Ostranauts - spaceship management sim set in NEO Scavenger universe - now available on Early Access

[Perkel]

Either way game uses newtonian model so any combat in space is basically impossible

DraQ

yess people will be totally up for learning orbital mechanics to shoot someone. There are only few people like that here.

 

[Harthwain]

Is the game supposed just to be a homosex simulator in space where you collect trash and try to bugger your crew?

yes.

Though there will be few more "jobs" as a start lik police etc.

Either way game uses newtonian model so any combat in space is basically impossible.

Straight from the mouth of a developer:

There will likely be combat, and I think it makes sense to expect everything from fistfights between angry crew, up to boarding actions and ship-to-ship combat.

What this looks like, on the other hand, is yet to be determined.

I'd like to take what worked from NEO Scavenger battles, and adapt them into Ostranauts's timescale and 2D playing field. Plus the information scarcity of detecting your target's signature over a million km away is quite different from squaring off across a field or forest hex.

But yes, combat is likely to be a thing. Pirates might also exist. And as for aliens, this is still the NEO Scavenger universe, so stranger things have happened

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1022980/discussions/1/1678064284167725294/

Note: this could be outdated (the post is from 30 Apr, 2019).

This one is from 16 Apr, 2021:

Interesting suggestions! I can definitely see us experimenting with ship-to-ship encounters as we get more systems to work with in the game.

I think a lot of attention will go into the prelude to exchanging fire, such as detection, identification, and countermeasures (both electronic and physical). But once firing solutions are in and someone pulls the trigger, there's a wide range of trouble that can happen

Might be a while longer before we have all the pieces we need to test this out, but it's on my list.

Thanks for the feedback!

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/app/1022980/discussions/1/3106896589759417088/

However, it is likely that combat will have to wait a fair bit (it's not listed on the "player-driven roadmap").

 

[Joggerino]

Is the game supposed just to be a homosex simulator in space where you collect trash and try to bugger your crew?

yes.

Though there will be few more "jobs" as a start lik police etc.

Either way game uses newtonian model so any combat in space is basically impossible.

It's totally possible and it's implemented. Like when docking you get rammed by police and wrecked. Or while flying you get rammed by police.. and so on..

 

[agris]

Either way game uses newtonian model so any combat in space is basically impossible

DraQ

yess people will be totally up for learning orbital mechanics to shoot someone. There are only few people like that here.

I think your vocabulary has surpassed your knowledge…

 

[Infinitron]

Dan, Corey, Joshu and Naiba stream themselves playing 2 different versions of the game to compare between launch and now!

in 0.6.2.0 they reminisce over what the game used to be and notice all the quality of life improvements that have been added since!

in 0.6.9.10 they they go through and try to set up showing off some of the new cop dialogue that's been added recently!

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1022980/view/5205588064839465010

Ostranauts Patch 0.6.10.0 Is Live!
Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.6.10.0 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This patch has several improvements to ship collisions and crew AI, some new content, and some significant bug fixes. It is also the first patch to use our new (and hopefully more useful/meaningful) version numbering system:

E.g. Version W.X.Y.Z, where:
W = Release Version, where 0 is Early Access, and 1 is released.
X = Major Version, changes when a significant milestone in the game's development.
Y = Feature Version, changes when a significant new feature is added.
Z = Hotfix Version, for each hotfix within a Feature Version.

And numbering of XYZ can now go beyond 0-9, such as in today's build!

Saves from 0.6.9.8 and earlier should be compatible, but if you were seeing bugs or other issues in the old save, they may continue and it may be necessary to start a new game.

Spoiler

• Added air vents to game.
  
• Added new encounter art to OKLG.
  
• Changed container pod starting ship to have no mortgage.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused crew to ignore tasks unless player manually assigned crew to do them.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused NPCs to forget actions they were doing between saves. E.g. police questioning
  
• Changed AI collisions to be less severe when player has recently undocked.
  
• Changed AI collisions to be less severe when player is docked to something.
  
• Changed AI collisions to be less severe when player is away from the nav station.
  
• Changed overall collision damage to be lower.
  
• Added more conversation options to police shakedown encounter.
  
• Changed versioning system to support multi-digit sub-versions.
  
• Added code to prevent docking with target in docking UI if another ship docks there first.
  
