08-29-2011, 11:08 PM
My guess is that it's a result of "pixelation." When you try to draw a straight line with squares, you're not always going to get something that looks pretty. The way Nova works is to send the lightning out in straight lines from the center of a circle, the caster, to some external point, the edge of the circle. But even in making 96 straight lines, you are going to have issues.
Here's a picture I made with MS-Paint, a prime example of drawing with squares https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Keha4...xample.jpg
Basically, I made a circle, with a center, and just drew lines from the center to the edge. I targeted every point on the edge of the circle, but you can see how gaps are still present. I'm fairly certain this is the same thing observed with the Nova spell.
Here's a picture I made with MS-Paint, a prime example of drawing with squares https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Keha4...xample.jpg
Basically, I made a circle, with a center, and just drew lines from the center to the edge. I targeted every point on the edge of the circle, but you can see how gaps are still present. I'm fairly certain this is the same thing observed with the Nova spell.