Proposal for Reticle System & a Ship Attitude Relative to Ta

[baobobafet]

My last attempt at this post got completely mangled beyond recognition via the mailing list so, I am reposting this thread to the new forum in a hopefully more readable format. Note: looks like all the pics got truncated - but originals can be found in the art source files or here: http://imageshack.us/f/199/h2k.png/ (Edit: added direct links below pics)


Ship Attitude Relative to Target Indicator

- Complex reticle
http://imageshack.us/a/img199/3044/h2k.png

Preferably read the below text before watching the below youtube link - (since it goes into more detail on potential reticle uses)

Best viewed in HD if possible:
YouTube link (3min47sec) 1920x1080HD http://youtu.be/pX9XdI1A25c
1280x720HD http://youtu.be/VYf9JbakdaA





Art source files for TYPE 1 & 2 reticles including custom icons are complete and available here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?412s1ef8wfuw71t
(a text .rtf copy on the gist of this post is also included with the art source files)

This is a proposal for use of 'in game' select-able custom reticles, visible from fixed cockpit and bottom camera views.
May be used to help enable a pilot to manually perform flawless 3 point landings, and can improve overall awareness of ship position & attitude relative to any target or surface.

This is an alternative general purpose reticle (layer) with degree scale supporting the 'approximate' default cockpit FOV. Created in a 15 degree Polar co-ords map format with clock position references 12-6, 3-9 more common to flight terminology and incorporating a 45 degree angle reference.

Concentric circles are in 10 degree increments extending from zero center to about 50 degrees deviation (horizontally) and 30 degrees deviation (vertically) owing to screen aspect ratio.
Improved ring placement and accuracy of markings would require some feedback. (config.ini FOV setting might also be tweaked)

- Simple color visibility
http://imageshack.us/a/img4/525/wue.png

Most reticles are created in standard 'HUD green' - Additional variants of similar design are included in blue, yellow and red.
Black and white elements are incorporated into most reticles to help maintain contrast - even against similarly colored backgrounds (check reticle against color charts)

3 basic reticle types:
Simple - Bulls-eye with cross and 45 degree angle reference
Intermediate – All above with clock points
Complex – All above with spokes at 15 degrees increments
(complex reticle variants with brighter spokes are included in the art source files)

- Complex color visibility
http://imageshack.us/a/img534/4176/q0k.png

1080x1920 versions available:
(I have scaled these to as low as 600x800 res and still achieved decent clarity)
TYPE 1
Full screen versions of the reticles, meant for use under (or over) the cpanel layer that could optionally be enabled for the TAB de-clutter(screenshot) mode.

During instances when a reticle is employed, a ‘semi- declutter’ mode could be enabled in the TAB screenshot view, allowing minimal flight info to be displayed. ie: labels, speed, distance to target, alt, ship velocity vector and optional, fuel gauge and hull temp.
Once the reticle was completely turned off, the screenshot de-clutter mode would be cleared of any displayed flight info as normal.


TYPE 2
Partial screen versions meant for use on top of the cpanel layer that are cropped and faded to not obstruct any control panel features. (less suitable for full screen display in screenshot modes due to cropping)
Either of the above elements could be used to make cpanel/reticle combos. (for in-game hot swapping between ‘cpanel’ graphics if necessary)

Further reticle screenshots (more choices in the source files)

- Simple with clock points
http://imageshack.us/a/img69/378/1x38.png

- on black
http://imageshack.us/a/img43/592/gpsf.png

User Interface:
Reticle enabled/disabled and cycled from reticle icon on control panel.- Initially a reticle icon alone could be used to cycle through reticles of varying transparency, color and style, with one of the reticles being a blank
(functioning as a reticle off switch)
Opacity setting of reticle could be fixed or perhaps be made adjustable by a setting in the config.ini 0-10 values.

Should there become many reticles from which to choose, an opacity slider might be added later to the control panel (under reticle icon?) to function as an adjustment and quick reticle off switch. Reticle keyboard controls may also be an option.


http://imageshack.us/a/img832/4333/17o.png

Custom reticle uses:

Improved situational awareness of ship attitude from cockpit views.
Gives a pilot an added tool for quantifying ship attitude and visually gauging deviations off zero along all 3 axis. (forward and rear, left and right, top and bottom cockpit/camera views)

This measure can be made relative to vector, targeted objects, ships, stars or planetary bodies.

Navigation tool/adhoc artificial horizon.
Far from a replacement to an 'active' HUD, since it is a simple static fixed layer, but can be useful in determining ship attitude relative to a planet or asteroid even in pitch black, so long as it is calibrated and has targeted a body’s center of gravity.

