I hope we can leave these on with some sort of helmet or smart-glass view when on planet surfaces. I would love to look up at the sky and see nearby moons and such with the arc of their orbit line and maybe some directional info visible. As you say, "info junkie".'Tis interesting to see the split - To start with they were added because most of us in the office couldn't make any sense of the shape of the system without them (And I always still fly with 'em on), I guess you don't really need to know the overall shape to fly anywhere though, we must just be information junkies.
Do you play with orbit lines on or off?
- Thread starter jacozilla
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Not from where I'm sitting.
On all the time. I tried off for some time after the option has been made available, and while the scenery was definitely more enjoyable, I missed a sense of situation and overview.
This thread makes me want to try off again
This thread makes me want to try off again
Back when I didn't have the money for an advanced discovery scanner, I had the orbital lines switched on to help me find stellar objects when searching manually. Nowadays I have them switched off for a more natural cockpit view.
If i had them turned off i would run into things, not being able to see the green lines around stars and whatnot.
The orbit lines are great for viewing the plane of the system, and great for looking at the weird orbits of systems. When entering a new system I'll have them on until I've made enough discoveries to show the orbits of most of the system. For just routine stuff I leave them off. Should be a separate button instead of having to go through the HUD to turn them off/on, unless they have already done that........ Haven't played in months.
On the to-do list - see here!
That's the in-universe explanation, which is fair enough. The problem is that the lines themselves are geometric elements rendered in the same 3D space as the planets and other bodies and as such they appear to be "outside" the cockpit even though the fiction says they're supposed to be on the glass. This is most evident when using head tracking technology; there are no parallax effects or lag between nearby planets and their corresponding orbit lines when the pilot's head moves inside the cockpit. It's not so easy to describe but it's very easy to see, and impossible to unsee once seen, which is one of the reasons why this was such a requested feature. The moment the lines appear to be the same distance away as the planets, rather than right in front of the pilot, the illusion is shattered.
On a more positive note, good news about the possible keybind coming. I wasn't expecting that at all.
I keep them off by default. I think it just looks better with them off. Though it would be nice if, even with them off, when a body is selected you see the gravity circles radiating out (not sure what they are called). But that's an extremely minor thing. Only time I turn orbit lines on is if I'm out exploring or trying to scan a system with less than an Advanced Discovery Scanner. The orbit lines can help identify where a planet might be hiding if you've discovered them out of order.
+rep I have quite a few unused toggles on my x55 that would be perfect for ship functions.
Deleted member 94277
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Off. Always off. I think it clutters the UI too much for my tastes. They're useful for some systems, though.
Forever on. They're not just for decoration. They provide absolutely essential information surrounding gravity areas, fuel scooping and angles for approaching star bases. Using those rings and lines, you can save incredible amounts of time in your approach to ports and allows you to better see dark planetary bodies with ease.
If you enjoy wasting your time, by all means turn the lines off. I agree they are not especially attractive. But as a pure matter of efficiency, visual clarity, and in some cases SAFETY, having them on provides more than enough advantages to justify it being enabled. Some of you may not realize just how much time you could be saving because you're taking poor angles and approaches to ports anyway. When you better understand how to approach ports for maximum efficiency (right angles), you'll realize that having lines on is the very best way to do it. And maximizing efficiency doesn't just save you time; it could save you from an interdiction that could have otherwise taken your life.
If you enjoy wasting your time, by all means turn the lines off. I agree they are not especially attractive. But as a pure matter of efficiency, visual clarity, and in some cases SAFETY, having them on provides more than enough advantages to justify it being enabled. Some of you may not realize just how much time you could be saving because you're taking poor angles and approaches to ports anyway. When you better understand how to approach ports for maximum efficiency (right angles), you'll realize that having lines on is the very best way to do it. And maximizing efficiency doesn't just save you time; it could save you from an interdiction that could have otherwise taken your life.
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Mu77ley
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The only time I have the orbit lines turned on is if I want to see where the Frameshift cut off line is around planets when I'm trying to get as close as possible to take screenshots. This helps me to not hit the limit too fast and take some damage from an emergency drop.
Off outside on inhabited space, on within it. Helps immensely with orientation and planning during PvP.
Javert
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E
Thanks guys to those who answered. As you can tell it's a long time since I studies physics!
Thanks guys to those who answered. As you can tell it's a long time since I studies physics!
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