I was flying around today looking for a bounty in a system I had never been in before. Being so, nothing was labeled and I resorted to following ships around to their target. Following ships to an orange star off in the distance I stopped at a Unknown point to see if I could find this bounty and it hit me - If I stop, I lose the ships I'm following. If I lose them, how do I know where I'm going. Luckily, this star was sort of set off from the rest where I could find it again (even though it was around 26,000 ly away from the start), but it got me thinking there should be some sort of bearing/heading system in the game to keep track and find stuff like this manually.
Back in the day I had an idea for a bearing system much like that found in Star Trek... you know, when they say, "30 mark 245" or some such thing. It's based on navigational bearing used today but put in a 3d sphere of space so you would have one horizontal and one vertical circle around your ship marked from 0 to 360 degrees each. When you hear "Set heading to 30 mark 245" you would turn 30 degrees horizontal and 245 vertical. Of course, this would instantly update from your ships location as you move... and that's where the problem comes in. If your ship is constantly moving and the bearing is changing, it wouldn't help in my situation.
If thought about widening the circles to encompass the system you are in instead of just your ship, but who's to say how big the system is in the first place, especially in a system you have never been in before, such as my case. Besides, I don't even think this would help if the ship was to move around. Sure, the bearing probably wouldn't change much, but if you are looking for something around 26,000 ly away, a small offset could be hundreds of light years.
So, how does everyone find these unmarked targets that are light years away? Do you fly around blindly? Do you try use a sort of triangulation method? Do you set you sights on the most distinguishable position and try to keep your eyes on it? Is there a better way?
Back in the day I had an idea for a bearing system much like that found in Star Trek... you know, when they say, "30 mark 245" or some such thing. It's based on navigational bearing used today but put in a 3d sphere of space so you would have one horizontal and one vertical circle around your ship marked from 0 to 360 degrees each. When you hear "Set heading to 30 mark 245" you would turn 30 degrees horizontal and 245 vertical. Of course, this would instantly update from your ships location as you move... and that's where the problem comes in. If your ship is constantly moving and the bearing is changing, it wouldn't help in my situation.
If thought about widening the circles to encompass the system you are in instead of just your ship, but who's to say how big the system is in the first place, especially in a system you have never been in before, such as my case. Besides, I don't even think this would help if the ship was to move around. Sure, the bearing probably wouldn't change much, but if you are looking for something around 26,000 ly away, a small offset could be hundreds of light years.
So, how does everyone find these unmarked targets that are light years away? Do you fly around blindly? Do you try use a sort of triangulation method? Do you set you sights on the most distinguishable position and try to keep your eyes on it? Is there a better way?