Modification to orbit lines

[woodhouse]

Have posted this suggestion before, but at that time this subforum didn't exist.

My ideal orbit lines would be:

- Show actual orbits only, don't show the blueish expanding circles around planets (anyone: what are these good for?)
- Render the currently orange orbit lines in blue (so much is orange already; a little more blue would improve the balance).

 

[GJ51]

The blue circles help with approach orientation.

Just because you haven't figured out how to use them yet is no justification for their removal. Perhaps making them an on/off option like the rest of the orbit lines wouldn't be a bad idea.

Blue increases eyestrain - the less the better

 

[woodhouse]

Could you elaborate a bit on how the circles help you with orientation?

To me they are disorienting, because they lie in a different plane than the orbits I am concentrating on when approaching a station.

because you haven't figured out how to use them yet

I've played ED for more than 18 months. I don't think I'll figure out how to use the circles by myself.

 

[sbdags]

The Blue lines show the gravity wells.

 

[Hell Razor5543]

Nice idea. However, how about this as a tweak. You have selected 'Smart' orbital lines. When you arrive in a system you initially see all the orbital lines. Then, when you start heading into your destination all but those relevant to your destination area fade out. That way it could help your approach (I tend to drop out of the equatorial plane so that when I approach my destination it is more concentric circles than flat lines, making it easier to adjust my course as I approach my destination).

 

[pippo]

My understanding of the blue circles is they help giving you an idea of gravity force around bodies. Stay away and you dont lose speed or use them to slow down from high velocity. I could be wrong, I often am.

 

[woodhouse]

The Blue lines show the gravity wells.

My understanding of the blue circles is the help giving you an idea of gravity force around bodies. Stay away and you dont lose speed or use then to slow down from high velocity. I could be wrong, I often am.

Interesting, my impression now is that I am already slowed down when I'm much, much farther away form a planet than the blue circles.

 

[woodhouse]

The blue lines cannot have any permanent significance, because they are expanding as you approach a planetary body. Not just optically, they expand quicker than orbits. Therefore the diameter of the blue lines isn't constant.

Are we talking about the same blue lines?

 

[49rTbird]

The blue lines cannot have any permanent significance, because they are expanding as you approach a planetary body. Not just optically, they expand quicker than orbits. Therefore the diameter of the blue lines isn't constant.

they will seem to expand if you are flying AT them not around them.

 

[woodhouse]

they will seem to expand if you are flying AT them not around them.

Don't you think they are expanding much quicker than they should when you're flying at the planet?
I am convinced that they don't just seem to expand because objects look bigger when you are closer to them; they actually expand.

 

[pippo]

Interesting, my impression now is that I am already slowed down when I'm much, much farther away form a planet than the blue circles.

Yes you do slow down, experiencing gravity effect from very far away (if you're dealing with massive objects). For example, you start slowing down hundreds of thousands light seconds from a very distant binary star as you enter its zone of influence.
The blue lines in my view represents zones of 'extreme' gravity influence, that would drastically alter the velocity of your ship. I don't think they're meant to be exact signals since when closing in to a large planet, you often see a blue circle growing larger to eventually disappear, making room to a new blue circle… a bit like how a 'proximity alert' tells you you are near something without actually telling you how close you are.
Then again, only how I interpret it… I don't remember ever reading anything precise about it.

they don't just seem to expand because objects look bigger when you are closer to them; they actually expand.

I agree with you there and I get the same impression. I don't think they're a definitive limit or boundary, rather an indication with a sort of sonar/radar effect.