• Fixed a bug that would corrupt saves if a loot spawner had a missing count value.
  
• Added code to limit docking ships to player if loading a save file that has too many ships docked to player.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused NPCs from other ships in the system to sometimes load into the current scene and die when loading a save file.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused some items to be inaccessible when over the reactor or other sight-blocking objects.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause null exception if hired crew was ordered to return to ship but lacked airlock permissions.
  
• Added log messages for items gained in an interaction.

We now have air vents! They allow air to pass between compartments without an open door. They're pretty basic right now, and have to be manually opened and closed. But as we learn more about how we want to use them, we can expand their features.

There's also some juicy new encounter art for your first visit to OKLG, if you want to see Charlie's latest work

Ship collisions got some major work done, which should hopefully reduce the severity of collision damage when caused by AI pilots. It's not fun to be obliterated when you didn't see them coming, so let us know if these changes help!

Similarly, crew AI had a bunch of work done, and they should once again tackle work tasks without you having to manually order them each time they finish one. They also once again remember what they were doing from save-to-save.

Also, the container pod starter ship has no mortgage anymore! While we get the economy to be better balanced, we thought we'd offer at least one chance to start the game without crushing (and mounting) debt. And it also takes us one step closer to having a range of choices in starting ships and scenarios, each with trade-offs.

Finally, a range of bugs were fixed in this build, many of which could cause corrupt saves or crashes.

As always, there's plenty more for us to fix, change, and add! And we'll be continuing in roughly that order. In the meantime, let us know if this patch helps you out, as well as if it reveals new problems!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1022980/view/2878353577828336054

Ostranauts Patch 0.6.11.0 Is Live!
Hey Folks!

Ostranauts v0.6.11.0 is now available on Steam, and your clients should be updating shortly.

This patch improves NPC ship spawning and flying to reduce the number of collisions and police interdictions, adds an intro conversation to the fixer, and fixes several bugs.

Saves from 0.6.10.0 and earlier should be compatible, but if you were seeing bugs or other issues in the old save, they may continue and it may be necessary to start a new game.

Spoiler

• Added intro conversation to OKLG fixer.
  
• Changed police interventions to be much less often.
  
• Added code to prevent NPC ships from undocking if player is very close to station.
  
• Changed NPC ship AI to fly away from OKLG a bit after undocking before turning to target.
  
• Fixed a bug that could cause game to crash when loading a save file where game was saved shortly after midnight.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused Unconscious to remain on players if they were awakened by the First Untime encounter screen.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused OKLG boneyard to gradually drift away from OKLG.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused full stack of items over empty space to become glitched if player attempted to drop another ground item on them via inventory.
  
• Fixed a bug that could prevent player from installing items on a docked ship when standing very close to the edge between ships.
  
• Fixed a bug that caused game to crash if player ship was being tracked by police while it unloaded from scene (e.g. using transit).
  
• Added code to stop fast forwarding if important encounter screen appears.
  
• Fixed missing social item names in message log.
  
• Changed loose cooler item to be shallower, so it isn't as tall as a player avatar.

One of the bigger changes this patch is to NPC ships. The frequency of police stops should be much lower now. And ships won't undock from OKLG when you are very close to it. Also, NPC ships undocking from OKLG should fly out a while before turning, to reduce congestion near station.

The OKLG fixer now has an intro conversation in new games, which requires that you earn their trust before they begin trading with you.

Finally, a range of bugs were fixed in this build, many of which could cause corrupt saves or crashes. And one which caused every boneyard derelict visited by another ship to gradually drift away from OKLG.

As always, there's plenty more for us to fix, change, and add! And we'll be continuing in roughly that order. In the meantime, let us know if this patch helps you out, as well as if it reveals new problems!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

 

[Infinitron]

This time the Dev team at BBG Dan, Joshu, Corey, & Naiba do a livestream to show off some upcoming (at time of stream, they are now in the wild!) features.
The team show off new starry backgrounds,
run into some unexpected bugs,
display new menu options for your files,
have fun new conversations with the fixer,
make enemies and lovers on K-Leg,
buy a new salvage licence,
show off new AI survival skills,
and try (and fail) to get docked by a friendly cop!

