Starfield background

[Jenner]

I'm thrilled that there will be a 'real' skybox in the game based on the galaxy map! It's really unique and adds a lot to the experience.

One of the things (one of the few) that I did like about EVE was seeing all the different skyboxes. Ok, sure, they were art than science and they weren't based on an actual galaxy map, but it's still cool. However, as I recall, if you plotted a course to a nearby star you could see the course outlined on the skybox map. Hmm... But I'm pretty sure the skyboxes weren't accurate. Anyone know what trickery was at work there?

 

[Capt. Hook]

Quasars are a 'little bit' too far away...and nebulae are in fact aftershocks from supernovae in many cases.

hehe, until you trip up over one, new to science just before it trashes your atoms across the cosmos!

 

[jedt]

... If we end up with Acid Trip #240, I'll be quick to voice my disapproval.

.

ah... wasn't so good for you then eh? well, you were advised to try #125 but would you listen?

 

[laforge]

hehe, until you trip up over one, new to science just before it trashes your atoms across the cosmos!

I dont want to lecture you but you cant really trip up over a quasar...the only thing in our galaxy which can be compared to such an object is the central black hole, although it is not 'active' like quasars are (meaning it doesnt have a significant accretion disk and jets).

But what you should encounter are 'ordinary' black holes like cygnus x1. You will get disintegrated into your atoms by these too

 

[Nagual]

I keep on glancing suspiciously at the pics we're sent, checking to see if any unicorns have micturated in the spacewater. There's normally a faint trace of widdle, which is just enough to keep me suspicious and on guard... If we end up with Acid Trip #240, I'll be quick to voice my disapproval.

On the whole though, the nebula have been a reassuring brown. Mind you, they may go disco-crazy when we're travelling at superfast speeds, but I'd probably enjoy that.

Throw in some not-normally-seen magnetic fields and you're in for a rare treat..

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

<nods> I too hope that dust and nebulae are not over-done - occasional, rather than standard.

I think there is a feature that allows us to mine gas from certain nebulae. I can see them ones being quite concentrated. But on the whole I agree, hopefully the vast majority are not over-done and remain diffuse.

 

[Norbert]

I wonder how often they will refresh the skybox though. Cause in supercruise travel for instance, there might be some need to update it quite a lot. Thus, if each time it calculates the position of each visible star to print it, might be very consuming in terms of calculations. As well, is the skybox just a frontal 2D image or a bubble all around the ship?

 

[Oss133]

I wonder how often they will refresh the skybox though. Cause in supercruise travel for instance, there might be some need to update it quite a lot. Thus, if each time it calculates the position of each visible star to print it, might be very consuming in terms of calculations. As well, is the skybox just a frontal 2D image or a bubble all around the ship?

Supercruise will be for in-system travel so I doubt there will be much need for change.

However, if FD intend to avoid the "tunnels in space" approach to hyperspace, as hinted at in the capital ship vid, then this will probably be addressed there.

But, as you computer is not doing much else with the game during hyperspace travel, just updating the skybox is probably going to be relatively stress free.

I would love it if that were the case.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

I wonder how often they will refresh the skybox though. Cause in supercruise travel for instance, there might be some need to update it quite a lot. Thus, if each time it calculates the position of each visible star to print it, might be very consuming in terms of calculations. As well, is the skybox just a frontal 2D image or a bubble all around the ship?

Well, why do you think there's minimal requirement 4 core CPU with min 2.0 Ghz each?

For supercruise there's very little if any difference to normal speed. While supercruise will times faster than normal, it still will be too slow to see any noticeable changes in skybox.

 

[Tinman]

I wonder how often they will refresh the skybox though. Cause in supercruise travel for instance, there might be some need to update it quite a lot. Thus, if each time it calculates the position of each visible star to print it, might be very consuming in terms of calculations. As well, is the skybox just a frontal 2D image or a bubble all around the ship?

As mentioned above this isn't necessary since super-cruise is done within a system and therefore the skybox won't need to be updated. I do hope to see the stars move relative to each other when jumping between systems though. As seen in the beginning of the Capital ship video.

