Finding interstellar factors in systems, a sadistically frustrating experience

apolloz

apolloz
So in the galaxy map, I filter by services , look for Interstellar factors (I.F) systems goes green, then I select one of the systems it finds , go into the system map to locate It.
if the I.F service is at a station then I click the station and bring up it‘s services when found I set course and I’m done.
But if I.F is located on a planetary base then this is where the fun begins, where the whole experience turns into a sadistic mini game of hide and seek. Why is it so difficult?

I find myself clicking on the sub option of landable locations which gives me no information on what services are there for that base. So I have to zoom into the planet , locate the base (searching for a yellow base icon) , then bring up its services, if its not that one I have to find another base , which could be another planet of course and try again.

Why can’t a bases services just be listed on the right , when I click the base name from the left group icon ?

Have I missed a technique here?
 

Dagwit

Dagwit
1. Go to any Low Security system. I checked 100 of them after a recent similar thread and in 98 of them all the stations and outposts (and I suspect planetary bases though I only checked those if there was nothing orbital) had Interstellar Factors.*

2. Go to any Anarchy system. Any station owned by the controlling Anarchy faction (or, as far as I could see, any station controlled by any Anarchy faction) had Interstellar Factors.

Incidentally, I also found a couple of Medium Security systems where there were Interstellar Factors. I noted that in every case an Anarchy faction controlled the station but the sample size wasn't large enough to form any firm conclusions.

Inara and eddb are good guides but their data for individual stations is only as good as the most recent reported visit, and that data can be weks or months old; and shifts in the BGS can change who controls stations. I found several stations reported as having Interstellar Factors which no longer had them, I'm guessing because the controlling faction had changed.

*Edit: I checked a hundred Low Security systems in eddb. Of those five were reported as having one or more orbital stations which idid not have Interstellar Factors. I visited these five systems and all but two actually had all orbital stations possessing Interstellar Factors. The remaining two had no Interstellar Factors. It seems to be an all or nothing thing for Low Security systems, though I wouldn't claim to have seen enough data to have proven that.
 
Last edited:

Ydiss

Ydiss
IF, so far as I've seen, changed from being hard to find in Horizons to being common in EDO. Just go to any anarchy and go to any station, outpost or port. They're there.

It's one of a few undocumented changes that make the game better in EDO. It is, of course, also a positive change no one has bothered to acknowledge too.
 
Last edited:

apolloz

apolloz
torloisk said:
There are some fantastic tools that are better than the game for certain aspects. You can easily find the next factor via: https://inara.cz/nearest/

Tools like INARA, EDSM, EMDC, EDEngineer, ED Astromedics, just to name a few, are very helpful. See also: https://elite-dangerous.fandom.com/wiki/Third_Party_Tools
Click to expand...
YehI use some of these tools all the time, especially Inara , EDSM and EDEingineer but I was trying to see if I could use Odysseys new UI to do this without alt+tabbing out of the game. You know if these 3rd party tools did not exist this game would be completely unplayable.
 

Bottom Hat

Bottom Hat
Because assets (stations and bases etc) change hands often, and system security states change, using the map is not always the most reliable source. Follow the advice up above by Dagwit and you'll be good.
 

Fishy

Fishy
Yeah, forget the IF filter, just filter for Anarchy. Main station(s) should be controlled by the Anarchy Faction and will have the IF.
 

Ydiss

Ydiss
apolloz said:
YehI use some of these tools all the time, especially Inara , EDSM and EDEingineer but I was trying to see if I could use Odysseys new UI to do this without alt+tabbing out of the game. You know if these 3rd party tools did not exist this game would be completely unplayable.
Click to expand...
Just filter for anarchy with population and off you go. This is different to EDH. It's easy to find them now. They're common as salt.
 

Dagwit

Dagwit
Ydiss said:
IF, so far as I've seen, changed from being hard to find in Horizons to being common in EDO.
Click to expand...
Life is bizarre. For five years I followed the rule 'Go to a Low Security system to find Interstellar Factors' and it never ever let me down.

At the end of my recent checking exercise, I wanted to confirm to myself that the In-game Interstellar Factors filter only showed Interstellar Factors in systems you'd visited. I found a Low Security system I hadn't visited - I didn't have a system map for it. I set the Interstellar Factors filter on and the system disappeared.