(If you're reading all the way to the bottom of our description also know that we added a secret bonus feature that we dont mention

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1022980/view/3122678848545083672

Ostranauts Mission System: Sneak Preview Available Now

Spoiler

Hey Folks!

We're preparing our next big feature update for Ostranauts (v.0.7.0.1), and it's a pretty big one. We're pretty happy with how it's turning out, but we could use a hand stress-testing it for bugs and balance. So we're opening it up as an opt-in beta branch, for those who want a sneak preview.

Note:
Saves created in this version may break as we fix issues.

If you've been waiting for missions to fly, now is your chance! Introducing:
Gig Nexus, your one stop shop for buying and selling contract gigs in the Ostranauts universe.

Gig Nexus is a procedural job generation system that sends intrepid spacers out on unique missions,
from recon jobs to item delivery and even, if you're feeling flirty, <3 romantic entrapment <3. It's a way to make money in the game outside of scavenging and salvaging, and a good excuse to put that super sick ship you built (and maybe even your captain's skills) through their paces.

Before we go live with the feature, though, we'd like to widen our test group to test it for crashes and save errors.


The bugs we’re on the look out for are specifically Out of Memory crashes, and File Saving failures. Truthfully, we can’t seem to reproduce them on our machines here at BBG HQ, and we’re not sure we have enough data to know how common they are, and what could be causing them.

That's where you come in! If you'd like to give it a go, opt-into the "public_test" beta branch via Steam and start a new character and save file.

To opt in to the beta:

• Right-click Ostranauts in Steam
  
• Choose Properties…
  
• Click BETAS
  
• Choose public_test

Your client should download and update your build within minutes.

Once you're in, take some gigs and let us know how it goes! Either on the Steam forums, or over at our Discord.

If you run into a crash in-game, or the game fails to save, we'd be interested in any data you can provide about how it happened. And if possible, we ask that you upload your save and any crash files somewhere for us to take a look.

To get your game’s save data, go into OPTIONS, FILES, and SAVES:



Your character’s save data will be in either Save1, Save2, or Save3 depending on the slot.

We would like as many of the following files as are present:

• saveInfo.json
  
• PlayerName.json (This will be different depending on your character’s name)
  
• output_log.txt
  
• error.log
  
• crash.dmp

The log and crash files above may only appear if your game crashes, and Unity detects it. You'll be presented with a dialog box asking if you want these files. But the first two save files will exist for any character you successfully saved.

(Also, unless we follow up asking for backups, please do not send any .bak files as these will be large and likely contain duplicate info we don't need).

Please zip all your files up and upload them as one .zip or .7z folder if possible, then send us a link to the file.
This makes it easier for us to keep related files together, and will make the overall size smaller. You might be able to upload directly on Discord.

If you have any trouble locating/sending files ask in the bugs channel and one of the dev team or mods may be able to offer assistance/alternative methods of submitting files. Thank you!

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1022980/view/3120428406777089414

Ostranauts Early Access Roadmap

Spoiler

Hey Folks!

A little over a year ago, we launched Ostranauts on Steam Early Access. And over the course of the past year, we've had a number of stability fixes, quality of life changes, new features and content added to the game. We've also had a year of chatting with fans to get a better sense of what they're expecting out of Ostranauts, and a better idea of how fast we can work.

So we came together recently as a team to more concretely discuss the road to launch. Which features do we still want? Which ones do we have the time (and ability) to produce? Are any of them needed before others can be complete?

And most importantly of all, this roadmap is designed to help you (the customer) in deciding if this is a game for you!

How does the version numbering work? Where is 1.0?

One of the first things you might notice is our new version numbering system. Going forward, we'll be using version numbers like 0.X.Y.Z, where:

• X - A major feature or update.
  
• Y - A significant change within the major update.
  
• Z - A hotfix or patch.

And notably, versions like 0.8 don't directly correspond to "80% done." Ostranauts will leave Early Access sometime after 0.16, likely late 2022, or early 2023. At that point, we'll change the leading "0" to a "1." And we are approximately expecting about one of these major version updates per month. (Though some are definitely bigger than others, and therefore slower.)

Where is the ____ feature? Will it ever be added?

A FAQ is forthcoming for specifics, but for now, the answer is "it depends."

