GPS Waypoint management?

[MadDragon]

So no maps, and the GPS system is... substandard. Can't even sort by distance. Can't even SEE the distance to a waypoint in the list, have to throw it up on the hud and look at it.

Anyone know of a mod or something that makes the GPS waypoint system usable? Right now I either turn everything on and look around to see the closest, which seriously clutters up my screen, or I turn off "see on hud" and can't find anything.

Or I learn to do 3d triangulation calculations in my head. Which... is why we have computers.

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, if you : " Can't even SEE the distance to a waypoint! ", may help if you set some to be hidden in the GPS Tab of character inventory, set it to see only the one you want to go to.

[EmberStar]

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

Hi, if you : " Can't even SEE the distance to a waypoint! ", may help if you set some to be hidden in the GPS Tab of character inventory, set it to see only the one you want to go to.

The issue is that you can't tell which one that is without throwing a bunch of them up to check.

For example: I want to mine more gold. I have four waypoints on the Earthlike planet that mark gold veins. (I name them so that I can tell Earth from the Moon from Asteroids, but haven't found a better system than "ES-Gold 01" as I place them.) It's been literally months of real time since I placed them. So the only way to figure out which one is closest to my mining platform is to turn them *all* on, and then pick the one I want.

This is compared to the Entity list under Alt-F10. Which displays the distance from the player to the selected grid on mouseover. Just copying this same function to calculate a straight line distance between current location and a GPS point would be *extrememly* helpful.

The only way to do something even slightly similar right now (without mods) is to place a Marker grid on each ore vein. A few armor blocks, a functional battery and a solar panel, and maybe a beacon set to very short range just so that Trash Cleanup considers it to be an "active" grid. Then you can use the Alt-F10 cheat menu to measure the distance from your current location to the marker grid. This is less than ideal, for a *lot* of reasons.

[Dan2D3D]

@EmberStar

I see, I prefer the easiest way but I understand what you mean.

[MadDragon]

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

@EmberStar

I see, I prefer the easiest way but I understand what you mean.

So you find it easier, if you want more gold, to go through the GPS list, mark each one as "view on hud", then look around and mentally count them off to make sure you're seeing them all (because there's no way to change the text colour), and try to compare the distances you see on the hud?

Instead of having the distance right in the list, like GPS navigation systems have been doing since they came out in the past, let alone the future?

Or did I misunderstand what you find easier? In which case my apologies for sounding snarky. I've been getting more and more annoyed at this as my waypoint list grows.

I have *dozens* of waypoints, and will probably eventually reach into the hundreds. One for each ore/asteroid I've found (so that I know I've visited it), plus "points of interest. They PACK the screen in certain directions. Seeing them is a problem. If only there was a mod that let me see distances in waypoint list itself. Or, you know, group them and turn them on/off as a group.

I know the game can't do it. Was wondering if anyone know of a mod that works with the current version of the game?

[Noodle]

Now as you mention it, it's absurd there isn't a filter system for the menus.

[Dan2D3D]

@MadDragon, " easiest way" I mean I hide all and keep only the one I need to see its distance.

I was refering to this : " Can't even SEE the distance to a waypoint!

Sorry I should have specified.

[MadDragon]

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

Hi, if you : " Can't even SEE the distance to a waypoint! ", may help if you set some to be hidden in the GPS Tab of character inventory, set it to see only the one you want to go to.

I meant "can't even SEE the distance to a waypoint" in the list. I guess you saw my post before I changed it (you're too quick!!). Again, sorry for the misunderstanding.

I don't know which one I want to go to, because I want to go to the closest one and I don't know which one is closest. I have, just a few days into the game, a dozen cobalt deposits that I've found. I don't know which one is closest to me *at this time*. Which is why I'm looking for a mod that at the very least adds in that information to the waypoint list.

Because trying to look around at all the waypoints in the HUD and trying to determine which is "closest" can be frustrating when the text isn't readable, or hidden behind other waypoints. Since there's no map, I *have* to navigate by waypoints, so not having them up makes it much more difficult.

