Very nice, very Star Wars, can't really fault it as a representation of a TIE Cockpit in terms of looks, so I'm going to talk about it from the perspective of a pilot.korekwerner wrote: ↑Mon Jun 29, 2020 10:12 am@ual002 @rogue518 I did something for you that I have not intended to. Cockpit proposition for the TIE fighter. Yes, I know, it's like in THE movies and battlefront (windshield is incorrectly turned). Do not hang me for this approach to the TIE fighter please .
link to youtube video - https://youtu.be/CvAqtIOOnAw
@blue_max I added a reference in the CorellianTransport2Cockpit.dc file to the texture in CorellianTransportGunner.opt and it works. Thank you for DC .
@Mark_Farlander I will fix it . I will return to the previous version of the backdrops. Thank you.
@Avarice1987 this is my author's version of the death star shot and is not yet publicly available.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions.
Regards
KW
Firstly, whilst you are correct the movies depict the cockpit from rotated 1/8 or 22.5 degrees the X-Wing games have always had the orientation match the exterior model, even when the games themselves didn't have exterior models that complex. Whilst I appreciate the argument for movie accuracy I would make the following counters.
1. Once you see it you can't "unsee" it, and that's a constant distraction.
2. Whilst it might give better visibility from a filmmaking perspective it's overall worse for the pilot because the pilot primarily looks out of that centre view-port and not the outer parts with the struts on. That flat bar at the top sits almost directly on top of the iron-sight, you lose that valuable bit of extra view you need to get a good deflection shot at close range in a dive.
3. Whilst you can get away with this rotation in the TIE Fighter things get much more awkward when you get to the TIE Advanced and have to redesign the entire frame of that oval shapped view-port.
So, I'd encourage you to make that 22.5 degree rotation, otherwise you'll turn a lot of people off this cockpit.
Now, in general I think this is your best cockpit so far, it gathers all of the information about a target in one place around the 3D sensor view, restoring the coherence of the CMD. I have a couple of suggestions, though. I really love what you're doing, but I think you've lost too much of the general coherence in the targeting system, with the fore and aft sensors, CMD that contains all the info about the target, and the gun-sight itself.
1. Either switch the component and cargo readouts with the missile/countermeasure readouts or (preferably, in my opinion) remove that bar and shift the CMD up slightly, then place those readouts at the bottom. TIE's don't have missiles or countermeasures as standard and those readouts don't need to be in the centre of the screen like they are. Further, grouping targeted component and cargo with the other readouts on the target further improves the cohesion of the screen. On the other hand, having the missile and countermeasure readouts tacked on to the bottom of the dash feels very realistic for a TIE Fighter.
2. Straighten out the fore and aft sensors - whilst the design itself is great, and easy to read, having them at a weird angle makes them harder to understand. It's much better for the pilot it straight up is straight up and straight down is straight down. Basic ergonomics needs to come first here.
3. Whilst I appreciate the addition of the targeting computer, especially here in the TIE, the big yellow cross on the forward sensor is a problem for me. It obscures a lot of what else is on the screen and I need to see that - I especially need to see if another enemy craft is passing directly in front of me so I can get it under my sights and lock onto it. Rather than having that yellow cross I'd suggest taking the original square bracket and rotating it 45 degrees to make a diamond. Then, instead of blowing up diamond zoom in of the who front sensor until the Diamond and everything else are big enough for the targeting computer. The targeting computer then becomes much more useful - not only will it be more accurate at demonstrating the correct lead but it will be a zoomed in version of the front sensor - giving you a detailed view of what targets are directly in front of you. Having spent all evening flying a TIE against other TIES in the vanilla cockpit I'm really struck by just how big that yellow cross is, and how "fat" it looks compared to a dot with a bracket around it.
Overall, though, I prefer the design language of this cockpit over what the XWAU has right now - it feels more utilitarian and "real Star Wars". XWAU cockpits are all covered in switches with Aurabesh (or just English) on and that's not something you actually see on the front dash of Star Wars ships. Like WWII fighters they mostly have dials and readouts on the front dash with controls on the main control column or at the sides of the cockpit.
I like the idea of a single laser indicator but maybe you can set it up so that it's graduated in such a way that every shot from both canons is accounted for. I also wonder if you can do what you did with the targeting computer and copy in the laser pips on the gun-sight to the left and right of the charge indicator to indicate which gun is active. Is the idea to make a minimally tweaked version of this for the TIE Interceptor? That would make "real world" sense if they were essentially the same inside the cockpit.
Speaking of the gun-sight you're using - I really like it but I'd still want a central "dot" to line up my shots when I'm not using the targeting computer, for strafing cap ships or especially for shooting mines.
I have thoughts on your other cockpits too, especially now I'm flying again, but I'll leave that for a separate post.