Hi devs!
I know you haven't planned work on orrery map for 2018. I understand that, but I would like to pitch why we need orrery map from extending current gameplay perspective.
1. POIs/system bookmarks/overall system structure
This is actually big one. While current left side menu does it job, it does not give good, solid overview. Add POIs and bookmarks and it gets too crowded. Yes, we have filters, but they are cumbersome to use. This puts a dump exploration of both habited and explorable systems. If we would let's say bookmarking signal sources as a thing, this definitely would make orrery map very useful.
2. Sense of scale about the system
Sometimes - heck too many times - numbers does not mean a thing. How far something is while it is possible to measure in supercruise, it can cause lot of scenarios when you really need that 3D presentation. Let's say there's planet coming just behind sun, and you are traveling torwards it. Yeah, you can move cursor slightly torwards sun and see if it is closer, but it does not work all the time and it is certainly not a gameplay feature which you can rely completely;
3. Sense of 'belonging'
I know this is tricky one to explain but having an overview 3d map just helps with sense of belonging to system. It is like looking map of Earth - it just makes that feel. Current system map is excellent info source about persistent objects in it and it serves well. But it never really gives that feeling of belonging, sense you have made home here;
Orrery map pitch is hard because it is objectively hard to measure need for one. I tried to give one of bunch reasons I can see for it. If you also want Orrery map and see other usages, add them here. Devs read this forum.
I know you haven't planned work on orrery map for 2018. I understand that, but I would like to pitch why we need orrery map from extending current gameplay perspective.
1. POIs/system bookmarks/overall system structure
This is actually big one. While current left side menu does it job, it does not give good, solid overview. Add POIs and bookmarks and it gets too crowded. Yes, we have filters, but they are cumbersome to use. This puts a dump exploration of both habited and explorable systems. If we would let's say bookmarking signal sources as a thing, this definitely would make orrery map very useful.
2. Sense of scale about the system
Sometimes - heck too many times - numbers does not mean a thing. How far something is while it is possible to measure in supercruise, it can cause lot of scenarios when you really need that 3D presentation. Let's say there's planet coming just behind sun, and you are traveling torwards it. Yeah, you can move cursor slightly torwards sun and see if it is closer, but it does not work all the time and it is certainly not a gameplay feature which you can rely completely;
3. Sense of 'belonging'
I know this is tricky one to explain but having an overview 3d map just helps with sense of belonging to system. It is like looking map of Earth - it just makes that feel. Current system map is excellent info source about persistent objects in it and it serves well. But it never really gives that feeling of belonging, sense you have made home here;
Orrery map pitch is hard because it is objectively hard to measure need for one. I tried to give one of bunch reasons I can see for it. If you also want Orrery map and see other usages, add them here. Devs read this forum.