Navigational Question(s)

[Vainglorious]

Specifically, I'm having trouble using this function:

"You can also zoom in on a nearby sector box by right mouse clicking anywhere in the box."

For some odd reason, when I'm in one sector (call it Sector A), and I right-click on a nearby sector (call it Sector D), then the camera zooms in to Sector D, I can't see any of the objects that are supposed to be displayed there, such as planets and space stations. They show up on the zoomed-out map, but when I right-click to zoom in, they've vanished. This doesn't happen all the time, but it happens a lot, and it's definitely hampering my ability to navigate easily. Is this intentional or a bug?

Another issue of mine is that I know how to use pitch and heading readouts properly with regard to the navigator giving me directions; it's pretty simple. Come to a dead stop when he alerts you, yaw until your compass matches the proper heading, pitch until your "ladder" reads the proper angle, then punch the throttle and make sure IDS is turned off. Eventually, you'll get (approximately) where he's instructed you to go.

Problem is, it seems I never actually FIND these containers the navigator informs me about, even while eyeing my radar for white blips and using the Mark I Eyeball to search outside the cockpit. I'll drift for ten, fifteen minutes at 4k, not finding anything.

And finally, any other navigation and exploration tips (how to "sweep" an entire sector as efficiently as possible for unknowns, for example) would be appreciated.

[Vice]

For some odd reason, when I'm in one sector (call it Sector A), and I right-click on a nearby sector (call it Sector D), then the camera zooms in to Sector D, I can't see any of the objects that are supposed to be displayed there, such as planets and space stations. They show up on the zoomed-out map, but when I right-click to zoom in, they've vanished. This doesn't happen all the time, but it happens a lot, and it's definitely hampering my ability to navigate easily. Is this intentional or a bug?

Sounds like you're just above or below the objects by more than the zoomed in sensor range provides. In 3D space, objects can be above or below you by significant distances. So most likely, those objects are on a different SY sector position. Additional details:

http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtop ... 1#pid41175

Problem is, it seems I never actually FIND these containers the navigator informs me about, even while eyeing my radar for white blips and using the Mark I Eyeball to search outside the cockpit. I'll drift for ten, fifteen minutes at 4k, not finding anything.

First, watch for purple blips instead of white. The range you will pick them up at can vary, they can be close or very far away on the opposite side of the sector. The heading and pitch have to be very precise, if you're off by even a couple of degrees, that can mean thousands of meters off course by the time you get near the location. One way to help pin down the location more precisely is to triangulate the location with multiple jumps (details: http://www.starwraith.com/forum/viewtop ... 1#pid39153 ). In short, simply jump to at least 3 different location within the sector where your navigator has detected a directional signal. Plot an intersect point with those three directional lines, then focus your search in that area. It can save you a lot of search time and greatly narrow down the area to scan.

And finally, any other navigation and exploration tips (how to "sweep" an entire sector as efficiently as possible for unknowns, for example) would be appreciated.

Build the skill of your science ops crew member. The more skilled they are, the better they are at detecting such objects and the more skilled your navigator is, the longer the range you will detect the objects on your radar at. Valuable items are often hidden where you yourself might hide them... off the beaten path, out of high traffic areas, inside other objects, etc, so focus your searches in areas like that. Sometimes, other ships in the area already know the locations of such objects and occasionally fly to them, so tailing other ships for a while can sometimes be helpful (if you're too obvious/close, they may jump away to prevent revealing the location, but even then, you can sometimes get a valuable direction to check). Diagonal search flight patterns can also be useful.

[Edited on 11-24-2008 by Vice]