Orbits as a tactical overlay

from Sins Forums
This may seem silly, but would it be possible to add circular orbits around stars as a light blue tactical overlay just as eye-candy? SoaSE is visually stinning but adding an orbital line would give the impression that your in a standard solar system....just from an athetic point of view. I think it might alude to motion and create a vista of the full solar system.
15,330 views 5 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
huh?
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
He means something like this:



Basically, lines that indicate how the planet orbits the star.

Which is okay, but then the option to disable them would be needed. Some people will make 1 star 100 planet maps, and while looking at 10-20 lines may not be too bad (if they're dim enough), 100 won't be fun :P
Siege of Centauri
Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
hmmmm ,its ok, but not something I'd use ever... just for the occasional ooh pretty factor...
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
Which is all that he's asking for, just to be there in the background to give it more of a "solar system" feel - purely aesthetic.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
Thanks Annatar11, thats a great representation! The game already has a light blue tactical overlay that you can enable/disable and I thought it might be possible to add the orbital paths to it. SoaSE has such great movement as you pan into each gravity well, but as you zoom out a litle, the planets seem pretty static as if they were stationary inside the system. The patchwork apearance of the phase lanes do not give the visual impression of being in a living system of planets orbiting around a star. Does anyone remember a game called "Ascendency". I think they had orbital path traces, but I could be mistaken.....been a few years since I played that one! Anyway, its just a bit of eye candy, but it would lend the illusion of movement to the planetary system as a whole. This game is so visually increadible, I just want it to be perfect! (lol)