Elite Observatory - Search your journal for potentially interesting objects, or notify you of new ones on the fly while exploring!

[Frankymole]

Others have answered you about installing a new version already, but I'll shed some light on the "Portable" zip.

It's a self-contained alternative version that doesn't need to be installed and keeps all settings and dependencies inside its own folder. The primary purpose of this is that you could do something like put it on a USB drive or network share and then use the same version of Observatory in multiple locations. Some people also don't like installing things, or prefer for a program to keep to itself a little more and not save things in appdata.

The installed version has some minor QoL improvements over the portable, most notably creating a .eop file association to enable double-click installs of plugins. The portable version can do this too, but requires the user to manually associate the files.

Short version: The setup exe version is fine for the majority of users. If you're unsure about whether you need the portable version then you probably don't.

Excellent, thank you for making things clear.

 

[V'larr]

If it'd be possible to add Scan.WasMapped as a default Criteria option (and something for "has been First-Footfalled" as well), that'd be neat. Thanks as always

 

[Vithigar]

If it'd be possible to add Scan.WasMapped as a default Criteria option (and something for "has been First-Footfalled" as well), that'd be neat. Thanks as always

"Has been first footfalled" isn't in the journal, so that one's not possible, unfortunately.

I'm not particularly inclined to add a default criteria for "WasMapped" for a couple of reasons. First, it's essentially meaningless for any explorer deep in the black. Previous exploration drops off sharply once you get any appreciable distance from well traveled areas and it would trigger constantly. Second, it's very straightforward to set up as a custom criteria.

 

[GraphicEqualizer]

Weird issue I have been noticing since the updates a couple of months ago with the redesign.
Sometimes I get this 'tooltip' type text overlay appearing on screen - which does not go away until I alt-tab to Observatory and back.
It's triggering lol

 

[V'larr]

"Has been first footfalled" isn't in the journal, so that one's not possible, unfortunately.

I'm not particularly inclined to add a default criteria for "WasMapped" for a couple of reasons. First, it's essentially meaningless for any explorer deep in the black. Previous exploration drops off sharply once you get any appreciable distance from well traveled areas and it would trigger constantly. Second, it's very straightforward to set up as a custom criteria.

It's not meaningless to me at all, as I have always made a point of signing the guest book in systems I pass through whenever possible and there's a great number of such systems in certain areas, like around Bernard's Loop, the Colonia Highway, or other frequented places. Anyone could simply toggle it off when you do cross that threshold, like can be done for the other default options (which I most often keep turned off).

It's not so very straightforward that I could do it. I looked at the documentation you have and I didn't spot the necessary variable to add or a step by step guide to how to set up the custom file correctly - rather, doesn't your own documentation state it's simple if you are accustomed to programming?

I'm curious how the game client knows about footfalls or why Fdev haven't seen fit to include that in the journal...oh well, I guess.

 

[Vithigar]

Weird issue I have been noticing since the updates a couple of months ago with the redesign.
Sometimes I get this 'tooltip' type text overlay appearing on screen - which does not go away until I alt-tab to Observatory and back.
It's triggering lol

That's a strange one. What is that tooltip even coming from in the first place? It looks like a system or body name? I don't recall any place where I put that in a tooltip.

 

[Vithigar]

It's not meaningless to me at all, as I have always made a point of signing the guest book in systems I pass through whenever possible and there's a great number of such systems in certain areas, like around Bernard's Loop, the Colonia Highway, or other frequented places. Anyone could simply toggle it off when you do cross that threshold, like can be done for the other default options (which I most often keep turned off).

It's not so very straightforward that I could do it. I looked at the documentation you have and I didn't spot the necessary variable to add or a step by step guide to how to set up the custom file correctly - rather, doesn't your own documentation state it's simple if you are accustomed to programming?

I'm curious how the game client knows about footfalls or why Fdev haven't seen fit to include that in the journal...oh well, I guess.