The list of features we want to build is extremely long. And we only had a limited amount of time to fit it into. Furthermore, some features just cannot be added until others are already done. So for now, a number of those features are in the "if we have time for it" bucket at the end of the list.

Maybe it'll get added before 1.0. Maybe even
after
1.0. But for now, consider the above roadmap to be the stuff we have planned for 1.0.

Will this roadmap change?

it might! We're pretty sure this roadmap is how it's going to play out. But we could be wrong! Something could interrupt us. Someone might be called away. Or on the other hand, maybe Ostranauts goes viral and we can hire more help!

The roadmap will update as time goes by, and we will do our best to keep it accurate.

Will there be another feature vote?

Maybe? But probably not.

The first vote was really helpful, and we learned a lot from it about what the players want. It gave us a clear list of priorities from the community, and helped us shape the order of this roadmap. You'll probably notice just about everything from the last feature voting round is here.

The order in which they have to be done, however, is now fairly well-known to us. So even if players want, say, combat to be first, it has systems like wounding which need doing first. And likewise, long range travel is going to require some ship-board systems be finished.

We're always chatting with fans, though. And always open to feedback! Part of what makes Early Access such a success is that it allows us to develop with the benefit of timely feedback, resulting in a better game for the people playing it.

I have questions!

Great! We (might) have answers!

If you want to ask us anything, feel free! We'll be keeping an eye on our Steam and BBG website forums, Discord, Reddit, and all the other places you see us active.

Thanks for reading, as always. And hope you're as excited about what's to come as we are!

Best,
Daniel Fedor
Founder, Blue Bottle Games, LLC

 

[Hellraiser]

Ok, so I'm waiting until 0.15. I assume that ship to ship combat will involve the sacred Finnish art of docking followed by boarding.

 

[Joggerino]

If the "Finnish art of docking" means slamming into something at full speed than yes.

 

[fantadomat]

 

[Arrowgrab]

So I just gave this a try, and could someone please explain to me how you're supposed to play this game? And I don't mean the controls, those are okay; I mean, how do you make any money? And when I say "any money", I literally mean "ANY money". My problem is not that I can't make hundreds of thousands of dollars. Or thousands. My problem is I literally cannot make 450 fucking dollars.

Here's how my first character went. Created the character, bought a crowbar to go with my laser cutter, got in the salvage tug I was given during character creation. Went into space, docked with the nearest wreck, explored it. I found two shirts, two drinks, and less than half a dozen loose floor and wall panels. Now, I figured that the big money is in uninstalling devices and selling those, so I started doing just that. Filled my inventory and the floor space of my ship with the wreck's nav console, a bunch of air pumps, heaters, coolers, parts of the fuel system, and a few oxygen and nitrogen tanks. I also picked up a small amount of junk like "small mechanical parts", "scrap aluminium", etc.; then I headed back to base.

Back at base, I went to the scrap shop and sold the shirts, the small mechanical parts and scrap aluminium, and the wall and floor panels. These brought my account up to a generous 280 dollars. All the actually valuable stuff, the coolers, the nav console and the like, the scrap shop was not interested in them, they didn't even show up in the price list. So I went to the next shop, the licensed one. Naturally, I couldn't sell any of my shit, since the license alone would have cost 5,000, and I had, as I mentioned, 280.

Then I went and found the fixer at the bar. He, in turn, refused to buy anything from me, since "nobody would vouch for me" or somesuch, and the game has no information on how to get anybody to vouch for you with the fixer.

So, rather peeved off, I went back to my ship with the resolution that I'll go back to space, loot another wreck, this time concentrating on just the trash and the shirts, and hope I'll have enough reaction mass left for the trip.

Only I couldn't take off, because the unpaid docking fee was something like 450. And I had 280. And thousands of dollars' worth of stuff was lying on my deck, which I literally couldn't sell to anyone. At this point I guessed my character was bricked so I've quit without saving.


So could someone please give me some step-by-step instructions on how to make more money with salvage than the fucking docking fee?

 

[Perkel]

So could someone please give me some step-by-step instructions on how to make more money with salvage than the fucking docking fee?

1. currently debt doesn't have any repercussions aside from not being able to take off from space station OKG. Moreover you can steer you life to get "coffin" type ship which cost you 0. The whole point of debt is that administrators of OKG are trying to get slaves like you to get hopeful about making money there and sign lease for spaceship which will put them in life debt and life work for them.

