Suggestion/Request - Visual indication of sunlight location on plot screen

[grapedog]

I'd like there to be some kind of representation of the location of the sun when placing a plot in the plot screen.

As it currently stands, I have to place the plot, go into the station build menu, and turn on the outside environment to see how my plot is in relation to the sun. Sometimes I have to do this multiple times to get the plot lined up correctly for how I want to build my station. It's a small annoyance, but I have to do it every time I place a plot in a sector with no other stations I own to use as a reference.

It would be lovely if there was some kind of visual indication when placing a plot as to which direction the sunlight is coming from. Could be a yellow pointer or arrow or something simple just to let you know where the sunlight is so you can place your plot appropriately.

[Raptor34]

And maybe a planet direction indicator too? Are there anything else like these they could add?

[BitByte]

Sounds very useless info because direction of sunlihght have 0 effect to station solar panels output value. Only thing what matters is sector sunlight % and station workforce.

[grapedog]

Sounds very useless info because direction of sunlihght have 0 effect to station solar panels output value. Only thing what matters is sector sunlight % and station workforce.

going by pure mechanics of how the game works, yes, it provides no benefit in a mechanical sense.

but, some people like to point their solar panels at the sun in the system because it's much more aesthetically pleasing. I could also pile and clip modules on top of one another and through one another, but I don't do that either.

There are all sorts of things I could do to squeeze out only mechanical benefits from the game, but I like to design my stations to look good and functional, and I like the solar panels to have an unobstructed view of the sun in the sector they are built in. And I know I'm not the only one who likes to do that.

So, I put in a request/suggestion.

[vvvvvvvv]

Sounds very useless info because direction of sunlihght have 0 effect

https://youtu.be/WJ2eJhEriOE

It matters for station builders. Actually would be great if zooming in all the way into sector displayed its skybox or something like that. Which could also indicate direction of the sun.

[Falcrack]

I always do whatever I can to point my solar panels in the direction of the sun, and to make sure they are not obscured by other modules. Even though I know it makes no difference.

What if the game did take into account the angle of solar panels and how they are positioned relative to the sun, and if they are in the shadow of other modules? It would certainly make it a bit more of a challenge to design stations effectively. I wouldn't mind it, but chances are a lot of other people would.

[vvvvvvvv]

What if the game did take into account the angle of solar panels and how they are positioned relative to the sun, and if they are in the shadow of other modules? It would certainly make it a bit more of a challenge

It will not be "a bit more challenge", but a royal unfun pain to deal with, because to adjust solar panel direction you'll need to rebuild multiple modules, waiting every time for them to reconstruct.

In situation where sun direction matters, solar panels should be able to rotate after construction, ideally on two axes. See Space Engineers.

[Raptor34]

What if the game did take into account the angle of solar panels and how they are positioned relative to the sun, and if they are in the shadow of other modules? It would certainly make it a bit more of a challenge

It will not be "a bit more challenge", but a royal unfun pain to deal with, because to adjust solar panel direction you'll need to rebuild multiple modules, waiting every time for them to reconstruct.

In situation where sun direction matters, solar panels should be able to rotate after construction, ideally on two axes. See Space Engineers.

This. In future games where they might be necessary, I'll expect SPPs to be more like piers in how they work, in the sense that it'll display a box to show you where you shouldn't block to get sunlight instead of a hard exclusion. They'll probably be a full module too rather than just a panel.

[Agrefits]

Simplest way is to point your playership toward the sun and examine where the narrow end of it's map Icon is pointing to.