List of simple UI improvement suggestions

[fus roh potato]

I wanted to list out some suggestions for UI improvements that I think would enhance the experience of Elite a lot.

1. Replacing commodity buy/sell/deliver arrows with +1, +10, and +100 arrows. This is easier than implementing a text box for manual numbering and keybind blocking but that's also a good alternative.
2. Mouse cursor in gal-map and system-map automatically selects every object the mouse hovers over and attempts downloading information to display the correct menu options. Instead, having the mouse highlight objects to select instead of automatically selecting every object would reduce a lot of latency, make the map more responsive, and inhibit a lot of accidental selections.
3. Add keybinds to maps that allow someone the use of keys to cycle through the target, route, bookmark, etc options on a selected object. As far as I can tell, this can only be done with the mouse, but since the mouse automatically selects objects in the background, these menus often vanish before something can be selected.
4. Objects in contacts menu, players in friends list, and locations in system tab change their location on the list when distances change, players come online, or objects appear/disappear. Having new stuff arrive at the bottom while also placing voids where objects leave, until the menu is opened again, would make it a lot easier to select intended objects in times where things are changing too rapidly.
5. A fuel or range percentage bar for route plotting. Currently there is only a min, max, and option based on cargo that only works for ships with a lot of empty cargo space.
6. Wing beacon option persistence. It has been argued through delusion that this is a balance issue. Lets not pretend for the sake of "PvP veterans" who do not think. The only balance issue is the existence of nav-lock.
7. When scooping items, a collected notice pops up on the target window only when a new target is selected. This function would be better reversed, where the message only pops up after the item is collected and then disappears when a new object is selected.
8. Allow for modules that only have one function to be usable in either analysis or combat mode. This feature was a large step backwards in QOL.
9. Allow for chat window to retain typed content if it happens to close or change tabs. This previously was a feature but was eliminated with 3.3. An additional suggestion would be to not close the chat tab during wakes, drops, and interdictions.
10. Option to hide synthesis options for items the ship does not use.
11. Options to change brightness and contrast to help VR users with sensitive eyes that suffer from excessively bright whites. There are unfortunately no workarounds for this at the moment and workarounds that apply to non-VR users affect the desktop and other games. Note that gamma is not the same as brightness and contrast. Reducing gamma in VR only makes darks darker. It doesn't appear to affect brights at all.
12. Delete a cluster of messages prompts the user with a confirmation, but the confirmation does not allow the user to select no or cancel. Not even escape key works here. User is forced to delete. I considered this a bug at first but bugs are mistakes in code.

That's it for now. Don't want to make it too big.

 

[Killnine]

Good suggestions.

Let me add one: double-click on a planet in system map should take you to surface map.

 

[Greasetrap42]

When trying to use a Wake Scanner without deploying hardpoints it should say "Hardpoints Not Deployed".

It is not obvious you need to deploy hardpoints for a scanner module. You don't need to deploy hard points for launching a heat sink, I guess that happens automatically.

 

[Daynen]

1: Yes. Now.
2: Also yes.
3: Yes, even if just for internal consistency.
4: I just want a toggle that freezes the list of bodies in place. Ships should be moving around that list. Planets should be STAYING PUT.
5: Not sure I follow, but let's go with it.
6: Agreed. I see no reason that this should reset on logout.
7: I've never noticed that, but that actually does sound kind of stupid for it to behave that way. It should be changed.
8: I don't feel like we needed an "analysis mode" to begin with.
9: Seems like common sense to me, which suggests there's a lack of that at Fdev right now...
10: PLEASE DEAR GOD YES.
11: Not a VR user but reducing eye strain is always a good thing so I'm on board with this one.
12: Again, this seems like basic UI functionality; there is no good excuse for it to be missing.

I like Elite Dangerous; there are great things about it. The UI design team, however, need a few thumbtacks on their chairs.

 

[fus roh potato]

5: Not sure I follow, but let's go with it.

I mean in terms of setting route jump ranges, you can only select minimum, maximum, or some slightly less than maximum based on how much empty cargo space you have (completely non-functional if you don't have empty space). In order for a player to make 8 jumps for example, they may need to stop at 4 and refuel. Alternatively, a player can pick a star halfway between each jump for a more efficient journey. In that case, if the pilot can only make 4 out of the 8 jumps, they usually will have enough to make all 16 if each step is cut in half due to the parabolic nature of the FSD's efficiency.

Replacing the min/max/cargo route plotting settings with a simple slider that sets a % of range to plot routes would consolidate the options into something more convenient. Otherwise, a commander has to manually open the map every jump and manually select a star in between. Another trick is to deactivate a guardian FSD booster, plot the route, then re-enable it to add range to the journey.

This suggestion is nowhere near as critical as the rest but I'm sure most would consider it an improvement, especially those who commit to pvp.