Exploration sugestion

8bitprophecy

8
First off i would like to say that i know there are a lot of threads about the galaxy map etc..
But i would like to share some personal experience.

I spend about a week out exploring so far and the galaxy map is starting to annoy me more and more every hour.
It is so easy to mis some points of interest, the endless wait for te route planner to create a route....
From that point of vieuw:
  1. wy cant we select a direction and the route planner goes from there.
  2. Manually plot a route to systems u want to see.
  3. A tool for measuring distance between systems.
  4. Place some sort of marker in the map so that u can see it on your Gui and in space.
  5. A compass ( i know that a compass wont work in space ) or somthing like that, displaying your heading in degrees, so that u can create a azimut out in space and to pinpoint something out in the distance and find it back in the map.
  6. A notepad for adding info on systems/stations.

For the system map:
  1. When u completed a scan and know where al the planets are, u should be able to select a planet u are interested in and fly there. Now u are guesing where that planet would be. Due to the planets orbit. I loose time by this and end up scanning planets i am not interested in.
  2. Maybe a box above the planets showing there distance from the sun or planet they orbit.

Selling your data:

  1. Buttons to sell your exploration data per 10/20 or all ad once.
  2. a tab showing where the prices are comming from, earthlike planet= ... , black hole= ...
  3. More profit for longer distance, so that the true explorers get payed more.


---> Explorer missions would be nice. To ad some purpose to it all.


I'm reposting this here - it's a list of suggestions I had relating to the map




  1. Separate the spiderweb from route planning. Draw the spiderweb still, it looks great, but don't tie it to route planning. Instead, let the user select a destination, and calculate a route to that point. I'm fine with limitations on range, for either game balance or technical reasons, but waiting as long as we have to for routes is painful.
  2. Start the spiderweb calculation process in the background as soon as I enter the system. Currently I have to watch it edging further out while I wait to be able to plan the route I want, and if I accidently close the map, the process has to start again.
  3. Allow a closer zoom. Some of the stars I'm presently navigating are so close together that it's very hard to click a specific one.
  4. Allow a filter that will show stars I already have system data on. For bonus marks, allow a differentiation between partial and complete data.
  5. Let me select a distant star and draw a line from it to my current location
  6. Allow an option to draw a globe around my current position, options should be
    • Current mass jump radius
    • Jump radius with full cargo and fuel
    • Jump radius with full fuel and no cargo
From Kitiara

And there are a lot more things, when i think of them i will ad them to the Thread.

Any other sugestions maybe?

I tried to write in my best english, so sorry if there are some spelling error's.

Grtzz
 
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DocSchneider

D
+1 for this. Galaxymap Neefs definitivly more features. Especially a "note system" so you can make your own notes like "Black Market" or something like that.
 

Sage Stark

Sage Stark
8bitprophecy said:
First off i would like to say that i know there are a lot of threads about the galaxy map etc..
But i would like to share some personal experience.

I spend about a week out exploring so far and the galaxy map is starting to annoy me more and more every hour.
It is so easy to mis some points of interest, the endless wait for te route planner to create a route....
From that point of vieuw:
  1. wy cant we select a direction and the route planner goes from there.
  2. Manually plot a route to systems u want to see.
  3. A tool for measuring distance between systems.
  4. Place some sort of marker in the map so that u can see it on your Gui and in space.
  5. A compass ( i know that a compass wont work in space ) or somthing like that, displaying your heading in degrees, so that u can create a azimut out in space and to pinpoint something out in the distance and find it back in the map.

For the system map:
  1. When u completed a scan and know where al the planets are, u should be able to select a planet u are interested in and fly there. Now u are guesing where that planet would be. Due to the planets orbit. I loose time by this and end up scanning planets i am not interested in.
  2. Maybe a box above the planets showing there distance from the sun or planet they orbit.

And there are a lot more things, when i think of them i will ad them to the Thread.

Any other sugestions maybe?

I tried to write in my best english, so sorry if there are some spelling error's.

Grtzz
Click to expand...

And sell scans in one go!
 

Kitiara

Kitiara
I'm reposting this here - it's a list of suggestions I had relating to the map


  1. Separate the spiderweb from route planning. Draw the spiderweb still, it looks great, but don't tie it to route planning. Instead, let the user select a destination, and calculate a route to that point. I'm fine with limitations on range, for either game balance or technical reasons, but waiting as long as we have to for routes is painful.
  2. Start the spiderweb calculation process in the background as soon as I enter the system. Currently I have to watch it edging further out while I wait to be able to plan the route I want, and if I accidently close the map, the process has to start again.
  3. Allow a closer zoom. Some of the stars I'm presently navigating are so close together that it's very hard to click a specific one.
  4. Allow a filter that will show stars I already have system data on. For bonus marks, allow a differentiation between partial and complete data.
  5. Let me select a distant star and draw a line from it to my current location
  6. Allow an option to draw a globe around my current position, options should be
    • Current mass jump radius
    • Jump radius with full cargo and fuel
    • Jump radius with full fuel and no cargo

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

picommander said:
Btw... for a short time in early beta we already had the sell-all-data function but it was bugged and removed again.
Click to expand...

