Oolite Bulletins

JazHaz wrote:

Pfff. As they haven't released the Cobra specs yet, it could have been.

It doesn’t always work out as planned!

Wolfwood wrote:

I'll just have to say it again that that looks way too much like an atmospheric explosion.

cim wrote:

Wolfwood wrote:

I'll just have to say it again that that looks way too much like an atmospheric explosion.

With all the clouds in the background, are you sure it isn't one? They did say we'd be able to visit the upper atmospheres of gas giants for fuel skimming.

Here we see some concept exploring screen space used in close combat in a busy scene, the GUI layout has changed quite a bit since this concept was drawn, but it's investigations like these that help identify and address potential issues. In other words concept is more than just a pretty picture!

Mike Evans wrote:

We're currently going with a subtle yet still visible periphery cloud like particle field that you fly through. Thus there are no dots or grains like in many other space games but there is something there to indicate movement and drifting. We can also scale up the effect and add more granular particulates when in and around dense asteroid or ring systems but even in the void we still have it visible around the periphery of the cockpit.

To reinforce the above we also have a concept of motion ladders that are visible on the HUD when in motion and show movement in the three relative axes around your ship. Thus there is one for vertical movement, one for horizontal and finally one for forward/backwards motion. Each ladder has three scales, each being a series of lines that move as the ship does. Each scale moves at a different rate, the largest lines belonging to the smallest scale and thus move very quickly as you get up to speed. The shortest lines move the slowest and represent much larger distances covered as they move by. Each set of lines belonging to a particular scale also fade out when their motion is no longer relevant to the player to help in readability. Thus when you're going really fast the longest lines belonging to the smallest scale almost completely fade away as they're no longer relevant for the speed you're going at.

Mike Evans wrote:

It's subtle enough that you only really notice it when you're specifically looking for it but not so subtle that you're not subconsciously aware of it's presence. Ever since getting it in game it's dramatically improved the sense of speed and movement and it's almost impossible to imagine not having it in the game any more.

Cody wrote:

As regards perception of movement in the void, this interested me greatly