Right now the search in Galaxy Map is extremely basic and awful. We have a ton of information there that we simply can't use to refine our exploration. We know all the stellar components of a system without exploring, we have the sector names and mass codes too (A-H). And we also know how far stars are from us. But can we search specifically for star types using that information? No.
The closest I can get to searching for specific stars is to type e.g. "Skaudae AA-A H" in the search bar, click the arrow, and hope it takes me to the lowest numbered AA-A star (e.g. H0) and then repeatedly pressing it to go to H1, H2 etc. But that not very useful when I want to know where the *nearest* AA-A H star is (or mass code F, or G or whatever). If using this as a search entry took us straight to whatever the nearest example of that star is then I think it'd be much more useful for explorers (if you wanted to find a specific number - e.g. AA-A H3 - then you can still do that and it'd show you where that is). Or at least let us have an option to find the nearest example of a system code or star type rather than just take us to them in numerical order.
It's also not useful to be able to filter star types and then not be able to see them in the galaxy map because they disappear when I zoom out slightly. If I'm looking for white dwarf systems then why can't I use the search engine to do that? I can filter them out but (like every star) they're invisible beyond a very limited zoom distance. Maybe have an option to keep their labels visible at any zoom distance so we can find them more easily?
Or maybe I just want to show all White dwarfs that are parts of binary systems? I have no way to do that, even though that information is available in the galaxy map when you mouse over a system. Or systems that contain Red Giants? Nope, again I can't do this even though it says that they're Red Giants in the info in the galaxy map.
Also weighting which stars are used to plot routes would be nice (thought that might be computationally prohibitive) - e.g. if you definitely want to include white dwarfs or neutron stars if they're along the way then you can weight in their favour so it doesn't use a nearby main sequence star instead. Or less K/M stars if they're not filtered out.
So are there any plans to improve the functionality of the galaxy map? I'm sure other explorers would find it helpful too.
The closest I can get to searching for specific stars is to type e.g. "Skaudae AA-A H" in the search bar, click the arrow, and hope it takes me to the lowest numbered AA-A star (e.g. H0) and then repeatedly pressing it to go to H1, H2 etc. But that not very useful when I want to know where the *nearest* AA-A H star is (or mass code F, or G or whatever). If using this as a search entry took us straight to whatever the nearest example of that star is then I think it'd be much more useful for explorers (if you wanted to find a specific number - e.g. AA-A H3 - then you can still do that and it'd show you where that is). Or at least let us have an option to find the nearest example of a system code or star type rather than just take us to them in numerical order.
It's also not useful to be able to filter star types and then not be able to see them in the galaxy map because they disappear when I zoom out slightly. If I'm looking for white dwarf systems then why can't I use the search engine to do that? I can filter them out but (like every star) they're invisible beyond a very limited zoom distance. Maybe have an option to keep their labels visible at any zoom distance so we can find them more easily?
Or maybe I just want to show all White dwarfs that are parts of binary systems? I have no way to do that, even though that information is available in the galaxy map when you mouse over a system. Or systems that contain Red Giants? Nope, again I can't do this even though it says that they're Red Giants in the info in the galaxy map.
Also weighting which stars are used to plot routes would be nice (thought that might be computationally prohibitive) - e.g. if you definitely want to include white dwarfs or neutron stars if they're along the way then you can weight in their favour so it doesn't use a nearby main sequence star instead. Or less K/M stars if they're not filtered out.
So are there any plans to improve the functionality of the galaxy map? I'm sure other explorers would find it helpful too.
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