| Backdrops are
now significantly more important than in previous games in the series.
As well as being a visual element of the "spacescape", they also provide
the lighting for the Regions. You have control
over the size of the backdrop, as well as the color and intensity of the
light it produces, allowing you to create some dramatic lighting effects.
Without a backdrop the mission will be very dark, so you should have at
least one Backdrop in each Region that you use in a mission.
When you select a Backdrop
as the current FG, the Cargo section of the
Datapad will change to reflect the backdrop parameters:
The purpose of the FG Name
also changes:
..
| Name |
For
most backdrops, its Name represents the Red
/ Green / Blue color values of the light it
will produce, as a series of 3 numbers.
1.0
represents the full value for each RGB component i.e. 1.0 1.0 1.0 = white,
1.0 0.0 0.0 = red. However some of the original missions use numbers higher
than 1.0; around 1.2, 1.3. From the little testing I've done, these seem
to have the effect of making the colored lighting come from the sides,
with white light directly in front.
.. |
| Brightness |
This
will set the intensity of the light from the backdrop.
.. |
| Size |
Set the size the backdrop
will be displayed at, and hence how close you seem to be to it. The bigger
you make a backdrop, the more it will "wrap around" the sphere of space.
.. |
A useful technique for backdrops
is to have 2 or more in a Region, fairly equally placed around the sphere
of space, with one having white light (1.0 1.0 1.0) and the others having
different colors coming from different directions. The "star" backdrops
are useful for the white light as they are the ones that produce the lens
flare.
|
Backdrop selection window
