May/June Lite Challenge Entry: UNC 201.F

**jtougas** · 05-27-2011, 11:16 AM

There had been two more sightings of the small fast vessels that day. Carol Mayer knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep so she stayed on the bridge. The survey computer had been busy during the afternoon and into the night. It had discovered another AOI or Area of Interest. Of course due to the IWSO lockout Mayer and her crew couldn't see just what it was. Mayer imagined it was another city. After all any species advanced enough for spaceflight would be advanced enough to build more than one city. Mayer found herself excited about her job for the first time in years. She was also furious at the IWSO for not letting her do it. She had so many questions. What did they look like? Were they humanoid? How did they perceive the Nebraska? Mayer was forming the impression that who or whatever they were they were just as curious as she was. The IWSO had been silent for almost a day now and Mayer knew that that wasn't good......

Thanks everyone for your comments. As far as the jpeg issue goes I apologize for not understanding and for making a false assumption. I've always saved in jpeg format with the quality slider set to 100% (I use GIMP) I never realized there was a problem (this image is 2000 x 2000). Thanks for the info.

Todays update: I wasn't happy with the giant information "balloons" that I had made. they just didn't look right to me. I went back and made them smaller and color coded them depending on what kind of scan was running. I also color coded the text to match. I added some "data" to the reticule (it's just nonsense there for atmosphere).

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**jtougas** · 05-27-2011, 02:49 PM

Carol Mayer couldn't believe it. The small ship had taken station five thousand meters off of the Nebraska's bow. It had just held there for over an hour now. Mayer was amazed. It was surely a small fighter of some sort. Although the scans of it's interior were being blocked, she could surmise a few things about it from it's exterior. It was black which to her said "military". Of course she could be wildly wrong about that. It was very powerful and maneuverable. Odd for a space-faring craft that didn't have some kind of military function. It was just out of the view-screens current zoom level so she could not make out whether or not it carried any markings. It had not moved not signaled the Nebraska or done anything else. Mayer found herself to be both riveted and nervous. She knew with a certainty that Parker Northrup and the USMG were seeing exactly what she was seeing. She hoped it scared them to death...

Last update on this, lest I just completely fill it up with too much stuff. (so easy on a map like this). I added some buttons for the AOI s and put in a little fighter craft that I found on the internet.

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**Ares96** · 05-28-2011, 07:13 AM

Originally Posted by jtougas

Carol Mayer couldn't believe it. The small ship had taken station five thousand meters off of the Nebraska's bow. It had just held there for over an hour now. Mayer was amazed. It was surely a small fighter of some sort. Although the scans of it's interior were being blocked, she could surmise a few things about it from it's exterior. It was black which to her said "military". Of course she could be wildly wrong about that. It was very powerful and maneuverable. Odd for a space-faring craft that didn't have some kind of military function. It was just out of the view-screens current zoom level so she could not make out whether or not it carried any markings. It had not moved not signaled the Nebraska or done anything else. Mayer found herself to be both riveted and nervous. She knew with a certainty that Parker Northrup and the USMG were seeing exactly what she was seeing. She hoped it scared them to death...

Last update on this, lest I just completely fill it up with too much stuff. (so easy on a map like this). I added some buttons for the AOI s and put in a little fighter craft that I found on the internet.

###LATEST WIP###

Cool! Thanks for heeding my advice. It really looks much better now!

**rdanhenry** · 05-29-2011, 02:09 PM

"Current Scan: Photographic (Long)" (missing "o")

Surface area should be in square kilometers, not kilometers.

**jtougas** · 05-29-2011, 02:46 PM

rdanhenry
"Current Scan: Photographic (Long)" (missing "o")

Surface area should be in square kilometers, not kilometers

Thanks Fixed both issues

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**Steel General** · 05-30-2011, 07:51 AM

This is coming along quite nicely, my only critique at the moment is the small white text on the red 'buttons' tends to bleed into the background (at least for me). No need to change it, just wanted to point it out.

**jtougas** · 05-30-2011, 10:51 AM

Carol Mayer felt like she was constantly in a sense of disbelief. The IWSO "Black Team" leader had contacted her. He was not a military looking man. He was a bespectacled man of middle age with a soft face and thinning hair. He introduced himself as professor David Hunter. Mayer almost laughed aloud. Professor David Hunter was the IWSO's expert on alien life. his team known as the "Black Team" for their secretive nature was en route to UNC 201.F to try to communicate with this species. Mayer was amazed that such a team even existed. Why not just send in the bombers as they had done so many other times before. Then it hit her. "Of course" she said to herself. They must have seen something in the scans that Mayer and her crew had not. Something that made Parker Northrup very very nervous...

Todays update: Thanks SG for the feedback. You were right if you looked at it long enough the optical illusion of the white text on the red buttons was very strong. I changed all the text to black and made it larger. I think it fixes the problem.

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