Trading - Using the galaxy map, buying the trending data, and making use of it (multiple problems in Odyssey)
I started a new character and decided to play as a trader. It has actually been a lot of fun. I didn't do that much trading previously, but I occasionally ran some cargo here or there, so I had time to get to know the interfaces and tools in the game. That was previous to the release of Odyssey, so I was using the Horizons interface. I have not logged in under Horizons for a long time, but there is a critical difference between the usefulness of the trending trade data that can be bought in the galaxy map in Horizons and Odyssey.
When I purchase the trending data, the colored lines between the systems are drawn. They represent the category of goods that is being traded between systems. In the above example, I am filtering the systems by economy type. Tolians is an industrial system (yellow), and Matses is a high-tech system (light blue). The lines themselves are animated in the game. There is an animation of a small arrow like bulge moving along each line from one system to the other. Supposedly, the line will appear more "prominent" if the trade route is being traded more heavily. I am not sure how that is supposed to look. I guess it would ideal if there were more arrow like bulges or if they moved faster, but I am not sure I can see any difference. Perhaps the lines are more or less faint. If anyone can enlighten me about this, I would be grateful.
If you know the meaning of the colors, then you can see at a glance what has been trading between systems. In horizons, you could even filter trades by player or computer or both. That was very useful because it allowed to see what other players were trading too. Not knowing the meaning of the colors, is part of the problem with Odyssey. The galaxy map interface for the trade routes does not indicate what colors correspond to what goods. I know that metals are red, and minerals are orange. I think that light blue is high tech equipment. I am not sure about purple and some of the others.
Another thing that Horizons allowed you to do, was to check a box next to each individual kind of good. For example, you had a whole list of metals, silver, gold, pallidum, etc. Every kind. All of the metals were represented by red lines between systems, but since we could uncheck the boxes one by one, you could figure out which kind of metal was being traded between planets. So, if I wanted to know which red lines represented "gold", I could uncheck everything except gold and the remaining red lines between systems were trade routes carrying "gold".
Here is why this is a very important concept.
Consider this example. A player arrives in Matses for the first time and has never been to Tolians. The player can buy the trending data and examine the lines. In Horizons, the player could then figure out exactly which goods were trading and supposedly the prominence of the line would indicate how much, or little was being traded. Even though the player had never been to Tolians before, the player could have reasonable confidence about buying those goods and traveling on to Tolians for a profit.
In Odyssey, you cannot figure out what the exact goods are. I used the interface options to select different metals, but the lines do not seem to change.
Consider this trio of systems in a triangle trade network. After buying the trending data, a player might see this configuration some distance from his current location. Vafthruva is trading high-tech goods to Bhaluwa. The dark blue line might be medicines. Those are also trading in the same direction. Bhaluwa is trading medicines to Aknata and Aknata is trading metals to Vafthruva. Using the interface in Horizons would allow a player to see exactly what was trading in that loop. You can't do that in Odyssey. In Odyssey, you can only see the category. I can't see any way to make the interface yield the same results.
My first suggestion is to improve the current interface to include the same functionality, or to allow players to use the Horizons galaxy map while using the Odyssey expansion. Or, to create more than one kind of galaxy map interface. Perhaps there could a main galaxy map, but if you push a button on the top of map along the border (for example), you can switch to interface designed specifically for traders.
Consider, the above image. Suppose a player arrives in Chukua for the first time. If the player has this trending data, the player can trade intelligently through Hosuets to HIP 96943 to Reneru and on to Col 285 sector and can keep buying more data and keep trading forward. Some players don't care about using online tools to get the best trade route. They just want to move cargo from one system to the next and check out each system economy (the arrangement of planets, stations, and settlements).
Consider this system map of HIP 97950, which is also a starting planet. Within this one system is the means to trade between various settlements and stations very effectively. I found trade routes worth about 12,000 to 13,000 a ton. I had to fly around a lot, but they were there. My second suggestion would be to include an overlay of the same type of colored lines that are on the galaxy map to represent trade routes onto the system map, via an option, to show the trade routes that are effective within a system. Plenty of systems appear to have a logical and sensible arrangement and placement of settlements and stations. Showing the same kind of trending trade routes would just give a player a better idea about where they might want to start to investigate a system's internal economy for profitable trade routes. Many of which are designed for small and medium ships in mind.
This planet is in HIP 97950. These surface installations are very close to each other. From about 500km to 1.2mm apart. Using a small ship, an Adder, I could move back and forth between these installations and make about 5,000 or 6,000 profit per ton. Those trips only take a minute or two. For a new player that is pretty good. I am only just starting to see what they have done with Odyssey settlements and trading. I found that in some surface settlements there were metals selling for a fraction of the galactic average. For example, I found gold and silver and such metals for only a few thousand a ton and about 50,000 or so profit per ton to sell it. In that location, they were in quantities that made sense for small to medium ships. My third suggestion would be to make the colored lines available on planetary surface maps too, when there are routes likely between settlements.