---@Simple Not Discovered
not scan.WasDiscovered

Save that as a text file with a .lua file extension and select that as your custom criteria file. If you already have some custom criteria then you can just append it to the end of the file.

 

[Eahlstan]

I got persistent tooltips too lately. They are not coming from Observatory though, but all tooltips of other apps tend to stay in quite a strange way. Now that it was mentioned I can confirm that it never happens when Observatory is closed, my mind just never made the link.

 

[V'larr]

---@Simple Not Discovered
not scan.WasDiscovered

Save that as a text file with a .lua file extension and select that as your custom criteria file. If you already have some custom criteria then you can just append it to the end of the file.

Thanks again! Would I need to add "not scan.WasMapped" to check for discovered but unmapped planets, then? And would that need its own --- header?

 

[GraphicEqualizer]

I got persistent tooltips too lately. They are not coming from Observatory though, but all tooltips of other apps tend to stay in quite a strange way. Now that it was mentioned I can confirm that it never happens when Observatory is closed, my mind just never made the link.

Yep as soon as I kill observatory the "tooltip" looking thing disappears - it appears to show the current system that the player is in, and reappears when I plot a route to another system - either when in my ship, or plotting my carrier jump

 

[Vithigar]

Can either of @Eahlstan or @GraphicEqualizer confirm this tooltip issue when using no third party plugins? Whenever something strange is going on that involves things on the screen behaving oddly when observatory is open my first instinct lately is to suspect Stellar Overlay.

 

[Eahlstan]

I have to see if I can reproduce and confirm that it's actually Observatory. Then I can test whatever you need me to.

 

[GraphicEqualizer]

Can confirm it whenever it appears and then I task kill observatory it goes away and never comes back - I'll try disable Stellar Overlay

 

[V'larr]

---@Simple Not Discovered
not scan.WasDiscovered

Save that as a text file with a .lua file extension and select that as your custom criteria file. If you already have some custom criteria then you can just append it to the end of the file.

So this is how it's going, after I tried adding "---@Simple Not Scanned not scan.WasMapped" in addition to the above....

 

[GraphicEqualizer]

Confirmed that when Stellar Overlay is not enabled under the Core tab, and I plot a route I get no 'tooltip' on screen, with it enabled it does

 

[V'larr]

Further problem: with only the file as you provided, in Orion Sector DQ-Y C3, I got a bunch of "Barycentre" popups, like so.

with the Observatory Core view as this:

And then there's the actual in-system view, which clearly shows some of these being both Discovered and Mapped. Some of them are not Mapped, but I got no popups for those - so I guess I have to try WasMapped after all?

Why would it trigger on Barycentres at all, which...can't be scanned, targeted, discovered, or interacted with in any way?

 

[V'larr]

And now with only "---@Simple Not Scanned not scan.WasMapped" in the file... why is it triggering on Stars, which can't be mapped?

The good news is it is working how I'd like on non-mapped planets:

edit: it's also triggering on the Barycentres? (this is Orion Sector DQ-Y C7)

edit2 - also belt clusters

 

[GraphicEqualizer]

RE: "Tooltip" issue: I also just discovered that the system name tooltip appeared when my carrier jumped into the system I was in and again when the cooldown completed. Maybe it also has something to do with the Fleet Commander plugin?

 

[varonica]

Simple Not Scanned not scan.WasMapped" in the file... why is it triggering on Stars, which can't be mapped?

Because they count as system bodies, suggest using the qualifier that systems bodies with only a single letter as a name don't display the message, that will eliminate stars. And barycentre can be filtered out in the same way.

 

[V'larr]

Because they count as system bodies, suggest using the qualifier that systems bodies with only a single letter as a name don't display the message, that will eliminate stars. And barycentre can be filtered out in the same way.

Can you give me the idiot's guide version of this? First time I tried to do my own thing with the lua didn't go well.