I would like to suggest that the ‘high wake’ jumping animation is revised.
The galaxy of Elite is just quite incredible; to be able to go and explore a 1:1, astrophysically accurate simulation of the Milky Way is amazing. The number of screenshots and shared stories created by Cmdrs shows just what an awesome thing Frontier have created.
However, for me, the swirling mist animation which plays whilst jumping between systems contrasts with the high quality of the in-system experience. It clearly works as both a loading screen and a representation of travel time across immense galactic distances but it removes me from the Galaxy at a point when I would most like to be aware of the immense distances which I am covering and of the structure of the galaxy around me. This is very notable with nebula; I would like to be able to see these massive, incredible structures as I travel to and around, within them. I want to see Barnards Star getting larger and larger until it wraps around my tiny ship, I want to travel down the O-type highway through the Siren of the Spinward Stars!
Practically; the assets and systems exist within the game to allow this to happen: the galactic map is a wonderful thing to explore gives you a great sense of the structure and spectacle of galactic features. I've spent a long time just exploring nebular; seeing the way they can change from clouds, to blooms, to trumpets. Finding clusters of stars at the edges of the galaxy and then realising that there is a gulf, a rift, and impassable gap. Could jumping show you moving through this map? Judging by the map's loading time, the full version would not really be compatible with a loading screen but by limiting the map range and stripping it back to just galactic features without any informative overlays and, obviously, by restricting the display to the one path you are travelling, I would be happy with a 10, 20 or even 30% increase in jump/loading time.
The lore is that whilst ‘jumping’ you are in ‘witch space’. Witch space interacts with normal space in two significant ways; you can jump into it and out of it and it is affected by mass. This is consistent with an Alcubierre drive warp bubble as, although this would exist within normal space (ie you continue to be affected by gravity/mass), this would be a separate ‘state’. If the Thargoids live within witch space then maybe they have a control of ‘warping’ which we can only guess at. There would be not be much additional image processing: you are not ‘moving’ so there’s no red-shift though there would be lensing in front and behind. The existing space dust, which helps create a sense of speed, may cause misty clouds to swirl up in front and away behind though, interestingly, the view to the side would be quite clear and would appear stationary. I'm hoping some of the astrophysicists will be able to give a better idea of this?
I realise that this is not a major thing; there’s no big gameplay revolution here, no new content, but a lot of time is spent jumping, particularly when exploring, so it would be a wonderful thing to get a sense of the scale and spectacle of the galaxy. Frontier; you have created a wonderful, wonderful galaxy, please draw back the curtains of mist and let it shine!
The galaxy of Elite is just quite incredible; to be able to go and explore a 1:1, astrophysically accurate simulation of the Milky Way is amazing. The number of screenshots and shared stories created by Cmdrs shows just what an awesome thing Frontier have created.
However, for me, the swirling mist animation which plays whilst jumping between systems contrasts with the high quality of the in-system experience. It clearly works as both a loading screen and a representation of travel time across immense galactic distances but it removes me from the Galaxy at a point when I would most like to be aware of the immense distances which I am covering and of the structure of the galaxy around me. This is very notable with nebula; I would like to be able to see these massive, incredible structures as I travel to and around, within them. I want to see Barnards Star getting larger and larger until it wraps around my tiny ship, I want to travel down the O-type highway through the Siren of the Spinward Stars!
Practically; the assets and systems exist within the game to allow this to happen: the galactic map is a wonderful thing to explore gives you a great sense of the structure and spectacle of galactic features. I've spent a long time just exploring nebular; seeing the way they can change from clouds, to blooms, to trumpets. Finding clusters of stars at the edges of the galaxy and then realising that there is a gulf, a rift, and impassable gap. Could jumping show you moving through this map? Judging by the map's loading time, the full version would not really be compatible with a loading screen but by limiting the map range and stripping it back to just galactic features without any informative overlays and, obviously, by restricting the display to the one path you are travelling, I would be happy with a 10, 20 or even 30% increase in jump/loading time.
The lore is that whilst ‘jumping’ you are in ‘witch space’. Witch space interacts with normal space in two significant ways; you can jump into it and out of it and it is affected by mass. This is consistent with an Alcubierre drive warp bubble as, although this would exist within normal space (ie you continue to be affected by gravity/mass), this would be a separate ‘state’. If the Thargoids live within witch space then maybe they have a control of ‘warping’ which we can only guess at. There would be not be much additional image processing: you are not ‘moving’ so there’s no red-shift though there would be lensing in front and behind. The existing space dust, which helps create a sense of speed, may cause misty clouds to swirl up in front and away behind though, interestingly, the view to the side would be quite clear and would appear stationary. I'm hoping some of the astrophysicists will be able to give a better idea of this?
I realise that this is not a major thing; there’s no big gameplay revolution here, no new content, but a lot of time is spent jumping, particularly when exploring, so it would be a wonderful thing to get a sense of the scale and spectacle of the galaxy. Frontier; you have created a wonderful, wonderful galaxy, please draw back the curtains of mist and let it shine!
: 4..3...2...1 ::Queue Indiana Jones music:: watch a fat red line travel from current location to destination.) Ok maybe that would not be as good as i first thought.
