Navigating the Galaxy Map

[DaggerSnake]

I got my CV1 this week.

It's amazing. A game changer for sure and I'm convinced my daughters generation will look back and wonder how we ever looked upon our tiny, flat screens. It's to her, what the Atari 2600 was for me. Crazy.

Anyway, I'm wondering what people do for navigation of the Galaxy and System maps? Using the HOTAS feels very clunky compared to a mouse. I have my mouse next to my stick for easy access and I use it for the station menus just fine, but the mouse pointer doesn't seen to work in the galaxy map very well.

Any tips and tricks?

I LOVE the system maps in VR! They are closer to the orary we all thought about.

 

[Spork]

It took a little getting used to, but I'm happy using the hotas for the galaxy map. I have the stick mapped to pan camera, twist to rotate camera and one hat switch for tilt and zoom. To navigate the menus etc I use the same controls as I do on the side panels, which is a hat switch for left/right/up/down, a button to switch tabs and fire button to select. With those controls the stick pans the camera in the system map as well and the same hat switch works for zoom.

First thing I do on the galaxy map is tilt the view up 30-45 degrees. Makes it much easier to navigate around.

 

[CMDR MAIN SEQUENCE]

I've got to the stage where I actually prefer using the HOTAS over the mouse. Finding the blue 'stem' can be a pain sometimes but that's the only real drawback. Users of single-hat HOTAS (like the T.Flight X) are at a disadvantage but I got around this by using a modifier for the hat to use for panning. One thing I find that speeds up navigation is using the right-hand tab in the system map to select stations, planets etc.

 

[Darkfyre99]

As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect.

When the galaxy map was first introduced, and I found out Frontier included axis controls, first thing I did was set up the Galaxy map to preserve my HOTAS control scheme. It didn't take too long before I learned to pan and zoom simultaneously, zooming out for quicker movement through the map, and zooming in to select, all while keeping my destination in the middle of my screen.

When I made the switch to VR, I found the Galaxy map even easier to use, because the map is 3D. There are a host of clues telling you where stars are in relation to your cursor on the Galaxy map, whether they are above the cursor's plane, or below. Then there is the fact that you are "standing" on the edge of this 3D map, with the stars spread out before you. Reminds me very much of ST:TNG's stellar cartography room.

I only hope that when Frontier finally adds the system orrery, it is also rendered like this in VR. That would be awesome.

*pauses*

You know, I have yet to explore the Galaxy map using the Vive's room scale VR. When I get home from work, I'll have to remedy that.

 

[DaggerSnake]

Does Elite have support for the Vive touch input?
Standing in the middle of the Galaxy with touch controls sounds amazing.
I have the Oculus Touch pre-ordered.

 

[AdioKIP]

Personally, I use a logitech G13 gaming pad for the galaxy map. I hit a switch on the throttle of my warthog to open the map, then move my left hand from Warthog Throttle to the G13. The shape of the pad lets me get my hand positioned without having to see it. The thumbstick i use for rotating up and down, and moving left to right while using the buttons for all other axis.

 

[Soda Popinski]

I adapt my flight controls for the map navigation. My Left/Right lateral thrust (minijoystick on CH throttle) slide right/left on the map(x-axis). My Up/Down lateral thrust raises and lowers on the map (z-axis). My forward/back controls (mapped to my toe brakes on my rudder, but you can use the throttle) goes to forward/back on the map (y-axis). Pitch = pitch, my roll goes to rotate (yaw) in the map. My rudder which usually does yaw in flight goes to zoom in/out since there's no roll in the map giving me an extra axis.

Like others, I use the menu controls for navigating the menu in galaxy.

 

[mazi]

Does Elite have support for the Vive touch input?
Standing in the middle of the Galaxy with touch controls sounds amazing.
....

Well I can't imagine using anything else but HOTAS for flying. Grabbing the VR controllers and putting them back whenever you access the Galaxy Map sounds kinda cumbersome, especially if you wanna keep the HMD on. So no, all ideas regarding VR input devices other than own hands and HOTAS is kinda waste of time IMHO.

 

[DaggerSnake]

Well I can't imagine using anything else but HOTAS for flying. Grabbing the VR controllers and putting them back whenever you access the Galaxy Map sounds kinda cumbersome, especially if you wanna keep the HMD on. So no, all ideas regarding VR input devices other than own hands and HOTAS is kinda waste of time IMHO.

yea it does seem cumbersome.

I think the biggest problem with the Galaxy map is the pop up indicator like isn't connected to the system it's referencing. The end of the line should anchor to the star.

I'm wondering how control switching will work once we can move about the ship.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Has anyone used a trackpad or touchpad for the galaxy map?

 

[mp4x]

One of the tips that help me, is when I go into the galaxy map, in fact before i open it, I have my head in a neutral forward looking position, so when the map opens as long as I don't move my head it works pretty good. Ie, I can find a system, it'll pop up directly in front of my face and then I can use the mouse or HOTAS to select plot route, or other options.

If I open the map and I happen to have been looking in another direction, it's just quicker for me to exit out and open the map again while looking forward.