Dear Frontier, An Open Letter RE: GalMap

[Chankk Saotome]

So, I know I'm beating a dead horse at this point but it has to be said.
While we as a community appreciate the hard work and effort you have put into all the elements of the Odyssey expansion, and the promises to continue to do so, there is one thing that still has no justification, logical reason, or functional benefit to it whatsoever; the revised GalMap UI.
I have heard it stated that the ODY UI is "cleaner" and has "less clutter" with its icon bars, but this is simply untrue. Even when they are merely idling they effectively blockade 2/3rds as much space as the already existing black info-dump panel we're all so used to. Moreso than that, when users start actually opening tabs to see the data they are so used to viewing normally all the time, this used space explodes to more than twice what the old window consumed and easily more than half the screen as a whole.

We understand that you put a lot of work into all of this, we really do, but there is no A for effort and replacing the wheel with a triangle simply is not just ineffective but utterly unusable and as a fundamental element of your game must be stated to be unacceptable.

Please, on behalf of explorers, traders, miners, racers, and even a few combat pilots and griefers.... On behalf of the Elite community, please just give us back our black info-dump panel and it's 1/5th screen consumption.

Sincerely,
A concerned CMDR


ODY FOV usage:

HZN FOV usage:

 

[CMDR Sophie Joanne]

Nah, sorry, I like the new GalMap. It's straight forward (filters one side, info the other) and when you click on the map the filters panel auto-hides anyway!

 

[Rusted Bulk]

Thanks for the write-up. This new UI seems to be minimalism taken too far. Exploring a galaxy is inherently a complex affair - if you didn't give a single damn as to where you were going, or even how to get there (which by definition excludes the edges of the galaxy, the gaps, and the sparse top/bottom), then you won't miss anything.

Making everything nested into multiple clicks just to access information, or even manage bookmarks, or manually force your ship to jump to a specific system, you're just hindering anyone that knows what they want to do. Bubble-jumpers won't care. But if one of the big back-of-the-box bragging rights of your game is a full-scale galaxy with 400 billion systems, making it harder to explore its extents and instead focus them to staying within the bubble, then you're actively working against the original spirit of the game.

 

[Straha Yeagar]

And it is even more egregious on ultra wide displays.

 

[Negative Velocity]

Change is just so darn hard sometimes.

 

[Mooing]

I've seen the new GalMap receive a lot of criticism, but I don't think it's been specific enough so how about a comprehensive list (in no particular order) of the reasons I hate this redesign:

• Bookmarks take two clicks to add but four clicks and a search to delete.
• Typing in a system name into the search bar and pressing enter doesn't work. You have to click the system name from the dropdown.
• The circle that lets you know what star you're looking at isn't aligned at most zoom levels and distances. This is particularly noticeable in dense areas of space where it can be difficult to know what star the Map will take you to when you click.
• Friend markers are useless now as it's impossible to tell which friend is in a system (At least from what I could tell)
• Filters are not grouped in an intuitive way (star class is grouped in with economy and security?)
• The bottom section telling you your route only serves to take up space as I can't think of a good use for that information.
• Technically, this change brought the highly requested feature of bookmark organization, but there's no flexibility so it's pretty much useless for people who only bookmark systems.
• Switching between system, market, and powerplay modes do not put you in a useful star filter, you have to do that yourself.
• Scrolling in the bookmark manager affects your camera in the GalMap.

Again, these are only my personal gripes with the GalMap and I'm sure as I continue to use it, I'm sure I'll discover more jank. But until the regressions are addressed, then we can talk about getting used to the redesign. I also have my issues with the System map, but that's for a different thread.

 

[alexzk]

Typing in a system name into the search bar and pressing enter doesn't work. You have to click the system name from the dropdown.

Guess multi-search was removed too, in old you could browse through particular matches by pressing enter.

 

[Straha Yeagar]

Change is just so darn hard sometimes.

If only that was all this was...

 

[Teatime42]

Agree. I like the idea they tried to implement, in theory. But the implementation isn't there.

The old one may not have looked pretty, but it did the job brilliantly.

 

[Allcoast]

Dont forget that the route settings do not save, meaning that if you want to use jet cone or quickest route, you have to modify it, unless it is another graphical bug.

