External View [A definitive discussion]

[Sabien]

Please please roll out the external cam!

To the devs: I'm enjoying my time in your (our) universe guys, thank you! Really enjoying the game, been enjoying it since Alpha. Great work. I just want to be clear on one thing though: I'm not spending another dime on anything cosmetic (or otherwise) until I can see my ship from the outside while in flight! The sooner that gets implemented, the sooner you can take more of my money!!

 

[narv]

To the devs: I'm enjoying my time in your (our) universe guys, thank you! Really enjoying the game, been enjoying it since Alpha. Great work. I just want to be clear on one thing though: I'm not spending another dime on anything cosmetic (or otherwise) until I can see my ship from the outside while in flight! The sooner that gets implemented, the sooner you can take more of my money!!

Completely agree with this 1000x, I love the game but I'm not spending a single penny on anymore skins until I get to actually see them outside in an unrestricted fashion. I've already spent £15 on the wireframe one and the cobra pack of skins, I'd love more but there is no point in doing so at the moment

 

[narv]

What do you all think of this non-immersion breaking suggestion for adding external views into the game?

View attachment 14959

Today the Sirius Sensor corporation announced a new advance in their sensor technology product range. Using patented phased sensor beams tuned to the optimum angle, frequency and aimed to intersect at the correct point, they have confirmed that these signals are able to reflect back to the sensors the view in the visible light spectrum at the point the signals intersect. This new feature will allow users of the Sirius Sensor packages (all classes and ratings) to be able inspect their ship during flight for any damage or structural flaws. As this advance only requires configuration changes it can be added to all existing sensor packages by upgrading to the latest firmware the next time you visit your nearest station with outfitting facilitates. To ensure that their customers understand how valuable to the Sirius Sensor Corporation they are, they are offering this as a free upgrade to all existing customers and for all new customers who would like to choose Sirius Sensors as their sensor package of choice. Commanders, thank you for choosing Sirius Sensor Corporation for your detection and discovery needs. Please note that using this feature will disable any normal sensor function and may disrupt shield operation. Therefore this should be used at the pilot's own risk. The Sirius Sensor Corporation is not responsible for any death or injury caused by using this new feature.

Edit:

I'd also add the view would be fixed at a point in space not in relation to the ship so it couldn't be used as an external view, only for taking screenshots, you could also have it that chaff/ECM/Point defense etc was disabled so you could still fire, but would be the equivalent of a sitting duck and would render it useless in combat. The view could also be rotated perhaps using the arrows/joystick hat and restrict the rate of turn so it'd be too slow to use in a combat situation.

I'm just trying to come up with a suggestion that fits everyone's criteria rather than just moaning.

 

[NeoRacer_XOX]

10000% I dont want a dumb drone view I cant even see myself shooting? What the heck is that..

Completely agree with this 1000x, I love the game but I'm not spending a single penny on anymore skins until I get to actually see them outside in an unrestricted fashion. I've already spent £15 on the wireframe one and the cobra pack of skins, I'd love more but there is no point in doing so at the moment

 

[Vasea Azure]

What do you all think of this non-immersion breaking suggestion for adding external views into the game?

Now that sounds very interting, nice thinking commander.

 

[narv]

Now that sounds very interting, nice thinking commander.

Thanks, I'm trying to think of positive outcomes for this, not just moan, which I've done too much of recently.

 

[Deyn]

Thanks, I'm trying to think of positive outcomes for this, not just moan, which I've done too much of recently.

I actually don't care about a "Story" to cover up for an external view. I'm fine with your story, don't get me wrong, I could also live with a "virtual render" generated by your Flight computer and sensor suite that is projected directly into your eyes and just "looks" like an external view camera.

Given that AH-64 Apache pilots can use the TADS/PNVS to look around and even THROUGH their Attack Helicopters since over 30 years, I'm even fine with a "camera arm" like in the space shuttle or the ISS...

Just give us a way to look at our ships! Make it a "dream implant" that interfaces directly with my synapses and give me the sensation of floating around my ship, if you want or must.

I'm fine with everything, that allows me to see my spacecraft in flight. Simple like that.

 

[Tox Laximus]

During docking there could be views from the station cameras pumped into the scanner display or even full screen, I miss the days of fly-by external views too and that would make some cool videos.

 

[NeilF]

^^ Great minds! Very similar idea.


This suggestion might interest some of you - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=116004

At least it will allow you to view your ship from an external perspective while docked, as well as other traffic/views around a station you're docked in.

In Starport Services put an option for "Station Cameras". When you go into it, you have a list of "views" you can scroll up/down which show various views in/around/outside the station/platform (in a large area on the interface). A couple of these views should include your ship's platform!

Maybe an option to show in fullscreen? Pan around/zoom in and out (using mouse?)?

