[karajorma]

If you want to turn motion debris off cause they're ugly then go ahead. That's a pretty good reason for doing it. Taristin point is that if you're turning it off cause it's unrealistic you might as well turn off FS2 entirely.

[Colonol Dekker]

Thats crap, you still need to transit subspace 

Thus the "three seconds" comment.

Ok i'll just take my foot out of my mouth and sit quietly in the corner while people kick me in the head.....

[bizzybody]

Nothing about FS is realistic... There's no newtonian physics, we can hear enemy ships fly past us, hear lasers, missiles, explosions... etc. Why should this be removed on the basis of not being "realistic"?

It's all done with EAX 3D sound. Your ship's sensors pick up what's happening all around and create a synthetic soundscape for you, the pilot. That way when shots fire past or another ship is coming up behind, you don't need to look at the instruments or monitors because you hear it. Just think of it as an intricate expansion of the incoming missile beep sound. In the real real world, the US Air Force has experimented with sound systems like that.

[Colonol Dekker]

Ahh yes of course, Who's campaign had that in it, MErkar mayhaps?

[AdmiralRalwood]

It's all done with EAX 3D sound. Your ship's sensors pick up what's happening all around and create a synthetic soundscape for you, the pilot. That way when shots fire past or another ship is coming up behind, you don't need to look at the instruments or monitors because you hear it. Just think of it as an intricate expansion of the incoming missile beep sound. In the real real world, the US Air Force has experimented with sound systems like that.

I was thinking of using a similar explination for why there's no lightspeed delay in various games (e.g. Homeworld 2).

Some other games use a slightly better system than motion debris and have the ship's hud draw "motion lines." Perfectly realistic, and still allows you to judge relative speed.

[Styphelus]

I for one like the debris. Looks cool. Without it the game looks really empty.

[Mongoose]

I've never had any complaints about how the debris looks myself.  It's just a part of the game that's always been there.  I could see why turning it off for screenshots would be useful, though.