I'm still wondering why egosoft couldn't make some nice new systems while actually not having a lot of SHW's and some planets are still pixelated (not even mentioning very bad quality skyboxes) while you've managed to make a whole new galaxy with nice background stars, lots of beautiful planets, moons etc.
No, no, I'm talking about background nebulae, not fog. Actually, I'm not a fan of large (sector-sized) fog areas. Maybe freelancer/Rebirth approach with only some areas covered with asteroids/debris and fog. That makes it more interesting to explore and discover some secrets.
Talking about nebulae, I liked old version of stars more, because while exploring the galaxy in new version I found that most systems with nebulae look quite the same, just differently coloured (Morning star, Argon prime, Windfall, Hatikvah's etc) . What I remember from the old version is that Black hole sun had beautiful bright orange nebulae, Morning star was dimm blue (or dark, don't remember) and Argon prime bright blue. In new version large areas of space look the same and mostly dimm (older version was brighter). However, Frontier update makes a big difference, lots of sectors look really unique which brings back X3 feeling to the game. Well, mostly I was playing X3 with mods (Rebalance, XTOTT, X-Tended reunion and terran conflict) where almost every system was unique in some way.
BTW, talking about X3 mods, mostly about X-Tended, intrusive nebulae aren't a bad choice at all. Some of them look really nice (you could take a look to some sectors in X-Tended Terran conflict if you haven't played), especially in areas using some NASA shots. Maybe you could use some, but make better quality?
Anyway I like your approach with making new systems almost black, it doubles the feeling of emptiness of abandoned systems, and I found you've used some Eve online soundtrack in the expansion - nice choice
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