Quality of Life Improvement: Input LAT/LON Co-ords and have a Surface Waypoint appear, similar to the surface scan mission Waypoint.

[DNA-Decay]

Dear People Who Decide What Gets Done in Frontier,

Planetary navigation is terrible.

This becomes apparent when trying to reach a set of LAT/LON coordinates on a planet surface, when there is no waypoint (like in a surface recovery mission).

Try reaching a LAT/LON from space, to glide, to the surface. It is nigh on impossible.

Sure, we can get into Orbital Cruise, and we have a display of LAT/LON. But then you're trying to change direction of orbit relative to planet surface and the coords. Trying to get the coords to go up/down/positive/negative at just the correct rate so they will converge at the desired LAT/LON.

Then, even when you're getting close to the target, you have to try and judge the right moment when to come out of orbital cruise to glide down to the surface - you'll probably overshoot badly.

In short, this is a terrible experience.

So for 2.4 - please, please allocate some dev time to marking a surface waypoint we can target, by way of the 3D surface map in the System Map.

Please!?

Yeah Nah.

It's one of the last pieces of actual airmanship in the game.
Just replace it with an easy mode?

I'll be so disappointed if Frontier ever heed these types of pleas.

I would like to see player beacons.
Like a tourist beacon, but with the text set by players.
When you scan it gives back the text and the names of first to scan and most recent to scan.
Might require like a size 5 cargo bay and cost about fifty million. Or five hundred million. Whatever.
Barrier to entry kinda thing.

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Yeah Nah.

It's one of the last pieces of actual airmanship in the game.
Just replace it with an easy mode?

I'll be so disappointed if Frontier ever heed these types of pleas.

I would like to see player beacons.
Like a tourist beacon, but with the text set by players.
When you scan it gives back the text and the names of first to scan and most recent to scan.
Might require like a size 5 cargo bay and cost about fifty million. Or five hundred million. Whatever.
Barrier to entry kinda thing.

Someone didn't read all the replies.

p.s. I'd hate to see that kind of gameplay. It's a naff idea.

 

[Mengy]

I would trade all of Power Play and Multicrew combined just to have planetary bookmarks, and I'm not even kidding.

 

[h347h]

I would trade all of Power Play and Multicrew combined just to have planetary bookmarks, and I'm not even kidding.

And I'd trade solo and groups for salt.

 

[Spiridon]

It's one of the last pieces of actual airmanship in the game.
Just replace it with an easy mode?

There always is a middle ground as I suggested.

You will have to find a spot by coordinates as it is now. But once there, "remember this exact spot". As I have in my car and phone GPS.

 

[Nukester]

This feature is a must so we can make use of the planetary features that already exist in the game (geysers,fumaroles etc) going forward as more flesh is added to planets, it will become even more important.

This is a must FDEV, please please please!!!!

 

[Mengy]

And I'd trade solo and groups for salt.

You can buy salt at the grocery store, but you can't buy planetary bookmarks there!

 

[Mostly Hamless]

Yeah Nah.

It's one of the last pieces of actual airmanship in the game.
Just replace it with an easy mode?

I'll be so disappointed if Frontier ever heed these types of pleas.

I would like to see player beacons.
Like a tourist beacon, but with the text set by players.
When you scan it gives back the text and the names of first to scan and most recent to scan.
Might require like a size 5 cargo bay and cost about fifty million. Or five hundred million. Whatever.
Barrier to entry kinda thing.

I'm assuming you only ever fly with FA off then?

 

[Crank Larson]

We KNOW how to do it. We do not LIKE doing it because it is PAINFUL and unweildy to be squinting at little numbers in the corner of the screen when you could be flying towards a virtual waypoint towering into the sky and appreciating the view.

Yes, the little numbers are annoying too, aren't they? Not very easy to read against a planet surface at all - I regularly have to point up to get the black background just so I can get my bearing. I thought it was due to my HUD colour choice, but I reverted to standard a long while ago, and it is no easier to read the numbers.

So, yes, while there are lots of other QoL features that we would appreciate, I would put this particular request in the top 5 at least.

 

[LeoBartlet]

Yeah Nah.

It's one of the last pieces of actual airmanship in the game.
Just replace it with an easy mode?

I'll be so disappointed if Frontier ever heed these types of pleas.

