Visual Style Guide

Here you will find the description of the general style, shape language and level of detail we are aiming for. It is loose enough to allow creative freedom, but the aim is to have a visual consistency. If you intend to create an asset to be included in the official Pioneer release, please read through it first. If you just want to make a mod, then you are free to ignore all this (although you might still find useful bits in there).

Overview

Regarding visuals in Pioneer, we are aiming for a design language that is grounded in real-life architectural, industrial and vehicle design, and marries that with a space opera aesthetic. The aim is not photorealism though, there is a bit of room for stylization. Which also means that we want to be really mindful about detailing.

Shape language is restrained in a sense, and aims for balanced ships regarding engine placement and the placement of the center of mass.

There is no artificial gravity or contragravity in Pioneer, so while ships are typically belly-landers (at least for t up to the mid size range), they should make sense for a tail sitter setup. This means that under thrust, "gravity" points towards the back of the ship, and if thrust is cut, then the crew is in free fall.

This also means that the acceleration ships are capable of is somewhat limited by engine power, but most importantly by the structure of the ship.

Another importan aim is to provide a clear and relatable sense of scale to the ships.

Detailing

With details we aim for parts and elements that do at least seemingly make sense. We try to avoid mindless greebling as much as possible, and do it in a way that has thought and intent. There is an asset library (WIP - link asset repo) of model and texture details which can be reused.