Display MoreHere are the damage states for the Privateer cockpits, which can impact your various cockpit gauges and multi function displays. These range from pretty subtle on the Centurion to totally tearing apart your Orion.
One tiny detail that I have always loved about the Privateer cockpits: the three modern ships all have bright speed indicators that are projected on their HUDs... but the old Tarsus has big physical displays you can't see through and their text is a duller green.
But I couldn't figure out where this Tarsus damage went, though... and no amount of ramming things in the game until everything explodes triggered it. I thought it was maybe unused?
BUT I FIGURED IT OUT! It isn't triggered in the game because it's designed for an earlier version of the Tarsus cockpit... THE ONE YOU SEE IN THE INTRO CUTSCENE!
So this was the setup:
Where does this damage fit on the Tarsus cockpit?The lower part prevents it from fitting on any of the lower instrumentation... but it also doesn't fit over the AUTO or FUEL indicators above. I tried over and over in the game and it never triggered. Every other one in every other ship I had in two goes. This was the last thing I did before bed and I literally had it running in my head all night.
Somebody suggested the side views, which doesn't fit with how the game works otherwise, but was possible. Maybe a cut feature? No, didn't come close anywhere there either.
But two things got me thinking: the idea that the lower part might be scratches that appear on the cockpit glass... and that it might be left over from some earlier revision (since it didn't trigger in the game).
Then I realized: where else do we see a Tarsus cockpit that's not the normal one? THE INTRO FLICK
The intro Tarsus is actually totally different. It's a slightly different perspective and the instrumentation is different, especially at the top where there's a blank panel instead of an autopilot light! And sure enough:
What this research proves is that the primordial Tarsus cockpit seen in the intro was once intended to be the gameplay one!
