Proposal: a better interface for choosing your homeworld's solar system

[Mitchz95]

The current interface for choosing your solar system is a cycling menu nestled underneath your homeworld preference and name. Only one option is listed at a time, and you can advance it forward or back using arrows. Mousing over the name gives you a brief description.

At the time of launch, when there were only three options to choose from (Sol, Deneb, and random), this worked fine. But now there can be up to thirteen systems to click through if you have all the DLC, plus more if you're using mods... and some of those systems are only available with certain origins anyway. The interface is now frustrating to use and, in my view, obsolete.

I propose that the player's starting system be its own tab in empire creation, with a similar interface to choosing your species class or namelist. The system options would be listed along the left side of the screen with a scroll wheel, and clicking them brings up the description and an image that fills the center-right of the screen. Systems that don't work with your current origin are greyed out.

This would be more useful to players, convey more information, and be more visually interesting in general.

 

[DukeLeto42]

Falls in the same category as rooms for "worked fine at first, now needs a list."

 

[Mitchz95]

It would also be nice if, like civics, system options could be enabled/disabled based on ethics, origin, etc.

 

[GOLANX]

I don't think they even need a new screen just change it into a drop down menu. Wait why don't we have more drop down menus? Why is my species color separated by 1 2 3 and not a dropdown for red, green, blue.

 

[Paul93]

Two drop down menus:
- the first one for the spectral type of the star / the multiplicity of the star system
- the second one for the "place" of the homeworld in that system (primary or secondary star orbiting planet / gas giant moon / rocky planet moon). Special designed systems (such as Sol) automatically sets and lock the stellar spectral type.

This is also the right place to put the choice between a good terraforming candidate in the home system vs a somewhat larger homeworld (greater delayed reward vs smaller instant bonus).

 

[DarthSanguine]

The current interface for choosing your solar system is a cycling menu nestled underneath your homeworld preference and name. Only one option is listed at a time, and you can advance it forward or back using arrows. Mousing over the name gives you a brief description.

View attachment 791455

At the time of launch, when there were only three options to choose from (Sol, Deneb, and random), this worked fine. But now there can be up to thirteen systems to click through if you have all the DLC, plus more if you're using mods... and some of those systems are only available with certain origins anyway. The interface is now frustrating to use and, in my view, obsolete.

I propose that the player's starting system be its own tab in empire creation, with a similar interface to choosing your species class or namelist. The system options would be listed along the left side of the screen with a scroll wheel, and clicking them brings up the description and an image that fills the center-right of the screen. Systems that don't work with your current origin are greyed out.

View attachment 791456

This would be more useful to players, convey more information, and be more visually interesting in general.

Honestly, what they actually need is a full Starting Solar System Creator - where you can choose the class of star/s; and the number, type, & orbital positions of planets/moons/asteroids. With starting systems being balance ages ago, this really shouldn't be an issue now. Not all of us know how to mod, or have the capacity to learn how unfortunately...
And before anyone brings up the possibility of multiple habitable worlds in the system, they can just make such systems not useable for achievements/multiplayer.