How can I easily view the locations of hard points & utility mounts etc.?

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

Hi all - I just bought myself a Federal Assault Ship for kicks.

Just fitting her out, I'm trying to work out placements of things. It seems to me that a zoom feature is missing on the outfitting screen so I can work out where I'm placing everything.

It's a small thing I know - most of the things are fairly obvious - but I just wondered for a second if it was possible to zoom in and out of your ship view on that screen and somehow I missed it?

 

[dementia]

It is not possible to zoom in but you shouldn't need to as selecting those locations should change your view to them anyway.

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

It is not possible to zoom in but you shouldn't need to as selecting those locations should change your view to them anyway.

That was my point - it's hard to see exactly where they are - I could work out they were all underneath but not if they were on the left, right, back or front...

 

[Kietrax]

That was my point - it's hard to see exactly where they are - I could work out they were all underneath but not if they were on the left, right, back or front...

Best way I found was to fit stuff, exit the station & deploy hardpoints. Then activate the debug camera and pan around you ship - you should be able to see all the various weapons deployed so you can work out exactly where they are. You could do it on the pad I guess (or maybe even in the hanger), but most stations are a bit whiney about deploying hardpoints inside the station ...

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

Best way I found was to fit stuff, exit the station & deploy hardpoints. Then activate the debug camera and pan around you ship - you should be able to see all the various weapons deployed so you can work out exactly where they are. You could do it on the pad I guess (or maybe even in the hanger), but most stations are a bit whiney about deploying hardpoints inside the station ...

Yep. I thought maybe I could use the debug camera in outfitting but couldn't get it to activate. I'll try on the pad when I've just landed. Outposts might be a little more forgiving

 

[Kietrax]

Yep. I thought maybe I could use the debug camera in outfitting but couldn't get it to activate. I'll try on the pad when I've just landed. Outposts might be a little more forgiving

They are! That said, not actually tried it in a station to see what response you get ... just keep hearing the "please stow your hardpoints while in the station" announcement - never felt the need to test it as I like my ships the shape they are, without any massive holes from the station turrets

 

[Sams]

I agree with the Op.

It is sometimes hard to work out where the hard points and utility slots are for a lot of ships (especially the big ones where you have a LOT of weapon and utility slots).

Although it can be quite pretty when you realise that the chaff you thought was at the back of the ship is actually at the front and you get a nice chaff show through your window when you first use it

 

[FiddenUK]

Not sure why you need to see locations for fitting utility items, since they don't require you to have your ship at a certain orientation in order to use.

Weapons-wise, the debug camera with hardpoints deployed can be useful, but I usually find I can work out their locations from the outfitting screen. Remember, you can always use the debug camera when in the hanger, but the hardpoints won't be deployed (you could then workout their location by swapping from outfitting to debug camera and work it out from there).

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Although it can be quite pretty when you realise that the chaff you thought was at the back of the ship is actually at the front and you get a nice chaff show through your window when you first use it

I've never tested it enough to notice, but if you fire chaff at the front of the screen, does that affect your weapons from tracking on others?

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

Although it can be quite pretty when you realise that the chaff you thought was at the back of the ship is actually at the front and you get a nice chaff show through your window when you first use it

Haha. This is what I was trying to understand - I wanted chaff at the back and point defence at the front. I think I kind of figured it out.

 

[Kietrax]

Haha. This is what I was trying to work out - I wanted chaff at the back and point defence at the front. I think I kind of figured it out.

Why would you put point defence at the front?? Are you planning to fly towards the approaching missiles? I had always assumed PD & chaff would be better at the back or on the "wings" ... shield boosters & scanners at the front.


I would also have thought that the placement of the chaff would have an impact on the dispersal pattern so affect how to steer a bit after you deploy it to get he maximum effect in disrupting gimballed weapon tracking - no good if you deploy and then fly "away" from the could of chaff ...

 

[Legacy_LuckyLuke]

Why would you put point defence at the front?? Are you planning to fly towards the approaching missiles? I had always assumed PD & chaff would be better at the back or on the "wings" ... shield boosters & scanners at the front.

I just assumed that there would be a greater FOV at the front than the back because of the wings. But once again, this is why I wanted to get a better view of the placement than what is currently given in the screen.

I thought chaff should at the back as I'm more concerned about the ships that are shooting up my rear than anything else.

 

[Ow-Chi]

Remember, you can always use the debug camera when in the hanger, ?

I have never gotten this to work, I use the debug camera all the time but have never been able to get it to work in a station. Is there a specific section you have to be in for the camera to work while docked?

 

[nrage]

I have never gotten this to work, I use the debug camera all the time but have never been able to get it to work in a station. Is there a specific section you have to be in for the camera to work while docked?

Unless they have changed something recently, you should be able to press the key combination when in the hangar and up on the pad (I have the screenshots to prove it). I suspect (but cannot recall) that you might need to exit station services before it will work.

It would be really nice to have more visibility on the hardpoint locations and even the arc of fire for each. As it stands, with a new ship I have to go back and forth between the mount view and wide view and try to match up what I'm seeing. Perhaps, when we zoom in to mount view a wireframe schematic of the ship could appear on the right with the hardpoint location shown in another colour and arc of fire shown with a cone. That would be ideal.