Small detail changes which could improve sense of scale in ED

[Quantis Trap]

I love this game and don't want this to be a rant about sense of scale in ED, but rather a list of the graphical areas which could be improved with relatively small effort in order to impart a better sense of scale in the game.

As just one example, the outfitting hanger screen is a huge space but even with the big ships doesn't convey it's massive scale because of details like the wire bundles which are tied to the ceiling and huge light panels. A hanger big enough to hold an Anaconda would be far bigger than almost any aircraft hanger on earth today and yet it looks like a large basement!

If you guys want to help me with making a list, I'll try to date it on this thread. If there has already been a thread which has done this, please make us aware.

Thanks

 

[GunnerBill]

1. VR.

 

[Stealthie]

The outfitting screen is, frankly, not fit for purpose.

As a result of the camera being constrained inside the hangar, it's often impossible to tell what part of a ship you're even looking at when you're attempting to fit things like weapons and utility modules.

I can understand why the in-game hangar is that size but the outfitting screen needs to be updated to make it easier to see what you're doing.

It might be nice if, perhaps, there was a separate "hangar" (perhaps part of the shipyard?) which simply allowed you to look around your ships, not unlike the hangar in Star Citizen, even if it's only with the camera rather than in first-person.
Ideally that could show the selected ship in the foreground and a few of your other ships in the background to provide a sense of scale.

 

[Quantis Trap]

1. VR.

While that's a good example in many ways, it's not something with a relatively quick fix.

 

[Quantis Trap]

The outfitting screen is, frankly, not fit for purpose.

As a result of the camera being constrained inside the hangar, it's often impossible to tell what part of a ship you're even looking at when you're attempting to fit things like weapons and utility modules.

I can understand why the in-game hangar is that size but the outfitting screen needs to be updated to make it easier to see what you're doing.

It might be nice if, perhaps, there was a separate "hangar" (perhaps part of the shipyard?) which simply allowed you to look around your ships, not unlike the hangar in Star Citizen, even if it's only with the camera rather than in first-person.
Ideally that could show the selected ship in the foreground and a few of your other ships in the background to provide a sense of scale.

These are good thoughts, but not helpful for the topic I was hoping to stick with.

 

[MottiKhan]

Double supercruise times.

(hides in basement)

 

[pnellesen]

Double supercruise times.

(hides in basement)

You are a bad person.

 

[GraXXoR]

1. VR.

/thread

 

[Ian Skippy]

OP is correct, adding simple objects for reference will help a lot. Even better would be some animated people walking about.

/thread

No. Most people dont have VR, so its a non-solution.

 

[GraXXoR]

While that's a good example in many ways, it's not something with a relatively quick fix.

Perhaps you misunderstood those two letters and the poster. It was posted as a solution, not a problem. Just wear a VR headset and IMMMEDIATELY the scale becomes apparent.

To be honest, there is nothing to relate to to judge scale. No bananas and “we are dispatching groundcrew” is a lie. Nobody comes.

 

[GraXXoR]

OP is correct, adding simple objects for reference will help a lot. Even better would be some animated people walking about.



No. Most people dont have VR, so its a non-solution.

If you start an answer with a self congratulatory “no” then I will laugh at you...

Nice try but you’re employing a Logical fallacy. Just because most people don’t have VR does not invalidate the solution.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Perhaps you misunderstood those two letters and the poster. It was posted as a solution, not a problem. Just wear a VR headset and IMMMEDIATELY the scale becomes apparent.

If you start an answer with a self congratulatory “no” then I will laugh at you...

http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/583/267/e8a.gif

Nice try but you’re employing a Logical fallacy. Just because most people don’t have VR does not invalidate the solution.

I sincerely doubt 'just buy a $300 headset and a $400 GPU plus possibly upgrade your CPU.' is really a good solution to a general issue. Adding a banana actually would be better.

 

[GraXXoR]

You are still missing the point. A VR headset is a solution. Look at the post prior to it for an alternative solution

Also OP posts “small detail changes which could improve sense of scale” then doesn’t even offer one, let alone multiple as implied by her use of plural.

 

[Quantis Trap]

LOL! This is all very intertaining but not as informative to the subject as I was hoping!

OP is correct, adding simple objects for reference will help a lot. Even better would be some animated people walking about.

Thanks, and I like the idea of adding simple objects (like vehicles and crates with they already have the assets for) etc.

 

[Henri]

You are still missing the point. A VR headset is a solution. Look at the post prior to it for an alternative solution

Also OP posts “small detail changes which could improve sense of scale” then doesn’t even offer one, let alone multiple as implied by her use of plural.

in VR scale is better but still broken because it's all regular stuff really big, bit like the canopies on most ships.
add to that that railings and doors are too small then scale in vr is just different.

also if scale was correct i doubt you would be able to see the whole ship

 

[Slopey]

also if scale was correct i doubt you would be able to see the whole ship

The scale is perfectly correct. Just pop on your VR headset and you'll see that it is. You're never going to be able to represent scale properly on a 2D monitor - and if you adjust something to give a *sense* of scale, you're actually just going to make it unrealistic.

The only way to appreciate scale properly is in proper 3D, and currently, that requires VR for the technology we have currently available to us.

 

[JonSnowman]

The scale is perfectly correct. Just pop on your VR headset and you'll see that it is. You're never going to be able to represent scale properly on a 2D monitor - and if you adjust something to give a *sense* of scale, you're actually just going to make it unrealistic.

The only way to appreciate scale properly is in proper 3D, and currently, that requires VR for the technology we have currently available to us.

The scale might be correct but because the FOV and camera is not adjustable (to a large enough degree), it will never look correct.

Regardless of the size of your monitor everyone sees the same things on screen which is ridiculous. The only way to get the right FOV without VR would be to use a projector.

And claiming that VR is the solution is the stupidest, most lazy response...every single racing or flight sim created in the last 15 years handles FOV and screen rendering better than this game does.

Hot tip, go load up the starter area in Star Citizen and look at how it feels staring up at the great big gas giant in front of you...

 

[Captain N]

Hot tip, go load up the starter area in Star Citizen and look at how it feels staring up at the great big gas giant in front of you...

It feels like looking at a small, flat picture about 1 metre in front of me, like every 2D game does on my monitor.

Yes, as another VR user I felt obligated to barge in and express my smugness at this thread.

 

[Jenner]

OP is correct, adding simple objects for reference will help a lot. Even better would be some animated people walking about.

Showing people near the landing pads would do wonders for immersion and for size reference.

 

[Stealthie]

Showing people near the landing pads would do wonders for immersion and for size reference.

More-so than the vehicles and buildings we can already see?

Trouble is, it's mostly your own ship for which there's no sense of scale and that's because you can't see it because you're inside it, looking at the rest of the world.
I can be sat in my Cutter, looking at an Annie hovering over an outpost and think "Blimey! That thing is gigantic" but I still won't have any sense that my ship is even bigger.

It doesn't really matter whether you're looking at trees or buildings or vehicles or people because, as far as you're concerned, your "ship" is just a dashboard directly in front of you.

VR helps with this because it provides depth of field and helps you get an idea of how far "in front of you" your canopy is, which adds to the sense of scale, but it doesn't solve the problem completely.