oh, and regarding using the blaster as a reference point, it's a nice idea Roda (though I don't see how a logarithmic scale is necessary), unfortunately, the level of image processing required would be immense... I'm not sure it's feasible.

Image processing can be incredible intensive... for a computer. I meant that the HUMAN pilot look at the scale and read the measurement.

Edit: That is why I mentioned a logarithmic scale. So all the values would be precalculated, and the pilot would read the final result on the scale.

Logarithmic scales are harder to interpret at a glance, unless you spend some time with them. We don't want to make the learning curve steeper than it is, and the plateau more annoying than it has to be.

Mass:
01.
02.
04.
08. <=
16.
32.

What value would you guess this logarithmic scale is attempting to convey?

example:

pirate Fumble is camping a wormhole.
trader Bendova jumps in. Moth.

Bendova points his ship at the exit and hits turbo.
Fumble targets Bendova, points his ship at his targeting reticle, and hits turbo, and hits his "Calculate Mass" bind.

Bendova's course has some perpendicular motion relative to Fumble, and so the calculation produces an artificially high result of 40k. The calculation then calculates the angle of attack required to produces a result for an empty moth. 30 degrees. The calculation then displays a scale on Fumble's HUD, directly over the nose of his ship, with the scale reaching only 30 degrees, and the mass of an empty moth list at the end of the scale. Fumble has to manually rotate his ship (while maintaining full turbo) to align the fleeing ship on his scale. If Bendova's ship is empty, it will appear at the far limit of the displayed scale. But his ship isn't empty, and it appears on Fumble's scale very close to the 30k mark. Fumble has to put on his reading glasses to read the scale, and Bendova escapes. No one ever said that pirating was a piece of cake.

Edit: All characters and situations are fictional, and any resemblance to real characters is purely comical.

You are adept in making points against your own suggestions. A quick info about a ship's mass is enough, if more detailed information is required, the player should consult the target info screen. I would go even further than maq, showing mass only as relative to the ship's normal mass, perhaps in a small visual quip close to the target box. Green = empty (factoring in loadout), yellow = slightly increased mass (say 10% more than the ship should weigh empty, again, factoring in loadout), red = guy's got too much samoflange. Thresholds, colors and, indeed, resolution may vary.

How about %10 increments, as a percentage of the ship's base mass?

Moth, empty; Mass: %100
Moth, 30k load; Mass %250

etc...

Or that, yeah. I'm just not sure where you'd put yet another scale, but maybe I misunderstood you completely when you mentioned it.

The percentage number could be displayed in the target info box, too, now I think about it some more.