More HUD information

[DehAtomSmasher]

I think the current HUD is too bland or shows not much (But no too much little, all are helpful) information, Maybe add a Speed-o-meter, or another feature where drives overheat and the drive's heat is shown on the HUD, and a warning is shown when a missile is after or fired upon you, or a panel where previous messages are shown (maybe when you didn't see a message, you can see it there).

[snafu]

Maybe add a Speed-o-meter, or another feature where drives overheat and the drive's heat is shown on the HUD

Cosmetic only I think; it's rare that someone can equip a drive so far above their reactor's power level that it overheats regularly

and a warning is shown when a missile is after or fired upon you,

Missile warning spam!

or a panel where previous messages are shown (maybe when you didn't see a message, you can see it there).

Not a bad idea!

[RPC]

Speedometer:
http://xelerus.de/index.php?s=mod&id=1292

[SpongeJr]

According to my ship's universal translator, snafu said:

or a panel where previous messages are shown (maybe when you didn't see a message, you can see it there).

Yes, please! I've been wanting a recent messages / log viewer thing for years! (never mentioned it though)
Even if it only kept a dozen or so of the most recent messages, that'd be great.

I hope we see this feature added in the future.

There's plenty of other information of varying usefulness that could be shown on the HUD as well:

• Current Star System
  Cargo Space Remaining (## of ## tons, or as a numeric or graphic percentage)
  Credit / Rinn balance
  Score
  Reactor recharge status (eg, due to solar panels), it could be shown with a simple line, bar, circle or similar interface element with an amount filled in/highlighted/brighter colored depending on how much the reactor is charging.
  A small icon indicating general ship status (radioactive, EMPed, damaged display)
  Domina power status (available, in use, recharging, unavailable)
  Current (real) time/date and/or elapsed time played this game
  An icon indicating if you are currently wanted as a pirate

Granted, some of these aren't as useful as others, and I'm sure no one wants a bunch of screen/HUD spam... I just wanted to throw some ideas out there. Some of these can be be just tiny icons, bars, etc. and not too imposing (so long as it's obvious what they're for).

Another thing to think about is (as was talked about on IRC day and in the IRC channel in general) all the extra screen real estate that is (currently) available on modern hi-res wide screen monitors. For many players, there is plenty of space available due to this.

[snafu]

Granted, some of these aren't as useful as others, and I'm sure no one wants a bunch of screen/HUD spam... I just wanted to throw some ideas out there. Some of these can be be just tiny icons, bars, etc. and not too imposing (so long as it's obvious what they're for).
[...] For many players, there is plenty of [screen] space available due to this.

Lots of developers fall into the trap of thinking "Now we have widescreen high-def monitors, let's use that extra space to make things pretty!" IT DOESN'T WORK! at least in flight/space sims

The extra space is at a premium to give the players more visual room to see the /external/ things happening, not to clutter up with cockpit, HUD or WHY. Talk to any fighter pilot of the visual range era and the first thing they want is more visual awareness.. because nothing else is going to help them target an enemy. We have a similar situation here; unless George starts bringing in more advanced BVR (beyond visual range) scanning/targetting systems we're relying on what we can see on the screen in front of us, limited as it is. We /don't/ need more extras impinging upon it!

However, if George/modders /do/ add such things to the HUD, they should a) disappear when not in use (fully charged, fully stocked, WHY) and b) ALWAYS APPEAR IN THE SAME PLACE on the screen! Going back to the fighter-pilot analogy, a trained pilot has ..umm.. trained themselves to that specific aeroplane. If the instruments moved every time the pilot did something in a different way, the pilot would prolly not last long in a training flight, let alone battle!

Part of the hate about the "new" Windows/Office UI (OK, nearly 10 years old now) is that things keep changing their place within menus etc. People using these systems for up to 12 hours at a time don't want to come back after a break (or heavy usage of a couple of options) and find their (previously known, if little-used) menus have spontaneously changed their order of commands

Having said that I support, in a limited way, your proposals in order by preference 2, 1, 7, 3, 6, 8, 9