Fractal Softworks Forum
Starsector => Suggestions => Topic started by: Blips on October 21, 2014, 04:30:34 PM
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After some time with 0.65a it's clear that Starsector is only going to get more involved which is fantastic. To help both new players and veterans alike, here are some features to make both the current version and future versions more accessible:
- Map filters: some simple filters for fleets, planets, wormholes, etc.
- Map tooltips: it would be helpful if tooltips were available for objects on the map.
- Navigation: creating waypoints to intel reports (to bounties for example), or to player determined locations, plotted routes would be a hugely helpful.
- Markets: the detailed market screen, where goods are listed as being exporting or importing, would be far more readable if the arrows (import or export indicators) were horizontally aligned, with the goods being offset from the center.
- Player log: information related specifically to the player (relationship changes, ship repairs, payments, etc) can occasionally flood the player. It would be great if a permanent log was available from the intel screen where these things could be listed.
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See the attached image on why some filters on the map would be nice. Sindria is not visible at all due to all the fleets around.
[attachment deleted by admin]
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I was just going to make the same suggestions as your first three. The map is pretty hard to use for anything other than the most basic navigation right now because of the way things pile up on top of each other. You suggestions would fix that.
I would also like to suggest being able to write your own notes on the map, like in civ 4.
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Yeah, I could definitely put some custom notes to use :)
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Yeah, a map filter sounds like a great idea. Will keep it in mind for the (eventual) map overhaul.
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On an related note, is it intended for "sindria" to have both a LionsGuardFleetManager and a PatrolFleetManager? That system feel crowded compared to other systems! :)
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Yeah, intended. The Lion's Guard are the Diktat's elite.
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Yeah, intended. The Lion's Guard are the Diktat's elite.
That system is a fortress indeed!
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Yeah, a map filter sounds like a great idea. Will keep it in mind for the (eventual) map overhaul.
With that map overhaul, could we have some means of determining the location of a planet/moon/station prior to entering the system?
Atm we have a choice of multiple entry points (be they jump gates, stars, or gas giants) but have no way of knowing (without memorizing the structure of each star system) which entry point will drop us closest to our desired destination.
Depending upon how the game's galaxy navigation progresses, an autopilot might be nice too.
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Yeah, that'd be nice. I'd like a map where maybe you can navigate the map more freely (i.e. see hyperspace w/o being in hyperspace, see inside a system w/o being there) but there are lots of considerations here, especially regarding just what you should be able to see.
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Maybe it would be worth some thought to roll the map and intel tab into one. So you'd have a log, a sector and a system sub-tab. The trade/event/bounty information you'd want in a optimal system map largely overlaps with the sector map info, after all.
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I've been thinking about that, yeah, but I don't know if it overlaps enough. For example, one of the main reasons you currently use the system map is to track down enemy fleets. The intel map with its icons is unsuited for that. It *would* be nice for the intel map to have a system view (I'd considered being able to navigate it by clicking on a star to get a system view, might revisit that), but I'm not sure how one might effectively combine the two.
It does bug me on some level to have two different types of maps, though.
Hmm. Maybe extra filter categories, but that might be too fiddly. The UI flow of "check map, go somewhere, check map again" would get more awkward, plus a lot of the screen is taken up by stuff you don't care about at that point (i.e. reports).
And then the map should display market information/ownership in an easier-to-parse way. Sorting this out is going to be... involved :)
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Hmm. Maybe extra filter categories, but that might be too fiddly. The UI flow of "check map, go somewhere, check map again" would get more awkward, plus a lot of the screen is taken up by stuff you don't care about at that point (i.e. reports).
I was thinking, maybe the map filter categories (for both system and sector map) could be governed by "modes", which you switch according to your current goal set.
So when you play a head hunter you'd activate a "tactical view" and see fleet movements, general bounties, special targets etc. As a trader you'd activate "commerce view" and see prices, trade events and possible threats. And maybe later on for explorers some kind of "scientific view" that focuses on astrophysical anomalies and tech mining opportunities.
Not to say that important things like fleet movement could not be shown in all modes, but with very different emphasis (symbol size/differentiation).
That would fit with how I am playing the game so far, at least (i.e. switching around my goal sets).
It would, by the way, be lovely if a double click on a log entry could open the associated location on the map (it does mark it, but you have to switch manually).
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How to go to a specific market or named bounty fleet:
-Check intel map to find a system with the desired market or fleet
-Open main map and click the nearest jump point
-Travel to and go through the jump point
-Open main map and click the destination star
-Travel to the system and go through the first jump point you see
-Open the intel map to find the name of the destination fleet or planet (unless you memorized it earlier)
-Open the main map and find the destination by name. If it's a fleet this will involve clicking fleets until you find the one with the correct name.
Going to specific places is an integral part of the game now, so I think it's important that the process is streamlined.