The current Nav screen had a lot of wasted space which got me thinking.
http://members.rogers.com/static.studios/navcom.jpg

Main purpose of combining the 2 screens is so i don't have to push an extra button when I enter a sector :D. Yeah I'm lazy but the space is there so why not, I only shrunk the info field to accommodate the grid markings for the map.

As for the sector list, It would be current sector, I suppose it could be the selected sector on the map, but that would change quite a bit of the game dynamics. If it did show the selected sector's list, I would limit it to the current system.

The info field should accept input from the player, so I can make notes like
-Assault III bots here
or
-Cheap VisSteel
That would help a lot, and I don't think it would effect game dynamics very much. It was possible to remember those things with only 18 sectors, but with the new universe remembering where special ships are, or profitable cargo runs is very hard.

And now for the crazy part!!!
Take that newly designed screen and allow those of us with multiple monitors to have it displayed on our extra monitor at all times :D

alright i'm done

comments? suggestions? ...flames?

<edit>
I forgot i had another idea :D

In the universe map, if you have an adjacent system selected the plot course button should warp you to the sector where the wormhole to that system is located.
</edit>

-Cam-

I like it.

i like i like :D

Nice idea, though an in-system player search feature where if found, there would be a red square around it would be nicer. If not found, then it will say "Player is in another system."

Well then, how will people hide from pirates?

>As for the sector list, It would be
>current sector, I suppose it could
>be the selected sector on the map,
>but that would change quite a bit of
>the game dynamics. If it did show the
>selected sector's list, I would
>limit it to the current system.

That would make it a tad too easy to find bots, and also slightly ruin the 'point' of exploring. Maybe if you were only allowed to know the list within a 3x3 area of your surrounding sectors.

Maybe only the sectors with stations.

No. That will still effect gameplay too much. Plus, it will also give piraters an advantage (or the trader, whichever way you look at it).

And it won't be too realistic if you can only see the sector list in sectors with stations..

No, you misunderstand. I meant you can only see the list in other sectors with stations. If you're in A-1, theres no station, but you can still see who's there. If you click on A-9, no station, no list. But F-9, which has a station, you can see the who's in that sector list.

Awesome! I like it. Good thinking, Cam.

=D

Cam that's pretty sw33t! REALLY good idea!

*claps*

Cheers.

You could probably even get away with squishing down that text box and nudging that scrollbar over to the left. Seems there's a lot of extra space wasted right there. Could be room for more buttons or something.

"Well then, how will people hide from pirates?"
by finding where the pirates are, and not going there :D

I like the "Notepad" idea. Very handy for everybody but professional soldiers. And nobody likes them anyway.

>No, you misunderstand. I meant you
>can only see the list in other sectors
>with stations. If you're in A-1,
>theres no station, but you can still
>see who's there. If you click on A-9, no
>station, no list. But F-9, which has a
>station, you can see the who's in that
>sector list.

Then I go back to my first point. It defeats the purpose of exploring. It would be too easy to find bots... Plus, what if there are hidden stations?

how about if the window only telled you what -players- are in the sector, and not the bots? then exploration won't necessarily be shunted aside.
I think Cam's idea would be great combined with the "notes" idea. This would encourage exploring, and we could share "notes" on what we found in different sectors : D