Feature requests

[EDG]

Currently the view changes so that it's centred on a star that I'm searching for when I search for it and click on the link in the search list - this is actually often unhelpful, as I don't usually want to *go to* a star that I search for, I just want to know where it is.

Would it be possible to add a function whereby a star that is searched for is just highlighted when it's found (as if it's selected), but you don't actually centre the view on it and "go to it" unless you click the link in the search list? Or is there something similar to this already present in the program?

[EDG]

One more feature request:

The ability to delete stars that do not have routes attached. This would make the 2D maps less cluttered (especially if you can't go to the stars without routes).

[EDG]

And also, an option to label only the stars that have routes associated with them.

[EDG]

This is a user interface issue that I find really annoying:

Why do we have to switch between "Pointer mode" (the arrow) and "Pan mode" (the hand) at all? I'd really just like to be able to click on an object and then rotate the screen view (centred on the selected object) by dragging the mouse - that's far more streamlined.

[Medron]

I agree. Other viewers like this I've seen allow you to click on something with the left button and pan around with the right button. I find those much more usable.

I would also request that the ability to force a life-giving star to have habitable worlds (AKA terraforming) would be greatly wanted.

[Ed_NBOS]

You know you can switch between pan and select by clicking the middle mouse button, right? A pan & select mode are used because dragging the mouse rotates the selected system around the camera, and the right mouse for the menu.

As for terraforming, you misunderstand the generator. It doesnt place planets with certain habitability ratings, it determines them after the fact after examining composition, atmosphere, and temperature. If a system cannot physically support a hospitable planet then you wont see one, period. If Terraforming is turned all they way up, you'll get an absurd number of hospitable planets because the generator will start any planet of the right size off with the proper atmosphere components. But even then, there's no gurantee that the local conditions will result in a hospitable planet.

That said, I've never understood why people just dont use the properties settings and mark a planet as hospitable themselves if thats what they want in a system. You are allowed to edit things after the fact. Astro's generator was never intended to replace a GM's effort in customizing their universe - its intended to help them fill all the extra details.

[EDG]

You know you can switch between pan and select by clicking the middle mouse button, right? A pan & select mode are used because dragging the mouse rotates the selected system around the camera, and the right mouse for the menu.

Yes, but why do that at all? I think right-clicking can be kept for the menu, I'm not suggesting changing that at all - I just find it really annoying to have to select a system with one tool and then use another to rotate the view around it when that doesn't need to happen at all.

What I'm suggesting is to left-click the system to select it, then left-click+drag the mouse to rotate the view - without having to change from Pointer mode to Pan mode to do that. As far as I can see left-click+dragging the mouse in Pointer mode does nothing, and just left-clicking a system in Pan mode does nothing either - so it's not like there'd be any confusion about what the results would be if they were merged.

It'd make things a lot easier when moving between the systems.

And I think it'd be really useful to just be able to highlight the star rather than to go to it when it's clicked in the search results too.

[Ed_NBOS]

There needs to be two modes - on a big map there's no guarantee that there'd be a spot to click on that doesnt select a system.

I can look at perhaps switching to pan mode when the pointer is dragged without a system selected. But unless thats relatively non-invasive to the code and has no side effects, its not something that I'd add to a minor update.

[EDG]

There needs to be two modes - on a big map there's no guarantee that there'd be a spot to click on that doesnt select a system.

You could get around that by seeing if the left button is held down for a few seconds before dragging, maybe. If it's a single click on something then it selects it, if the button is held for a couple of seconds then it knows that you want to drag the mouse and pan?

[Ed_NBOS]

That would require implementing a special timer to keep track of that, as its not a normal windows interface action (its not something Windows would send a message for). I wouldnt do something like that in a minor update as there's a world of possible side effects.

I dont mind feature requests, but please understand that the Astro 3.0 development cycle, after the next update, will go into maintenance mode as I focus my time on new versions of other programs (specifically The Keep & its associated programs). So major changes in operation wont occur unless there's some specific, wide-spread problem. The current pan/select method has worked ok in Astro for 8 years now - changing that is not urgent.