The game's overall style is influenced by Space Battleship Yamoto anime, and we wanted the ship's equipment, and interface, reflect that style.
I also wanted to bring a bit of an LCARS flavor to the UI.
In Blender, I transformed a cube into the screen with an angular style that is in keeping with the style of the bridge in the anime.
I found a nice metal texture that I liked, but it was a little to "gold" for the palette that I was going for. I added a Color Ranmp node to add a slight blue tinge.
I gave the console a dark blue screen that would make the UI display stand out.
The captain's console needs to display a lot of information and provide control over the ship's systems.
The sector map is the core of the gameplay, so it is very prominent in the centre of the console.
Above the sector map is a status bar that displays crucial information when needed.
The viewport will display the ship's fore camera, as well a act as a communications screen for the various crew members. The screen will display a "normal" image.
The player will refer to the Sector Analysis section for information about the selected sector. It will display the images in a diagramatic style.
The Stations panel gives direct access to the various ship functions.
The various items are grouped according to function. I chose not to have these groups be expandable, as I didn't want to interrupt the player's flow state.
The context-sensitive Info/Config panel will display information and options relevant to the selected system.
The context-sensitive Action button at the bottom will execute the selected action, if appropriate.