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Dev blog: Starmap Improvements - A Map To Treasure

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Little Fawn
New Eden Reclamation
#161 - 2014-12-09 14:18:29 UTC  |  Edited by: Little Fawn
Please provide a button for resetting the map orientation (while maintaining the centered object).

Also a "center me" button.
Sgt Ocker
What Corp is it
#162 - 2014-12-09 14:26:09 UTC
How do you flatten the map? It somehow switched to 3d and can't find a way to switch it back.

What is the reason for the square cursor - just horrible

If your going to all this trouble to make a better map, why not make it better, more user friendly, more detailed.

Region mode, so when i want to view a region - that is what I am viewing. Full screen mode on a 24" wide screen, Region name ( Outer Ring) is the only name visible, I want to be able to do a region view and see system names.
Same for constellation and system, even system view in full screen mode doesn't clearly show "A" system, it shows part of the system then you have to zoom, rotate, zoom to see a bit more - of the same system

Full screen mode - If I am using full screen mode I don't want chat windows, overview etc blocking the view - How about we go modern - Always on top.


I know it is a beta, so these are just a few things I think would make the map, more user friendly and "modern".
When I want to look at a part of the US or Europe, I don't do it from a world map.
Something along the lines of Google maps, where you can zoom in to a certain location and that is all you see. The further you zoom the clearer what you are seeking ( System, station, moon, gate, etc) becomes. Not so detailed you can count rocks in an asteroid belt but that you can clearly see, it is an asteroid belt.. A cluster of icons you have to mouse over to see what is there isn't really "a map".

My opinions are mine.

  If you don't like them or disagree with me that's OK.- - - - - - Just don't bother Hating - I don't care

It really is getting harder and harder to justify $23 a month for each sub.
Suicyder
That One Corp 65941168413
#163 - 2014-12-09 15:25:05 UTC
I love the experimental map.

However I set a route from one side of space to the other and the only way I could see it properly was if I changed map colours.
If I have route + Security Status map, you can barely (to not) see the route you take through space.
Sir HyperChrist
Persnickety Pilots
#164 - 2014-12-09 16:34:39 UTC  |  Edited by: Sir HyperChrist
The new map looks nice, pretty good for a first iteration.

Please could you make sure when you use the map and first zoom out, the north regions are actually "up"?
Paragon Soul is up by default everytime I open it, Tenal is down, Cache on the left and Fountain on the right. It looks like a bug after a map UI update some years ago, and back then they fixed to be "as normal" very soon too :)

just my 2 cents....

Thanks and keep up the good work :)
SauronsLeftNut
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#165 - 2014-12-09 17:06:43 UTC
G'Day Just a comment or 2 on new map... Its pretty!!! Seriously though

1.The auto-zoom to the solar system you are in needs to go. I very much like the solar system being on map, but the auto -zoom and re-orientating of map every time open it, NO thank you very much. if you hit abstract layout it zooms out and re-orientates map, just irritating to have to do it whenever open map.

2. The route line either doesn't show up or it gets drowned in the other colours. As in cant see the route very clearly/not at all. mabey some different colour or such for route

Apart from that i'm digging the new map, especially with the things planned for it down the road.
Yulia Yotosala
Perkone
Caldari State
#166 - 2014-12-09 17:22:55 UTC
It's pretty but it doesn't really work as a map. Maps need to be clear and functional.
Lady Zarrina
New Eden Browncoats
#167 - 2014-12-09 17:31:09 UTC
Hmm I never logged into the test system and I obviously should have. When you were adding region and constellation functionality, I thought it was limiting the map to only show those stars which are in the region or constellation. You are doing the exact opposite. Now this view you are doing is useful, it is not what I imagined. I was hoping for an ability to only see a specified region at a time?

You know, when you buy a road map it is usually for a City or a state/province not for the whole country (at least in North America.)

EVE: All about Flying Frisky and Making Iskie
Algathas
Swamp Panthers
SONS of BANE
#168 - 2014-12-09 18:15:33 UTC
So far I like the new map.

Two things that would help make it more useful:

1) have a mode there the map remains centered on your location as you travel. This is so that when the map is zoomed in or docked that you can always see where you are without scrolling when you are traveling.

