Greetings, Commanders!
Today I'd like to talk about one of the many things we're working on as part of the upcoming Career Mode update: UI Evolution.
Space Station Continuum takes place across a wide range of time periods. From the latter days of the Apollo program to the near future of commercial spaceflight.
As you progress through these different time periods many things will change. You'll unlock new spacecraft, new technologies, and new design styles for your station modules and everything within them.
But these changes won't be limited to just the objects that your Astronauts interact with. Why shouldn't the technology that you use change as well?
Each time you progress from one era of spaceflight to the next, Space Station Continuum's user interface will update to reflect the design styles and computer display technologies of the time. Slide rules, oscilloscopes, and LCDs are all things you can expect to see if you spend enough time in Career Mode.
There's a lot of design work going into creating the right style for each era, and today I want to share with you an early example of some Apollo era UI elements that are going into the first iteration of Career Mode.
What's a Space Shuttle doing in the Apollo era?? Oh, you must be in sandbox mode...
The various elements of the Apollo era UI are heavily inspired by NASA control rooms of the time.
Image by NASA - http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo11/html/s69-40301.html
We're working hard to create an accurate representation of historical design styles while making a usable UI that fits with the art style of the game. I'm very pleased with how the results are turning out so far.
What do you think? Are there any old, new, or futuristic designs and technologies you'd like to see incorporated into the UI of a particular time period?
Thanks!
- John