- Over landing Pad
http://imageshack.us/a/img713/8611/zr5.png

LANDING: Effective from the Bottom Camera view for use as a vertical descent attitude gauge, allowing near perfect three point landings, even on irregular appearing surfaces and extreme horizon curvatures.
Turn Labels on to find & target center of planet - although labels can be enough (so long as you can track planet center). I visualize a dot on the left most side of the first letter of the planet name and designate that as center.

To level ship, maneuver the ship so that a planet's center of gravity is at the center of the reticle in bottom camera view. Deploy landing gear at desired altitude.(to improve reticle view-ability, turn off any scanner display)
Descend slowly to the surface keeping the planet center and ship vector in the center of the reticle until landed.

Vertical landing in a city: When at desired altitude, maneuver the ship over the spaceport so that the designated landing pad and Earth label coincide at the center of the reticle.
Maintain the planet name, your vector and the designated landing pad as close to the center of the reticle as possible while descending.
Proceed down to the surface gently using thrust limiter as a fine adjust, keeping your vector true to reticle center as possible until touchdown.

Should also be a practical gauge for tail landing rockets.

Can function as a drop reticle (bottom camera view) for supplies or armaments. On the reticle's vertical line are extra calibration marks to enable some experimentation with drop and impact times using various gravities, altitude and speed combinations. Specialized reticles could employ finer increments for such purposes.

May be useful in coordinating ship roll and attitude maneuvers with that of orbit predictor on the map screen.

Take quick bearings between ship and objects/bodies. In conjunction with distance to target info, can give an edge in navigational and tactical situational awareness.

Cockpit aid for manual docking at wheel space stations. Once a ship is parked on the rotational axis of a space station, the reticle can function as a relative attitude gauge while on vector to the docking bay.

Possible cartographic tool and co-ords reference, also for mapping screenshots.

Ship to ship docking alignment tool.
-------------------------------------------------
Future concept image of how a window on the HUD might be useful: (also for rear view, drone or remote probe views)

- HUD window for bottom camera
http://imageshack.us/a/img835/8692/2kj.png

[robn]

The pictures got truncated because they're so ridiculously huge. I'll be trying to reconfigure the forum to forcibly resize stuff down, but it will still mean downloading a hi-res image. Please take care - generate thumbnails, perhaps.

After reading all that I still don't know what you're trying to achieve. It looks like a simple overlay. I don't see how its useful. Can you describe the concept in, say, three sentences?

[baobobafet]

Sorry bout the res issue, don't know if I can answer in 3 sentences, but if you look for the last section titled "Custom Reticle Uses" it goes into a point by point detail on how to use it as an example: for 3 point landings and use as a simple horizon indicator. (or back-up for one) If you have more targeted questions I would be more than happy to oblige you with further detail.

...and yes it is a simple overlay:)

[robn]

A specific horizon indicator can be done if it was deemed necessary or useful. A helper for three-point landings could be done with something similar, though given all our ships are VTOL-style I don't see that its any where as interesting or exciting as it is for aircraft. Particularly when its a bit forgiving. And for anything else, you already have the centre target as a point of reference.

So I don't really see what value this adds.

[baobobafet]

This gauge was designed specifically for making precision manual VTOL landings.

'If' you wish to test the theory, a rudimentary way you can see the benefits is to add a 'simple' crosshair on the bottom camera view.
Although limited in it's ability to gauge specific angles, it will suffice to allow for a perfect VTOL descent.

(I used a sticky with a crosshair on my monitor to give myself a crosshair in bottom view just to test this out - not pretty but works ;)

Horizon indicators are essential to landing in darkened areas or areas where terrain is irregular or size of planet curvature makes difficult judging when a ship is level for a safe touchdown.

Other uses I have listed including how it may be used 'from the cockpit' to better determine ship angles relative to external objects.
(since it employs a 0-50 degree angle gauge for angular measurements) This adds to the cockpit realism and alleviates having to go to external views to observe a given situation or object relative to your ship.
Also manually matching rotation of wheel stations are much easier using a larger crosshair.

Of course none of this means a whit if you only use autopilots for landing at stations and landing pads. But for those who like to make manual precision landings, this is absolutely a helpful tool.

[TheBob]

While I don't exactly see the necessity for such a large and detailed crosshair, having some reticle in all the views even if you don't have a gun mounted would be good (specifically, rear view and bottom view are pretty essential for manual flyers, and mounting a rear gun just to have a crosshair is somewhat cumbersome, and in the bottom view you can't even do that).