2. All sales of important ship parts like reactors and such are restricted by OKG you as salvager can only legally strip hulls, doors and other smaller components. In order to sell important stuff you need to first find fixer and then gain his trust. You get his trust by getting some people friendly with you via chat system. Though there are some lifepaths that can unlock it for you quickly or forbid you from ever getting to know him.

3. You can refill your ships, repair and make ships in space without ever landing in OKG it is fairly easy. N2 bottles and O2 bottles is what you look for. N2 bottles are your main RCS fuel. O2 is self explanatory. Both combine to give you breathable atmosphere whatever you install pumps.

4. Don't focus on one wreck. If wreck looks like shit then just go somewhere else. There are plenty of wreck that are "traps" which means there is nothing worthwhile in them and you lose time being there unless you want to be legal and you start to strip them for basic tiles. You can find ships that are in various states of decay. Some even almost brand new that require only small work to be fliable. Later on though devs will make it a crime to steal such a ship from OKG junkyard.

5. If you ever will hire some crewmates then you will have to deal with OKG as you need money to pay them and they don't live off from salvage. They are pretty expensive and moreover when you hire you first crewman you start to deal with schedules.

6. There is only OKG and junkyard around it for now. Devs plan to add other places on other planets that will have different gameplay, like bouty hunting etc. Salvager is OKG start and in future according to devs not all starts will be able to just cut ships.

 

[Arrowgrab]

Thanks for the reply! I think this here is the critical part of my problem:

In order to sell important stuff you need to first find fixer and then gain his trust. You get his trust by getting some people friendly with you via chat system. Though there are some lifepaths that can unlock it for you quickly or forbid you from ever getting to know him.

I thought it might be something like this and I tried to play the social minigame with random folks at the station, but I can't get people friendly. The best I can do is spam "Shoot the breeze" which is "contact up", and that got me to mutual Acquaintance level, but that's not good enough for the fixer. (And even that only works for some people, as others shoot down that line of conversation.) What do I need to do to get people friendly enough? I mean, I understand the basic mechanics, but I can't figure out a viable strategy. Every conversation option increases some values but decreases others. Which ones should I increase to get someone friendly?

 

[dcfedor]

Yay! Someone's poking at the social minigame

We're actually working on some improvements to that on this upcoming milestone, both in terms of UX and design balance. But the gist of it is there now, and I think you've got the right idea.

"Acquaintance" is pretty quick, as it only requires they have some minimum amount of interaction (of any kind) with you. I.e. getting to know you a bit. But "friendship" takes a bit of work to achieve in the wild, as it basically comes down to how much a person's mood improved when interacting with you, in aggregate. If the AI feels like their net interaction results with you have been above some positive threshold, they'll start considering you a friend. "Enemy" and "lover" work similarly with negative overall and intimacy, respectively.

"Shoot the breeze" is actually a bit OP in our current thinking, so that's a solid choice. But basically any move with net positive effects is a step towards friendship. The trick is in choosing moves that don't backfire. (E.g. flirting with someone who's already intimately fulfilled might fall flat, resulting in neutral or negative progress towards friendship)

Also, there's a bit of strategy in that you'll eventually wear on their patience (privacy stat), so you'll want to balance the right up and down payloads of your conversation. (And you might have to let them vent or cool down alone a bit before continuing.)

Getting back to your earlier question, there is also now a "Gig Nexus" kiosk in most major stations/areas. It's a green kiosk that doles out gigs for cash. Many of them require cash collateral (e.g. courier gigs), but there are some with $0 down and no undocking requirements that should earn you a few credits. Literally just "take this bottle of vodka from this locker to the bartender via transit")

We added these precisely for players who end up in the situation you describe: nobody's buying what you have right now, and you lack the funds to undock for more scavenging.

Also beware: the fixer's "buy list" rotates every few hours. One cycle might be buying little, next might be everything. There's a timer in the top right of the UI telling you when the next update comes.

Hope this helps!

 

[Perkel]

Chat system IS great but pretty much random (though life is also random to a degree). My issue with that is that people on station have ADHD at least in last patch i played and group together a lot and it gets hard to find specific people as everyone walks everywhere non stop.

