I’ve been back visiting the unpleasant Bugland this past week or so, and also tinkering with some visual effects; velocity markers and course tunnels.
Velocity Markers have two tiers; HUD markers which are projected by the ship-board systems, and ‘real’ physical markers/indicators which range from little ‘flecks’ of imaginary space dust in the scene around your ship, to full on motion blured, spectrum shifted star trails for interstellar flight. The system is fully tweakable, and seamlessly transitions as you cross the various scenes in your travels. And of course, the ‘Realism’ vs ‘Pretty’ settings will allow such cruft to be turned off.
Course Tunnels are HUD markers that align to your plotted course, which you then fly through as you go about your business. Together they bring a sense of movement across the otherwise boring void of space, and allow you to visualise the currently selected course lodged with the Autopilot. And as importantly for me at the moment, provide useful debugging aids!
Comments are closed.