<tongue in cheek mode>
We told frontier to fix the issue that there was a sell all button that didnt' work. They did - they removed the button *grin*
</tongue in cheek mode>
 

8bitprophecy

8
Kitiara said:
I'm reposting this here - it's a list of suggestions I had relating to the map


  1. Separate the spiderweb from route planning. Draw the spiderweb still, it looks great, but don't tie it to route planning. Instead, let the user select a destination, and calculate a route to that point. I'm fine with limitations on range, for either game balance or technical reasons, but waiting as long as we have to for routes is painful.
  2. Start the spiderweb calculation process in the background as soon as I enter the system. Currently I have to watch it edging further out while I wait to be able to plan the route I want, and if I accidently close the map, the process has to start again.
  3. Allow a closer zoom. Some of the stars I'm presently navigating are so close together that it's very hard to click a specific one.
  4. Allow a filter that will show stars I already have system data on. For bonus marks, allow a differentiation between partial and complete data.
  5. Let me select a distant star and draw a line from it to my current location
  6. Allow an option to draw a globe around my current position, options should be
    • Current mass jump radius
    • Jump radius with full cargo and fuel
    • Jump radius with full fuel and no cargo

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -



<tongue in cheek mode>
We told frontier to fix the issue that there was a sell all button that didnt' work. They did - they removed the button *grin*
</tongue in cheek mode>
Click to expand...

I'l ad them in the main post. +1
 

Egan

E
Some good suggestions there. The three that would be a massive plus to me are manually plotting a long distance route, something on map to show me what systems I've already been too at a glance (different colour would be a start) and - and this is the big one for me because the current system has been driving me mad - long distant route planning that persist in the nav computer after I log out and in again. Making me mental having to do it all over again if I have to answer the phone, make dinner etc.

There was a post a while back from a dev that exploring was bottom of their list for fixes just now as they see it as being the most stable of the various roles in game. I think I would dispute this a bit ( but then I'm biased). There are certainly a whole bunch of things that could be added.
 
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8bitprophecy

8
Egan said:
Some good suggestions there. The three that would be a massive plus to me are manually plotting a long distance route, something on map to show me what systems I've already been too at a glance (different colour would be a start) and - and this is the big one for me because the current system has been driving me mad - long distant route planning that persist in the nav computer after I log out and in again. Making me mental having to do it all over again if I have to answer the phone, make dinner etc.

There was a post a while back from a dev that classic exploring was bottom of their list for fixes just now as they see it as being the most stable of the various roles in game. I think I would dispute this a bit ( but then I'm biased). There are certainly a whole bunch of things that could be added.
Click to expand...

True, i hope that they will fix some of these things in the near future.
It would up my game experience on all aspects of the game.
 

dermoritz

D
+1 (to all)
i am mostly annoyed by routing algorithm - "no route available" - have just to wait some minutes :-(

knowing the absolute distance (instantly) would also be nice.
 

WhoCares

W
Overall a nice list, and I can agree with most points.

One that I don't agree with is that selling data from more distant systems should earn you more. If I was the emperor, I would pay you most for the data that I need most, systems to which my empire can expand too (think shipping resources back to the core systems, trade etc.). I don't think that in the next few years I will need the data of those systems 100,000Ly away.
But maybe some isolationist tribe is already now interested in you data ;)

With respect to your request to select the different bodies in the system map, that works only well if there is only one or two interesting bodies (left) to scan. With more it is back to the same problem again and again, known as the Travelling Salesman Problem - plot the shortest/fastest course with multiple targets. For the whole trip it is not always fastest to always pick the shortest trip for the next leg.
But a top-down view would definately be helpful - problem might be that if it is not correct in scale you miss some important information again.

A point I'd like to add is with respect to the GUI:
For the different bodies there are different icons in the list of the navigation tab, asteroid clusters, planets, suns. Unexplored, they all show the same box icon. But when you select them, you can see in the "Target Indicator" (had to check the name in the manual, PDF page 6) the symbol of the respective body. That means even without further scan we already have the information what general type of body the respective navigation list entry is. Thus I'd ask that we also get the correct icon in the Navigation tab so we can tell suns and planets from asteroids without clicking through the whole list - the name "Unexplored" is totally sufficient to tell us the status.
 

8bitprophecy

8
WhoCares said:
Overall a nice list, and I can agree with most points.

One that I don't agree with is that selling data from more distant systems should earn you more. If I was the emperor, I would pay you most for the data that I need most, systems to which my empire can expand too (think shipping resources back to the core systems, trade etc.). I don't think that in the next few years I will need the data of those systems 100,000Ly away.
But maybe some isolationist tribe is already now interested in you data ;)
Click to expand...

Maybe not like the rare goods work, but something like a procent bonus for systems that are 1500 Ly away and then a next marker for ... Lets say 5000 Ly. Starting from SOL
To encourage people to travel further.
 

