A while back I found out that the global nav map can define system positions 10 times more precise than it currently does because it actually counts the first decimal. I decided to have a little fun with that an edited the universe.ini file to make the map look a bit more organic. Check the images below. (I don't have a character with a fully explored map, so I can't present you with a full in-game map in one picture just yet)
You'll notice that House space is a lot more clustered now, with shorter lengths between related systems and much larger spaces between clusters. I also moved things around a fair bit in the omicrons to create 3 distinct clusters (corsair - outcast - order/nomad). It's just a test so I'm aware of systems being covered by text and some systems not showing their jump gate / hole connects very clearly because they're just a tad too close (though I've found that for most systems connections are still very clearly visible when using waypoints, even at those short distances).
This being just a test, I'm exited by what's possible and somewhat puzzled this hasn't been done before. It just looks sooooo much better and allows for more systems without making the map a mess. By using the first decimal and coordinates ranging from 0,0 to 16,0 on both axes (outside those borders I get crashes), there are 151^2 = 22801 possible locations for systems to appear on the nav map. Systems should generally be at least 0,3 to 0,5 away from each other to properly display their connection, depending on the angle. You can test this yourself by editing the universe.ini file (Freelancer Discovery 4.87.0\DATA\UNIVERSE) with a program such as Freelancer Mod Studio.
This doesn't seem to affect compatibility with Discovery servers and as it is a purely cosmetical effect and doesn't affect gameplay (as far as I know), I don't think it's against any rules, though I don't know what the official stance is on this kind of edit so you'll still want to ask a mod first.
I really like the look of it, but there is going to be a problem with legibility. You can't zoom in on the map of the Sirius Sector in general, and since there will be more realistic clusters of systems in your map, I anticipate that reading and selecting those systems will be a problem.
(08-21-2014, 09:16 AM)/// Drake /// Wrote: I really like the look of it, but there is going to be a problem with legibility. You can't zoom in on the map of the Sirius Sector in general, and since there will be more realistic clusters of systems in your map, I anticipate that reading and selecting those systems will be a problem.
I really like this idea though.
I'm happy to report that reading and selecting hasn't been a problem at all, not even with dense clusters. Legibility and system selection are just as fine as they were before.
The reason the Discovery mod doesn't already take advantage of this function is due to the sheer number of systems, and the difficulty of actually selecting them on the navmap, particularly for players with low-resolution screens. While this may not be a problem for all players, there's still the issue of being able to see the links between systems.
However, the main reason it's not looking "more natural" already is that FLCompanion doesn't display systems with the same degree of accuracy (only rounded to the nearest integer), and the map print from that tool was being used to draft the sector map that's published with the mod. This was experimented with earlier in 4.87, but in order to save a lot of hassle with different types of maps, I decided to revert those changes and keep the grid layout for ease of use.
(08-21-2014, 10:41 AM)Echo 7-7 Wrote: The reason the Discovery mod doesn't already take advantage of this function is due to the sheer number of systems, and the difficulty of actually selecting them on the navmap, particularly for players with low-resolution screens. While this may not be a problem for all players, there's still the issue of being able to see the links between systems.
Okay, I get that. I'm playing on a 1366x768 monitor at 1024x768 game resolution myself. I don't experience any real difficulties. Are there really that many players at an even lower resolution? I would've thought I was already at the low end of the scale.
Barring its use in Discovery, are we allowed to run a modified version of universe.ini client-side?
(08-21-2014, 10:41 AM)Echo 7-7 Wrote: However, the main reason it's not looking "more natural" already is that FLCompanion doesn't display systems with the same degree of accuracy (only rounded to the nearest integer), and the map print from that tool was being used to draft the sector map that's published with the mod. This was experimented with earlier in 4.87, but in order to save a lot of hassle with different types of maps, I decided to revert those changes and keep the grid layout for ease of use.
I'd like to suggest the free tool yEd for drawing node-style maps. I've been using it for a few months now and it's absolutely amazing. I've become completely dependent on it for drawing Freelancer maps (which I do almost daily, making the 'perfect' map is an obsession and nearly as fun to me as playing the game itself. [insert crazy person picture]). There's also a customizeable grid present to snap nodes and edges. You can even set a background image to draw nodes/edges on and have the program render it in a high quality picture. Try it, you'll love it!
(08-21-2014, 10:41 AM)Echo 7-7 Wrote: The reason the Discovery mod doesn't already take advantage of this function is due to the sheer number of systems, and the difficulty of actually selecting them on the navmap, particularly for players with low-resolution screens. While this may not be a problem for all players, there's still the issue of being able to see the links between systems.
Okay, I get that. I'm playing on a 1366x768 monitor at 1024x768 game resolution myself. I don't experience any real difficulties. Are there really that many players at an even lower resolution? I would've thought I was already at the low end of the scale.
Barring its use in Discovery, are we allowed to run a modified version of universe.ini client-side?
This specific change is harmless, but there's a risk that the anticheat may suspect you of cheating due to modified files and auto-ban you. Experiment at your own risk. If you screw up, you can get unbanned - just don't make the same mistake twice.
(08-21-2014, 11:05 AM)VincentX Wrote:
(08-21-2014, 10:41 AM)Echo 7-7 Wrote: However, the main reason it's not looking "more natural" already is that FLCompanion doesn't display systems with the same degree of accuracy (only rounded to the nearest integer), and the map print from that tool was being used to draft the sector map that's published with the mod. This was experimented with earlier in 4.87, but in order to save a lot of hassle with different types of maps, I decided to revert those changes and keep the grid layout for ease of use.
I'd like to suggest the free tool yEd for drawing maps. I've been using it for a few months now and it's an absolutely amazing tool for node-style maps. I've become completely dependent on it for drawing Freelancer maps (which I do almost daily, making the 'perfect' map is an obsession and nearly as fun to me as playing the game itself. [insert crazy person picture]). You can even set a background image to draw nodes/edges on and have the program render it in a high quality picture. Try it, you'll love it!
Thank you for the suggestion - I may get use out of this outside of modding too.
![[Image: F3RRVis.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/F3RRVis.gif)
