New marker system in development
The existing marker system was created very early on in the development of Stellar Navigator, and as such is showing its age compared to the more recent features that were developed later in the project's life cycle. That being the case, it was one of the first features I wanted to rework post launch of early access. Let's take a closer look at its progress:
Fluid interaction
It was very important for this system to be easy and quick to use. Marking up the system shouldn't be a difficult task after you have already spent a long time setting up each planet. Therefore, rather than it starting with a window, it starts with a new right click menu that is accessible at any time while in solar navigator.
Introducing Annotations
In addition to the easier access to markers and favorited markers, there will be Annotations. These are a different kind of marker that allow free form text to be placed in areas around a solar system. This way not only can markers be placed, but also information about key areas of a solar system. Below is a mockup of what a label may look like in Stellar Navigator.
Community submitted ideas
It has and will continue to be my desire to ensure that the community has the ability to provide input into the early access development of Stellar Navigator. I want to ensure that I capture as many of the tools I can to allow user's creativity to be... out of this world!
That said, for the next minor update to Stellar Navigator the following three ideas will be included:
- An option to turn planet clouds on and off.
- Celestial body data point - Orbital Period.
- Edit planet radius and orbital radius by entering numeric values.
🎉Planetologist Winners!!🎉
Last month there was a community event held on our Discord server (https://discord.gg/vcPTMpavep) where Navigators submitted a description of their ideal planet to be voted on by the community. Thank you to everyone who submitted a planet and voted. In the end the votes were very close at the top three, so close that two individuals will be working with me to realize their very own ideal planet!
First place winners!
StregaRevenge & Thunderbat
Second place winner!
Gameonic
Congratulations to these winners who's names will be included in Stellar Navigator as Navigator Planetologists. Stay tuned for updates on these new planet types!
Remember to also check out the public road map here: https://trello.com/b/YTYDvtwl/stellar-navigator-road-map which has seen some changes with the marker system being pushed into development and the above community ideas included as a deliverable of minor update one.
That's all for this month. Until next time, Keep looking to the stars!