It would be very helpful for navigation if it was easier to distinguish between the front and back of the orbits, to gauge the actual orientation of the orbital plane. To that effect, the back of the orbit (the half farther away from the player) could be rendered darker than the front. Obviously, in-game, the ship computer knows the full 3d orientation of known orbits, as they're available in the orrery view of the system map, so it could easily add that extra information.
Distinguish front and back of orbits
- Thread starter lanzz
- Start date
To be consistent the back orbit should be dashed. Been asked a few times.
They are a part of the HUD. If your canopy gets blown up in combat you lose the orbital lines along with the rest of the HUD.
I would turn them off, but that turns off the exclusion zones on stars too, and I find those immensely useful.Yeah I don't have that problem, I turned off orbit lines years ago, they are just so annoying!
I think any suggestion that improves orientation awareness is probably a good thing, so I support the concept of distinguishing the sides of orbits for those that do want to use the orbit lines.
See I find that surprising, I know exactly how much my fuel scoop grabs in a second so I can fuel scoop in safety by just watching the meter, and avoiding the exclusion zone when flying around a star is fairly simple, if you start scooping you are getting to close!
It's less for fuel scooping and more for White Dwarves/Neutron Stars. I probably could get away without using them, but I like the visual assurance I'm not going to get dropped out by going near something that isn't scoopable, or in ships without scoops.
It is, as was just said, more useful for non-scoopable stars and when in a ship without a scoop. That said even when scooping I find it disconcerting when the exclusion zone doesn’t show up or shows up late.