Factory placement and not being able to see a darn thing through the map

[Silverbox]

So, I have bought an Elephant and set about doing a few factory building missions - When I come to place the factory I can't see through the sector map to rotate it properly or see where the boarding struts are. Is there any way to remove the sector map once you've dropped your station (but before confirming) so you can set it up the way you want!
Many thanks for any advise!

[Alan Phipps]

No you cannot close/move the sector map while placing stations. What you can do is drop an Adv Sat in sector and then while in the Sector Map press 'k' or the camera icon. You can then zoom and change axis on your selected target (usually the ghost station) and see its placement in real relationship to what is around it as you move and rotate it. Try it and have a play.

[Ketraar]

There are two key hints you need to know that will solve 90% of your problem related to station placement.

1. numpad 5 - when placing station you can press this key and the selected station will snap to the nearest object aligning it perfectly, now all you need is to move it in one direction until there is no collision.

2. Advanced satellite - place one in the sector you are building the station and when in sector map press k to enable 3D view of the sector objects allowing perfect positioning without collision, specially if combined with hint 1.

Also here some Tutorials including one about Complex building might help
CdrDave's TC tutorial videos

MFg

Ketraar

EDIT: ninja'd...

[Vayde]

Just wondering, will this little quirk of station placement be addresed in the 3.oh patch?

[Nanook]

What 'quirk'?

[Alacard1]

Just wondering, will this little quirk of station placement be addresed in the 3.oh patch?

+

What 'quirk'?

=

Your Answer

[Vayde]

Astounding clarity there Alacard1

If only all were blessed with such skill

I will take comfort in knowing there are those like myself, who still can see when a tongue is plated firmly in a cheek, without the need for emoticons

[Ketraar]

Must be highend humour or science, I dont get it and also cant see which quirk you wanted addressed in 3.0. *shrug*

MFG

Ketraar

[X2-Illuminatus]

What people describe here as 'quirk' is the way station placement works since at least X2: The Threat. If something works on a certain way for a so long time, it's a pretty good indication, that it is by design (read works as intended).

[Kirlack]

Station placement is incredibly simple, just use the tips described by Alan.

[Jumee]

Just wondering, will this little quirk of station placement be addresed in the 3.oh patch?

+

What 'quirk'?

=

Your Answer

just in case you did not know, Nanook is not an Egosoft employee, so even if any quirks were addressed he would not know

Station placement is incredibly simple, just Iuse the tips described by Alan.

yep, the numpad + satellite thing works well (unless you are building a really big complex, but there is the "hephaestus (don't remember the exact name since I haven't played in a while)" thing, so thats not too hard either

[Stephen_Garlick]

I found another good way is too fly your ship in close proximity to where the station is being built and when the sector map is up you can see where the stations being placed.

[Kirlack]

yep, the numpad + satellite thing works well (unless you are building a really big complex...

Even when building 400+ station complexes the satellite & number pad are all you need. Well, maybe a little patience as well? It took me a while to master using the adv. sats, but now I can perfectly align stations in moments, with no collision and very little space between them.

[Honved]

It also helps to zoom in, so you can see more detail. It's kind of clunky until you get the hang of it, but works well enough that nobody's seen fit to overhaul it.

For now, the most important step is SAVE before you start placing the station, so you can try it again WHEN (not "IF", at least on your first couple of tries at the process) you get it wrong. If the two stations make contact at any point, they will slowly but inevitably "rub" their shields down to nothing and destroy themselves.

Personally, I think it's awkward enough that it should be addressed, but not a priority issue.

[Lukesharp]

If the two stations make contact at any point, they will slowly but inevitably "rub" their shields down to nothing and destroy themselves.

However, you can place identical stations absolutely on top of each other (numpad 5 when close). You will need to complex them fairly quickly before their shields degrade completely. Saves a lot of space and frame rate.

Or at least you could do this in TC, hopefully someone else can confirm this for AP.

[Ripskar]

Another technique during complex construction in AP is to bring up your first station with [F3], then begin the build process and minimise the map so that you have an unobstructed view in the lower half of the screen.
then hit [5] and use the up and down arrows to position the new station on the position of the first. You can then use [8],[4],[6]&[2] to fine tune the final position so that there is no collision.
I would get a save before placing stations in-case you make a mistake, particularly when placing the Hub in a sector with asteroids/large Terran stations...

[Nanook]

... If the two stations make contact at any point, they will slowly but inevitably "rub" their shields down to nothing and destroy themselves...

Only up to the point that they're added to a complex. Once they're in the complex, all collision detection is turned off, and the stations are considered as a whole unit. So technically, you can place them as close as you want and quickly complex them to avoid collision damage.

Note that it wasn't always this way, and it doesn't work in Reunion. I think this feature was added in a later patch of TC.

[Kanyin]

Only up to the point that they're added to a complex. Once they're in the complex, all collision detection is turned off, and the stations are considered as a whole unit. So technically, you can place them as close as you want and quickly complex them to avoid collision damage.

Note that it wasn't always this way, and it doesn't work in Reunion. I think this feature was added in a later patch of TC.

That's actually really freaking useful information to avoid complex creep in small sectors.

[Umbru]

Station building probably isn't going to change for the X3 games as most of the new content ego is adding is player made so only things that can be fixed with scripts and mods. On the up side Rebirth comes at station building from an entirely new directions so the old problems will be gone (possibley replaced by new ones)