Station Planning Frustrations

[marsg2.1]

So, I am trying to make a station plan , which has a -18 Y setting. I am unable to alter the camera position along that axis. Is there a keybind I can not find , or did Ego forget that the game is supposed to be in space?¿ I am aware that it is possible to zoom in and out, however this is ineffective and extremely aggravating, much like the AI pathing, or the fact that an Asgard can get knocked over 5km off course due to S ship colliding with it while in travel mode. Yes... the largest ship in the game got toe punted by a fighter...

DEV's, please implement the ability to move the focal point and rotate the camera along and around all three axis. The ability to rotate station modules around the X and Z axis would be nice too. You did it with the solar plant in the main menu background after all.

Thank You

EDIT: Spelling corrections.

[Raevyan]

That’s pretty much a day 1 problem.

[marsg2.1]

Yeah... Seems like there are a lot of things that I would expect to be a basic function. Many of which have been requested by the people, who support and pay for the game, and they just appear to get ignored.

This game has a lot of good elements, which are over shadowed by all the bad ones. I enjoy the game but I feel like I spend more time fighting the UI and wacky AI logic than actually playing the game.

From what I remember of X2, it had a lot of depth to it. Maybe I'll fire that up again .

[marsg2.1]

Is there a way to toggle between full textured model and the holographic foot print you get when placing new modules?

Having an entire plan appear translucent makes it really difficult to avoid clipping modules through each other. This is compounded further when planning muti-tiered stations and previously mentioned camera issues.

I can not see a toggle or a key bind for such a function, so I am guessing, no. Thought I'd ask anyway.

[grapedog]

Could you build it in the station planner while not in game, and then load up the game and drop it in the plot pre-built?

[MHDriver]

lol, yep the most aggravating 3D builder I have ever seen. Forget about it if you build something complicated and you spend 25 minutes trying to get each model to stop snapping to everything other than what you intend or extending completely off the grid.

[Maebius]

I can understand the decision about plots, some fixed orientation etc. It has more to do with pathing, and general housekeeping I suppose... even though in space there is no up (TM)

But I have absolutely no idea why we can't control the placement with the arrow keys like we could in X3, even if we are not able to tilt them

[Ezarkal]

No, there's no way to pan the camera vertically. It will always be at the "elevation level = 0" of your station.
It's basically been a request since the game is out.
Station building did improve, but this specific point was never addressed.


If you really want to multi-layer a complex, my advice is to build every layer around a "hub" module, then snap that hub in place once the layer is complete.

[Dagonfel]

I don't really have an answer for you, but maybe my suggestions might make life a little easier.

Use the + and - keys for finetune zooming in. The scroll wheel on the mouse is too much when your station gets huge.

Use the base, vertical, and cross sections to build a frame, and do it one layer at a time. I know it gets ugly after a while, but at least it functions. I'll usually start at the 0 axis, or what I perceive as the 0 axsis of the plot. I usually stick to one side as well. That way you have more room to place XL/L construction modules and L docking modules that require more space.

When you build the frame, do a base 02 and then a cross section. Keep adding more base 02 and cross sections in a straight line. You can use the copy sequence to speed things up a bit. Once you have one full line, about 8 cross sections and base 02, do another base 02 to the side of it. Then you can just copy sequence of that one full line you did. Do this a few times and you kind of have a square of sorts. Add in one vertical 02 with a cross section on it for expansion.

The idea is you can fill up the tops of the cross sections with production modules while keeping them somewhat spaced out. Most don't overlap too badly in this configuration. I tried this with the base 01 instead but it was too much overlap and way too hard to connect on the snap points later on in the game. When its all said and done you kind of have a contraption that closely resembles a Borg Cube.

My PHQ currently has 508 base and cross sections with 200 production modules on it, 16 docks, 32 L habitats, 30 storage, and 10 construction. It's not pretty, well, kind of, wal-mart in space. Being able to layer the platforms like this at least enables you to zoom in on one section at a time while you are building upwards. Good luck if you need to find anything in the middle after you have moved on a few layers though.

[marsg2.1]

Grr!!!

Used to be, I play a game to chill out after work. Now, I go to work to chill out after 'playing' this game.

Did the Devs learn nothing from developing the last few games?

Anyone know if there is a 3rd party program for building station plans, or a mod... something?

[Zloth2]

Ooo, a third party program should actually be possible. It's not like the save files are cryptic. Egosoft makes the data files readable, too.

So... anyone know a bunch of recently retired Autodesk programmers, by chance? I don't think we would have any problem finding people to gift X4:Foundations to them.

