Orbital lines - a full and frank discussion

Shame to lose all that hard work on such a beautiful galaxy when it's hidden behind orange bars. Free the Galaxy!! Who's with me?!!! haha :D
 
I'd be happy if the lines could be toggled with the rest of the HUD (SHIFT-ALT-G). Personally I don't need a specific control for them.
 
+1 for the toggle from me as well.

As far as I see, the immersion aspect of the game is high up in Frontier's priority list. So, it would be great if they allow greater flexibility for the configuration of the HUD since it's immersion breaking for some players. Also, it's not going to be a lot of work to implement.
 
+1 For Orbital line toggle! =)

Maybe three different modes:
1, As it is now
2, All off
3, Only show for target
 
A toggle option would be great, especially for exploring. Kinda hard to see pixels in the background moving with so much going on.
 
Yes i am also in for an optional Toggle on/off. Basically i got no Probs with the Lines but because of that i am playing with the Rift exclusively, they are too much 'bolded' (at least atm with DK2 Resolution).Would be nice to see them if needed and if not...toggle off and enjoy Space!
 
One thing I miss from Frontier: Elite II is the ability to view the scale layout of a system with orbital lines, beyond the "bitmap" layout of the orbital bodies. It would help quickly identify those +5,000Ls stations. I also miss toggling "labels" on and off. I kinda liked the old "dashboard" with Function Key shortcuts (F8 to Hyperspace, for example), where one of those was "labels ON/OFF", which could toggle our orbital lines.

There is a keyboard in the cockpit, so why is it inappropriate to have keyboard shortcuts for many of the common functions (Having Comms, Nav, and Missions on one display is fine, but I really want a shortcut to the FUNCTION, not the display).

In many ways, I get confused by the design aesthetics, because on one hand they work very hard for the game design to be immersive, but UI issues and "gameplay concessions" force you out of the experience, and the shortcut functions are inconsistent at best. Why is there a shortcut key to dump all of your cargo, but there isn't one to request docking (something FAR more common a practice).

Ultimately, I thought Elite was not supposed to be about trading, combat, or "balance"; it was supposed to be about FREEDOM. Freedom to make what you want out of the experience; freedom to do what you want. I feel like it's more and more about restrictions and limitations, beyond those necessary limitations that promote creativity. Even though the game is getting bigger and bigger, I feel more and more stifled. It's even just by the basic stuff, like selecting a core function, plotting a navigation path, or just looking at the outside of my ship(!). Why waste hours on adding detail and beauty on things we never get close enough to see or have it obscured by yellow lines?

...Sorry, I was ranting. It's Monday.
 
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I think it would already be much better if the orange orbits were displayed in a soft blue and the current blue circles are left out entirely.
 
can someone explain me what purpose those blue circles have anyway? Did i miss something or should they only help locate the thing in the center?
 
can someone explain me what purpose those blue circles have anyway? Did i miss something or should they only help locate the thing in the center?

Gravity. Density of spacetime. The thing a number of players don't understand when they are complaining about super cruise being "slow". If you want speed, get/keep away from mass. When flying in to a space station avoid flying too close to a planet because it will slow you down extra. But when you're flying in and overspeeding you may bleed off energy by flying into these zones. Be careful though, mass disruption may cause you to drop out of SC.
 
You do know Just checking...you can turn off the orbital lines now? Its in the functions panel to the right. With the orbit lines off, space looks much cleaner, especially in the bigger systems. The targeting circles are still there which are really required otherwise its too difficult to quickly identify what's in this system and what's background.
 
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