Vega Strike Forums

I have always thought that the green crosshair sprite was a oddly out-of-place, so I sat down and modified it to the attached image.

What do you think?

If you want to try it out, make a backup of the data/sprites/crosshairs.image file, and you the attached file instead.

breese wrote:I have always thought that the green crosshair sprite was a oddly out-of-place, so I sat down and modified it to the attached image.

For some unknown reason I cannot attach the image. I can select and add it, and all appears to be well, but it does not show up.

Use photobucket or imageshack or the like to host it so you can embed the image in your post.

Here is the attachment.

It works if I attach the image as png rather than dds (used in the game).

This puzzles me. How do you submit graphics for the game then?

@Deus: Thanks for the suggestion, but I do not want to register at all sorts of sites simply to post an image here.

I suspect it is because only certain extensions are allowed as forum attachments. Try adding it to a zip file and attaching the .zip instead.

Nice looking cross hair btw, although it might be a bit bulky? Obviously what's most important is what is behind the cross hair so if it is too thick it may impede vision.

charlieg wrote: Nice looking crosshair btw, although it might be a bit bulky? Obviously what's most important is what is behind the cross hair so if it is too thick it may impede vision.

I agree. The cross-hair really needs to be minimal, otherwise it distracts and obscures too much of the target.

Deus Siddis wrote:

charlieg wrote: Nice looking crosshair btw, although it might be a bit bulky? Obviously what's most important is what is behind the cross hair so if it is too thick it may impede vision.

I agree. The cross-hair really needs to be minimal, otherwise it distracts and obscures too much of the target.

My crosshair is exactly as bulky as the original crosshair. I have only changed its colors, not its shape. However, I agree what it is too bulky (both the original and my suggestion).

I just realized that there is some naming confusion here. In the cockpit there is a crosshair and a mouse cursor, both of which are called crosshairs. I have attached both for reference. I was modifying the mouse cursor. The mouse cursor does not serve as a crosshair, so maybe it should not look like one (and the image file should definitely not be called crosshairs.image).

breese wrote: My crosshair is exactly as bulky as the original crosshair.

This crosshair is actually not the primary one used though. This bulky one is only seen in the more obscure ships, the alien ones, IIRC.

The one used for most ships is four unconnected white lines in a cross formation. I don't think there's much you can do to improve this, adding more detail would make it more bulky and flashier colors would be only more distracting.

Maybe you could make similarly minimalist variations for the other major factions. Like a three point version for the Aera, an 'X' pattern for the Rlaan, or " |-| " for Uln, etc.

Deus Siddis wrote: This crosshair is actually not the primary one used though. This bulky one is only seen in the more obscure ships, the alien ones, IIRC.

The one used for most ships is four unconnected white lines in a cross formation. I don't think there's much you can do to improve this, adding more detail would make it more bulky and flashier colors would be only more distracting.

Yes, as I mentioned in my previous reply, both the actual crosshair (the four unconnected white lines -- see also the first attachment in my previous reply) and the mouse cursor (the second attachment in my previous reply) are called crosshairs. So, I was not modifying the real crosshair, but rarther the in-flight mouse cursor. I apologize for the confusion.

The mouse cursor is always shown, regardless of what ship I use. Maybe this is only the case when you have enabled Mouse Control in vssetup (I am guessing here.)

Deus Siddis wrote: Maybe you could make similarly minimalist variations for the other major factions. Like a three point version for the Aera, an 'X' pattern for the Rlaan, or " |-| " for Uln, etc.

This is a good idea.

FYI, I have recently submitted a patch that adds two new radars (see the bug tracker ID 3094088) -- a Highborn radar (previously known as the Elite radar) and an Rlaan radar. I am currently extending the patch to have different targetting boxes (and docking boxes) depending on what radar you use.

breese wrote: The mouse cursor is always shown, regardless of what ship I use. Maybe this is only the case when you have enabled Mouse Control in vssetup (I am guessing here.)

Must be mouse control then, because the image you are calling the mouse cursor only appears in Aeran and Rlaan fighters as a regular crosshair. The cockpit mouse cursor is normally the same as the arrow shaped image used for bases, with the default interface.

This is a good idea.

FYI, I have recently submitted a patch that adds two new radars (see the bug tracker ID 3094088) -- a Highborn radar (previously known as the Elite radar) and an Rlaan radar. I am currently extending the patch to have different targetting boxes (and docking boxes) depending on what radar you use.

Cool, I look forward to trying these features in the future. One suggestion though, is that given what might be interpreted from available VS canon, it might make more sense for the Aera to have a unique sensor versus the Highborn. They field more unique tech being an advanced alien faction with not much direct connection with the various Human groups outside of the recent conflict the game's set in. The Highborn on the other hand mainly high grade the technologies created by other Human factions and combine them into their strike craft.

Deus Siddis wrote:Cool, I look forward to trying these features in the future. One suggestion though, is that given what might be interpreted from available VS canon, it might make more sense for the Aera to have a unique sensor versus the Highborn. They field more unique tech being an advanced alien faction with not much direct connection with the various Human groups outside of the recent conflict the game's set in. The Highborn on the other hand mainly high grade the technologies created by other Human factions and combine them into their strike craft.

I was considering this for a long time, but the Elite/Highborn radar has a flaw: in intensive combats where you are fighting against 50-100 ships, the radar gets cluttered which means that it becomes difficult to get a tactical overview of the situation and to identify attacking enemies close to you. So I decided that the radar should be attributed to somebody other than the Aera, and the Highborn was a good choice.

However, I agree that there should be an Aera radar.

I have been experimenting with an Aera radar that -- given the bellicose nature of the Aerans -- is optimized for large-scale combat. I want the radar to provide a tactical view of the battle field, rather than simply displaying all ships, planets, cargo, etc. within range. For instance, it could display centers of gravity, identify flight groups and their combat patterns, dangerous enemy ships, and bounty targets. My first experiment was based on an icosahedron, but it was not a satisfactory solution, so at the moment this radar is mainly wishful thinking.

All ideas are welcome.

I think I wanna contribute some concept target reticles if you don't mind. Keep in mind that this is not actual size it's meant to be, it's just to show you the design I had in mind and yes, those hemi-sphere are partially translucent.

Hey... that's a cool design

Looks cool, have one for addition ingame yet?

I have been toying with an idea for one for the bomber but haven't done any art yet. Would be nice to have different crosshairs for different ship classes.

pheonixstorm wrote:Would be nice to have different crosshairs for different ship classes.

Or factions.

Don't be constrained by modern designs, or others' sci-fi designs. Instead, consider that the crosshair serves one or more purposes.

1. Show you the aim point. Anything visible works for that, and as long as it contrasts with the world outside, minimal is best. The red design is great for this.

2. Any other marks on modern-day target reticles besides the aim point are called stadia. Their purpose is for estimating range, i.e. if the target is bigger than the area marked by stadia it's close enough to shoot. 1 mil = 1 meter at 1000 meters distance. For more on that, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadiametric_rangefinding
Since every radar in game gives you an exact distance, we probably only need minimal stadia for those rare but desparate times your radar is damaged, such as one set of brackets that frames the average-sized fighter at 4 km.

3. Some stadia might have a different purpose if the game supports it, such as appearing or changing color to indicate target lock or target in range.

Currently, I haven't developed any for ingame as of right now, though anyone's welcome to implement the reticles I designed in-game, provided they accredit the design to me.