Matrix Games Forums

Since ships move on a plane, the 3d sphere doesn't add useful information. And it is much harder to see where the boundary is, as the projection onto the 2d plane where ships move depends on camera position.

That would be an awesome option.
Just as well doing that with explored regions would help us also very much regarding performance.

Everything should be able to be switched to 2D, exept planets and models. But UI in 2D.. wow, that would really be a WOW.
I love to play games that do not drain the CPU/GPU for optical gimmicks - and even less, when it is not giving any help but when it is only a drawback and keeping the cpu/gpu busy.
We could instantly switch to a bigger unvierse or play it on a laptop that can run the game for hours longer!

So that is really a good idea.
And for those who want to keep the immersion, the circle could be always projected to the viewer plane, therefore it is always a circle and no ellipse..
the nebulas itself are also such a performance killer, if they could be switched also totally off, also good.
and then, there is that blurry thing around planets, that you can switch from "High Dynamic Range Rendering" to "Standard Range rendering".
It would be nice if that, as well as the sensors and such, could be switched to "No Rendering", just Circles or 2d Circular Planes..
I would implement that right on the spot..

This was suggested during the beta. The dev's agreed and it is in the todo list.

Right now you can set up nebula boundaries by clicking the right button in the lower left of the screen....GP

Yes, thats one of the things i meant, the nebula boundaries are a shaded globe, but it would be really really easier to show for the GPU and faster and better to see for some of us if it is a circle either in the plane of the universe or in the plane of the monitor.
Regarding ALL visual enhancement gimmicks: Nebulas, Long Range Scanners, explored Regions and Diplomacy.
Noone knows why this is so hardware demanding, but even for the eye it is better in 2D.
In MY eyes.. And I really prefer the Standard Range Rendering.
Plus regarding Long Range Scanners: With a circle it would be easy to see how long they reach. Or a simple translucent but good visible colored disc representing the range.
Done.

+1

Please try the 1.0.6.0 and set the Rendering Format to Standard Range Rendering. I have the feeling, that the visuals are much better now.