Obviously the best part of it for me is tinkering with various systems. Like navigation, reactors, wiring, screws etc. Hope more of that stuff comes online in future. Maybe some different navigation ui depending on navigation tile quality ? Say cheap one is this default while military one gives you active radar and some better visualization etc.

Space combat is tricky thing. Once you gave such tool then it becomes face of game. Imho it would be much more interesting if combat was super rare and for say bounty hunting the problem is to find someone not to win fight with him. On foot combat should be a thing though.

 

[dcfedor]

I think we probably have a similar view of ship-to-ship combat: it could be cool, but it shouldn't be the focus of the game. And hopefully we can find a way to fulfill both.

Still thinking it'll be more akin to submarine warfare, focusing more on detection, identification, negotiations, and countermeasures. More time spent looking at instruments and managing crises, less time spent pulling triggers and dodging. Though there's probably still room for a bit of action to whet our whistles.

Personnel combat, on the other hand, is something I see blending smoothly into conversation. If we can play our cards right, a word can lead to thrown hands or even a drawn weapon, and back again. Probably borrowing a lot from NEO Scavenger's mechanics, but with a bit more of an overhead view.

The roadmap we posted here gives a high level view of how these features will come together and when:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1022980/view/3120428406777089414

The crazy NPC AI is definitely keeping us busy, though

 

[agris]

Nice to see you active here again dcfedor, I was just telling someone about NEO Scavenger and how unique of a game it is.

Even tho I’m holding off on playing Ostranauts, I will selfishly echo Perkel’s request for skeuomorphic UI elements that reflect the general type and quality of whatever it is we are interacting with on our ship - be it nav, reactor, whatever.

if you ever want some great instrument-cluster porn shots of real world systems, just drop a note in this thread!

 

[dcfedor]

Oh you know I'm always down to see some new instrument cluster refs!

I'm not sure how easy it'll be yet to make variable UIs for each station, but it's been on my mind, too. I love that moment when you're in a new (to you) car, and you're just taking in all of the ergonomics, controls, and designs of the interior. And how some cars just feel "right." If I could bring that same moment to Ostranauts, I would be very happy!

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Oh you know I'm always down to see some new instrument cluster refs!

I'm not sure how easy it'll be yet to make variable UIs for each station, but it's been on my mind, too. I love that moment when you're in a new (to you) car, and you're just taking in all of the ergonomics, controls, and designs of the interior. And how some cars just feel "right." If I could bring that same moment to Ostranauts, I would be very happy!

You need to find a German to work for you.

 

[agris]

dcfedor have you seen the game Highfleet? The main UI panel is amazing, and does a good job of adapting to the capabilities of whatever your ship has via “panels” that are either active, or not. When I’m on desktop tomorrow I’ll drop some shots, as well as some real systems.

 

[agris]

Oh you know I'm always down to see some new instrument cluster refs!

First, some screenshots from Highfleet. Note that this is the main "piloting your ship" interface, and all aspects of the UI are directly related to gameplay and systems. When you are commanding a ship that lacks a certain subsystem, there is a a metal punchout in its place. A good solution to finite art assets, while creating a gorgeous skeuomorphic display.

Highfleet

Barebones ship

Ship with all sensor arrays and countermeasures

Clicking the phone handset causes the UI to unfurl more detailed systems to interact with

Next, a guilty pleasure of mine: Knight Rider-esque real world car cockpits.

Late 1980s to early 1990s custom Pontiac Firebird Trans AM dash kits

More images here: http://www.markscustomkits.com/trans-am-interior.htm

And the grandaddy of them all, the STS instrument cluster.

Space shuttle JSC2000-E-10522 cockpit

I imagine for a non-engineer or scientist, a challenging aspect of finding inspiration for your game's art is looking at some of these incredibly complex instrumentation panels, like the STS, and knowing what parts are appropriate for you to draw inspiration from for, say, UI art for fueling a reactor.

Without knowing what type of engineering system (fuel delivery, cooling, alignment of complex geometric shapes) you need inspiration for, there could be hundreds and hundreds of posts detailing these types of systems. If you want some real-world examples of something you're struggling with, just drop a note!

 

[agris]

also tagging Pyke cuz i know he loves this stuff