Also, I see resolution trouble coming if the reticule is a whole-screen overlay, and if it needs to be scaled and blitted over the whole screen every frame, that's a bit too high a waste of GPU-power for my tastes.

[robn]

I'd be happy enough to add a small crosshair to each camera. Keep in mind though that centre of camera does not necessarily mean centre of ship - camera position can be offset in the ship definition - so it may not always be as useful as you think.

I don't buy the angle thing. It becomes more complicated when you bring arbitrary FoV settings in (it would have to be calculated rather than being a simple texture overlay), and I still can't really see a use for it.

[baobobafet]

Okay lets say you want to be a minimalist and just add crosshairs to the various views without any markings to quantify deviations from center.
I would also be happy to see this in spite of it's limitations at being able to determine any pitch and roll deviations on descent.
If the bottom crosshair is to perform any function related to level landings - Bottom view cameras can no longer be put in arbitrary positions - but must be relocated to the center of the ship.

However, in trying to land any of the existing ships in game using the method I have described, I have not yet encountered such a problem to effect landing (not to suggest it doesn't exist.)

On the matter of FOV, as I said at the top of the post, this was designed for default FOV settings, people who have different FOV's will need to design for their own reticle to suit individual FOV settings or resize the existing reticle to suit any non standard FOV's.

Of course using a calculated system to generate and resize reticles (as opposed to a texture overlay) to suit every conceivable FOV setting a player may choose is your prerogative, but I suspect this is more work than you (or anyone) is prepared to do.

In the end the use of such an overlay should be seen as an option to the regular crosshair (not meant to replace it) and as such would be used sparingly and for quick ship attitude measurements prior to landing or for plotting intercepts and as some basic feedback on re-entry approach angles .

In any case I would be happy to see such shortcommings find an answer, regardless of how it is implemented.

[nozmajner]

Isn't this a bit too cluttered? For me, it feels like it obstructs the view.
I think it would look better to use minimalist icons on the cockpit views for each mayor degree (N E S W Zenith, Nadir, and one inbetween those). And a navball like thing somewhere for precise readings would be better.
For planets, North West East South makes quite good sense, and for other things, it could be arbitrary, like a landing pad or docking bay/station axis based orientation.

Here's how I would imagine those icons. I made the diamond shape east, so prograde in equtaorial 0 inclination orbit is in that direction. But it could be north too without really changing them, but I think East is more sensible for that.
.
Those triangles are good because they are always pointing to the main direction (east). Filled means it's under the horizon, and half filled triangle's further detail the picture without too much clutter.
The dotted rectangle is a 16:9 45° FOV. The icons are over-sized in that regard in this picture. For size they are more proportional to the image size, maybe a bit smaller.

Here's a very simple video I've cobbled together to demonstrate it in movement:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJXagQPd ... e=youtu.be
(I forgot to rotate to the zenith/nadir markers, that's why they aren't there. But the triangles to the right and left show clearly what I want to tell about the above/below horizon thing.

Also, those crosshairs you've talked about for each view direction could be different for each view, so the player can tell at a glance which view is active, even when the text disapeared. Like in this picture, the half needle of all crosshairs are in the ship's forward direction for the side and top/bottom views.


Here's a mockup I've mad a few months ago (to procrastinate from my school animation project), with a simple navball:

The icons could be similar on the navball too.

I think Kerbal Space Program got quite right the navball feel. It takes a but of time to get used to, but it becomes a second nature easily, and it's quite a useful tool. (And I could write a tutorial about that if it happens to be implemented in the future. I'm already constructing a more visual basic flight tutorial for the wiki, but it's in a sketching phase right now.)

What do you think?

[baobobafet]

Your design looks interesting although elaborate and IMO, is much more appropriate as part of an overall full fledged HUD and
Nav system. I heartily encourage you towards any development in this area.

When I originally conceived of using a 'simple' layer as a feedback method for determining angles and ship attitude relative
to target. I created a number of crosshair variants and settled on this one because of it's utility and overall flexibility.
Also the reticle was meant to function as a backup nav system in case other nav, power or autopilot equipment on the ship is in
disrepair.

Since the overall concept was simple, relying merely on a PNG overlay (with an optional opacity setting gadget),
I had envisioned there could be many more size, type and color varieties tailored to specific and individual purposes and tastes.
My thought at the time, was to open the reticle design aspect up to the greater Pioneer community for ideas/feedback and
seeing what else might surface as useful.

Being able to use a simple PNG for this, would've made easier trading/modding reticles to suit individual taste, purpose or FOV setting.