Plotting a Course Over a Long Distance?

[Zpike]

If a system is outside my range I get "Route Unavailable" which would be fine if It were possible to line up the route and find a system in between my current location and my destination where I could do an intermediate jump to refuel. This however is almost impossible as the galaxy map gives me no way to do this.

Has anyone figured out how to plot a course over an extended distance?
Does anyone know of an explainable way to plot intermediate jumps to a distant location?

Better, is there a video out there that shows a way to do this?

Maybe one of you experienced galaxy travelers can make one?

 

[streki]

Plotting a long route is something of an art form currently.

Its a process thats ripe for improvement.

No doubt we'll see it refined eventually.

 

[ARZUMATA]

I hope so.

Being unable to plot the distance route only because it is limited by fuel tank is one thing, but if you got fuelscoop it should be ignored.

 

[JAD]

I've noticed this is a problem.

Your computer will calculate the jump it just takes an incredibly long time to load every single possible route out to 150LY (or whatever distance you're jumping), I tend to wait around 3-4 minutes for it to load to about 75 LYs. Then I use the navigation tab to type in both destinations and flick between them and notice which star systems appear on the route as the screen scrolls over.

Bit crude but tends to be about 80-90% after a bit of practice.

Agree it needs some refinement though, even in the form of an upgrade to a "nav computer"


JAD.

 

[plumdog]

I have found the same thing, the plot route feature does not work if the distance is too far. However if you step towards the destination gradually sometimes it 'loads' the route better and allows you to plot the destination.

My technique for plotting a destination is as follows:
Open galaxy map
Click on navigation tab
Type the name of the destination you want to reach, press enter and this will zoom you to the destination location
With mouse click on this system to select destination, or if available click plot route
If you can't plot a route that far, then what I do is.
Click the current location > arrow, this will zoom you back to where you are currently
Then rotate the camera so that I can see my current destination with a blue icon, and forward ahead of me into the distance I can see the travel destination I want to see with an orange icon
Now that is the general direction you want to travel, depending on the range of your frame shift drive and how many nearby system there are this will determine if you can actually plot a route to where you want to go
What you can do is start clicking on the systems in the direction of your travel destination, this shifts the camera focus like taking small steps towards the destination.
Keep stepping through the systems by clicking each one until the 'plot route' option becomes red. This will be as far as you can travel. Go back a step, plot route. Then begin your travel and make all the jumps out to this point.
Generally you should be able to travel out to this point and then use the same method to plot the next path of the journey. Basically for some reason the route plots only work out to a certain distance. I find it's around 100LY, further than that it doesnt allow me to plot a route. I think this improves as your FSJ improves.

 

[Zpike]

I have found the same thing, the plot route feature does not work if the distance is too far. However if you step towards the destination gradually sometimes it 'loads' the route better and allows you to plot the destination.

My technique for plotting a destination is as follows:
Open galaxy map
Click on navigation tab
Type the name of the destination you want to reach, press enter and this will zoom you to the destination location
With mouse click on this system to select destination, or if available click plot route
If you can't plot a route that far, then what I do is.
Click the current location > arrow, this will zoom you back to where you are currently
Then rotate the camera so that I can see my current destination with a blue icon, and forward ahead of me into the distance I can see the travel destination I want to see with an orange icon
Now that is the general direction you want to travel, depending on the range of your frame shift drive and how many nearby system there are this will determine if you can actually plot a route to where you want to go
What you can do is start clicking on the systems in the direction of your travel destination, this shifts the camera focus like taking small steps towards the destination.
Keep stepping through the systems by clicking each one until the 'plot route' option becomes red. This will be as far as you can travel. Go back a step, plot route. Then begin your travel and make all the jumps out to this point.
Generally you should be able to travel out to this point and then use the same method to plot the next path of the journey. Basically for some reason the route plots only work out to a certain distance. I find it's around 100LY, further than that it doesnt allow me to plot a route. I think this improves as your FSJ improves.

I've got a T6 with an A3 FS and it will only plot 100LS for me too. They must have set that as the calculation limit.

I used your method with an addition.

Once you have both the current location and the destination icons lined up, I move the cursor around until it's about half way between the two positions. This allows me to see the stars around that point. If I can plot to there I slowly move the cursor out toward the destination until I can't plot any further, then back up a bit and find a star that lines up and use that as my next jump point. Rinse and repeat until i'm at my destination. About the best I can figure out for now.

Thanks for the help

What they really need is a line that bisects your current position and the destination so you can sight along it when planning long distances travel. That and a slider on the map that allows you to move back and forth along the line.

 

[Zpike]

[h=2]Galaxy Map Long Distance Travel Line Bisecting Location and Target[/h]

When traveling long distances that are outside the auto plot distance, it is really difficult to find a star along your route that CAN be plotted to.