Might be nice to flick around views outside the station, watch traffic coming through the "door", and views inside the station. And of course look at a couple views of your ship on the platform?

I'd imagine this would be a fairly straight forward feature to add, but add a bit of nice window dressing to the game. And at least we'd get a better view of our ships while they're docked!

 

[BlackMaze]

So I know this has been going on for 232 pages already, but I'll add my 2 cents First of all I just want to confirm that I as well will not spend money on cosmetics if I cannot enjoy them myself.


So I suggest a third person camera much like Warthunder does it for their Simulator Mode battles: only when you are stationary.

Also, it would be nice to have access to camera feeds in the station so that you could 'watch' yourself dock from a third person camera somewhere in the station. A couple of different angles near the entrance and walls would be nice.

 

[Sim Maker]

Its nutz.....
...
The Art team has done a stellar job on the grpahics, ships, staions, space, stars, planets, rings, look Fantastic............but, we cant SEE them..........
...
It is like opening an Art Gallery, and then making everyone look in through the windows or letter boxes............
...
I can put a GoPro on my car for a couple 100 bucks, today, on Earth.......my car.........are you saying that a 1000 years in the future, on a 10 Million credit space ship, or Trillion credit space station, with Pirates and NPCs around every asteroid, that some sort of CCTV would no be put on these ships and stations?.........Ha.....
...
And again, how useful is a camera, in the heat of combat, in a 6D world with no up and down? Its not like follwing a car in a racing game........the cars in front of you, can't just float up 300m, you know? Camera in combat would be near usless, so why external views are being stopped over that, I have no idea........
...
And it would be free adversitings for FD and Elite.......the YouTube vids would look 2-3-4x better............
...
Once again, we see the PvP debate, putting road blocks up in the game......Sigh.........

 

[dexwel]

I agree

To the devs: I'm enjoying my time in your (our) universe guys, thank you! Really enjoying the game, been enjoying it since Alpha. Great work. I just want to be clear on one thing though: I'm not spending another dime on anything cosmetic (or otherwise) until I can see my ship from the outside while in flight! The sooner that gets implemented, the sooner you can take more of my money!!

I've not bought any paint jobs and I am not going to until I have an external view, then I will buy them for ever ship I have.

Dexwel.

 

[Brandon31]

I've not bought any paint jobs and I am not going to until I have an external view, then I will buy them for ever ship I have.

Dexwel.

Same for me. Whats the point of paint jobs with no viewing options.

 

[Starlanced]

We have gopro's we can stick to a car, a quadcopter, even a plane. You mean there are no gopros in the future, maybe one that can float in space next to your ship

 

[NeilF]

We have gopro's we can stick to a car, a quadcopter, even a plane. You mean there are no gopros in the future, maybe one that can float in space next to your ship

That's along the lines of the drone approach FD would seem to be favouring...

 

[Vasea Azure]

implementing cam drone and drone mechanics will be another thing that can potentially get bugged. Also i`m pretty sure not every ship can fit the drone and so on and so on. This overcomplicated approach can only lead to weird mechanics and its not the solution - in my personal humble opinion.

 

[Deyn]

Once again, we see the PvP debate, putting road blocks up in the game......Sigh.........

Yep, and I really wonder how many players actually would care about PvP versus the ones who would focus on other stuff mostly and just occasionally hop into a combat zone... thinking of "combat zone" that would make sense as a "no external camera zone" maybe, so PvP addicts can slug it out with no external cams and everybody else, simply enjoy the views.

 

[NeilF]

implementing cam drone and drone mechanics will be another thing that can potentially get bugged. Also i`m pretty sure not every ship can fit the drone and so on and so on. This overcomplicated approach can only lead to weird mechanics and its not the solution - in my personal humble opinion.

I'd hope the whole thing would be simple and consistent. ie: No rule changing depending on where you are, ie: somehow work differently because you might be a combat situation?

The drone approach would explain the nerfs involved and indeed how you can see your ship... eg:-
- It takes 4-5 seconds to deploy your drone and dock it. During this time, your view is from the drone as it leaves/docks with your ship. This means you pay a price for using the drone, of 4-5 seconds (each way) of not being in true control of your craft.
- While using your drone, you have no HUD (or limited).
- And your rotation/panning speed could be limited to a sensible rate.

 

[Pablo-Diablo]

Just give us a simple external camera with limited zoom capabilities and a 5 second countdown. This whole drone idea is going to take ages for FD to cook up.

 

[Tox Laximus]

I got this from star trek, they use sensors to generate a external view, so its not a real external view but its generated from sensor information, in fact thats exactly what computer games do (generate images) so they can't say its impossible.

What will it take for FD to add this feature, do we have to invent a way of doing it before they will listen?