I'm finding that some planets and moons look really really tiny when you get close to them, like they're spheres in space only several ship-lengths in size...
Now this is no doubt supposed to simulate HUGE distances cuz there's really no reason to make a map that's actually several million kilometers wide/deep....
The root of the problem, as i see it, is how close we're allowed to get to the planets right now...
everything is fine until we get an inch from the planet object and can see thru the optical illusion.
So i think this can be solved by preventing us from getting too close to planets...
and this would be done by implementing a sometimes-requested feature: Standard Orbits
dstahl briefly pondered orbits around planets
here (at number 13)
Establishing a Standard Orbit would circle the ship around the planet cinematically while maintaining the distance needed to keep up the scale illusion
(post too serious... here is comic)
Comments
Geosynchronous orbit
Polar orbit
Low Earth orbit
it always looks silly going full speed directly at a planet till you almost hit the thing.
The devs have texturing issues with poles. They have texture "pinching" on most of their spherical objects - a common error in 3D art assets with spherical surfaces.
now see, the orbit track would also keep us away from the poles and any pinching one might encounter... uh, in the normal course of space exploration.
Anything is better than the current *point-your-ship-towards-the-dead-center-of-the-planet-full-speed-ahead-yehaaw-and-zone-whenever *.
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PS Cryptic devs: Please do some research on this little thing known as The Roche Limit.
But it still sounds like a good idea, so why not. If it can easily be implemented and doesn't take too much resources away from other, more pressing matters.
I am entirely onboard for re-scaling of the planets though. EPIC ftw
i'm starting to think something like a cutscene might be best cuz really, how long does anyone NEED to orbit a planet? maybe 2-3 dialog boxes and then away team select.
the whole purpose would be eye-candy.
yea, and this proves what i just said.
Instead, how about a "standard orbit course" automatically getting laid in as soon as the mission trigger is reached and your BO reports that you're in range for scans, transport or hailing the planet?
This way it ...
you're right, cut-scene was the wrong word to use... it definitely needs to be cancel-able whatever form it would take.
There is a landing party selection menu that comes up when you're about to beam down. You could merge that with standard orbit visuals, as in make that menu selection screen involve added visual elements. Loss of time would be equal to just using or skipping the existing menu.
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(I'm sorry if my text is too ambiguous?
I was quoted using the word, yet the above poster was made to explain himself. Seemed unfair.
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This would force your ship to curve around the edge of the planet more.
No popup. No AI. Just a transparent shell.
Starfleet Command nailed it with a predefined orbit you entered from free flight at the push of a button. You could break away at will.
Sadly the zones here lack that kind of standardisation, can you even complete the orbit around all of the planets? Seem to recall meeting the "wall" on some maps.
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As for completing the orbit, I guess that depends on the map. Last time when my Starfleet cruiser responded to an in-character request for assistance for the mission where you go retrieve the Orb from the MU, we got "lost" and ended up completing an entire circumnavigation of the planet on the map. It did take about two minutes to complete the cicle, by the way, even at full impulse. Then again, this was a very large planet. Most seem to be smaller.
ends up lookin like our ships are the size of Australia...
Larger orbits of moons and asteroids, yes.
Not quite sold on the standard orbit idea yet though.
On a related note, if nothing else, when I am close enough to a planet for my ship to start rumbling, and the screen to go white, I want damage.
I want an atmosphere thick enough to engage in combat, hide from enemies, seek refuge while I repair, and other clever maneuvers. I want an environment where the amount of damage recieved is directly proportional to the size of my craft and its velocity. Shuttles, being small, take no damage in most atmospheres, Large cruisers have to move at a crawl.
I also want environments similar to this in thick nebulae, gas giants, planetary rings, etc. Star trek has given us many lovely environments, and space itself holds more. I want to hunt archeological ruins of uber ancient civilizations on a partially shredded planet caught in a black hole's accretion disk.
Oh, and when I hit an asteroid at full impulse, I should be dead. Lower speeds can do lower amounts of damage, sure, and the bigger I am, the better I can handle it, maybe, but I should take at least SOME damage.