Some Navigation questions from a newb.

Roadblock · Post by **Roadblock** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 12:40 pm

Couple of questions, mostly around Navigation.

1) I've seen some strange behavior with the navigation screen, let me see if I can explain: I zoom out on my map, and see what looks like an asteroid field, towards the lower-left, so I click there to set a nav point, and then engage my jump drive. When I arrive, there is no asteroid belt, nor does it show up on my map when zoomed in all the way. If I zoom back out though, there it is! This is either a bug, or I'm missing something!

2) Does the navigation map, when zoomed out as far as possible, show the entire "sector", or can you only see some fixed size area around your ship?

3) Do you veteran players know some tricks for getting down to a city on a planet more quickly? Try as I might to set up my nav points so that they "look" like they are on the same side of the planet as the city, I always seem to have to spend 10+ minutes flying down toward it. Is there some technique that you guys can use to do this more quickly? It's very fast/easy to set a nav point that pretty much takes you right into the docking area on a station, but it seems odd that it takes so much longer to get down to a planet-side base.

and last:

4) Are there any tricks/tools you guys use to check market prices remotely, or do you need to be docked to see what things are going for at a particular base?

Thanks!

Roadblock · Post by **Roadblock** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:30 pm

Originally posted by Eclipse
1) Use the "rear view" button when that happens, most likely the object you are looking at is above or below your current sector.

Do you mean switch to Rear View while zoomed out?

2) Nav map shows a fixed area around, systems are too big to be shown on the nav map.

Oh wow, how big is Sapphire? Has anyone ever tried to put together some sort of "map"?

3) Again, use the "rear view" button to better aim for cities.
This I have tried, and it didn't really seem to help.

4) Check the news in the inventory console.

Can you elaborate on this? If I check there, is there a way to see which prices it's using? (ie, if I am near a planet with 3 cities and a station, how do I know which prices I'm looking at?)

Thanks for the replies!

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:59 pm

1) When zoomed in use (rear view) also make sure your SY coordinate is 0. You might be jumping out of the galactic plain/ecliptic

2) There is a general map in the strategy guide I believe!

3) There is no easy way to dock at a planets docking station, unless you no the docking stations on the planet excact coordinates and then you have to use Verbosity's planet jump technique! Which takes some practice!

4)The prices in the news in the inventory console are the prices of the closest station or city to your current position.

Oh yes, and welcome to the Forum and the Game Roadblock!

[Edited on 8-5-2009 by Maarschalk]

Roadblock · Post by **Roadblock** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 2:04 pm

Originally posted by Maarschalk
1) When zoomed in use (rear view) also make sure your SY coordinate is 0. You might be jumping out of the galactic plain/ecliptic

2) There is a general map in the strategy guide I believe!

3) There is no easy way to dock at a planets docking station, unless you no the docking stations on the planet excact coordinates and then you have to use Verbosity's planet jump technique! Which takes some practice!

4)The prices in the news in the inventory console are the prices of the closest station or city to your current position.

Oh yes, and welcome to the Forum and the Game Roadblock!

[Edited on 8-5-2009 by Maarschalk]

Ahh I gotcha. I played around with the map a little more, and paid more attention to what "sector" I was in and what I was clicking on, and managed to figure out how to get to the disappearing asteroid belt (it was "up" 1 sector in the Y plane).

Thanks again you guys!

PingBosun · Post by **PingBosun** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 7:49 pm

See, ask and you will be enlightened!!

Good isn't it?

Roadblock · Post by **Roadblock** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:01 pm

Originally posted by PingBosun
See, ask and you will be enlightened!!

Good isn't it?

Indeed!

So, another question (or maybe an observation):

Early on anyway, mining seems to be by far the most profitable way to spend my time. I upgraded my cargo hold and was able to haul in a good half a million credits worth of Diamonds and Platinum in a fairly short while (making sure I sell them at a station that's paying more). The contracts available to me at the moment pay rather paltry sums in comparison.

However, I wonder if it might be worth doing some of these contracts for reputation though?