I would like to see player beacons.
Like a tourist beacon, but with the text set by players.
When you scan it gives back the text and the names of first to scan and most recent to scan.
Might require like a size 5 cargo bay and cost about fifty million. Or five hundred million. Whatever.
Barrier to entry kinda thing.

Exactly screw modern technology making navigation easier.

Time to turn off the gps system and get out the compass or sextant and prove just how awesome you are.

 

[Crank Larson]

You will have to find a spot by coordinates as it is now. But once there, "remember this exact spot". As I have in my car and phone GPS.

But your phone GPS will also allow you to enter a destination and then guide you there, and that's in 2017.

Yeah Nah.
It's one of the last pieces of actual airmanship in the game.
Just replace it with an easy mode?

There is no airmanship involved in being able to pilot to particular coordinates. I want to be a pilot, not a navigator. If you personally enjoy the navigating, then you could simply choose not to use the navigational computer to guide you to the coordinates. Then you can play the way you want, and I can also.

 

[Spiridon]

But your phone GPS will also allow you to enter a destination and then guide you there, and that's in 2017.

I was trying to find middle ground between "type in coordinates and take me there" and "you must know how to fly to coordinates".

And in RL I can't enter all the destinations - I don't know them. I'm talking about "remember this exact spot" when I park my car somewhere in a new town. Or a great sightseeing spot while I drive, so I can come back later to that curve or hill. I don't know those places beforehand.

Anyways, let hem put whatever they want - as long as I can have a crater or a barnacle as a Waypoint.

 

[Leo Sagan]

* Shameless bump *
Navigation on planets should get more attention before what was announced as THE planetary landing season ends.

 

[DustyArne]

I say yes!!

 

[Cmdr Esteban]

I concur with the OP wholeheartedly. +1

The current terrible surface navigation methodology is the reason why I immediately delete 'Tip-offs' as soon as they appear in my comms inbox.

 

[Kaocraft]

This. A thousand times this.

The coordinates system is terrible game design.

What? No come on. The coordinates system is great. You SHOULD be able to navigate with a compass using lat/long, and I'm glad it's there. The problem is that it's insufficient. Waypoints are definitely needed, but ideally I'd want them to *use* the coordinates system.

 

[Kaocraft]

But your phone GPS will also allow you to enter a destination and then guide you there, and that's in 2017.


There is no airmanship involved in being able to pilot to particular coordinates. I want to be a pilot, not a navigator. If you personally enjoy the navigating, then you could simply choose not to use the navigational computer to guide you to the coordinates. Then you can play the way you want, and I can also.

Your phone GPS would not be able to guide you to a location where no one has ever been before and where there is no phone network. Do those airless moons out in the far reaches of space have satellites orbiting them, and vast communication arrays? No? Ok then.

 

[floc]

the point is my 3302 starship should be able to generate a waypoint entering planet coords since it can already read them. It has nothing to do with gps maps.

+1 for this qol improvement.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Your phone GPS would not be able to guide you to a location where no one has ever been before and where there is no phone network. Do those airless moons out in the far reaches of space have satellites orbiting them, and vast communication arrays? No? Ok then.

But it should be able to guide you to a simple set of co-ordinates as we already have them available to use. There should be no reason why we can't put in the co-ordinates of where we want to go and have the ships computer put up a way point of where those co-ordinates are.

Our ships already have these scanners and detailed scanners on our ships, so much so that when we scan the planet we can see the features and what stations and where they are without the need of a massive communications array.

That argument doesn't stand. A phones GPS system is a completely different kettle of fish and doesn't apply.

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Can everyone mentioning GPS please stop.

Currently our ship's computer can ascertain a planet's LAT and LON coordinates - presumably because it's measured the planet radius and has determined where the planet's North and South is.

(Incidentally I was wondering how a planet's North & South poles are decided and came up with this explanation and presumably the game uses this or something similar : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poles_of_astronomical_bodies)

Anyway, it has the planet's radius, and it has determined it's North and South, and from that it can calculate the LAT/LON coordinates. Our ships already do this. No Global Positioning Satellites are needed for this!

Forget GPS and any and all arguments related to it!

The problem: currently - HERP DERP! - someone forgot to load a HUD subroutine which a) marks a specific LAT/LON coordinate and b) draws HUD elements which can aid the pilot in reaching those coordinates.

What I'm asking for is for a galactic-wide software update so that this missing feature is installed on all our ship's HUDs!