 

[Agent_K]

Bugs I'm sure will be fixed over time, but regarding the UI changes, I have to agree with the OP.
The new design UI is refreshing, but is nonetheless a bad UX. I play with Xbox controller and the loss of tabs in general make navigation extremely cumbersome and frustrating. Maybe some UI elements can be incorporated into the last layout to retain the great UX?
Some may argue I should be using mouse & keyboard but once the console version is released, the same problem will arise. So please seriously consider this plea. Thank you!

 

[Batkung]

while we're at it, I'd like to be able to combine filters, for example <Allegiance> AND <System State> AND <Economy> etc.

 

[alexzk]

Some may argue I should be using mouse & keyboard

With mouse it's even worse. In fact I use controller for this map as it is easier ...because mouse....well u have to move it over whole screen a lot. Left-right and back again, while on controller digital keys just jump.

 

[gooddoc]

Here we go again!

Some cmdr who thinks it's his/her god given right to become a spokesperson for the WHOLE community & write an OPEN letter to Frontier about something in the game.

Cmdr, stop using the word 'we' & claiming to speak on behalf of 'explorers, traders, miners, racers, and even a few combat pilots and griefers'....YOU DON'T!!!

THESE ARE YOUR OWN PERSONAL OPINIONS, NOT MINE!

If you'd have consulted me before writing that crap, I'd have told you where to get off!

You don't like the new Galmap UI then write a thread giving you're own opinions................don't assume that I don't like it & then speak on my behalf.
If I don't like something in ED/EDO, I have the balls to say it myself, I don't need or ask anyone to do it for me!

 

[Teatime42]

Perhaps he did speak with a collection of those people before hand. In fact, he did.

And, in posting like this, people are free to agree, disagree, and list their reasons either way. Or, lose their mind in a hilariously egotistical manner.

I don't like the new UI, I agree with OP. I know people who do like it, and a few have posted here as well.

Maybe you could share why you do like the new UI.

 

[Terekhov]

I agree that the new galmap leaves a lot to be desired. Many things tale many more actions to complete, and some important functionality is missing.

One of the most blatant issues is the inabllity to set a route directly from a bookmark. This is extremely painful if the target is a staton.

But there are many other issues such as not being able to click/hover around and see details on that element (such as material content of planets). Many things take more keypresses/actions to achieve.

The former is probably easily fixed, the second is probably more involved...

having said that, I really like the 'click and hold to set route'.

(and although off topic for this thread, the other UI changes are, at least in part, a step backward as well... I ran a couple of old-style ship based cargo missions this morning. Turning in the cargo and completing the mission was a more logical process, but involved many more mouse clicks. It was painful)

 

[Dop3fish]

To me the new UI feels incredibly clunky. Please can it be replaced or at least kept out of Horizons?

 

[gooddoc]

Personally I find it different from how it was before & different to some people means instant dislike & hate, because it's change from the norm.

I posted during the Alpha Phase, that I found that the new UI's were more in-line with the UI's that I see on my Carrier & I can get past the changes & recognise why the Dev team have done this.
It's not as bad as some make out it is, I don't mind there being two vertical icon lists one on each side of the Galmap screen, once I got used to what icon did what...& that took only a couple minutes.....I moved on.........unlike some players

 

[Teatime42]

Ah, I getcha. I myself actually mostly liked the carrier UI changes. Mostly. Parts of it were faster, and less laggy. Others were slower, but thankfully not more laggy.

Thank you. : )

 

[Northpin]

I kinda agree with the OP.

The new UI is cumbersome. It requires extra click and extra mouse movements.
Not at last, it offer less functionality

Why oh Why i have to move the mouse over the entire screen to access one bar then the other?
Even focusing my eyes to the extreme left of the screen then to the extreme right is really annoying - especially when playing on bigger screen
At least, let us move the bars around or group them both on one side.

And playing with a controller? all those clicks to move the cursor to all those buttons and all those nested menus?
The new interface might be (sort-off) nicer if ED was running on a touchscreen, but controller or Joystick?
Even mouse is not so good because the bars are so far one of the other.


The older interface was so much better.
And i really want the small quick action bar back - the one that had the Sysmap, plot, bookmark etc readily available when clicking a star.
Losing the ability to remove the jump line while still having the ability to plot long jumps is another backstep :/
The select circle for stars is too big too intrusive and the fact that is not centered ads insult to the injury