Well of Souls Forums

I love when we get to see what is going on in the system, I feel like there was a drought of actually interesting information (I dont generally hugely care for character development) and now the actual predicament they are in is moving forwards again.

I also kindof like how the icons for the bug formations seems to just look like an abstract icon of a bug-looking ship and then shows more detail about their formation when you get closer.

Like an old school 2d space invader?
I do however love character development! And am very interested in seeing what Alex makes of this.. or what leads from this to him having to wear a space suit.

I'm having a hard time orienting myself regarding where everything would be on a starmap though.
I have tried piecing together things from the comic and the insider, but it's not helping me much.
Even trying to translate with the Loroi trade-alphabet, I can't seem to match the maps seen in the comic with the maps given in the insider. =(

Rasayana wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:35 am

I'm having a hard time orienting myself regarding where everything would be on a starmap though.
I have tried piecing together things from the comic and the insider, but it's not helping me much.
Even trying to translate with the Loroi trade-alphabet, I can't seem to match the maps seen in the comic with the maps given in the insider. =(

Like in terms of where the star system is relative to other star systems?

Sensor blind?
That's bad. They wouldn't notice the Umiak getting close, unless the light of the chase got to the buoy, and from there as sensor signal back to them.

But then, they're not in a state to do anything about it anyway.

But if the Umiak do come for them, what will they do with Alex?
Have the Teidar kill him before they're boarded?

QuakeIV wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:41 am

Rasayana wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:35 am

I'm having a hard time orienting myself regarding where everything would be on a starmap though.
I have tried piecing together things from the comic and the insider, but it's not helping me much.
Even trying to translate with the Loroi trade-alphabet, I can't seem to match the maps seen in the comic with the maps given in the insider. =(

Like in terms of where the star system is relative to other star systems?

Jupp.

Krulle wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:58 am

Sensor blind?
That's bad. They wouldn't notice the Umiak getting close, unless the light of the chase got to the buoy, and from there as sensor signal back to them.

But then, they're not in a state to do anything about it anyway.

But if the Umiak do come for them, what will they do with Alex?
Have the Teidar kill him before they're boarded?

From what the buoy is telling them, it honestly seems like they arent all that likely to be pursued. It looks like the group that hit the depo looped back around to inspect the remains of the depot and effectively ignored them, and the other groups are changing positions in a seemingly unrelated pattern to the position of the shuttle.

Conceivably they could be detaching smaller vessels to inspect pieces of debris to make sure of them (and the buoy/linked sensors weren't able to detect that) but to be honest I think the bugs don't really care if the shuttle is fully dead or not regardless and are in system for other reasons (for instance the destruction of the loroi empire).

I'm working on a more detailed map, but it's a challenge because of the 3D nature of it... it's hard to display clear views.

Arioch wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 9:19 am

I'm working on a more detailed map, but it's a challenge because of the 3D nature of it... it's hard to display clear views.

♥

I concur, it will be hard to show.

Also, yes, the Umiak have more pressing matters, like securing the system, than to check all random debris.

Also, what can the debris do? To flee, they would still need to get to the jump points, and it's unlikely they can without getting noticed by the Umiak patrols.
The Umiak have simply no need to check all and everything.

Arioch wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 9:19 am

I'm working on a more detailed map, but it's a challenge because of the 3D nature of it... it's hard to display clear views.

Maybe you should keep it hazy so you don't have to deal with smart arse forumites telling you you've made a mistake

Yeah.
plus it detracts from us getting new pages.

:P

hi hi

I'm a little surprised that the Umiak don't spare at least one singular torpedo to make an attempt on the buoy. I suppose the buoy probably has one or two point defense lasers for hitting debris that might come its way though...

Arioch wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 9:19 am

I'm working on a more detailed map, but it's a challenge because of the 3D nature of it... it's hard to display clear views.

There's a lot of information on the map, so it's a tall order. If I were thinking of ways to more effectively display information, I would try to put at least some subtle scale lines on the z-axis indicators. The scale lines exist in the four cardinal directions, but not the z axis. But as far as clarity goes, that would be adding more visual elements.

If I were a Loroi UI designer trying to make as much info readable at a glance, rather than a hypothetical author trying to convey information to readers who can't natively understand the written language, I would consider using a single glyph for each main formation. A colored status ring would indicate if it was active or not. Affixed to the left side, I could put a bar graph indicating unit strength/weight.

The other thing I would consider is experimenting with luminosity as a function of focus. There are bright white solid lines and scale lines that are much more intense than the lines that provide variable information. I might try increasing the luminosity of contextual data, and lowering the luminosity of background, static data.

But that's just some random stuff off the top of my head.

Well this is something able to at least watch things go down like this and all. Space is vast enough for them to do this so points for that man.

Even if they were detected, I'm assuming they are out of fuel anyway to make any difference in an escape attempt.

Krin wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:09 pm

Even if they were detected, I'm assuming they are out of fuel anyway to make any difference in an escape attempt.

That's why they're going outside. To paddle.

Krin wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:09 pm

Even if they were detected, I'm assuming they are out of fuel anyway to make any difference in an escape attempt.

lol, where do you want them to escape to? The white dwarf? At least the planets will do, if they can descend on them.

boldilocks wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:15 pm

Krin wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 12, 2021 8:09 pm

Even if they were detected, I'm assuming they are out of fuel anyway to make any difference in an escape attempt.

That's why they're going outside. To paddle.

And to get some fresh air.

"Would it help if I got out and pushed?" ~ Princess Leia Organa

Given the degree of strategic surprise the bugs achieved, I personally think they would probably be most interested in preparing to move on to the next system as quickly as possible. They seem to be in a position where they could gain a lot from pressing as far as they can as quickly as they can before the loroi manage to put together a counterattack.