System map overhaul needed

OP - Beta backers have this. Havent you got it?

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I think this is just the thing. I think I remember Michael Brookes saying that however the Orrery would be an awesome thing to have, they won't bother, unless they will come up with added functionality, or a feature that would benefit from Orrery style map to make the effort worthwhile.

(He didn't use the word "bother", of course)

I do agree with that, and while I would be happy to have it as an aid for exploration, I can really see it being used for all areas of the game.

Squadrons with their fleet carriers jumping to a strategic place using the orrey map would be very useful. At the moment, there is just no way to do this. This is one example and there are plenty of others on this thread.
 
Honestly, I'm not so sure I'd actually like a 3d Orrey style map. I did see some of the old concept images, and to be honest, they seem overly complicated, cluttered and busy.
Sometimes newer and prettier isn't really better - just look at Windows 7, 8 and 10.

I have to agree.
I'm not a huge fan of glitter over functionality. For the same reason I prefer the station menu over some kind of "hub" (leg worshipers keep suggesting it) where one would run around, conducting business. Tidy menus and schematic maps are my thing.

You guys wouldn't like to know where each body is in relation to the others? You wouldn't want to know before you accept a second missoin to the same system that the 2 bodies which neighbour each other in the current map aren't on opposite sides of the system? You wouldn't like to plan your planetary scan routes better when exploring? All these people crying that exploring needs more love, THIS is what they're talking about amongst other things.

For me this is one of the biggest QoL changes needed. Even if it is a nice 2d diagram, top down view of the current system configuration (I know that would have limitations too, but it would be much better than what we have), showing where the planets are in their orbits and giving a better visual cue on distances.
 
You guys wouldn't like to know where each body is in relation to the others? You wouldn't want to know before you accept a second missoin to the same system that the 2 bodies which neighbour each other in the current map aren't on opposite sides of the system? You wouldn't like to plan your planetary scan routes better when exploring? All these people crying that exploring needs more love, THIS is what they're talking about amongst other things.

For me this is one of the biggest QoL changes needed. Even if it is a nice 2d diagram, top down view of the current system configuration (I know that would have limitations too, but it would be much better than what we have), showing where the planets are in their orbits and giving a better visual cue on distances.

Of course we would like to see that. :)
But it is one of those things where there is always something more important to implement. I do hope FD finds the time to work on this, of course.
 
Yep. I would love a proper 3D system map showing where everything is in relation to me. I can't understand why it wasn't made that way from the start.
 
I'd guess this would entail a mammoth task. So mammoth that even other mammoths would exclaim. Wow, thats big. Every system map would need to be fluid to be able to produce the orrery on demand at any given time. Thats 400 billion systems constantly updating on the system map. So that whenever you opened it, it represented how that system is at that particular moment. Therefore the system map application would be a continually calculating tool or would seek to look up data from the bgs at the instance of launching the system map. I suspect this would be a pain in the , cause delays and people would in time moan about it on here.

I have no problem with the simple interface as it stands.
 
Yep. I would love a proper 3D system map showing where everything is in relation to me. I can't understand why it wasn't made that way from the start.

Originally the Orrery is what Frontier wanted in the game, but right before 1.0 they announced that Elite would ship with the flat system map and the Orrery would come at a later date. Now, 3 years later, Frontier seems to not have it planned at all anymore.
 
Originally the Orrery is what Frontier wanted in the game, but right before 1.0 they announced that Elite would ship with the flat system map and the Orrery would come at a later date. Now, 3 years later, Frontier seems to not have it planned at all anymore.

It is 'planned' as being on 'todo list'. It isn't planned for Beyond though.
 
As I've said at tedious length before, apart from all the obvious loveliness you'd get from an Orrery View, it would also be the ideal place to visualise system states, the relationship between factions, traffic and many other things. There are all sorts of clever things going on with the BGS that at the moment are just presented as text in menus that you'd be forgiven for not noticing. If you could actually see where battles are taking place and how ships are moving around in a system in a sort of "strategic view" it would bring already existing stuff to life. I was half-way through doing mock ups of how this sort of thing could look before real life got in the way but will revisit if I ever get a chance!

