Entry in witch-space - why is it so poor?

[Lord_Crazy]

Straight to the point: witch-space is very nice, just like approaching a star after leaving it. But entry in witch-space is just a little blue thingy while the rest of the screen is getting dark. Where is the animation like super cruise with planets and stars around being blurred? Since we know that type of travel is based on compression of space, why don't we see things around us getting more and more blurred and/or distorted as we are about to jump?

Am I the only one to think loading before entry to witch-space deserves better?

 

[Tinman]

Straight to the point: witch-space is very nice, just like approaching a star after leaving it. But entry in witch-space is just a little blue thingy while the rest of the screen is getting dark. Where is the animation like super cruise with planets and stars around being blurred? Since we know that type of travel is based on compression of space, why don't we see things around us getting more and more blurred and/or distorted as we are about to jump?

Am I the only one to think loading before entry to witch-space deserves better?

No, I agree.

There are also several things that could be done with Witchspace itself to give it a more seamless impression of flying through the galaxy (while still serving it's function of a "loading screen"), but this is far from a priority at the moment.

 

[yyy]

You are asking for presentation over content. When FDevs are trying to provide better in-game content, presentation is going to take a lower priority.

 

[Zplintz]

Can't see how improvements in this area would improve gameplay so this would have a zero priority for me.

 

[Lord_Crazy]

I agree with all of you: it's far from being a priority. But I am still surprised that they cannot do with witch-space what they did with super cruise.
That being said content is not the only things, and a game is always better with an additional polishing.

 

[ralf_maeder]

I also agree that the visual part could be more elaborate in this area. After almost 7 months of playing ED I am getting bored by this stuttering Hyperjump graphics. Also why does the seuqence have to take so long, just a waste of time. I don't suppose that ED needs so much time to load the new system!?

In respect to the blurring, I would love to see more of it during the whole supercruise, maybe toned down a bit to not disturb so much. But there should be some visual hint that we are limited in our actions (no weapons).

 

[n13L5]

Can't how improvements in this area would improve gameplay so this would have a zero priority for me.

Given, that I have to use it more than a lot, and it looks like flying through cancerous intestines / moldy ketchup / some approximation of Event Horizon's ungodly horror, I would much prefer a more Sci-Fi looking hyper jump than a horror looking hyper jump. It really disgusts me to look at that.

To MAKE it more of a priority, and since its just an animation, I'd love for them to offer custom jump animations in different flavors in the store. I'd pay 6 or 10 bucks for a less gruesome hyper jump - either just very plain with stars zooming by, or I'd also take some sacred geometry thing with sound of the spheres.

I'm not joking, I've spent 150 bucks so far just on paint jobs I can't see and that I don't even find particularly great, other than the Onion Head paint for the Cobra.

I want to give you more money, but you're not giving me opportunity.

To make paint jobs slightly more tangible, you could set certain parts of the cockpit to match the paint job, dunno...


Here's some stuff I'd pay for:

Quality of Life customizations:

- Less unpleasant hyperspace animations.

- better voice for the ship computer. (like the one they used in beta, they already created that one)

- Customized cockpit versions. (Since the cockpit IS the game, customizing that would have the most appeal, you're staring at it all day)

- strut-less window glass on the FDL. (the offset pilot position makes the struts a daily visual annoyance)

- UI color schemes. (I know, we can alter the UI, but the number system prevents you from making alternate schemes that really work. For example, its impossible to set up a UI scheme using white text, without allied stations and ships starting to showing in red. So FD-made UI color schemes without those detrimental effects would be better and worth paying for.

Decorative stuff:

- A new unicolor paint job set - with popular colors from car manufacturers, including British Racing Green, a much more beautiful dark blue than the totally wrong, purplish "Cobalt blue" (that's nowhere near cobalt blue at all) from the tactical paintjob set. A fire engine / Ferrari red that's darker than the one from the Vibrant set. A proper black without stripes or other weird stuff. A silver metallic like the Viper paint job that was sold as "Chrome"

I can't think of a sixth color for the pack, but I'm sure someone else can.

- Decals. All we got are Eliite rank decals and smileys from the Onion Head paint job. I think there's a fair amount of money to be made on decals. Should there be any lack of ideas for decals, one image search for "decal symbol logo" on google should solve that problem instantly.

Is there a small team to make virtual items for the store or is the store just the gardener's seventh step child?

If that was my store, it would be loaded with stuff you can actually see in-game - I think FD is throwing away money.

