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Mapping, tracking, categorizing

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Mapping, tracking, categorizing

from StarControl Forums

One of my fondest memories of playing SC2 was my buddy and I building a list of every system, star, planet, moon, resource, and life form that we could find. We never completed it, but it was the sort of task that only a game like SC2 could offer.

What I'd love to see is a system in game that allowed for some hybrid of tracking, not automated entirely so as to take away from the fun of discovery and building that database by "hand". Perhaps a list that captures the major features of a system but leave space to catalog details that the player finds most interesting.

The bigger nerd in me wants an export to .csv option too, because excel is my next most favorite game. 🤓 

Anyone else build a database like this before? How would you want to do it in the new game?

106,507 views 54 replies
Reply #51 from StarControl Forums Top

Quoting Vaelzad, reply 18


Quoting GnarlyFurtardo,
reply 15

I don't think annotation and marking visited planets are mutually exclusive... the use case I'm thinking of is if you found a planet with great resources but didn't yet have the technology to harvest/survive on the surface, so you'd want to make a note for yourself.




 

This is something we are discussing internally and deciding what tools to develop for everyone. There is a certain "hardcore" element that does involve grabbing a notepad and writing these types of notes down for yourself. Many RPG games from the time (Planet's Edge) for example included notepads in the boxes for you to take these types of notes. By the same token people no longer keep maps in their cars anymore and are more accustomed to GPS. So the question is how much assistance do we provide before everyone turns into: 

 

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Can we haz a tiny update on this?  :blush:

Reply #52 from StarControl Forums Top

i had a paper-hand-made star map... lost in the sea of time... sand of time... or something like that!

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Reply #53 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting ShadeDark, reply 52

i had a paper-hand-made star map... lost in the sea of time... sand of time... or something like that!

Dude! I had a whole binder! I marked down where to find good bio, resources, quest items. And then I drew out a map of the Quasispace coordinates and ABOUT where each one sends you into hyperspace, so I knew which Quasispace portal to hop into in case I needed to, say, head over to the Utwig/Supox in the top right, or the Slylandro in the top left, etc.

So much funnnnnnn!

I swear, that game simulated exploring the ACTUAL galaxy in such an incredible, organic way. If there's an automatic way-point system, I'm going to cry. Give me a quest that says to find a "ruby world orbiting a blue dwarf star" any day, over a way-point that pops up automatically over the exact system you need to go to. I want to EXPLORE a galaxy BEFORE the invention of Google Spacemaps that auto-calculates the quickest way to get from point A to point B....

Does anyone remember what Morrowind was like? Quests that sent you to "the southern coast of an island" or something like that, and you just had to FIND IT!! Bring that back, Stardock! Bring that back!

EXPLORATION. Not mindless waypoint following.

That being said, I fully support the auto-logging of data you've gleaned. For example: IF some birdlike race tells you a certain Mcguffin is hiding in the Orion belt, please mark the Orion belt on my map when clicking on a quest. And if said-race TELLS you it's in Delta Orionis, on moon IIa, THEN it's okay to mark that on my map. But please don't go so far as the mark exactly where on the planet the item is. I think that's what people these days will respond to.

But PLEASE keep some mystery, and some wide-open quests in there. It always bugged me in Skyrim and Fallout IV, that if you are sent to infiltrate someone's base, looking for an object - the exact waypoint of where that object is, is already mapped exactly. How on earth would you know the exact cabinet the item is in?!?!

Does that make sense? Do you guys see the distinction I'm trying to get at?

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Reply #54 from StarControl Forums Top

Quoting cuorebrave, reply 53


Quoting ShadeDark,
reply 52

i had a paper-hand-made star map... lost in the sea of time... sand of time... or something like that!



Dude! I had a whole binder! I marked down where to find good bio, resources, quest items. And then I drew out a map of the Quasispace coordinates and ABOUT where each one sends you into hyperspace, so I knew which Quasispace portal to hop into in case I needed to, say, head over to the Utwig/Supox in the top right, or the Slylandro in the top left, etc.

So much funnnnnnn!

I swear, that game simulated exploring the ACTUAL galaxy in such an incredible, organic way. If there's an automatic way-point system, I'm going to cry. Give me a quest that says to find a "ruby world orbiting a blue dwarf star" any day, over a way-point that pops up automatically over the exact system you need to go to. I want to EXPLORE a galaxy BEFORE the invention of Google Spacemaps that auto-calculates the quickest way to get from point A to point B....

Does anyone remember what Morrowind was like? Quests that sent you to "the southern coast of an island" or something like that, and you just had to FIND IT!! Bring that back, Stardock! Bring that back!

EXPLORATION. Not mindless waypoint following.

That being said, I fully support the auto-logging of data you've gleaned. For example: IF some birdlike race tells you a certain Mcguffin is hiding in the Orion belt, please mark the Orion belt on my map when clicking on a quest. And if said-race TELLS you it's in Delta Orionis, on moon IIa, THEN it's okay to mark that on my map. But please don't go so far as the mark exactly where on the planet the item is. I think that's what people these days will respond to.

But PLEASE keep some mystery, and some wide-open quests in there. It always bugged me in Skyrim and Fallout IV, that if you are sent to infiltrate someone's base, looking for an object - the exact waypoint of where that object is, is already mapped exactly. How on earth would you know the exact cabinet the item is in?!?!

Does that make sense? Do you guys see the distinction I'm trying to get at?

 

Yeah, i get it! ;D is like a mix of treasure hunting, decoding and exploration in a game and outside it (wow, now I dont know if you get it) but yeah, i miss the time i needed to mark things outside the game, but if the game can provide a map to... err... map the galaxy, it would be cool to! no predetermined waypoints

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