Orrery!

askavir · Oct 18, 2018

Viajero said:
That one FDEV presented today was at 1:1 scale though, which is even more impressive. Cant wait to view some of those 100+ bodies systems

To be honest at first the Orrery felt kind of "meh" compared to the concept art, but after a bit I realized how a 1:1 scale orrery is so much more useful than the one in the concept art, even if not nearly as "pretty".

S3B4ST13N · Oct 18, 2018

NeilF said:
Yeh, almost a shame there's not a combined view to?

That would have utterly destroyed anything else they could bring to the table IMHO (in Beyond). But things like waypoints, shared view of cmdr locations in the system (that could be pretty cool I think), uhm.. trade lanes, commodity buying/selling (ala Galmap).. things like that could make this map very useful.

Maybe one day.

Hopefully not one of those "lets see how people use it and we'll improve it. if they don't use it, we won't touch it" things again? xD

S3B4ST13N · Oct 18, 2018

Brian of Ardagh said:
Did anyone get a screenshot of the real orrery from the livestream? I couldn't watch most of it, only caught the end where they showed the scanning and the probing, mm-haiai.

The video is available btw: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtmmmP_waf4

Some pics:

quick shot of probes

wstephenson · Oct 18, 2018

askavir said:
To be honest at first the Orrery felt kind of "meh" compared to the concept art, but after a bit I realized how a 1:1 scale orrery is so much more useful than the one in the concept art, even if not nearly as "pretty".

Could you explain why, in your opinion? Just for estimating travel time, or am I missing something? My initial reaction is "I'd like a pretty-mode as well".

Gun Star · Oct 18, 2018

Nagual · Oct 18, 2018

NeilF said:
And that's about it? Shame you can't do other stuff of "purpose" in it?!

Not too sure what stuff of purpose you mean. As long as we can do in the Orrery the things we can do in the regular system map which looking at system bodies and setting bookmarks or setting destinations. Being able to see where in a system all the bodies are currently means optimal flight time and less faffing, this to me is quite a big deal.

askavir · Oct 18, 2018

wstephenson said:
Could you explain why, in your opinion? Just for estimating travel time, or am I missing something? My initial reaction is "I'd like a pretty-mode as well".

Because it shows where things actually are in relation to each other, the distances and the bodies actual sizes, so it functions much better as an actual map. The one in the concept art did not, it just looked pretty. Wouldn't mind at all if the orrery was both functional and pretty though!

tridentfiend · Oct 18, 2018

Kzak said:
Three thumbs up for the Orrery!

[up][up][up]!!!

Ziggy Stardust · Oct 18, 2018

babelfisch said:
People like Ziggy who constantly search for interesting constellations will probably use it a lot.

It's useful in all kinds of maps. Especially if you found more planets with things on them, you can plot a route which order to check them out.

Jack Schitt · Oct 18, 2018

askavir said:
Because it shows where things actually are in relation to each other, the distances and the bodies actual sizes, so it functions much better as an actual map. The one in the concept art did not, it just looked pretty. Wouldn't mind at all if the orrery was both functional and pretty though!

I can imagine a hybrid system were clicking on or near any of the pretty things on the concept image takes you to an appropriate location and zoom level in the orrery. But the disconnect between the two might be a bit much unless you could make an orrery with individual elements as pretty as the concept elements, and then the hardware requirements might be too great.

On second thoughts I wonder if this is something that might be included with the current maps, so that clicking on a body in the classic system map gives an option to go straight to that same body in the orrery? There was no sign of that on the livestream, just two clearly separate "tabs" for the two modes, but it would be great to combine the two in this way. Find two orbiting moons on the system map: exactly how close are they? Click through to the orrery and there they are to scale.

OriginalBadBoy · Oct 18, 2018

It's a nice first step.. If a little basic.. It also didn't help that when they showed an example of it, most of the planets were undiscovered and therefore just wire frame.. That's going to give a massive false impression.

Just give me a accelerated time option so I can see the orbital mechanics , that's all I ask for.

Iskariot · Oct 18, 2018

r0ckhat said:
I'm not expecting the concept art that's floating around; but still... orrery is orrery

It is perhaps a bit different than the original, old concept art, but it is beautifully integrated in the new exploration mechanic.
It is brilliant.

Dbrn47 · Oct 18, 2018

Subadei said:
All this exuberance and gaiety for something not yet seen in the flesh...........................You know of course it's going to be another FD disappointment.

It's not likely to change dramatically between now and the 30th, so what we've seen is a pretty safe base to be exuberant from.

Mephane · Oct 18, 2018

To revive a tradition from ye olden alpha and beta times:

ORRERY!

[VR] Deggial · Oct 18, 2018

As I mentioned in the main feedback-thread:

Couldn't the orrery map be made a little bit more visually pleasing?
Would it suffer from using colored planet icons instead of schematic representations?
Would a star-field as background (already rendered for the main cockpit screen) make it unreadable?

I miss some playfulness.
Some eye candy, some chi-chi.

And this is coming from somebody who usually prefers frugality.
But what was presented seems to be a little bit too chaste ...

killminster · Oct 18, 2018

I've been an orrery skeptic forever and from the quick demo they showed I'm still to be convinced of its usefulness over the schematic view.

However I'm glad it's in, and I liked the design more than concept art, it has the look of a real tool that a stellar navigator might use rather than being a pretty picture.

[VR] Deggial · Oct 18, 2018

killminster said:
... it has the look of a real tool that a stellar navigator might use rather than being a pretty picture.

This is of course true.

But even while keeping the general look-and-feel, some additional technical looking "ornamentation" (even with added functionality/useful information!) might be possible and add to the experience.

Maybe it would already help to increase the size of the schematic icons when zoomed out?
The map is quite “empty” at the moment. (Due to the understandable reason that planetary systems are mainly empty ...)
Displaying some of the planet’s (and its moons) features while zoomed out would fill the screen as well and be useful at the same time. When zooming in, those annotations could be attatched to the then visible single bodies.

SAB380 · Oct 18, 2018

Mephane said:
To revive a tradition from ye olden alpha and beta times:

ORRERY!

This is the correct response.

Dietger · Oct 18, 2018

Deggial said:
As I mentioned in the main feedback-thread:

Couldn't the orrery map be made a little bit more visually pleasing?
Would it suffer from using colored planet icons instead of schematic representations?
Would a star-field as background (already rendered for the main cockpit screen) make it unreadable?

I miss some playfulness.
Some eye candy, some chi-chi.

And this is coming from somebody who usually prefers frugality.
But what was presented seems to be a little bit too chaste ...

Yep it all looks a bit "barren". Not an issue, but a little "playfulness" would made the bleak technical stuff look a little more pleasant.

Kaltern · Oct 18, 2018

If the orrery is fully functional, with everything selectable such as stations and planetary bases directly (as in, zoom right into the planet surface...omgomgomg....) as in the standard 2d view - it will be absolutely perfect. And if they updated it with USS and other 'things' in real time... that would be epic.