Oolite Bulletins

Tonight I've played a bit with some shader options and a screen aligned quad seems to be the way to go.

For this test I rendered a close-up shot from one of Griffs ships which is used as decal with alpha channel. The shader combines it with a plain background image of a docking bay (although the player won't see much of it in 2.5 seconds) and applies some additional effects.

Disembodied wrote:

I'd prefer if it didn't show the player ship from the outside, though: I think whatever is shown should be from the cockpit point of view.

Yes, I guess displaying a ship would require to show only a small part without revealing the ship itself. Difficult, but not impossible (although it would probably get boring pretty soon to see the same ship on and on). So what we need is... the art - maybe cockpits, docking bays, ships and other gadgets.

The next test .-) This time I've modelled a cockpit, rendered it and applied some shader effects. It feels a lot better in Oolite and fits a lot better in BGS. Both textures (cockpit and docking bay) could be made customizable.

Wow Svengali. That sure looks exciting what you have in the lab there.

Personally, I wouldn't want to see any part of the ship, inside or out. Just a view of the docking tunnel would be great.

Smivs wrote:

Personally, I wouldn't want to see any part of the ship, inside or out. Just a view of the docking tunnel would be great.

I'm with this, and it seems to me that it might even be easier that way. Also a generic launch tube would be fine unless a custom station defined something else.
my $.02(US)

Gnudoll wrote:

Also a generic launch tube would be fine unless a custom station defined something else.
my $.02(US)

This touches on another important aspect of this.
Various stations (and even varieties of the same station) have different dock graphics depending on the players choice of OXPs, and there could be 'immersive issues' here as well. To me, seeing one dock on approach, and then having it suddenly change to something that looks completely different could be a real immersion-breaker unless handled thoughtfully.
The key thing here is to replace the 'rings' that we see as the ship docks, so maybe a better approach might be to replace them with something more neutral that 'fits in' with all the various dock graphic options.
Is something like opening doors a possibility, although what they would open onto would need to be considered carefully - again with immersion in mind you wouldn't for example want to see a docking bay full of ships that don't look anything like the ships a player sees in-game.
One straight-forward solution would be to have a special screen with a message to the effect that the ships computer is interfacing with the station computer, giving you access to all the station facilities. This screen could be a far more complex (and even animated) affair than the standard screens, and wouild work well in the sense that regardless of OXP shipset used and OXP stations used, the user would have an experience that seemlessly integrates with their game. They would approach the station in the normal way, seeing the docking tunnel they are used to as they enter the station. They would then be presented with the 'computers synchronising' graphics where the tunnel would normally appear, and then again be back on familiar territory with the normal docked screens they are familiar with.

Some good ideas there from Smivs.

I was wondering whether it would be possible to go for a very low level of lighting - ie as though the docking bay has been plunged into almost darkness - so that what you see after that is murky and shadowy as you progress into the bowels of the station, and is therefore too indistinct to clash with any specifics of the station's docking bay.

*evil grins* - I would like to see the current flown playership someday, but for now it's only toying with possibilities. Immersion is a beast (and I knew it before) and varies wildly.

Anyway - some food for thoughts. Thanks a lot.-)

Svengali wrote:

*evil grins* - I would like to see the current flown playership someday...

*Even Eviler grin* That would be cool - we could fit them with a reverse gear, and the player would have to parallel park in the station using remote cameras


Edited to add:- when I mentioned an animated screen above, I was thinking of something like this perhaps?

Smivs wrote:

One straight-forward solution would be to have a special screen with a message to the effect that the ships computer is interfacing with the station computer, giving you access to all the station facilities.

With the very occasional message informing you that this station uses cooookies, or your ship's station browser is out of date, or needs a new version of the communications plug-in!

Svengali wrote:

The next test .-) This time I've modelled a cockpit, rendered it and applied some shader effects. It feels a lot better in Oolite and fits a lot better in BGS. Both textures (cockpit and docking bay) could be made customizable.

Love it. No immersion breaker for me as long as the dials are animated

Could this cockpit be overlaid when docking computers are engaged? Kinda like having been looking at a visor headset, then taking it off when the computers pilot?

I for one would love to see that graphic, or something like it, available as a switchable option, via OXPConfig.. that way, there could be a generic effect for those who prefer it, and perhaps a choice from a number of graphics for those who don't mind something more specific.

Smivs wrote:

Edited to add:- when I mentioned an animated screen above, I was thinking of something like this perhaps?

Nothing for me. It is easily possible to create animated noise and there are good resources on the net for fast computed noise. But I think a docking sequence needs something else. Man, that's really difficult.

maik wrote:

Love it. No immersion breaker for me as long as the dials are animated

They are. The break is there though - it depends on what kind of HUD you are using. The style fits well with BGS though.

Rese249er wrote:

Could this cockpit be overlaid when docking computers are engaged? Kinda like having been looking at a visor headset, then taking it off when the computers pilot?

Possible, but I think this is more a HUD thing. And if new possibilities are available I'd think the HUD makers will do a lot more with HUDs. I would like to avoid this kind of clash.

Diziet Sma wrote:

I for one would love to see that graphic, or something like it, available as a switchable option, via OXPConfig.. that way, there could be a generic effect for those who prefer it, and perhaps a choice from a number of graphics for those who don't mind something more specific.

Yes, whatever the sequence will be in the end - it will be configurable.