The dirt on the windows of spaceships is a bug. - not a bug

[ange]

The dirt on the windows of spaceships is a bug. There can be no such thing. As far as I know, there are no puddles and mud holes in space.

If you can't build non-stick glass panels for spaceships, you can't build spaceships.

I just find this filth inappropriate for a space game in which the technology is supposed to be vastly superior to today's terrestrial technology. And they can't manage to keep the spaceship windows clean? Why is it not the case on the ISS that all the windows are dirty? Because that's impossible in space!

I tried all the settings to find out - the impossible is impossible to turn off.

Please stick to the possible impossible and refrain from doing the impossible.

Damned! My toilet bowl is non-stick and this is 4 centuries before the X universe and is actually possible.

[ange]

I forgot. The repair drones would have to be able to keep the outside of the windows clean. Why don't they do that?

[Alan Phipps]

It has been discussed before once or twice.

There may be some capability for improvement in some of the graphic settings in-game or in graphics control panel, but I don't have any simple answers. I do try to avoid high sun emission/reflection sectors when/if I can to avoid squinting through the window smear in-game.

[LameFox]

It's all the space flies you hit in travel drive.

[Socratatus]

This kind of complaint used to have me so confused in the early days. It was often used in Flight sim forums, civilian or military by some. Some guys would get really mad that he couldn't see clearly enough out the window. Devs of those games would spend years, `clearing it up`, then adding it back, cos it made it look like there was no window at all, then clearing it while still trying to make it look like a pane of glass was there, over and over. But someone still always complained.

There is no problem in my mind. I suspect it's a type of compulsive obsession some people get that once they see the `dirt`, they simply can't unsee it.

[Nanook]

...
There is no problem in my mind. I suspect it's a type of compulsive obsession some people get that once they see the `dirt`, they simply can't unsee it.

Then you obviously haven't flown in some sectors where that 'dirt' makes seeing out the cockpit nearly impossible.

[Falcrack]

I've had a fair number of bugs on my car window, let me tell you.

[alt3rn1ty]

I kind of wish the textures for windscreen mess could be refined a bit, especilly for lower res screens the game allows us to play in (1366x768 for instance) .. But I realise I am probably a minority using such a screen res.

Space fly splats is believable given the lore, but I also agree that our ships will never land on a planet in this game so where does the crap come from?.

I think its a bit of artistic licence, like explosions/fire in space we should never hear or see.

[LameFox]

On S and M ships I can imagine some material (ice probably) getting on there since they do actually land in parts of a station where people appear to be breathing.

And while their being there like that is extremely unrealistic, the game is full of very dense asteroid fields. You could say the dust is what remains after your shields absorb the impact of bits of debris, or in the case of L/XL, flying straight through giant asteroids.

[TroubledRabbit]

ships' hygiene in X-4 is quite low apparently

[alt3rn1ty]

ships' hygiene in X-4 is quite low apparently

I blame the Maja Snails

[db48x]

NASA had to do years of materials research before they could keep windows clean in space. Space might be a vacuum, but it isn't a perfect vacuum. Spacecraft bump into atoms all the time while in orbit. Some of those atoms are from the atmosphere, some are from the solar wind, but most of them are from the spacecraft itself. Many, many materials out–gas once in space. They literally emit gasses once the outside pressure is removed. Those gasses tend to collect on the surface of the spacecraft, including and especially the windows. Thus, a statement like

> There can be no such thing. As far as I know, there are no puddles and mud holes in space.

Isn’t accurate. There might not be any mud puddles, but there can be “such thing”. Space is not intrinsically clean.

And then there is the inside of the window. There are people on the inside of the ships, and people create dirt and grime. Have you ever looked at the dust that you sweep up off of your floor? It is mostly dead skin cells, hair, skin mites, tiny fibers from your clothes, etc. That stuff gets everywhere, and in space it is even worse. If your spaceship is dirty, maybe you should clean it more often. Your mother would be disappointed to hear you blame others. And at how dirty your spaceship is.

> Why is it not the case on the ISS that all the windows are dirty? Because that's impossible in space!

We see pictures of clean windows on the ISS mostly because the astronauts cleaned the windows before taking the pictures, and because NASA spent hundreds of millions of dollars minimizing out–gassing so that those windows would be a pretty as possible. They also carefully adjusted their camera’s focus so that any smudges on the window would be out of focus and something else, such as the Earth, would be in focus.

I think that it’s pretty clear that the dirty windows are just an aesthetic choice by the game’s artists. Maybe one of those artists will be inspired and will have a crew member get out and wipe the windows when you dock, but trying to make logical arguments that dirt doesn't exist in space is a hopeless task.

[Alan Phipps]

Ever wondered why your ship sometimes gets steam-cleaned when it docks?

[db48x]

I have, but that guy never seems to bother with the windows themselves, just the engines, weapons, etc. There should be a guy that literally squeegees your windows.

[Socratatus]

NASA had to do years of materials research before they could keep windows clean in space. Space might be a vacuum, but it isn't a perfect vacuum. Spacecraft bump into atoms all the time while in orbit. Some of those atoms are from the atmosphere, some are from the solar wind, but most of them are from the spacecraft itself. Many, many materials out–gas once in space. They literally emit gasses once the outside pressure is removed. Those gasses tend to collect on the surface of the spacecraft, including and especially the windows. Thus, a statement like

> There can be no such thing. As far as I know, there are no puddles and mud holes in space.

Isn’t accurate. There might not be any mud puddles, but there can be “such thing”. Space is not intrinsically clean.

And then there is the inside of the window. There are people on the inside of the ships, and people create dirt and grime. Have you ever looked at the dust that you sweep up off of your floor? It is mostly dead skin cells, hair, skin mites, tiny fibers from your clothes, etc. That stuff gets everywhere, and in space it is even worse. If your spaceship is dirty, maybe you should clean it more often. Your mother would be disappointed to hear you blame others. And at how dirty your spaceship is.

> Why is it not the case on the ISS that all the windows are dirty? Because that's impossible in space!

We see pictures of clean windows on the ISS mostly because the astronauts cleaned the windows before taking the pictures, and because NASA spent hundreds of millions of dollars minimizing out–gassing so that those windows would be a pretty as possible. They also carefully adjusted their camera’s focus so that any smudges on the window would be out of focus and something else, such as the Earth, would be in focus.

I think that it’s pretty clear that the dirty windows are just an aesthetic choice by the game’s artists. Maybe one of those artists will be inspired and will have a crew member get out and wipe the windows when you dock, but trying to make logical arguments that dirt doesn't exist in space is a hopeless task.

Nicely said.

This is why I don't worry about `dirty` windows. It's impossible to keep them sparkling clean in any environment, just like everything in reality. Dust, dust, dust, everywhere dust! I'd go crazy if I worried about it.

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

maybe they could have an animation of Bill Gates cleaning your windows.

a once popular screen saver back in the day....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFa37e8d9OQ

[jlehtone]

Damned! My toilet bowl is non-stick and this is 4 centuries before the X universe and is actually possible.

I doubt it is the bowl, but more your diet and biome -- I've been scrubbing sticky stuff from bowls too often to believe that such technology is already widely available.


X Universe does have Markus Space Flies. Rather endangered though, since you seem to collect their eggs for something and hunt the remaining adults with your windows.