Feature Request - Toggle to Re-Introduce Fog of War

[grapedog]

I've got a lot of sectors that have been shrunk significantly by ships going way outside the limits, or ships that got teleported off map making their way back.

It would be really nice if I could chose through a toggle to re-introduce fog of war back into a sector, make it unexplored again. Then I can re-explore it, re-drop satellites, things of that nature, to get it back to a manageable size. With so many sectors now that have been shrunk, it's really un-fun having to deal with it.

I don't know what the long term idea is to fix this issue, but something in the short term that would allow me to return that sector to an unknown state would be awesome.

[alecz]

Whenever I run into this issue I edit the save to remove the sector from the discovered list.

The areas around any of my satellites are discovered when the save is reloaded.

I can post details if desired.

EDIT: as requested, quoting myself here, so the steps are easier to find:

Sorry for the late reply, I needed some time to get a chance to have access to the computer.

I actually had such a situation, so I took screenshots of how I fixed it. This way it should be easier for everyone to follow.

Disclaimer: this might mark your save as modified; always keep a backup.
You will need a decent text editor such as Notepad++ or vi/vim/gvim, and an archive extractor such as 7-Zip

Original IMGUR post: https://imgur.com/a/tgtfshi

Steps:
1 - The problem: drone went nuts towards edge of sector. This makes the default zoom useless and affects performance.

https://i.imgur.com/yyKPOTh.png

2 - Desired Map: Ideally, we'd want the game to do something like this. But since it's not possible, we'll have satellites near all stations and reset the sector.

https://i.imgur.com/HCwz7rB.png

3 - Find the saves: First we need to find the save. This is usually in your Documents/Egosoft/X4 folder (enter: %HomePath%\Documents\Egosoft\X4 in the address bar). Sort by "Date Modified" to find your latest save.

https://i.imgur.com/7XO1rfZ.png

4 - Extract last save: Use 7-Zip or similar tool to "Extract Here", not "Extract to":

https://i.imgur.com/gpgUAFz.png

5 - Backup save: After extraction, change the extension of the original so that it is ignored by the game.

https://i.imgur.com/z3ft3lz.png

6 - Edit with Notepad++: Open the extracted save (now in XML format), with a powerful editor such as Notepad++, vi/vim/gvim

https://i.imgur.com/Gy82HcI.png

7 - Find the <discovered> tag: Search for the "discovered" tag. Note the "size" attribute, this shows the current discovered size of the sector. Normal values are < 1,000,000.

https://i.imgur.com/y7Ou59H.png?1

8 - Collapse & find problem: Collapse the "quadtree", "minerals", and "gases" child nodes for all sectors. This makes it easier to identify the sector that is oversized, such as this one that has 4,484,063. To solve the problem, we select the sector node and delete it. Note the arrows pointing such that we have a clean delete - i.e. no empty lines.

https://i.imgur.com/lhY9PNx.png

9 - Delete sector node: After sector removal, the file should look like this. Now save, launch the game and test.

https://i.imgur.com/mxJzyh8.png

10 - Check results: This is how it looks after the sector is removed from the discovered node. Note that we can immediately see all areas covered by satellites. Everything else is removed: both the oversized areas and the space between stations. Putting a modded scout re-explore the sector would remake the disk as seen in the adjacent Hatikvah's Choice I.

https://i.imgur.com/6Qxu4Eq.png

If you are happy with the result, save and then move the backup to a different location.

Let me know if there are questions and/or if/how this worked for you.

[maxolina]

Whenever I run into this issue I edit the save to remove the sector from the discovered list.

The areas around any of my satellites are discovered when the save is reloaded.

I can post details if desired.

I'm interested in this aswell, please tell which file to edit and on which line!

I think the game absolutely needs a system where the zoom level is automatic, based on the furthest station (or item) you have explored in the sector.

[tomchk]

Strongly agreed. Anyone who is willing to make a polite case for this, please consider emailing the CEO. He is responsive and does listen to us, but it can take a lot to change his mind.

[DaMuncha]

I would like to be able to change the zoom ammount when sectors have expanded.

[Angsaar]

Whenever I run into this issue I edit the save to remove the sector from the discovered list.

The areas around any of my satellites are discovered when the save is reloaded.

I can post details if desired.

Please do!

[foxxbl]

Please post the details, that would be great.. I have a couple of sectors ruined like this.

Btw will this make my game modified (meaning .. no more ventures) ?

[snorrewb]

Whenever I run into this issue I edit the save to remove the sector from the discovered list.

The areas around any of my satellites are discovered when the save is reloaded.

I can post details if desired.

I could really use this workaround as well!