 

[[HJ]-RedRaven]

The witchspace sequence takes a bit of time to render the stars. All the stars local to you are rendered in their correct position. 10,000 or so from memory (source unknown, here somewhere I think)

If you go to Sol, you can see actual constellations (Scorpio, Orion, Crux and many others). I'm not sure how far out the star shader works (some far away stars that are part of commonly recognisable constellations seem to be renedered all the time)
If you go to Alpha Centauri right next door to Sol, the stars have shifted a bit.

The star magnitude is a ittle off, but its a grand job in that star shader alone.

When you first load the game, the shader counter is doing the same calculation (as you always start in a system, and it needs the stars worked out from scratch each time.)

The witchspace sequence is used to hide the starfield shader calculation, and also to load you into the destination systems instance (which may involve a change of server I guess). The stars cannot be pre-rendered (at least not within reasonable file sizes).

So yeah, there is some shuddering - its not a smooth transition (you try working out the positions of 10,000 stars that quick lol), and network connections always give a bit of a judder. Just chill, and enjoy the ride, and thank your deity that FSD drives don't break mid-transit... wait...

 

[Whiterose]

Puts tin hat on....Actually I quite like it. I preferred the audio in 1.0 as I swear I could hear voices, made it a bit spooky, but the graphics are fine. I tend to be attending to my flight log during hyperspace anyway.

 

[Shadowcommander]

I think that witch space is fine as it is, /i can see stars flashing pass and I definitely get the feeling of movement. Wait until the Thargoids drag you out of it, then you'll be quite happy with Witch space and hoping it will end soon

 

[n13L5]

After almost 7 months of playing ED I am getting bored by this stuttering Hyperjump graphics. Also why does the seuqence have to take so long, just a waste of time. I don't suppose that ED needs so much time to load the new system!?

- Stuttering might be your computer, as mine does not stutter - ever. (I do get stutter in super cruise, but that only since 1.3, after they "fixed" the stutter other people were apparently having.)

- I do believe the hyper jump animation goes on exactly for as long as the other system is loading. I can tell to some degree, because if my connection is slow, my hyper jump can start taking twice as long, or I even get disconnected at the end.

(maybe they could optimize by starting to load that system as soon as start charging your FSD, but then again, they might already be doing that)

 

[Cooperman]

what do you mean witch space. thats where the Thargoids are and we havn't got them yet ???

 

[Lord_Crazy]

Thanks for all the inputs, but please remember I am not talking about graphics in witch-space as such (which I love by the way), but the animation during the countdown.

- - - Updated - - -

what do you mean witch space. thats where the Thargoids are and we havn't got them yet ???

Witch-space is what we cross when jumping from one system to another. Unlike super cruise it requires us to go through something like another dimension if I understood well. I like it, except the count down part where nothing happens except things getting dark and a little blueish effect.

 

[Arjin]

Puts tin hat on....Actually I quite like it. I preferred the audio in 1.0 as I swear I could hear voices, made it a bit spooky, but the graphics are fine. I tend to be attending to my flight log during hyperspace anyway.

I'm with you, I quite like it. It's also very subjective. I like how it starts to creep up on you, can see the hole getting bigger getting closer and closer until bam your off.

 

[Hellhawk666]

I have no problem with the whole sequence at all (in fact I really like the graphics) apart from a minor quibble over the inevitable stutter just after the hyperspace jump starts. Interestingly it's the one thing that every person I've shown the game to has commented on: "Nice hyperspace effect - shame about that stuttering affect, though" etc.

It's a trivial thing, but always catches my eye. I'd have thought there would be a way to preload a longer initial animation so the stuttering could be masked. But meh.

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

I have no problem with the whole sequence at all (in fact I really like the graphics) apart from a minor quibble over the inevitable stutter just after the hyperspace jump starts. Interestingly it's the one thing that every person I've shown the game to has commented on: "Nice hyperspace effect - shame about that stuttering affect, though" etc.

It's a trivial thing, but always catches my eye. I'd have thought there would be a way to preload a longer initial animation so the stuttering could be masked. But meh.

I like it too. Apart from the stutter of course.

and in4b all the "it's just a loading screen it doesn't matter" nonsense.

 

[Arjin]

I like it too. Apart from the stutter of course.

and in4b all the "it's just a loading screen it doesn't matter" nonsense.

The only way to avoid the stutter in hyperspace is to stop it from being animated.. as there would be nothing to reflect the hard drive loading the new system...