2) The color contrast needs to be adjusted to more easily show various stats. One thing that might help is to have color sliders similar to in PI, where you can adjust the color ranges based on how fine grained you want to see that particular stat.
Alexis Nightwish
#169 - 2014-12-09 18:56:11 UTC
Could you please add an on/off toggle for the nebula? It's already bad enough that it makes everything hard to see in system. Now it's going to make the map hard to read too?Sad

CCP approaches problems in one of two ways: nudge or cludge

EVE Online's "I win!" Button

Fixing bombs, not the bombers
Vudra Keerah
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#170 - 2014-12-09 19:34:24 UTC  |  Edited by: Vudra Keerah
How do you get the beta map on a second monitor?


edited- got it with fixed windows on dual display. Sorry I thought it would run outside of the game.
Murkar Omaristos
The Alabaster Albatross
Unreasonable Bastards
#171 - 2014-12-09 21:25:41 UTC  |  Edited by: Murkar Omaristos
Yulia Yotosala wrote:
It's pretty but it doesn't really work as a map. Maps need to be clear and functional.


THIS. Map sluggish to rotate by click + drag compared to the old one. Looks amazing, but if I had to use it for something, I'd use the old one. Can we have the option to retain the old map?

EDIT: One other point - "ships destroyed in the last 24 hours" should show when you hover your mouse over a system (shouldn't need to click on it to see this info).
Tarchus
#172 - 2014-12-09 22:25:23 UTC
-Where is the search function?!

-Region's text should be visible. It could use a bit of bold like it is on the old map. And it nees an option to hide the Region's name text. ( or only visible when mouse over or click when Group stars as region is checked )
-I still want to see the system i am in ( on top left ) when the map is in fullscreen.
-I still want to see the waypoints on top left when the map is in fullscreen.
-It needs to have a "Flatten" option. The "abstract layout" won't do ( it' still 3D ).
-System names should be visible when i am not very closed zoom on the region ( i guess you have to zoom in to the constellation in order to see the systems name ). Here's an example: http://i.imgur.com/1uWXuzC.jpg ;at this zoom i should be able to see systems' names. It would be easier to plan the jumps and see the routes.
-Systems' names more visible. The text is more like gray. An white i think should do it.
-The background it's not a good option for that font ( gray pixel font ). It should be black because, as i stated, the systems' names are not visible enough.
-The names on the extremities shouldn't fade out ( http://i.imgur.com/MdPpTvO.jpg - as you can see the names on the left are being fade out, you can barely see them )

You should focus more in the visibility of the font.


The map it's all about planning, so you can't do any planning if you can't see a thing.

-Home Station....i am not interested in it. I was created in a random station. I don't need to see it on map.
Sjaandi HyShan
Overheated Industries
#173 - 2014-12-10 00:23:34 UTC
My first impressions:

  • I don't see the space nebula mentioned/shown in the dev blog. Is this a setting?
  • There's too little separation between the main screen and the starmap when docked. The transition is jarring.
  • It's too hard to see highlighted systems with filters (at least the ones that don't grow brighter with more matches like planets). I'd like to be able to see that I have stuff in Jita from across the galaxy without having to turn on the lines and zooming in on the Forge area.
  • The radio buttons at the top of the list need to have their own collapsible group. It takes time to scroll down to the others and I'd like to be able to immediately collapse them to see the other groups in the list.
  • The Caldari-coloured (white) clouds in the background make the white text and unfilted stars harder to see. Maybe have other galaxies in the background interspersed with true black?
  • Does abstract layout mean tactical layout? it seems to change my orientation and move the stars around a little, but that's about it.


All-in-all a great start. Keep it up! We can't wait to be able to scan with it!!
Tua Soze
Redshift Interstellar
#174 - 2014-12-10 03:09:02 UTC
Looking forward to the changes. Unfortunately don't have time to jump out of WH space to take a look at the new map yet, but am looking forward to it.

Still remember how nice it was when the original map was implemented. It was a huge improvement over not having a map (even though it didn't have much functionality at all back then) and having to actually search out what systems were jump-able to by jumping through each gate during the beta and the first couple of months after release. Back in the day before the map existed we used spreadsheets to create our own maps for the first few months, with many of us early corps building our own until the original map was released.

The old map has seen a lot of improvements over the past 11 years, so I'm sure the new one will see improvements over time also.

