Areas in supercruise

[LaVie]

I tried to look for a guide, but they are all too basic.

My question is: Where are the borders of

-shipping lanes
-deep space
-in the system
-near a star

when looking and the navigation panel during supercruise?
Is there even a rule to apply or is it just random and different for every system?

Thanks in advance for every serious answer

 

[Bottom Hat]

They are all there LaVie, and are kind of hidden, so you have to think of each system in your mind in a 3D way, as even using orbit lines it is not easy to see.



The way I try to visualise the system in my head is the following:

1) Each large body has it's own sphere around it , of control, and that is represented in the HUD with a "XYZ name of planet"

2) Between the star, and each docking area, exists a shipping lane - think of it like a tube that rides between say the star and the outpost of planet 2, and as the system rotates, the tube follows this in an arc, but always remains the same. If you are in the shipping lane, the HUD describes it as "shipping lane"

3) If you move far enough away that you are no longer in a body's sphere of control, but have also deviated from the shipping lane, this is represented by "deep space" in the HUD; to me this is essentially all the other parts of space in the system, that are not governed by numbers 1) or 2).



I hope this makes sense, as it is not easy to explain without a visual guide. When referring to the HUD descriptions, it is in the lower left corner, and the description in the penultimate line of this area is the one to look for. It has a straight line above and below it, and is the second line up. This is where [whilst in SC] the HUD shows either of the 3 options/descriptions I have provided.

Again, hoping this makes sense, but it is all about visualising the whole system, or at least a detailed part of the system, in your mind's eye. Think of it as a bunch of balls, connected by small thin drinking straws, much like we all see in high-school science/chemistry lessons, where atomic molecules are shown in a 3D way using those little marble-sized spheres, and the small thin plastic rods that link them all together into different shapes, structures, and angular variations. The straws are of course each shipping lane, and the marbles are the spheres that surround each planet.

Hopefully someone will be able to give a link that explains this in a more visual way, but feel free to message me if I have confused the explanation somehow?! Cheers,
The Hat

 

[LaVie]

Thank a lot! But if I fly far enough out, there is the case of an exclamation mark and just the system name. What does that mean?

 

[Sapyx]

The "spheres of control" - I prefer the term "sphere of dominance" to avoid confusion with other uses of the word "control" in this game - are largely defined by gravity. A very massive object, like a star or gas giant, as a much stronger gravitational influence than a small rocky planetoid or moon, and a correspondingly larger sphere of dominance. This can be noticed when trying to chase down a small, fast-moving planet or moon that's very close to another massive object - the moon's gravity is so weak compared to the thing it's orbiting; its sphere of dominance is therefore so small, that it's almost impossible to find - making actually landing on the moon tricky, as it tends to fly away from you faster than you can catch up to it.

This is because of one important aspect of the game: relative motion. Your "speed" is defined as the speed relative to the object you are being dominated by. Thus, if you are idling in Supercruise near a planet (and therefore within that planet's sphere of dominance), you are doing 30 km/s relative to that planet. If that planet has a small moon moving in an orbit at 11 km/s, then you might be travelling at anywhere between 19 and 41 km/s relative to the moon, depending on which way you're facing. Your maximum Supercruise speed is also determined by the strength of the gravititational field of the dominant object.

There are exceptions. Space station spheres are always 1000km radius. "Shipping lanes" are summarized by Andi above. Speed in "deep space" is measured relative to the primary star.

Thank a lot! But if I fly far enough out, there is the case of an exclamation mark and just the system name. What does that mean?

The "exclamation mark" is the symbol used as a generic targeting device; it appears whenever something non-physical (like a RES site) is selected. I'm not quite sure what you're describing; I've flown 6 million Ls out to Hutton and never seen anything like that.

 

[LaVie]

The "exclamation mark" is the symbol used as a generic targeting device; it appears whenever something non-physical (like a RES site) is selected. I'm not quite sure what you're describing; I've flown 6 million Ls out to Hutton and never seen anything like that.

Imagin I am flying in a shippinglane in supercruise. Now if I deviate my direction enough, I will sooner or later enter the "deep space" area of space (shown at left hand panel). And if I travel even further out, (without targeting anything, although that doesnt change anything since my current location, here deep space, is always displayed as well) the "deep space" area with that starsystem picture beside it changes into "systemname" + exclamation mark.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

An Orrey map would be really usefull for showing the shipping lanes and would be a nice visual overlay. It could also include territory control of the various factions.