I keep on noticing that I get the slow sown message when I pass a planet or star, even though I am selecting another astrological body. My thinking is that the message is set to go off whenever the ship is being effected by a gravitational force, so I think it would be helpful just to let Commanders know they are being effected by said gravity instead of telling them to slow down. This would also get Commanders to do more gravitational whips, making Supercruse even more fun.
Change Slow down message to some other gravity indication.
- Thread starter Nova McCool
- Start date
That sounds good, I'm thinking more along the lines of a small red text on the HUD than a ripple around the icon.
I have always interpreted 'SLOW DOWN' as 'OVERSPEED', I can understand the frustration it causes to some to feel like they are being warned too late.
Perhaps a simple 'GRAVITY WELL' would do, taking C.Scott's idea above & just making it shorter. 'GRAVITY BRAKING' could work too, although that might introduce a different confusion
Perhaps a simple 'GRAVITY WELL' would do, taking C.Scott's idea above & just making it shorter. 'GRAVITY BRAKING' could work too, although that might introduce a different confusion
I have always interpreted 'SLOW DOWN' as 'OVERSPEED', I can understand the frustration it causes to some to feel like they are being warned too late.
Perhaps a simple 'GRAVITY WELL' would do, taking C.Scott's idea above & just making it shorter. 'GRAVITY BRAKING' could work too, although that might introduce a different confusion
"Gravity braking" implies using gravity to slow down intentionally, which is a fine idea and I am all for it, what about "gravity drag" that implies more that you are being held back than using it intentionally.
Yes, please! I have explained this (and argued with players) before several times. As a new player, I thought 'SLOW DOWN" was a command, and would slow down. It would go away. I'd speed up; it would come back. I got aggravated enough to do some testing on my own. It's not a command; it's a status message.
ANYTHING would be better than 'SLOW DOWN." I agree with the posters above; it should be "Gravity Well" or "Gravity Drag" or SOMEthing. SLOW DOWN is just too ambiguous in the wrong way.
ANYTHING would be better than 'SLOW DOWN." I agree with the posters above; it should be "Gravity Well" or "Gravity Drag" or SOMEthing. SLOW DOWN is just too ambiguous in the wrong way.
+1 from me.
Being told to Slow Down is annoying. Even if that's not what it means.
I'm up for Gravity, Well, Drag, Influence, etc . They all make more sense.
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Being told to Slow Down is annoying. Even if that's not what it means.
I'm up for Gravity, Well, Drag, Influence, etc . They all make more sense.
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
It's a warning not a status, and the red indicates that something life threatening will occur if the warning isn't heeded. Slow Down when being accelerated by gravity is to me valid.
Question is, is this a warning for a immanent collision with a object, or a speed warning to protect the ship ?
If Slow Down is annunciated due to a impending collision, then why not call it "COLLISION".
If the warning is to retain ship integrity by reducing speed, then "Slow Down".
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Hear hear ... interpreting SLOW DOWN as an instruction is a very common mistake. Bung a change to this onto the QoL changes list please FD .... GRAVITY WELL seems like a good suggestion.
Approaching a gravity well slows the ship down naturally, but if you intend to drop down to normal space in that gravity well then you can be going too fast to stop in time (ie you will overshoot your destination if you don't take corrective action). You can use a slingshot approach to take advantage of the gravity well, this will allow you to arrive at your destination more quickly then just putting throttle to 75% & 6secs on the timer. The current warning is saying 'Take corrective action to slow down to a safe speed if you don't want to overshoot your destination' but that won't all fit in the box
You aren't always worried about overshooting, for example if you pass near a body that you don't intend to stop at on your way to your destination and this is where the current message can be frustrating. You feel like you are being warned to slow down needlessly when in fact the ship is being slowed down by the gravity well.
If the phrase were replaced with a simple 'gravity well' it's meaning would be more intuitive in the latter situation, and still make sense in the former.
Hth.
I'm with this (and Cmdr Riverside), definitely +1
Personally go for giving the condition of the engines and not external factor (gravity). It's a ship systems HUD display for one, plus you get message when you approach a USS too fast. No gravity well in sight there plus I think lore is more about how quickly engines are able to grow or collapse a frameshift / warp bubble, generally.
graphics-wise .. same number of characters (nine) as in 'slow_down' ..
<loss of grip> plus <runaway in engines> I'd also recommend <overspeed> (one word)
Personally go for giving the condition of the engines and not external factor (gravity). It's a ship systems HUD display for one, plus you get message when you approach a USS too fast. No gravity well in sight there plus I think lore is more about how quickly engines are able to grow or collapse a frameshift / warp bubble, generally.
graphics-wise .. same number of characters (nine) as in 'slow_down' ..
<loss of grip> plus <runaway in engines> I'd also recommend <overspeed> (one word)
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It's neither collision warning or a ship damage warning, it's a message that tells us that the max SC speed is reduced due to the presence of nearby large object. We already have a "COLLISION" warning that comes up if you point your nose directly at a planet and hit the throttle. There's no life threatening thing involved with the "slow down" message, I have scooted along plenty of time parallel to ring system with that message flashing away and nothing has happened, there's no ship integrity issue involved. If you see the "slow down" and the "collision" warning then yes you have a problem! Otherwise no.
You raise a good point about USSs (and stations I guess), 'gravity well' doesn't fit as well as 'overspeed' in those situations but I think I'd be prepared to let that slide. Gravity well fits the rule of cool, overspeed is technically more accurate but a bit boring, slow down is just wrong
You raise a good point about USSs (and stations I guess), 'gravity well' doesn't fit as well as 'overspeed' in those situations but I think I'd be prepared to let that slide. Gravity well fits the rule of cool, overspeed is technically more accurate but a bit boring, slow down is just wrong
Overspeed then
Cough .. engine mechanics??? Boring???
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overspeed_(engine) (high speed air flow and inappropriately low gearing)
ED (cockpits and game) are getting fuller and fuller of cool stuff, anyway, imho. Know what you mean though.
Ideal world .. <slow_down - I can't! - message> (replaced with something else) adds wear and tear to your FSD and powerplant, according to number of seconds spend in that condition.
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Overspeed then
Cough .. engine mechanics??? Boring???
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overspeed_(engine) (high speed air flow and inappropriately low gearing)
Porsche's warranty policy on over-revving is the wrong kind of exciting, here's an example of how it works:
http://www.911virgin.com/porsche/rev-range-information/
It's be cool if the FSD was lightly damaged in an overspeed situation, it would put a little more of a dilemma into smuggling & evading interdictions whilst still being repairable by an AFMU for an explorer.
Being a noob here and the fact that I was young once, I thought maybe there was a bill board somewhere and a cop using his radar.
In that vein, perhaps it should read "SOMETHING!"