Does anyone else think that compass is underpowered?

[vindicar]

It provides ridiculously little useful information, because given the level of precision it offers, you might as well use pod/base beacons and Aurora (if in visibility range) for orientation.
So far the only use I ever got from it was something along the lines of "Hmm, I haven't explored in south-east direction yet..."
I kinda feel it needs to be upgraded into a minimap of sorts. Maybe one that only shows player-made markers at first, and not the terrain, as to not make topographic modules for your vehicles obsolete. Beacons help greatly, but they quickly make the screen very busy if you make it a habit to drop them at every point of interest...

[Khardinal]

It kind of helps a bit when you are deep down in the dark and have no reference points.

[vindicar]

Originally posted by Khardinal:

It kind of helps a bit when you are deep down in the dark and have no reference points.

Reference points will help me little if the caves are as labyrintine as I expect them to be...

[static]

Well, there's flares, dive reels, battery powered lights, etc. More than a few different ways to temporarily or permanently mark routes through caves. The dive reels are a favorite of mine, crazy useful in a bunch of situations, particularly when caving.

[sempervirens]

Yeah, I agree that the compass isn't very useful. The only time I had to use it was when I went searching for the Lost River precursor base. Not that it cost me too much, since I got it for free from a lifepod.

[vindicar]

Originally posted by static:

Well, there's flares, dive reels, battery powered lights, etc.

Flares requrie crashfish powder, obtaning which is a gamble. Floodlights are situational, and replacing batteries is a pain.
Now dive reel is something I'm of two minds about... it seems useful, but so far it appears that you will run out of air before you get far enough into the cave to necessitate it's use. And I soubt you can use it while in Seamoth... so, does it only make sense to use the reel when using PRAWN?

[ipohondric]

Originally posted by vindicar:

Does anyone else think that compass is underpowered?

Ever used real compass? It's not any better, belive me

[Fiveball]

Originally posted by ipohondric:

Originally posted by vindicar:

Does anyone else think that compass is underpowered?

Ever used real compass? It's not any better, belive me

LOL

[W3r3Wu1F]

Originally posted by ipohondric:

Originally posted by vindicar:

Does anyone else think that compass is underpowered?

Ever used real compass? It's not any better, belive me

Without a Map, a compass isn't very useful...

[B〄F Altonator]

Originally posted by ipohondric:

Originally posted by vindicar:

Does anyone else think that compass is underpowered?

Ever used real compass? It's not any better, belive me

Exactly. I was confused by this thread as well.
I use the compass all the time, it helps to know which direction you're going.

[vindicar]

Originally posted by ipohondric:

Ever used real compass? It's not any better, belive me

I did. It's actually slightly better, since you can get more precise bearing than "somewhere between west and southwest", but still, I think it's one of those cases where usability comes before realism. And realistic compass isn't terribly useful on it's own.

Originally posted by B〄F Altonator:

I use the compass all the time, it helps to know which direction you're going.

Literally the only use I found so far is going above really deep areas where you don't want to follow the bottom, but can't see any landmarks from the top layers. You can easily lose your bearing there, indeed. However, since you have little in the way of measuring distances, it doesn't quite help to create a map of the area in your head. So compass could be made more useful, or at least it could serve as a precursor for a more useful item. Just put a microchip in it, microchips make everything better. =D
If you feel a minimap is too powerful for the low cost of compass and microchip, the advanced version could navigate using three stationary beacons that you have to install beforehand. I think that would make it more balanced in terms of effort+cost versus the return.

[JP_Russell]

The HUD element for it is pretty bad. It's too narrow, you should never be unable to see at least one labeled cardinal direction, and since the diagonal directions aren't labeled (they're just indicated by a bold line), you often have to actually turn a bit to the left or the right so you can see a labeled cardinal direction to get your bearings. That's just stupid. It's like you're trying to read a compass with a magnifying scope for no apparent reason.

I have a decent sense of direction and I find it cumbersome, I can't even imagine how awful the compass must be for people who can't keep track of how the different directions relate to each other.

[Xautos]

some elements of the UI are incredibly imprecise, but it isn't the worst setup i have ran across so i have had no need to consider bringing it up. but since the issue has already been brought up though, i would like to see some adjustment to the ui so it can provide more detailed feedback to the HUD.

[vindicar]

Originally posted by JP_Russell:

The HUD element for it is pretty bad. It's too narrow, you should never be unable to see at least one labeled cardinal direction, and since the diagonal directions aren't labeled (they're just indicated by a bold line), you often have to actually turn a bit to the left or the right so you can see a labeled cardinal direction to get your bearings. other.

I can add that it wasn't a good idea to put compass HUD on the top. All important elements are on the bottom, so you can't simply keep it in your field of view at all time - you have to actively look up to check it. It quickly gets annoying, at least for me.