It would be nice to have the map draw a direct line from the current location to the destination star.
A slider or keystroke would move the blue cursor and the view centered on the cursor back and forth along the line allowing the user to pick an intermediate star they could then plot to.​

I just added this to the suggestion forum.

 

[Neo-ST]

If a system is outside my range I get "Route Unavailable" which would be fine if It were possible to line up the route and find a system in between my current location and my destination where I could do an intermediate jump to refuel. This however is almost impossible as the galaxy map gives me no way to do this.

Has anyone figured out how to plot a course over an extended distance?
Does anyone know of an explainable way to plot intermediate jumps to a distant location?

Better, is there a video out there that shows a way to do this?

Maybe one of you experienced galaxy travelers can make one?

https://cmdr.club/routes/

 

[SDF_of_BC]

Hmm, to save on resources (I seem to remember reading in a change log) the galaxy map only plots so many routes each whatever unit of time, so it slowly expands the distances of places you can route too. I usually leave it open a little while if I want to get somewhere distance, or if I get impatient I will select somewhere in between A and B since then when I finish the route I can plot the next stage without having to wait so long.

It would be nice if the map prioritised the areas you're viewing or selected, rather than branching out in every direction.
But that's just my 2p.

 

[DraigUK]

If a system is outside my range I get "Route Unavailable" which would be fine if It were possible to line up the route and find a system in between my current location and my destination where I could do an intermediate jump to refuel. This however is almost impossible as the galaxy map gives me no way to do this.

Has anyone figured out how to plot a course over an extended distance?
Does anyone know of an explainable way to plot intermediate jumps to a distant location?

Better, is there a video out there that shows a way to do this?

Maybe one of you experienced galaxy travelers can make one?

Just use this

https://cmdr.club/routes/

 

[plumdog]

I made a quick video that shows how to use the Galaxy Map

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YouGcWYc93M

The main points are;
Usually the Plot route function only works out to around 100LY distance
Because of that often you will need to plot out a path in the general direction, travel out to the end of your route and then you will be able to plot from there another route of 100LY

 

[daan2002]

select the place you want to go and keep the galaxy map open and in 5 mins or more you will have a route plotted reason why its trying to discover a way to the place you want to go

 

[specialsymbol]

Could someone explain to my why "fastest" is not the same as "most economical" route?

It's in space, shouldn't be less jumps always be more economical?

 

[plumdog]

I think doing longer jumps uses more fuel than doing the same distance in several shorter jumps, so that why you get a choice. The fastest route chews through fuel pretty fast.

Probably on beginner ships economical routes are useful, but once you get to a point theres not really any need to use it. I always just use fastest

 

[Anton_]

https://cmdr.club/routes/

Seems to be down as of last night.

 

[MuthaF Jamal]

In game route plotter has maximum range of 100ly only, so longer journeys you have to break into pieces.
If the system is within 100ly radius and u cant route to it, just wait for the PC to finish expanding known routes range (it does that from moment you open galactic map, but as the sphere grows with increasing radius so the diameter growth slows down - so it can takes minutes for it to plot all routes withing 100ly...
*patience*

[edit]
i usually plot my journey in about 70ly long pieces - the route loading is kinda fast up that diameter at my PC; then it crawls..

 

[John Xenir]

Here's how I do it on long journey in unmanned systems.

1) Find your target on the map and click it to center view on it.
2) Move the camera so your current position overlays with your target (your current position marker will be covered by the destination marker).
3) On your left-hand side, click the arrow next to "Your current position" system which will now zoom the camera back to your location.
4) Zoom-out. Now the camera will move back in the exact direction of your destination, revealing all available system connections on the go. Pick one system you feel is lest off the general direction you're heading.

NOTE: When you switch route planning from economical to fast, I noticed it takes a while for the star map to build connections between systems while considering jump range of as close to your maximal as possible. Give it a while to build up the "tree"

Hope this helps

EDIT:

Could someone explain to my why "fastest" is not the same as "most economical" route?

It's in space, shouldn't be less jumps always be more economical?

That's because fuel consumption grows exponentially in relation to distance.
An example (note this is just an example, not actual figures):
- 3Ly jump - 100kg of fuel
- 6Ly jump - 800kg of fuel
- 12Ly jump - 6.4 tonnes of fuel.

That's why more shorter jumps translate to nice fuel consumption, while longer jumps consume a lot of fuel but in return, your travel time is greatly reduced.
Hope this helps

 

[r4nger0]

I use this web based Starchart on a 2nd screen to keep my bearings: Starchart

 

[Von Adder]

This is a major issue at the moment and needs addressing asap! With a fuel scoop i can practically go anywhere, being told i'm restricted in my flight plan by my ships computer (route unavaliable) is utterly ridiculous!

 

[Ian Phillips]

If you did just a little research you would find that it is indeed being addressed. Soon.