This is actually not very consuming at all since a star is basically just a point in space. A point in space in a game is called a "vertex" and in a current AAA title a single human model may consist of more than 10,000 vertices. We can only see roughly 6000 stars with the unaided eye (and that is if you count in all directions). In other words, if your computer can handle one single AAA model it can also handle the stars positions with ease.

Play around with SpaceEngine and you'll see that rendering the stars themselves is pretty light in terms of computational power compared to everything else in that engine.

 

[CaptGrumpyPants]

Thanks for the insight, however when you say that super-cruise is sub c or approx. c, then it also may take around 8 minutes for every AU. Traveling within a star system may not be comfortable even at this speed.

It took at least that long IIRC in the original Elite and that didn't cause me any fits. I don't have a problem with that; we ARE supposed to be traveling great distances.

Though, I suppose today a large portion of the population suffers from severe instant gratification syndrome where more than 30 consecutive seconds of silence are a terrifying and abysmal hell What is the point of simulating a galaxy to explore if you can get anywhere instantly?

 

[Dr Wookie]

But in that case the galaxy map must have a sufficient depth of several hundred up to thousands of light years (dependent on the location) full of stars to create a realistic background. In FFE for example the depth were maybe 20 light years with only a couple of stars in each sector. I am curious of how this will be handled

My question were also related to extended objects like nebulae or 'pillars of creation' which will look different from various perspectives.

Hey laforge ,
thanks to dust and other crud in the way, we can only see as far as maybe 3000 ly in visble light. In other regions of space, the distance could be a lot lower.

One way to justify a reduced "draw"distance would be to say that your cockpit is brightly lit, meaning that you won't be sufficiently dark-adapted to see the many fainter stars.

I hate to break it to you, but the Pillars of Creation won't look anything like the pictures we've seen!

The famous picture is constructed from different bands of infrared light that correspond to specific elements (or maybe molecules.

 

[Odeskypher]

Hey laforge ,
thanks to dust and other crud in the way, we can only see as far as maybe 3000 ly in visble light. In other regions of space, the distance could be a lot lower.

One way to justify a reduced "draw"distance would be to say that your cockpit is brightly lit, meaning that you won't be sufficiently dark-adapted to see the many fainter stars.

I hate to break it to you, but the Pillars of Creation won't look anything like the pictures we've seen!

The famous picture is constructed from different bands of infrared light that correspond to specific elements (or maybe molecules.

Apparently the pillars of creation were destroyed about 6000 years ago by a supernova blast, and we'll still be getting light from them for another 1000 years or so. This observation blows my mind, constantly.

Article

 

[Sparticus]

Apparently the pillars of creation were destroyed about 6000 years ago by a supernova blast, and we'll still be getting light from them for another 1000 years or so. This observation blows my mind, constantly.

Article

Yes they are very impressive.

Below is one of my favorites - the Hand Of God.

Spoiler

 

[Tinman]

Yes they are very impressive.

Below is one of my favorites - the Hand Of God.

Spoiler

I wonder who ed him off...considering that the area that the "hand" seems to be touching looks like a huge explosion!

 

[humbleton]

Play around with SpaceEngine and you'll see that rendering the stars themselves is pretty light in terms of computational power compared to everything else in that engine.

Lovely ... been messing about with that for the last hour or so. It's extremely interesting. Gives you real sense of space. If elite is half as good I will be happy. BIG SPACE ... yeah!

 

[laforge]

Though, I suppose today a large portion of the population suffers from severe instant gratification syndrome where more than 30 consecutive seconds of silence are a terrifying and abysmal hell What is the point of simulating a galaxy to explore if you can get anywhere instantly?

Imo i am glad we have something like microjumps, because i am not going to stare ~4 hours at the screen when i want to travel from neptune to the sun...

I hate to break it to you, but the Pillars of Creation won't look anything like the pictures we've seen!

Yea i know that they are false images. My point was the view of these structures from various perspectives. (If you would not see anything then there is no point in discussing nebulae in the starfield background anyways).