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MUCH better! THAT is alien! Is the font an original creation or did you
find it somewhere? If so, what's it called? (share with me, please, please,
please?)
I've spent a good deal of time working on simulated crosshairs for computer
games (Halflife/Counter Strike, etc.) and have become aware of the broad
range in technology that can be expressed by such a simple element. I agree
that anything based on four lines breaking the "site" into equal quadrants
says "human" in appearance but as geometry and dimensions of space/time are
roughly similar throughout the cosmos it's a given that "alien" crosshairs
may share similar characteristics.
What I would do then is try to figure out how an alien (and I'm assuming
technologically advanced) culture would construct such a disply. With this
in mind you may want to consider bringing in a visual interpretation of
distance to target; not just a numerical range finder, but something in the
design that incorporates 3D or even pseudo holographic. A good example to
look at can be found in any of several sci-fi movies and series (BladeRunner
comes to my mind). What I am thinking about is a display consisting of a
trail of frames or bounding boxs showing a suggested/actual flight path to
target that get smaller as they procede virtually away from the observer,
giving a good sense of distance or depth, even in what may appear to be a 2D
display.
Highlighting of important objects (planets, other space craft, etc.) could
also be used, either by superimposing a bounding type box or brackets
similiar to those found in conventional military aircraft displays and HUDs.
A planet might have a barely visable 3D grid or wireframe superimposed over
all or even just a part of the visable surface, perhaps also including
indicators of rotation direction and speed and/or displaced above the
surface of the planet to suggest an upper atmosphere or even the horizon of
the bodies gravity well.
There is a lot of stuff you could do to make such a display say "alien" and
"advanced technology" to a viewer and I think the real trick may lie in
accomplishing the these first objectives without cluttering up the display
too much.
A challenging task! I look forward to seeing your next wip!
Best,
Jon Hoskins
--
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http://gxworkshop.9ug.com
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"Darcy Johnston" <djo### [at] iname com NOSPAM> wrote in message
news:3a902905@news.povray.org...
> Here's version two of my Alien Display Interface. The biggest changes are
> the change in font, the bottom panel and the cross hairs. I still haven't
> added the new space scene to the image, since I have it stored on another
> machine and am still working on it. My next version will have the new
scene
> in it, I promise.
>
> As usual, I'm looking for constructive critisism, so please comment.
> Thanks,
> Darcy
>
>
>
>
>
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