[Rei Ayanami]

One thing that could be done and that doesn't require any toggle is :
On game load, for each discovered sector, go through each object in that sector and determine radius X to the outermost persistent game object (aka the station, unique game object, persistent ship, etc in that sector that is furthest away from the centre).
If that radius X to the outermost persistent game object is smaller than the current sector zoom level (aka the explored area is greater than the relevant area) : reduce sector zoom level to that [radius X + a small tolerance] so an outermost station is not at the absolute edge of the map and set all explored hexagons outside that [radius X + tolerance] as non-explored.

[Chris0132]

Or if you could perhaps hold shift while zooming to change the local sector zoom rather than the whole map.

[sh1pman]

Strongly agreed. Anyone who is willing to make a polite case for this, please consider emailing the CEO. He is responsive and does listen to us, but it can take a lot to change his mind.

What do you mean change his mind? Did he state that he didn’t like the suggestion?

[Tomonor]

Strongly agreed. Anyone who is willing to make a polite case for this, please consider emailing the CEO. He is responsive and does listen to us, but it can take a lot to change his mind.

What do you mean change his mind? Did he state that he didn’t like the suggestion?

In the AMA they said that they aren't planning on changing the way the map currently behaves.

[tomchk]

In the AMA they said that they aren't planning on changing the way the map currently behaves.

Yeah, but he/they have changed their minds before based on our feedback, so please do try if you can do so politely and with some detail about why this is so frustrating. You could send him a link to a save with tons of zoomed out sectors--I might do that.

[sh1pman]

In the AMA they said that they aren't planning on changing the way the map currently behaves.

Ah, I see. Well, that’s unfortunate. I’d also like to have an in-game fix for the zoom level issue, without having to do save editing.

[Juggernaut93]

Or if you could perhaps hold shift while zooming to change the local sector zoom rather than the whole map.

THIS. This would be really neat.

[pref]

Maybe default zoom for the map should be such that it contains all known/visible objects - or perhaps just stations.

Really weird why it zooms to include all the stupid paths the AI have gone through. Completely irrelevant info.

[alecz]

Sorry for the late reply, I needed some time to get a chance to have access to the computer.

I actually had such a situation, so I took screenshots of how I fixed it. This way it should be easier for everyone to follow.

Disclaimer: this might mark your save as modified; always keep a backup.
You will need a decent text editor such as Notepad++ or vi/vim/gvim, and an archive extractor such as 7-Zip

Original IMGUR post: https://imgur.com/a/tgtfshi

Steps:
1 - The problem: drone went nuts towards edge of sector. This makes the default zoom useless and affects performance.

https://i.imgur.com/yyKPOTh.png

2 - Desired Map: Ideally, we'd want the game to do something like this. But since it's not possible, we'll have satellites near all stations and reset the sector.

https://i.imgur.com/HCwz7rB.png

3 - Find the saves: First we need to find the save. This is usually in your Documents/Egosoft/X4 folder (enter: %HomePath%\Documents\Egosoft\X4 in the address bar). Sort by "Date Modified" to find your latest save.

https://i.imgur.com/7XO1rfZ.png

4 - Extract last save: Use 7-Zip or similar tool to "Extract Here", not "Extract to":

https://i.imgur.com/gpgUAFz.png

5 - Backup save: After extraction, change the extension of the original so that it is ignored by the game.

https://i.imgur.com/z3ft3lz.png

6 - Edit with Notepad++: Open the extracted save (now in XML format), with a powerful editor such as Notepad++, vi/vim/gvim

https://i.imgur.com/Gy82HcI.png

7 - Find the <discovered> tag: Search for the "discovered" tag. Note the "size" attribute, this shows the current discovered size of the sector. Normal values are < 1,000,000.

https://i.imgur.com/y7Ou59H.png?1

8 - Collapse & find problem: Collapse the "quadtree", "minerals", and "gases" child nodes for all sectors. This makes it easier to identify the sector that is oversized, such as this one that has 4,484,063. To solve the problem, we select the sector node and delete it. Note the arrows pointing such that we have a clean delete - i.e. no empty lines.

https://i.imgur.com/lhY9PNx.png

9 - Delete sector node: After sector removal, the file should look like this. Now save, launch the game and test.

https://i.imgur.com/mxJzyh8.png

10 - Check results: This is how it looks after the sector is removed from the discovered node. Note that we can immediately see all areas covered by satellites. Everything else is removed: both the oversized areas and the space between stations. Putting a modded scout re-explore the sector would remake the disk as seen in the adjacent Hatikvah's Choice I.

https://i.imgur.com/6Qxu4Eq.png

If you are happy with the result, save and then move the backup to a different location.

Let me know if there are questions and/or if/how this worked for you.


{Images posted directly to the forums should not be greater than 640x480 or 100kb, oversize image now linked - Terre}

EDIT: @Terre, sorry for the images, I uploaded smaller versions and added them in-line

[Angsaar]

You... GOD!

May I build a shrine in your honour at my HQ?

[Buzz2005]

so a fix or a solution has been confirmed by a dev for 3.0
what kind dont know lets wait and see