Well, I went through and made some updates to the Dart's 'pit.
Problem is...the changes just don't really make any better. Sure I got rid of some of the useless stuff, added some cool new things like the functional nav radios (finally!) and actual temps on the display instead of just the graphs. But, like I said, it really doesn't make the 'pit any more useful, in fact, I think it highlights the badly used space
Such as the panel text showing engine specs, lol. At one time that was going to be an APU control panel, but I ended up deciding that wasn't really a feature that would add much...make sure it has gas, then turn it on...not a lot added
So, I started working up a new pit. I haven't even touched the 3D yet, I'm starting with a drawing to make sure I can make effective use of the available space. So far I have everything the current cockpit does (I even added a speedbrake control) except the UCGO/UMMU panel. I think I'm going to move that back to the area behind the cockpit like I originally planned. It will live in one of the desks back there along with an MFD or two. Here is what I worked up in illustrator:
So now we are all glass
Well almost, the RCS and Engine selectors are still rotary knobs on the top of the panel. The more I look at it the more I think I'll change the DynP and Temp display to be more like the version in the image at the top, including both the drawing with digital temps and the graphs for quick reference.
Comments?
Also, for the coders out there, is it better (frame per second wise) to do multiple draws in one area or define multiple areas that are the smallest possible? For example the fuel graphs, would I be better off making one update area that covers all three and then drawing the three separate lines on it, or is it better to define just the area that the bar moves for each of the three graphs and updating them independently?
It will be while before this hits the shelves, there is a ton of recoding I'll need to do, not to mention building the 3D model