Also, I can't seem to find anyone selling a jump drive higher than a fulcum 3. Where can I score a 4 or 5?

MMaggio · Post by **MMaggio** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:42 pm

First, please keep the "solar array" clean. That's where Babylon 5 gets it power [jk]

Each system offers a bit more than the last so you will not find everything in Sapphire.
However, do not be too anxious to leave. Sapphire has many surprises and "goodies" if you are willing to explore the system.
There are uncharted planets, nebulas and stations to be found in Sapphire!
Don't be afraid to EXPLORE!

Roadblock · Post by **Roadblock** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:47 pm

Originally posted by MMaggio
First, please keep the "solar array" clean. That's where Babylon 5 gets it power [jk]
Each system offers a bit more than the last so you will not find everything in Sapphire.
However, do not be too anxious to leave. Sapphire has many surprises and "goodies" if you are willing to explore the system.
There are uncharted planets, nebulas and stations to be found in Sapphire!
Don't be afraid to EXPLORE!

Hahaha! I'll be sure to clean it up real nice, just for you!

So, since I seem to be limited to about 3 sectors worth of jumping at a time, someone let me know if there's a better way to travel than what I've been doing, if I need to go farther than my jump drive will take me in 1 jump.

I set my waypoint where I want to go, and line up with the nav point, then hit Alt-F2 (which jumps me as far as I can go, I think, but resets my nav point). I then rinse and repeat until I am in range of a station or whatever I'm trying to get to.

Is this the "best" way to get around, or is there a trick you veterans know about that you could pass on?

Ardnox · Post by **Ardnox** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:59 pm

I've found the autopilot comes in handy, rather than plotting multiple jumps. However, it did end me up in deep space with no fuel once or twice until I realized it won't navigate jump gates!

I'd found myself in the Faulston system, under heavy enemy fire, and tried to autopilot back to Sapphire using a saved nav point...didn't work as planned...

Roadblock · Post by **Roadblock** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:13 pm

Yet another question:

How do I move an item from my cargo hold to my ship's equipment? (ie, say I have an upgraded Fulcrum drive in my hold, and I want to mount it).

If I accidentally sell such an item, from my cargo hold, is there any way to "buy it back", from the station I sold it to?

Thanks!

Post by **Vice** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:33 pm

Use right click while you are docked at a station to transfer an item from the cargo bay to your ship.

Player controlled save points are the 'undos' in the game, make sure to save frequently, then you can restore that point.

Roadblock · Post by **Roadblock** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:41 pm

Gotcha!

One last thing: Is there a way to move small amounts of cargo between bays? Ie - I have 19 fusion cells in one bay, and 14 in another. Can I move 6 of them to the first bay, to fill it?

MMaggio · Post by **MMaggio** » Wed Aug 05, 2009 11:53 pm

No, leastwise not in space. You might be able to re-arrange cargo loads when docked, but not out in space.

Roadblock · Post by **Roadblock** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 12:20 am

Originally posted by MMaggio
No, leastwise not in space. You might be able to re-arrange cargo loads when docked, but not out in space.

I couldn't figure out how to do it even while docked..

Post by **Vice** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 12:45 am

One last thing: Is there a way to move small amounts of cargo between bays? Ie - I have 19 fusion cells in one bay, and 14 in another. Can I move 6 of them to the first bay, to fill it?

Transfer, no. But you can continue to load individual units of matching commodities into those slots. To do that, right click on the item in the for sale list to load one unit at a time instead of entire groups.

[Edited on 8-6-2009 by Vice]

Roadblock · Post by **Roadblock** » Thu Aug 06, 2009 1:58 am

Originally posted by Vice
One last thing: Is there a way to move small amounts of cargo between bays? Ie - I have 19 fusion cells in one bay, and 14 in another. Can I move 6 of them to the first bay, to fill it?
Transfer, no. But you can continue to load individual units of matching commodities into those slots. To do that, right click on the item in the for sale list to load one unit at a time instead of entire groups.

[Edited on 8-6-2009 by Vice]

Gotcha, this is actually what I ended up doing.

Thanks very much for all of the tips guys!