And to those of you who are complaining about it already; when they said that it is far from complete that should have been an indicator that it was far from perfect. So you need to be patient, if you don't like the new version, go back to using the old one but be thankful that you have a map at all.

Hikyuuri Kenneth
JynxHeavenly Dragons Inc.
#175 - 2014-12-10 03:15:10 UTC
Found a bug!

When using the map in docked mode, the game disreguards all camera offset settings.

I have a 3 monitor setup, if I dock the map to the right side, stretch it to fill the entire monitor, my ship is cut in half between my center screen and my left screen. Adjusting the camera offset in the settings does not take effect (I see it changeing the screen when in the settings menu, but when I leave the settings menu it snaps back to center).

This should be fixed as people with multiple monitors may want to keep the map up on one, but not have their ship cut in half between other monitors. In my case, my shuttle doesn't even appear because of the bezel correction in my NVidia cards.

Screenshots:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/izvxjso41drtwpo/Screenshot1.png?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ln2ukwbwmdzjaw2/Screenshot2.png?dl=0

Screenshot 1 shows me in the Settings menu, you can clearly see my ship is offset to be more on the right side of the screens.

Screenshot 2 is taken with me outside of the settings menu with the map open. You can see my ship's offset is reset and is centered on the remaining portions not including the map screen.
Noxisia Arkana
Deadspace Knights
#176 - 2014-12-10 03:38:07 UTC
Very nice new map. Thanks ;)
Aquinas II
PostgreSQL
#177 - 2014-12-10 04:04:10 UTC  |  Edited by: Aquinas II
I'm really digging the improvements in the beta map. One thing I'd really like to see implemented is an animation of your current route. This could be done with small beads of color (same color as the lines) running the length of the paths to indicate direction. That would be a clean/simple/elegant/intuitive way to do this without being heavy-handed and obscuring the rest of the content.
Koebmand
Silverflames
#178 - 2014-12-10 09:55:34 UTC  |  Edited by: Koebmand
Please remove the background.

The "You Are Here" icon kinda is never where I am.

  • I have even seen it light years below the entire Galaxy, so not sure if it is just completely bugged.
  • When the current system is on map it seems it is set to be displayed X pixels above my current star system. If this is correct then please make it surround / replace / 0 pixels from the current star instead. When zooming in / out and rotation view, being displaced from the star changes which star it seems to be at.
  • When the current system is hidden, fx by grouping for regions and selecting a different region, the "You Are Here" icon lands in the middle of nowhere between regions (sideways from where I am actually am in my current case, so not because it is offset above region).


The ability to just zoom out of System map is nice. But took a bit to figure out how to change back into system map (star has to be selected before you can enter system map).

Why do the camera move away (distance, it centers probably) from stars when I click on them? (this only happens if camera is close to the star).

Hope the new grouping feature is meant to include a Set Destination function to nearest star in different regions. In my case the reason to want to enter a region at closest star is access to the market, Industry has the same access skills as trade so would imagine people doing a lot of industry have the same wish to enter regions at any system.

To implement Set Destination for a region, I would think it would be possible to just plan a route to all stars and pick the shortest?

All work should be done on the client, server isn't gonna crash from 40000 players clicking the button.

Planning a route takes very short time, planning 100 in a batch shouldn't hang up a system.

Upsides:

  • Player get an easy way to find the closest star in a given Region.


Downsides:

  • The route will be set to the nearest star. not the region, so multiple region trips might have poor results.
  • Possible quite far in computation time from a solution that does it fast.
Rotineque Severasse
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#179 - 2014-12-10 10:46:43 UTC  |  Edited by: Rotineque Severasse
In the default mode of all lines and security status colours the route marking is very drowned out. To a point its pretty hard to determine where in space the route will take you.

Apart from that, CCP this is some awesome/sexy work!
David Therman
#180 - 2014-12-10 12:13:24 UTC
I don't know if someone's mentioned this already, but anyhow; it's definitely a visual improvement over the current one (I think on that, the vast majority of us have agreed) but in terms of the information it provides, I think it's lacking a bit. For example, the Ship's destroyed per hour statistic is one I use quite a lot, but for the new map this is displayed via the brightness for each system without stating anything specific i.e exactly how many ship's have been blown up ... this is something that could do with a bit of tweaking imo.