Alternative cockpit view in line with modern games

[Sergiu Horga]

In old flight/space simulators, the fighter's interiors and the UI took too much screen space. Some of it is justified by the low resolutions and the need to make things readable, while others were the result of not yet refined game design concepts.

In modern games, the ship's interior takes less screen space in the default orientation, make it easier to see the environment and engage in dogfights. I have noticed that even on combat ships that don't have cockpits specially designed for extra view in the lower half, the camera is positioned in such a way that the ship's instruments (the ship's interior) take up to a maximum of 1/3 of the screen in normal, forward view. In better designed cockpits they take even less.

[David Esparza Guerrero]

The cockpit houses 70s era instruments, not fancy holograms that you can make as big as you need, so you need to look at the cockpit to read the instruments in little displays and screens. Where are you going to place an usable targeting computer, laser accumulators, shield and hull display, two scopes, throttle, speed, warhead counters, threat indicator, not mentioning log, map, goals and damage on that Battlefront cockpit? The battlefront cockpit can be almost hidden because it's useless and conveys no information whatsoever. The Elite: Dangerous one displays information on holograms that you can make to be the size you need and they aren't constricted to the geometry of the cockpit. So I don't think "better designed cockpits" is a very fortunate expression. They are as good as they can be given the restrictions of needed space and the setting (no holograms or magical floaty texts). For those that don't care about cockpits or immersion, the . (Period) key hides it, leaving most screen for the exterior view. However I am not discarding this suggestion in case you come with some interesting proposals we could use for cockpit layouts.

[Sergiu Horga]

I understand the limitations presented by the old trilogy's science and design.

What I am suggesting is an alternative view, just like the one that hides the cockpit and relies on GUI, but something in-between, that could still be somewhat immersive. I will personally sketch some layouts to be analyzed and will try to avoid holograms and HUD embedded in the canopy, helmets or visors.

One reason why the cockpit takes more place than it needs in XWVM is the camera angle that shows quite a bit of the top side of the dashboard, where there are no instruments. It was done this way probably to align the weapons with the targeting reticle.

Remember, though, that holograms and images (HUDs) displayed on visors and helmets are present in the Star Wars Universe and the aiming reticle and target marker/frame would technically be part of a HUD (on the pilot's helmet or on the canopy), but because they are not shown much in these circumstances, I will avoid them in the designs I will bring for analysis.

[Tad Hashimoto]

I'm with Sergio on this. As a lifelong X-Wing pilot, I've always found the cockpit views excessively restrictive. However, I think this could be improved by simply raising the pilot's POV in the cockpit.

As a Falcon BMS pilot as well, I've gotten very used to an abundance of critical displays and controls in a completely clickable cockpit interface. What makes it workable is a) pilot head height in relation to the displays, and b) adjustable FOV. I think the latter might be more difficult and less intuitive to implement, but raising the POV of the pilot might help alleviate some of the problem.

[David Esparza Guerrero]

X-wing cockpit is just a placeholder and instruments are just placed wherever. The entire cockpit will be remade, so this issue doesn't really have relevance at this point.