That kinda misses the mark by a fair bit, exploration trips will often last thousands of jumps, and the point of much of the complaint lies in the fact that 99% of those will be to systems which don't really have anything people are interested in, but with the FSS the only way to find that out at a glance is to fully scan the system first, then you know if it's worth sticking around and beginning to explore it. If such a system worked on a limited resource, then it'd mean either returning back to restock, drastically shortening the time spent out in the black, or a lot of time spent mining yet more resources for synthesis. The suggested "solution" here is kind of like offering a pack of disposable paper cups to someone whose house has flooded, to help them drain it out.
Could or should Frontier enhance the FSS or add in and incorporate an optional ADS-like expansion module?
- Thread starter WR3ND
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For "relative" control I would bet as opposed to "absolute", which is what was being discussed.
There is a distinct difference.
I think you are straying into the same territory that resulted in mini-game hell with the planetary scan probes. Overall, the problem is that if this mechanic were to be introduced it would need to be done as a short cut to completely automate the FSS in a single burst hit - a true god honk which is not what those suggesting the return of the ADS are asking for.
Overall agreed - the proposal does miss the mark by a long way and would create even more opposition to it.
I think we all need to accept that the ADS is not coming back in any shape or form and concentrate on how the FSS can be improved to make it more palatable.
Not that I recall, unless it happened within the last two weeks.
So on that note, what is required?
- Less fiddly tuning so it can be done with rotary controls no matter how the controller is configured. Fingers can only get so accurate anyway and teasing the last tenth of a degree is not fun game-play.
- Set the sensitivity for about 256 divisions no matter what the controller says it can deliver, or
- Make it configurable in the bindings.
- Persistent tuning for those that like to use buttons.
- Honk reveals orbits in the system map but no details of the bodies.
Optional Iron Man mode.
4. You don't get a white circle, just a signal level meter. You have to tweek the position and tuning for a maximum. And/Or
5. No zooming. If you want to resolve two close signals, you have to fly closer. And/Or
6. No pretty GUI. Do the whole thing with an analogue meter and six thumbwheels. (Right ascension and declination)
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I actually realised something which debunks one of the criticisms of adding a mechanism for exposing unexplored planets' locations prior to scaning with the FSS when I just dropped into a previously scanned system.
Specifically the argument that you could point your nose at something targeted via the navpanel, switch to the FSS, and immediately scan it directly ahead of you.
Many seemed to be operating on an assumption that the FSS is always pointed directly ahead of your ship when you enter it, but that's not the case, as I just discovered when I selected an unexplored landable in this system to begin flying to it and DSS it, but halfway there, decided to throttle to zero, hop into the FSS and see if I could scan it.
It wasn't there ahead of me when I went into the FSS. I had to rotate the FSS view a good 120 degrees or more to find it, tune to it, and scan it.
Specifically the argument that you could point your nose at something targeted via the navpanel, switch to the FSS, and immediately scan it directly ahead of you.
Many seemed to be operating on an assumption that the FSS is always pointed directly ahead of your ship when you enter it, but that's not the case, as I just discovered when I selected an unexplored landable in this system to begin flying to it and DSS it, but halfway there, decided to throttle to zero, hop into the FSS and see if I could scan it.
It wasn't there ahead of me when I went into the FSS. I had to rotate the FSS view a good 120 degrees or more to find it, tune to it, and scan it.
Of course...
If only the same recognition could be given to Frontier saying "No" to the ADS - or is that not absolute but relative?
The main points have already been covered, your blatant sarcasm is unwarranted.
There is one other flaw with that line of thinking - you have to be able to target it first. Would have been possible with the ADS, is not viable now - at least in virgin systems.
[EDIT]But yes, the direction the FSS is pointing in may not be quite as expected.[/EDIT]
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Your blatant trolling aside, there is the point that people do recognise that the ADS is unlikely to return as-was pre-3.3 BUT that does not mean the FSS can not be improved to provide the experience some are missing (at least in part) because the ADS was removed.
Maybe the FSS bearing is persistent within an instance? I might try some experiments later but if you or anyone else feels like experimenting:
Point at a known body in FSS that is not in front of the ship, go out of FSS and back in, is the body still centered?
Steer toward a known body. Enter FSS and center that body. Go out of FSS, steer away by a small angle. Go back into FSS, has the body moved by the same angle?
Point at a known body in FSS that is not in front of the ship, drop out of SC and then back in without changing heading. Going back into FSS is the body still centered?
Jump into a system, imediately throttle down next to the star and enter FSS. Try to take note of where it is pointing. Jump out of the system in the direction you were going -- not back from where you came from. Turn around and jump back. Open up FSS and take note of where it is pointing. Is it reset relative to your ship or relative to the system?
This was my suspicion, but right now I'm having more fun driving around a field of Anemones, so I've not taken the time to test it. Will do so next time I enter a system. My guess is that it has a default facing, and if you exit it and return, even if you reorient your ship, it remembers where it was pointed last time you opened it. Whether that is relative to your ship, or some aspect of the system.
Well, the criticisms were of the idea of an ADS-type population of the navpanel and sysmap with unexploreds being added to the FSS, so that exploration of unvisited systems worked the same as it does in previously visited ones.
But as I just discovered visiting such a system full of targetable unexploreds - there was no way to line my ship up facing an unexplored planet, and then find it directly in front of me in the FSS. Because the default facing of the FSS when I entered it was not lined up directly with what my ship was pointing at.
Fair enough.
Obviously, this could either be intended behaviour, or some kind of bug, but we don't really know. Next time I get back into space and have a chance to check it out, I'll see about getting some video footage I can attach to a bugreport and see if Frontier can confirm if this is the FSS working as intended or not.
That's actually a very succinct way of framing this whole debate.
It's not that the FSS in itself is bad, it's that it now takes too much time to find out if a system is worth exploring or not, and by the time you have your answer you've already mostly explored it.
Its very true what you said, but i would add that the zooming mechanic itself is bad, it makes you want to stop doing it. Even if you had the system revealed to you by an old fashoned honk, if there was FSS later i personally would still object to it because its...i dunno, unplesant? Like something out of a game from 20 years ago? or as some say like a phone game. The FSS is bad, its badly thought out, feedback was ignored, the things a pig basicly.
Edit: im going to add this thats been rattling about in my head aswell. I think the last year has driven this game down a dead end that unless 2020 is spectactular i cant see it recovering from without a change in the way the devs think and engage with players and their feedback. Right now ED is yesterdays game imo, dont get me wrong im here complaining so i would like to see it get better, but i dont think it ever will unless there is a significant change in thinking from frontier.
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In that case, you are being a bit contradictory - the flaws in the FSS are exactly why this is an issue, thus the FSS is itself bad by your own argument.
Further more, I would not call playing the FSS mini-game true exploring.
Peculiar. Where ever I point my ship, that is where my FSS will be pointing when I flip it on. That is how it's always worked for me. I've scanned lots of bodies that way. Visually spotting one, pointing my ship at it, firing up the FSS and it's right there.
Interesting. Which platform are you on, just for reference?
I'm on PC.