[Dan2D3D]

MadDragon

Yes, I understand that part and I don't have any solutions for this, sorry.

[EmberStar]

The closest I've gotten, for asteroids at least: Come up with a naming scheme and stick to it. Asteroids seem to spawn for me in clumps. There will be several within 20km or so of each other, often some generating as "pebble piles." I *think* these are considered single asteroids, but they'll be a group of rocks, half shells and hollow spheres within less than 2km of each other.

Anyway, I name asteroids like this:

NEA - A - 01

That means Near Earth Asteroid, cluster A, first one I visit. Then I'll append any ores (Fe, Mg, Si) if I happen to spot them. If I'm exploring with a small ship or just hand tools, I'll put an 's' after the number to remind myself I need to return with a bigger ship and scan more carefully.

So if I buzz around a few asteroids, spot a cobalt vein and nothing else of interest I'd get

NEA - C - 25s (Cb)

When I want to find asteroids near me, I only have to turn on the first one in a cluster to get an idea of roughly how far away it is. (So if I'm halfway from Earth to the moon that would be HEA - A - 01, HEA - C - 01...)

It's still extremely clunky, but at least it's something to work with.

The other option would be to create a spreadsheet to calculate the distance, but that's probably even worse since you'd have to cut and paste the values from SE into the data cells. :(

[EmberStar]

I checked the workshop. Most of the results I got searching for "GPS" were ancient, equal or less than the basic system built into the game now. And haven't been updated in years.

I did find this though, and I know the author is still active with other mods. It hasn't been updated since 2018, but maybe that's because it hasn't broken since then?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1223617082&searchtext=gps

[MadDragon]

Originally posted by Dan2D3D:

MadDragon

Yes, I understand that part and I don't have any solutions for this, sorry.

Pity. Thanks for trying to help though! Much appreciated.

[Moon Truther]

Originally posted by EmberStar:

I checked the workshop. Most of the results I got searching for "GPS" were ancient, equal or less than the basic system built into the game now. And haven't been updated in years.

I did find this though, and I know the author is still active with other mods. It hasn't been updated since 2018, but maybe that's because it hasn't broken since then?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1223617082&searchtext=gps

Can confirm the mod works right now, with other mods as well.

[MadDragon]

Originally posted by MoonTruther:

Originally posted by EmberStar:

I checked the workshop. Most of the results I got searching for "GPS" were ancient, equal or less than the basic system built into the game now. And haven't been updated in years.

I did find this though, and I know the author is still active with other mods. It hasn't been updated since 2018, but maybe that's because it hasn't broken since then?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1223617082&searchtext=gps

Can confirm the mod works right now, with other mods as well.

Thanks for that. I'll see if it helps. I'd seen it, but it seemed... clunky. Still less clunky than anything I've come up with though.

[jafiwam]

Use good names for GPS points. Slow down, think about why you are there and why you would go back. Then name it: "Ore - Boulder - Iron - 1.67km - On Hill" with lots of information. Put the distance from other stuff in the name.

Yeah, the HUD point display is good for several in space, but marking every ore pile you find on a planet "Iron" gets cluttered real quick. Delete them if they aren't useful.

[MadDragon]

Originally posted by jafiwam:

Use good names for GPS points. Slow down, think about why you are there and why you would go back. Then name it: "Ore - Boulder - Iron - 1.67km - On Hill" with lots of information. Put the distance from other stuff in the name.

Yeah, the HUD point display is good for several in space, but marking every ore pile you find on a planet "Iron" gets cluttered real quick. Delete them if they aren't useful.

Sadly, I've found long names to a detriment, as they more often than not cover other names.
I agree that with more experience I'll probably learn what is or isn't useful. As a beginner in the game, however, I don't really have a clue what'll be useful. I don't really know whether I'll be going back to an area or not. More than once I've passed over making a point, only to realize that darnit, it was probably the closest resource I needed, and now I can't FIND the thing, mainly because maps don't exist.

So I understand where you're coming from, and as I gain experience I can see it working when I'm starting up again. Except I don't know how I'd apply it to asteroids, and that's even worse!