What is that visual effect supposed to be?

Jupsto

J
For example at the start of this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIPVegyKksI

You can see the stars in the background. What are all these lights going past immediately outside the spaceship supposed to be?

It looks like space debris with light bulbs attached.

They look so close that they must be bouncing off your ship and so big they they would surely destroy your ship.

I find myself very perplexed that nobody else seems to be noticing this, considering how realistic the game is trying to be.

I realise that its very possible that it IS realistic, and I'm just ignorant. If so please educate me.
 

Dinosawer

Dinosawer
They're there to indicate where you're going, without them you wouldn't know if you were flying backwards, forwards, sideways or not at all. Don't know what the in-game explanation is, maybe they're projected onto your canopy as a visual aid by the flight computer?
 
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Rog

Rog
It's 'space dust' as used in Win 95 screensavers.... :)

Personally, although I understand why it's there, I can't stand it. We were told ages ago by the devs that a request to have an option to tone it down/deactivate it had been submitted, but there's been nothing since. Here's hoping.

For reference, here's a video from Alpha 2.01 where due to a glitch there was no dust:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1j5372Gkbw

Looks *loads* better imho.
 

stephen_usher

stephen_usher
In previous alpha releases the HUD had vernier indicator lines which showed speed and direction in all planes and the space plankton, as I call it.

In the forums this was discussed quite a bit with a large majority wanting to get rid of the space plankton. It seems that FD has decided to ignore this feedback.

The space plankton effect CAN be useful for those with flight assist turned off to determine that they're pointing directly forwards or backwards but I can think of some far better ways to do this than polluting the whole display and potentially masking important distant objects.
 

Erimus Kamzel

Erimus Kamzel
Rog said:
It's 'space dust' as used in Win 95 screensavers.... :)

Personally, although I understand why it's there, I can't stand it. We were told ages ago by the devs that a request to have an option to tone it down/deactivate it had been submitted, but there's been nothing since. Here's hoping.

For reference, here's a video from Alpha 2.01 where due to a glitch there was no dust:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1j5372Gkbw

Looks *loads* better imho.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I really hope we can turn it off, or at least tone it down.
 

xyphic

X
stephen_usher said:
In the forums this was discussed quite a bit with a large majority wanting to get rid of the space plankton. It seems that FD has decided to ignore this feedback.
Click to expand...
That's a bit of a premature statement to make. The suggestion to at least allow the effect to be toned down was pretty well received by FD, but it's likely to be low priority compared to the addition of planned features and bug fixing. I wouldn't be surprised if the option appears at some point, but I wouldn't expect it immediately. :)
 

Patrick_68000

Patrick_68000
Rog said:
It's 'space dust' as used in Win 95 screensavers.... :)

Personally, although I understand why it's there, I can't stand it. We were told ages ago by the devs that a request to have an option to tone it down/deactivate it had been submitted, but there's been nothing since. Here's hoping.

For reference, here's a video from Alpha 2.01 where due to a glitch there was no dust:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1j5372Gkbw

Looks *loads* better imho.
Click to expand...

Erimus said:
Agreed. I really hope we can turn it off, or at least tone it down.
Click to expand...

Yes the personal possibility to intervene is desirable. This dust can become distressing in time and for some people, visually sensitive
 

stephen_usher

stephen_usher
Erimus said:
Agreed. I really hope we can turn it off, or at least tone it down.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, now they've removed the direction/speed indicators from the HUD in normal space, this is the only method to gauge these things. FD went the opposite way to what the vast majority of the community wanted.
 

JeffRyan

JeffRyan
It was stated very early on that the space dust will be an option. (It's already pencilled in). It just hasn't been done yet.

I don't like it. I find it distracting.
 

warbaby2

warbaby2
Ixnatifual said:
It's a common way to indicate movement in space games. Not very realistic, but useful for gameplay purposes.
Click to expand...

True, still it's an antiquated tool that could easily be replaced with proper, absolutely realistic/immersive holographic indicators... I don't really know why FD is so conservativly clinging to this "feature".
 

CMDR Crumpeteer

CMDR Crumpeteer
It's completely overused in space games. I'd much prefer an indicator in the UI to relay that kind of information, possibly as part of the radar if it doesn't clutter too much.
 

Slawkenbergius

Slawkenbergius
stephen_usher said:
FD went the opposite way to what the vast majority of the community wanted.
Click to expand...

I do hope that the direction indicators return, and that there's a HUD settings panel that lets us choose our level of space dust. Vast majority' is a bit of an exaggeration though. The vast majority didn't even enter the discussion, and even then it was more of a normal-sized majority.

Given that a lot of people here didn't/couldn't follow the discussion, it seems unfair to make it sound like Frontier have been anything but receptive to feedback. They're still in the process of finalising the HUD, so it would probably suit your cause better to leave feedback in a constructive way, rather than getting political.
 

Globusdiablo

Globusdiablo
Welcome aboard Commander!

Jupsto said:
For example at the start of this video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIPVegyKksI

You can see the stars in the background. What are all these lights going past immediately outside the spaceship supposed to be?

It looks like space debris with light bulbs attached.

They look so close that they must be bouncing off your ship and so big they they would surely destroy your ship.

I find myself very perplexed that nobody else seems to be noticing this, considering how realistic the game is trying to be.

I realise that its very possible that it IS realistic, and I'm just ignorant. If so please educate me.
Click to expand...

Hey Jupsto! Excellent first post. Welcome aboard Commander! :)
As others have stated already, it's a gameplay mechanic to visually display direction/movement.

I quite like space without it, as seen in Rog's post. I hope it becomes an in-game toggle/slider option:

Rog said:
It's 'space dust' as used in Win 95 screensavers.... :)

Personally, although I understand why it's there, I can't stand it. We were told ages ago by the devs that a request to have an option to tone it down/deactivate it had been submitted, but there's been nothing since. Here's hoping.

For reference, here's a video from Alpha 2.01 where due to a glitch there was no dust:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1j5372Gkbw

Looks *loads* better imho.
Click to expand...

Fly safe Commander! :)
 
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