EDIT: I do wonder if the main reason this hasn't been done is that by clearly visualising everything you actually expose weaknesses in the way it's all implemented. So doing it would mean having to revamp lots of other complicated things.
 
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Of course we would like to see that. :)
But it is one of those things where there is always something more important to implement. I do hope FD finds the time to work on this, of course.

I do agree, which is why my left eye starts twitching every time someone mentions space legs or atmo landings. Like we need those in the game right now. Mercy.

Yep. I would love a proper 3D system map showing where everything is in relation to me. I can't understand why it wasn't made that way from the start.

I'd settle for a different 2d representation, top down, with real positions of planets!
 
Why is the system map not like the galaxy map? I want to manipulate it from any angle and see the exact positions of every object. That way I can plot a route for surface scanning that passes the most planets in a line. I don't like that the system maps shows the distance of the planets from the star but I cannot see my relative exposition to them. What do you guys think?
[video=youtube;zIV4poUZAQo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIV4poUZAQo[/video]

We are the Knights Who Say "NI!"

We want.... An orrery!
 
It adds a ton of value to exploration, and a moderate amount of value to anyone flying in systems anywhere. The Orrery map would give pilots a true to scale map of a system's layout, allowing them to quickly gauge how the planets and stations are layed out. Surprised like Hutton Orbitial would be much easier to spot in an Orrery vs the current map. It would enable explorers to quickly identify systems with unusual or crazy orbital paths, thus identifying possible places of interest much more easily. Very scenic places which are impossible to determine with the current sys map. The largest gain though is in future development potential. Imagine if permanent signal sources could be identified on the Orrery too. Or comets with their trajectories laid out. Even mission waypoints or tourist beacons could be visible on the Orrery Map. It would be a huge QoL improvement for everyone who currently uses a system map in the game, which is quite arguably everyone who plays the game.


Except for the people who don't want a better, more informative map.

Thank you! It seems like a no brainer that his would be way more useful to everyone than an extra ship or fancy seat cover. I care nothing about either of the new ships announced.
 
As I've said at tedious length before, apart from all the obvious loveliness you'd get from an Orrery View, it would also be the ideal place to visualise system states, the relationship between factions, traffic and many other things. There are all sorts of clever things going on with the BGS that at the moment are just presented as text in menus that you'd be forgiven for not noticing. If you could actually see where battles are taking place and how ships are moving around in a system in a sort of "strategic view" it would bring already existing stuff to life. I was half-way through doing mock ups of how this sort of thing could look before real life got in the way but will revisit if I ever get a chance!

EDIT: I do wonder if the main reason this hasn't been done is that by clearly visualising everything you actually expose weaknesses in the way it's all implemented. So doing it would mean having to revamp lots of other complicated things.

I doubt any Orrery Map would ever show ships in flight (other than your own position, and maybe wingmate positions), and honestly I don't think it should (that's what the radar is for), but it could easily show shipping lanes and such.
 
I doubt any Orrery Map would ever show ships in flight (other than your own position, and maybe wingmate positions), and honestly I don't think it should (that's what the radar is for), but it could easily show shipping lanes and such.

Well, anyone who wants an orrery map of THIS level of precision can just fly 20kLs up and look at the system from above. :D
 
No, that is not an orrey map. I would have to fly 100-200 ly up and look down to get a rough indication of what is the best route to scan planets which is a huge waste time.

What I would like is an orrey map (can be toggled to 2D like we have it know for those that don't want it) that we can place staged way markers down so I can plot my route in the most efficient way possible through the system.

Also it can be used for a lot more stuff. Look at this for an example of what you could do with an orrey map:

https://imgur.com/a/l1wBF

gDU5nwJ.png


:D
 
Orrery map is much desired feature yet to be implemented by FD. Recent thread disappointed us a bit with Dale saying it is not on map for Beyond :( It is quite a work to implement and FD didn't saw much improvement.

However people have mentioned lot of reasons why it would be good to have orrery. Just add voice for it and hopefully devs will notice.



As much as needed :) We need 'goats request Orrery map' drive on Twitter and elsewhere :)

Did they really say it isn't much of an improvement? Because if the Orrery displays the current constellation of system bodies it's far easier to scan all bodies during exploration trips. Shame, really.
 
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