Advanced Route Plotting

[Doosty295]

Something that occurred to me as I'm ferrying Totally Willing Passengers from Sol to V886 Centauri.

It would be a really nice QoL feature if it were possible to set up a recurring/looping route.
Example: Starts docked at Daedalus

• Open Galaxy Map
• Navigate to V886 Centauri, plot route to Rescue Ship Cornwallis
• Under the Route Settings menu, go to (hypothetical) drop down/check box labeled "Mode" or something and cycle between options like One Way, Single Loop, or Repeating Loop
• Follow route.
• Once destination is reached, route is reversed and plots itself automatically back to the nearest object from when the route initially plotted, in this case Sol; Daedalus

Setting multiple sequential destinations would also be cool, but the loop option alone would be incredible for trade routes or evacuations like the one currently ongoing.

 

[aRJay]

The loop idea sounds good, the sequential destinations one I am less sure of. But both strike me as being a little too close to automation for comfort.

However I have Daedalus and Cornwallis in my favourites so the route can be selected in less time than it takes the pad to release my ship after pressing launch, so the QOL gain seems marginal.

 

[Doosty295]

The loop idea sounds good, the sequential destinations one I am less sure of. But both strike me as being a little too close to automation for comfort.

However I have Daedalus and Cornwallis in my favourites so the route can be selected in less time than it takes the pad to release my ship after pressing launch, so the QOL gain seems marginal.

I suppose that's fair. I probably should have done that already.

I thought of another thing on the way to work:
Replace the check boxes for Fastest or Economical route plotting with a slider that controls the maximum fuel used for a jump, so you can fine tune your route's fuel efficiency vs. speed.

Sort of like the one for simulating a full cargo hold.

 

[aRJay]

I suppose that's fair. I probably should have done that already.

I thought of another thing on the way to work:
Replace the check boxes for Fastest or Economical route plotting with a slider that controls the maximum fuel used for a jump, so you can fine tune your route's fuel efficiency vs. speed.

Sort of like the one for simulating a full cargo hold.

That one would be a nice QOL when exploring.

 

[Neilski]

I suppose that's fair. I probably should have done that already.

I thought of another thing on the way to work:
Replace the check boxes for Fastest or Economical route plotting with a slider that controls the maximum fuel used for a jump, so you can fine tune your route's fuel efficiency vs. speed.

Sort of like the one for simulating a full cargo hold.

Favourites are a massive time saver, for sure.

And regarding improvements to the fuel-per-jump stuff, yeah variations of that theme have been suggested for years with no joy so far.
While waiting for it (probably will not happen, ever) I use two workarounds: the cargo slider you mention, and powering down the FSD booster while I plot the route.
In my Exploraconda (currently ~79 ly jump), the first shaves just over 11 ly off my jump range (112 t capacity) and the second shaves off 10.5 ly (class 5 booster). Better than nothing, but still leaves a massive gap between the fast and economical route selections...

 

[Doosty295]

Favourites are a massive time saver, for sure.

And regarding improvements to the fuel-per-jump stuff, yeah variations of that theme have been suggested for years with no joy so far.
While waiting for it (probably will not happen, ever) I use two workarounds: the cargo slider you mention, and powering down the FSD booster while I plot the route.
In my Exploraconda (currently ~79 ly jump), the first shaves just over 11 ly off my jump range (112 t capacity) and the second shaves off 10.5 ly (class 5 booster). Better than nothing, but still leaves a massive gap between the fast and economical route selections...

Clever.

I'll have to hope my post might be the straw to break this proverbial camel's back. (Doubtful)

 

[DjVortex]

I don't think this could be made to work in a practical manner. One of the most common reasons to go back-and-forth between two systems is cargo transport. The problem here is that one way you'll have an empty cargo hold, and the other way it will be full. With some ships the difference in jump range can be humongous. The router would somehow need to know the difference in jump range depending on which way it's plotting.

 

[Doosty295]

I don't think this could be made to work in a practical manner. One of the most common reasons to go back-and-forth between two systems is cargo transport. The problem here is that one way you'll have an empty cargo hold, and the other way it will be full. With some ships the difference in jump range can be humongous. The router would somehow need to know the difference in jump range depending on which way it's plotting.

You could haul cargo both directions? An empty hold does not profit.

Part of the last point in the original post, "route is reversed and plots itself automatically back to the nearest object from when the route initially plotted".
: Rephrased; The ship remembers where you were when you plotted the route, and whenever you get to wherever you were going, it plots a new route back to where you started.

I've no doubt there are more ideal ways to do it, but I think that'd work as a proof-of-concept if nothing else.

 

[DjVortex]

The ship remembers where you were when you plotted the route, and whenever you get to wherever you were going, it plots a new route back to where you started.

The problem with that is that if you purchase some cargo, the route will likely become invalid because of your reduced jump range. You'll need to re-plot anyways.

(Although I suppose the automatic plotting could happen eg. when you open the galaxy map. After all, that already happens in some other situations, when you open the galmap.)

 

[Doosty295]

The problem with that is that if you purchase some cargo, the route will likely become invalid because of your reduced jump range. You'll need to re-plot anyways.

(Although I suppose the automatic plotting could happen eg. when you open the galaxy map. After all, that already happens in some other situations, when you open the galmap.)

If you haul both ways, I don't think it would be an issue?

Maybe have the plotting of a return trip and/or the next leg of a route bound to a hotkey?
Could possibly even set it up to calculate when you try to High-wake without a target while it's in loop mode?

 

[serakfalcon]

The problem with that is that if you purchase some cargo, the route will likely become invalid because of your reduced jump range. You'll need to re-plot anyways.

That's a simple case of opening and closing the galaxy map, and in some cases may not matter at all.

In general i'd be supportive of multiple sequential stored waypoints, people already use 3rd party tools for that, and being able to set, say like 10 at a time could also cover a reasonable amount of looping while also supporting other use cases like engineering runs, explorers following the neutron highway etc

 

[Neilski]

It would be great to have better control of routes, including loading (say) a text file with a system list.

However, having spent some time lately practicing neutron jumping (with a long route from Spansh), and not yet having installed any helper widgets, I've found - to my surprise - that it's really not that painful to just manually copy and paste each system in.
It doesn't even cost any time to alt-tab and copy the new system name by hand, given that the jump process leaves you twiddling your thumbs for around 15 seconds each time. Admittedly, opening up the galaxy map and pasting it in is time that could be eliminated if the process were slicker, but it seems that brave folk do that particular bit while the FSD supercharges

 

[Doosty295]

It would be great to have better control of routes, including loading (say) a text file with a system list.

However, having spent some time lately practicing neutron jumping (with a long route from Spansh), and not yet having installed any helper widgets, I've found - to my surprise - that it's really not that painful to just manually copy and paste each system in.
It doesn't even cost any time to alt-tab and copy the new system name by hand, given that the jump process leaves you twiddling your thumbs for around 15 seconds each time. Admittedly, opening up the galaxy map and pasting it in is time that could be eliminated if the process were slicker, but it seems that brave folk do that particular bit while the FSD supercharges

Really puts the Dangerous into Elite; at least 50% scarier than Open during a CG, or doing anything immediately after a big update but before a hotfix.

15 seconds spent copying and pasting my next jump into the map is 15 seconds I'm not using to bother my cats.