Could Frontier please demonstrate how to use the FSS enjoyably?
- Thread starter CMDR Karrde Sun
- Start date
- Status
The ADS is gone, but there was no need to remove it & that functionality should be put back. This problem is not going to go away through inaction.
There is no point at which needlessly removing existing functionality can be let go. It should be justified (and after this long it would need a good reason) or corrected, and certainly not repeated. If your vision changes make a new game that people haven't already bought & played for years.
It is that simple. Easy fix, everybody wins, it just needs to be done. Really they should not have been removed in the first place.
Last edited:
Ahh yes, because these never-ending threads that go round in circles like a dog chasing its tail will bring the ADS back....
[rereads Frontier's response to this thread]
Nope!
This is not an unwinnable situation like Hotel California, there is an easy solution with no downside - have both old & new mechanisms in the game.
I am not looking for anything to be removed, I am looking to be able to continue to play the game I bought if there is no good reason why that cannot be done. No good reason has been supplied, and having looked into this it seems apparent that there was no good reason to remove existing functionality this far into the game's life.
Putting the old modules back into the game is the obvious solution. Not removing them in the first place would have been optimal.
It's also not going to come back by labouring the same point.
Time to move the discussion to how to improve the FSS.
How would you improve the FSS? I would add an optional module that populated the system map but providing only basic info on the bodies discovered, and have those bodies be targetable in the HUD, nav panel & sysmap.
I absolutely agree on these two. The decision on the ADS was made, FD in this thread re-iterated that they stand with their choice. The whole "back to the old" is not helping. The FSS is here to stay. It still plenty of room for improvement. That's what our focus should be: persuade FD to improve the FSS, to make it more enjoyable and better to use.
Ah. The expert is here. Let us know if you ever actually give it a try, instead of ranting about it without any hands-on experience.
Why do you take opposing views on the ADS & FSS sections of Adam's post?
Personally I don't mind the new stuff, it does a job. But the old stuff did a job too, and there is no incompatibility as behaviour in the bubble shows.
It’s a tricky one because whatever consensus we arrive at it can’t bypass the FSS.
Which opposing views? Adam clearly stated that the FSS is here to stay, while the ADS is a thing of the past. He also said that the core of the FSS will remain unchanged, but did not say that the FSS would forever have to remain exactly the way it currently is.
There's plenty of things which can be improved, better usability, etc. without ever so slightly touching the core functionality. While I think that implementing a number of usability upgrades would go for a long way and make the FSS feel much better.
Yeah its amazing how i could tell it was awful without even trying isnt it? Thats how you know im an expert.
What really can be done with it at this point? The zoom in/zoom out mechanic is obnoxious and entirely inappropriate for this game. Its just wrong, it should have never made it into the game.
Is that a hint of disappointment from you Max? Always knew you were one of us. Without your contributions the fss would have been at least 200 pages less discussed
Hey i got over it, its a tough pill in some ways, but im grateful i made it out.
I just want people to enjoy the game as much as possible. As you know I was never fully against the ADS coming back in some kind of format, never really for it either. But I have been saying from the word go that I didn't think FDev would add it back, so I have on many occasion come up with things that would in my view improve the FSS and give more options to players in how to use it. I have never said the FSS is perfect and it certainly can be improved a good amount.Is that a hint of disappointment from you Max? Always knew you were one of us. Without your contributions the fss would have been at least 200 pages less discussed
I think the FSS should remain in it's current state in perpetuity as a reminder to us all to be careful what you wish for
I was happy enough with the old discovery process, you start with basic info and get more detail by travelling around the system with a logical progression. It wasn't the only solution, but it worked just fine & the revised DSS probing/mapping functionality would have added to that quite neatly because at the point where you decide you want to investigate even further you are already nearby.
From a gameplay perspective the new process feels disjointed and tacked on in a way that the old one did not.
But the old way fell short for other approaches, so more tools (like the ability to scan at a distance, using a telescope to investigate the thing you found instead of taking a closer look by moving towards it is fine) were added. This all makes sense. But the old modules, which worked just fine for what they were, were removed, and there was no need. It was thought they needed to go, it was thought that they were incompatible, but on investigation by those with a vested interest (ie those that didn't dislike it) it turns out that actually, there is no incompatibility, they didn't need to be removed.
Last edited:
I think how i've accounted for it is, frontier in another work actually believed that pulling cargo transport missions out into another ui menu and adding "wrinkles" was good enough to be considered a new gameplay type. That same hand is the one that considered time consuming 2d panning a core mechanic in a spaceflight exploration game.
EDIT: Also as a solution to your ultimate problem with choice of the ADS, you could do what fss haters do, and ignore or minimise it. Even if the ADS was restored, guess what, you don't have to use it. Just kick it off within the FSS to set it up and pretend its not there otherwise! That's an easier adaptation than being prevented from doing something completely!
Last edited:
One way that could return some elements of the original gameplay would be to extend the FSS to the star systems within a determined range around the player. And allow the ability to send probes through witch space to scan the systems remotely.
This would allow for a time sink to be added so as not to step on the toes of the FSS.
The information gleaned from the probes could be limited enough to give the player incentive to travel to the system and perform the FSS scan.
This would add to the exploration gameplay as you would remove the randomness I currently experience and add more tools to exploration.
This would allow for a time sink to be added so as not to step on the toes of the FSS.
The information gleaned from the probes could be limited enough to give the player incentive to travel to the system and perform the FSS scan.
This would add to the exploration gameplay as you would remove the randomness I currently experience and add more tools to exploration.
Dont get me started on missions.
All gameplay mechanics are time consuming. You either like them or you don't. I don't mind the 2D panning. Whenever I see a "3D" attempt at these kinds of mechanics they look pretty awful so far.
- Status