Then I decided to do something new, and finally fulfill one of my promises to the kickstarters. Star names! Their star name submissions are now used when the galaxy is generated. If the names run out, then it generates a random name.
Here's a screenshot - Yes, one of the stars is "Predestination". Be sure to check their 4X game out as well!
I get a real MOO2 vibe from your star map :D. Incidentally, it turns out that you don't get green or purple stars in real life because of the way our eyes see colour. But aliens might be able to see those colours of star.
ReplyDeleteTheoretically class T and Y stars are purple stars. I don't know if such star are found but black body with such temperatures would be purple. Stars that peak in ultraviolet spectrum too could be considered purple.
DeleteGreen star on the other hand doesn't exist naturally. Green color is almost in the middle of visible spectrum and black body with a spectrum peak on green would radiate considerable amounts of other colors. For that reason, even yellow star appear white.
Only way for aliens to see green stars, without being blind to other colors, would be to have a lot more space between "red", green and "blue" cones (color sensitive cells in the eye). For instance if their "red" sensitive cone was sensitive to infrared instead of what we call red.
All I have to say is that this is just a game... :) Bright vibrant colors are more interesting to look at than varying shades of yellow/orange :)
DeleteWhile we are at it :) shape of the real star is boring too. White circle with a slight hint of the color along the edge. No stereotypical arms. Things get more interesting when imperfection of optic devices or atmospheric noise are added.
DeleteCartoonish stars with 4-8 arms are perhaps stylistically best suited for Beyond Beyaan but I've seen other approaches in games. MoO 3 shows them with atmospheric noise, Galactic Civilizations 2 shows them as if observed from close (almost uniformly colored circle with a hint of Perlin noise and corona). And for inspiration look at blue star at bottom left here: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0910h/
I agree with Brent on colors.
DeleteI have implemented a star color system based on the star temperature, but I hate it since the implementation, and will definitely revert to the old MoO1-like stars (including the green stars).
I was going for MoO 1 vibe, but that'll work :) Those are the old star artwork. I'm about to update them with the new one that has twinkling animation, like in MoO 1 :D
ReplyDeleteNo, it really has MoO2 feeling, though I could not tell you why.
DeleteMaybe because of the buttons in the middle. Or maybe I miss the panel on the right.