are most likely natural.

If the steam is already present then why should you need to ignite the flame on that island (under the boiler - hut)?

If you're talking about Crater/Book Making/Boiler Island, that boiler was used in the process of book making - it didn't produce steam, it just boiled water so...umm...I dunno...they could throw shredded wood in there? Whatever, it doesn't produce steam.

[Ahlisendar]

What about that weird thing in the middle of the large dome it looks kind of like a boiler?

That distributes the power from the fire marbles to the book domes. Don't ask me how it is transmitted (electricity, steam, pressure?), but it cannot power the spinning room for reasons that I already stated before.

Also, regarding where the steam comes from - Riven probably has lots of volcanic activity, so the steam vents are most likely natural.

If the steam is already present then why should you need to ignite the flame on that island (under the boiler - hut)?

If you're talking about Crater/Book Making/Boiler Island, that boiler was used in the process of book making - it didn't produce steam, it just boiled water so...umm...I dunno...they could throw shredded wood in there? Whatever, it doesn't produce steam.

They probably also used chemicals in the pulping process, which would explain the heavily bolted door (as well as the lack of things living on the inside of the pipe).

[Guybrush Threepwood]

From what I know of the age of Riven, the five islands were originally one, but are being ripped apart by Ghen's poor writing. What that translates into in the age is lots of techtonic plate activity, pulling the islands apart. With that in mind, there should be plenty of steam due to volcanic vents around the islands, which Ghen does seem to employ quite liberally. The rotating room, I would surmise, is powered by steam from such a vent (albiet probably larger than some of the smaller vents we see.)

As for why there is a boiler on the bookmaking island, remember the curious properties of Rveneese water. The water literally moves away from any source of heat. I recall from Ghen's journal in his lab, that Ghen experimented with the water and believed a bacteria was responsible for causing the strange behavior. However, after prolonged boiling, the water behaved normally (likely because the bacteria were all killed.) I am sure that Ghen, with his sense of superiority and disgust for the "inferior" materials of Riven, would not want bacteria 'messing up" his bookmaking process and the boiler is to remove the 'impurity.'

[numinous]

The boiler is part of the paper making process. The logs arrive from Jungle Island and are dropped straight into the wood chipper (a fate you are lucky to avoid!). The chips are then taken to the boiler where they are broken down into pulp by the boiling process. The metal grating is then raised, straining the pulp from the water. The pulp is then taken over to the press (which was "mostly" removed from the game) to be pressed into paper.

As to the rotating room, its almost assuredly powered by the stream vents. All the bridges in the area and the star fissure telescope are all powered this way so it seems apparent that there is enough stream in the area.

[AlanD]

I think the steam is geothermally generated, from underground water meeting hot rock or lava in the cracks appearing between the islands as they pull apart (as Guybrush Threepwood already mentioned). Such methods are already in use today to generate electricity from geothermal sources.

[Twitch]

I imagine that powering that spinning door is much easier than generating enough electricity to run one of the maglev trains; you need a LOT of juice to do something like that; especially considering that the rails get longer every year, and there is probably significant attenuation in them.