[Midnitewolf]

Yeah... Seems like there are a lot of things that I would expect to be a basic function. Many of which have been requested by the people, who support and pay for the game, and they just appear to get ignored.

This game has a lot of good elements, which are over shadowed by all the bad ones. I enjoy the game but I feel like I spend more time fighting the UI and wacky AI logic than actually playing the game.

From what I remember of X2, it had a lot of depth to it. Maybe I'll fire that up again .

Fully agree. This is simultaneously the best and the worst game I have ever played and I keep saying exactly the same thing about fighting the UI than fighting the Xenon.

On the Station Planning Frustrations side of thing, the feature I want most is the ability to change the build order of modules by shifting them up and down the list on the right side of the screen.

It is just so frustrating spending a couple hours designing a station to be just right, then realizing that not only do you have to design the station aesthetically but in the perfect sequential order from the beginning so that the station will build efficiently. I can't count the times I have added final production modules before adding the modules required to make the final production, added the dock last or even added storage after production. I just want to build my station then go over to the build order and move things around so they they build in the correct order

[grapedog]

While i am not opposed to a way to move the station build order around, i don't have much issue with it either. Having built hundreds of stations acroas my playthroughs now, i have a pretty standard flow.

Dock, pier, container storage, ecells, 1 hab, raw resource storage, lowest tier production modules, another hab, second tier production modules, amother hab, 3rd tier production modules... whatever else i need. Sprinkle in additional habs, defense platforms, or storage as needed. Add an additional dock or 2 at the end.

This way, ecells are starting up, workforce is arriving, and all the lowest tier buildings are up and running. I can sell or store what they produce while 2nd tier gets built... so on and so forth.

When i didn't have a plan, i wanted to move modules around a lot more. Now that i have a basic plan every time, it is much less of an issue.

[dyingcrow]

If workarounds count...

If i know i'm going to build something monstrous, i start with the largest possible plot size and do it in smaller groups; a group for food, tier 1's, tier 2's, etc, all separate, then i stitch them all together in the order i want them built.
It's not as hard grabbing the pivot of a pre-planned group and stitch it to the main structure as it is trying to fight snap a single module into a blob.

When it comes to adding a single module to a blob, well... maybe if ES implemented a modifier key function allowing us to select a single module and set it as the only snap point. It IS painful as it is now.

[Raptor34]

What's really frustrating about build orders is how it doesn't even matter. Modules don't even have to be connected to each other. At that point what's the point of not being able to move the build order around if it doesn't even matter.
I'll accept it more if modules actually have to be connected to each other, besides defense modules, to work.

[Jeraal]

Maybe they could reduce the snap range. Make it so it has to be a little closer to the attachment point before it actually snaps into place. In my no programming expertise view, That should be an easy change compared to rewriting the entire process. Would relieve some of the frustration at least.

[KextV8]

All I know is that when I build a station, sometimes fps drops down to like 2. Lol

[thijso]

lol, yep the most aggravating 3D builder I have ever seen. Forget about it if you build something complicated and you spend 25 minutes trying to get each model to stop snapping to everything other than what you intend or extending completely off the grid.

Unearthing an old thread, but I think in this case it is justified, as a lot (most?) of what is in this thread is still a problem. This above, times a million.

Have the devs ever tried building stations in their own game? I doubt it, or if they do, not a lot. The planner is *SO* frustrating to work with. Just a little attention to improve the UI of it would be great.

For example, why is the camera not completely free? Why does movement get impaired if you zoom in? There is no logical reason for it to move 1/1000th of a pixel when I'm zoomed in. That just hinders me. I need to swipe 10 times to just move a tiny little bit. Why?

Anyway, like someone else mentioned in this thread, sometimes I feel a little the same:

Used to be, I play a game to chill out after work. Now, I go to work to chill out after 'playing' this game.

[Caedes91]

Station planning is really janky. In the next update, please

Can you reduce or add an option to remove station module transparency?
When you add new station modules to an existing station, it is very hard to see the newer modules, because they are nearly invisible to the existing modules, that have their normal textures displayed in the station planner. This also applies to bigger "not-yet-built" stations too.

and

Can you tweak the module-snapping distance in the station planner?
For example if you copy a module or sequence, they immediately snap to every other connection, that you don't want or even appear far outside the plot. This happens with normal sized stations too. Let the copied segments modules appear close to the original and make them less jittering.

[Nanook]

...
Anyway, like someone else mentioned in this thread, sometimes I feel a little the same:...

Nearly a year and a half ago, and for a different game version. No need to dredge up old comments.