Agony_Aunt

Agony_Aunt
A destination marker on the galactic map that shows in your HUD as well would be enough for me. But other aids to exploration would be welcome.

EDIT and PS: I did raise an issue where i requested the return of the Sell All button... hope it gets implemented at some point.
 

darthjazno

darthjazno
WhoCares said:
Overall a nice list, and I can agree with most points.

One that I don't agree with is that selling data from more distant systems should earn you more. If I was the emperor, I would pay you most for the data that I need most, systems to which my empire can expand too (think shipping resources back to the core systems, trade etc.). I don't think that in the next few years I will need the data of those systems 100,000Ly away.
But maybe some isolationist tribe is already now interested in you data ;)
Click to expand...

+1 for the OP suggestions. I also agree that systems further away shouldn't earn you more. I think it is a gameplay compromise. I'd like to raise the issue of why we still get paid for data for systems others already explored and why I'm almost ok with it.



As an example, I get about 600 for a typical star. That's not much. Someone else comes along and also gets 600 credits. Why the same? The universe is in a state of change. With your "Voyager flyby" of the star and planets, you got some data. But when I come by I see a different side of the planet and a different time looking at the star. The scientific community wants all the data they can get. With our flybys, we aren't getting long term observations of stars or polar maps of planets. Now, sure, we get more for the planets that can be terraformed. Those might be in a state of more change. Again, think of the Voyager flybys. Each flyby gave more information. Anyway, in my mind this makes some kind of sense. We don't get to name these stars or planets. But in system observation is valuable and it isn't a lot of credits either.


The only big hole in my make believe scenario is that I can only scan a system once. I can't go back and scan for "changes". You can go there after me but one time. The solution to that would be to reduce my credit gain for that system, but should all players be given a reduced credit amount for "discovered" systems? I like counting on that I can at least get something for the main star. Perhaps reducing credits given for already discovered systems is a bit too "realistic" and not as fun. It would definitely make things more complicated to implement. So how it is now, it a bit of a compromise for gameplay vs. realism. Maybe as time goes on a more dynamic system can be introduced but for now, I'm ok with how credits are handled. As a progression toward that, I'd like to see some more tools and feedback for the data I am getting, per the OP's list.. :)
 
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8bitprophecy

8
darthjazno said:
+1 for the OP suggestions. I also agree that systems further away shouldn't earn you more. I think it is a gameplay compromise. I'd like to raise the issue of why we still get paid for data for systems others already explored and why I'm almost ok with it.



As an example, I get about 600 for a typical star. That's not much. Someone else comes along and also gets 600 credits. Why the same? The universe is in a state of change. With your "Voyager flyby" of the star and planets, you got some data. But when I come by I see a different side of the planet and a different time looking at the star. The scientific community wants all the data they can get. With our flybys, we aren't getting long term observations of stars or polar maps of planets. Now, sure, we get more for the planets that can be terraformed. Those might be in a state of more change. Again, think of the Voyager flybys. Each flyby gave more information. Anyway, in my mind this makes some kind of sense. We don't get to name these stars or planets. But in system observation is valuable and it isn't a lot of credits either.


The only big hole in my make believe scenario is that I can only scan a system once. I can't go back and scan for "changes". You can go there after me but one time. The solution to that would be to reduce my credit gain for that system, but should all players be given a reduced credit amount for "discovered" systems? I like counting on that I can at least get something for the main star. Perhaps reducing credits given for already discovered systems is a bit too "realistic" and not as fun. It would definitely make things more complicated to implement. So how it is now, it a bit of a compromise for gameplay vs. realism. Maybe as time goes on a more dynamic system can be introduced but for now, I'm ok with how credits are handled. As a progression toward that, I'd like to see some more tools and feedback for the data I am getting, per the OP's list.. :)
Click to expand...

If u compare what can be earned with all the other aspects of the game. I believe u are making verry litle money.
I enjoy exploring as it is now, but once i look ad the time invested and the return in money ...
 

Morkel

M
I think what exploration needs is a sense of purpose. We all know we do not do this for the credits. There is no Elite anacondas to beat in single combat. There is only the sense of having accomplished something alone that you have a vague idea that you are the first to do.

Now if there was exploration missions for data for far away systems and they paid decent for these missions. Then there would be some kind of purpose, atleast we would be working for a cause other than our own. And it could be another opener to storyline changes with what has been explored for each faction.

For simple changes that would stop me from alt-tabbing out of the game to read forums between planet travels and scanning i would suggest that the scanning process should become more interactive instead of just point and tab out the next 30 seconds. Sure make the normal scans the way they are right now, but make the planetary scan something special and make us do something special to achieve it, but compensate this with a fair payment upon sale of the data. Maybe something with a circle of the plaetary body at a certain altitude. It would also make this data more rare since people would only do this to bodies that looked special from afar.

I would think these suggestions are more or less game changing so i do not expect to see them but they would be nice to see.

Cmdr Morkel
 
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