Visibility of other ships

[Sendraks]

As a rule I like to take out escorts at long range, then wait for pirates in haulers to close within 10km.

I don't like having to fly too far to collect cargo.

[Commander McLane]

When I started playing Oolite, I had the same issue of wishing back the grey dots from previous incarnations of Elite. However, after a short while of playing, I had adjusted. And now I find in retrospect that the grey dots were actually a cheat, and I like the hard-to-discern-in-the-distance ships in Oolite better.

@ Stardust: another thing that factors in is the lighting in the system. If you have the sun in your back, the ships in front of you will be brightly illuminated and much better visible. But if you're looking against the sun and only see the un-lighted side of other ships, it's much harder to see them. Another pro-tip: look for the tiny blue spec of their exhaust. It's usually much earlier to spot than the hull, especially for ships that travel in the same direction as you.

[Doug Stuart]

I have the same problem with seeing the ships ( I'm also from old Amiga 500 ), so I lowered the screen resolution(in-game options menu) to 600X800 and it helped a little , also my laptop seemed to run it a little faster. But don't use the wide HUD oxp as it cuts out important gauges.
I will try the other suggestions too! (different ships, and gamma adjust ).

[The Griffin GT]

Hi all, I used to find it difficult to spot ships when I first started playing Oolite a while back so I tried the clearskies.oxp and it definitely helped. For some reason or other I stopped using it and just got used to spotting targets after lining them up on the scanner and it's no longer a problem (When flying larger slower ships I like to shoot things from a distance so I'm less of a target, that and the fact I'm a coward!)

I notice that clearskies.oxp no longer available but a replacement has been made called  Darkspace.oxp. Not having tried it I can't say for definite but it might be worth taking a look at as this may help, it might not be compatible if you use oxps that make Oolite look pretty though..

[Diziet Sma]

I notice that clearskies.oxp no longer available but a replacement has been made called  Darkspace.oxp. Not having tried it I can't say for definite but it might be worth taking a look at as this may help, it might not be compatible if you use oxps that make Oolite look pretty though..

That's why I'd suggest trying Oolite's Gamma settings out. You get better long-distance visibility of ships, without any other really noticeable changes on-screen.

[Doug Stuart]

I tried the gamma settings and it did help

Thank Diziet

[spud42]

yes it helped me too, cheers Dizy

now i have 2 monitorswhen i change the gamma it changes brightness on both monitors is that normal?

[another_commander]

now i have 2 monitorswhen i change the gamma it changes brightness on both monitors is that normal?

The way the library taking care of gamma (SDL) works, is that it changes the gamma of the entire available screen. So what you see is most likely expected. In any case it should revert everything back to what it was before once you exit the game.

[Diziet Sma]

Yep.. works that way on my dual monitor setup too.. not that I use it much any more for Oolite. That machine is too old to get decent performance on.

[spud42]

now i have 2 monitorswhen i change the gamma it changes brightness on both monitors is that normal?

The way the library taking care of gamma (SDL) works, is that it changes the gamma of the entire available screen. So what you see is most likely expected. In any case it should revert everything back to what it was before once you exit the game.

ye it does revert back at the end of a game. if i have the forum open on the second screen if click on it the gamma reverts to normal on both screens but when i click back into the game monitor it brightens both screens. not complaining just noted a curious thing. It must tell the graphics card to alter the gamma therefore when you have 2 screens on one graphics card it seems to affect both, which sounds about right to me.

[Diziet Sma]

If your card is Nvidia, you may be able to create a custom alpha setting in the Nvidia control panel that can be auto-triggered when Oolite is running. Don't recall, but you may also be able to manage it on a per-monitor basis from there.

[spud42]

probably but that is in the too hard basket at the moment. i am struggling with texturing my wings 3d model.anyway that problem is not for here.

[ralph_hh]

Same problem, who wonders. Playing in darkness at night helps a bit, also cleaning your notebook screen from dust greatly reduces the number of "fake-ships"

I adjusted the gamma settings, but then the nebulas in the background stand out like illuminated clouds - ugly clouds they are. So I turned gamma back down. Any solution for those nebulas? Certainly there are better ones somewhere, judging from the nice screenshots.

[spud42]

also cleaning your notebook screen from dust greatly reduces the number of "fake-ships"

yep have flown towards a "station" before only to not seem to get any closer. not paying attention reading forums on the other monitor..... then realise ive been flying to a speck... lol took me 15 mins to fly back to planet....

[another_commander]

I adjusted the gamma settings, but then the nebulas in the background stand out like illuminated clouds - ugly clouds they are. So I turned gamma back down. Any solution for those nebulas? Certainly there are better ones somewhere, judging from the nice screenshots.

I will agree with you that the nebulae look better at darker settings. However, there are adjustments you can do inside planetinfo.plist in order to change the way space looks. Have a look here: Properties of the Sky

There are OXPs that make use of these properties and the result can be really impressive. I would recommend having a look at ZygoUgo's Cinematic Skies OXP. I think it looks great even with slightly elevated gamma values and I wouldn't consider making a screenshot without it anymore.