mbrowne: I'm a few hours in as a total newbie, and have a base of sorts set up after scrounging around on foot.. I took off in my ship, to check out the planet from altitude, and have a few questions. I was actually looking for a trade terminal I had come across while wandering on foot, and wondered if there is any way to scan for stuff like that or do I have to count on visually finding stuff?? How to interpret the icons that come up on the compass? Any way to enter coordinates or destination to autopilot toward? Thanks for any help.
dashiichi: You can find a Trading Post by equipping your ship with an
Economy Scanner.
The Economy Scanner does two things. It will identify a star systems economy when the system is selected in the galactic map: high/medium/low and type. Also, when you're in a star system (or flying around a planet) the economy scanner can be queried to show the location of a nearby Trading Post.
The simplest way of finding your way back to a location on a planet is to drop a
Save Beacon nearby. I usually color code Save Beacons when I'm using more than one in a system; blue for a base, red for Portals, green for trade terminals or outposts, and yellow for points of interest.
I don't find a current list of analysis visor icons online.
this one is a little out of date but it's a starting point.
No autopilot (would be handy). Aim your ship in the general direction (N, E are + and S, W are -) and go. If it's far away, it is often quicker to go exo-atmospheric for a while and dip below 2000 units occasionally to check your aim. It's easier in some ships than others. For example, in Explorers the lat/lon coordinates are usually visible when the ship is maneuvering dead slow but in Fighters that display slips back out fo sight when the ship is moving slowly. Annoying.
Edit to add: When searching for stuff on the planet's surface, I find it easier to fly the ship in 3rd-person mode. Much better view of the ground. In space, 1st-person to see the nav globe and fight off the occasional pirate.
Thank you! Without a manual or user guide for at least controls, it's tough getting into. It took me forever to recognize the mouse icon. I appreciate the help!