The plan was to fly to the system, dock at a station, confirm the presence of Interstellar Factors, then check the filter again, at which point it would not disappear.

I flew to the system. There were no Interstellar Factors. First time I'd ever picked a Low Security system at random in the Galaxy Map and didn't find Interstellar Factors.

Well, odds of something like fifty to one and I don't use Interstellar Factors that often. I performed the check again on another Low Security system and it worked as expected.
 

Faded Glory

Faded Glory
Dagwit said:
1. Go to any Low Security system. I checked 100 of them after a recent similar thread and in 98 of them all the stations and outposts (and I suspect planetary bases though I only checked those if there was nothing orbital) had Interstellar Factors.*

2. Go to any Anarchy system. Any station owned by the controlling Anarchy faction (or, as far as I could see, any station controlled by any Anarchy faction) had Interstellar Factors.

Incidentally, I also found a couple of Medium Security systems where there were Interstellar Factors. I noted that in every case an Anarchy faction controlled the station but the sample size wasn't large enough to form any firm conclusions.
Click to expand...

This is correct.

Any station in a low security or anarchy system will have an IF.

Any station where the controlling faction is an anarchy faction will have an IF regardless of the security level of the system.
 

Ydiss

Ydiss
Dagwit said:
Life is bizarre. For five years I followed the rule 'Go to a Low Security system to find Interstellar Factors' and it never ever let me down.

At the end of my recent checking exercise, I wanted to confirm to myself that the In-game Interstellar Factors filter only showed Interstellar Factors in systems you'd visited. I found a Low Security system I hadn't visited - I didn't have a system map for it. I set the Interstellar Factors filter on and the system disappeared.

The plan was to fly to the system, dock at a station, confirm the presence of Interstellar Factors, then check the filter again, at which point it would not disappear.

I flew to the system. There were no Interstellar Factors. First time I'd ever picked a Low Security system at random in the Galaxy Map and didn't find Interstellar Factors.

Well, odds of something like fifty to one and I don't use Interstellar Factors that often. I performed the check again on another Low Security system and it worked as expected.
Click to expand...
It may be that the old rules still apply.

In EDO alpha, I remember being surprised that every terminal offered IF. This was the 50ly bubble.

When the expansion launched this changed but I was happy to see that IF was really common, no longer a hunt. I think your suggestions are correct but I think it's just easier to filter for anarchy and you'll find an IF anywhere there. All stations. I didn't think it was this easy in edh.

I may be wrong.
 

Dagwit

Dagwit
Ydiss said:
I think it's just easier to filter for anarchy and you'll find an IF anywhere there. All stations.
Click to expand...
I found at least one station in an Anarchy system where the controlling faction wasn't an Anarchy faction. No Interstellar Factor.
 

danteuk

danteuk
The OP makes a perfectly valid point - it's frustrating that it's not possible to see the services ( any of them ) at a surface base without having to go and zoom in on the planet and find the station.

FDev redesigned the UI and made them much much worse, they were told this during the Alpha, then a couple weeks into the Beta they finally acknowledge that they are incapable of designing usable UI's on their own so they asked the community to offer all their suggestions and to point out all the problems to them. This should have happened as an early phase during the Alpha, but here we are 4/5 week after the supposed official launch and the UI's are still missing basic simple usability features - maybe by the time of the Console launch ED:O will actually be close to finished and releasable.



Ydiss said:
IF, so far as I've seen, changed from being hard to find in Horizons to being common in EDO. Just go to any anarchy and go to any station, outpost or port. They're there.

It's one of a few undocumented changes that make the game better in EDO. It is, of course, also a positive change no one has bothered to acknowledge too.
Click to expand...
Can you change your icon from Stealth Boy to Fan Boy ? just to make it clear to everyone that you only see the positive and ignore or downplay all the bugs, design flaws and things that generally make ED:O the worst thing to happen to ED since it's release ( that's not just me talking, that the steam reviews and stock market view ).
NOTE: no need to reply - I've added you to my ignore list.
 

Ydiss

Ydiss
Factabulous said:
I'm hoping we can get all the dimmest on the forums to add all the most useful posters to their ignore lists - that way they only see replies from the other confused :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...
Echo Chambers ftw.

I'd bet the volume of "negative" posts I've written about the game outnumber his total post count. Yet his total post count is probably represented by more than 90% negative posts.

Just don't see the point in playing a game or talking about it if you hate it so much.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom