Most people don't complain about this because they either don't fight in heavily NPC-populated sectors, like Border Skirmishes, or use TargetLess which avoids the problem. It's still a problem for newbies and people like me who don't use TargetLess to avoid lag.

Triangle or square?

Nice Idea +1

-1
I guess the idea is try to make NPCs look as regular players... just another pilot, unable to chat. They also are used to fill the void, so...

Ignore and delete Allohs post

+10

What I'd like is for them to expose more of the radar's API, and let us arbitrarily decide what color, shape, and size each dot should be, or whether it even appears. Then we could have plugins to display specific people with unique colors or shapes (e.g. while the whole group might be white, my wingman might be a triangle, and the group leader a square, etc.)

None of that really addresses the reasoning behind the OP, but it would reduce the pressure on the devs to satisfy all parties.

Alloh: It is important to know which dots are the most dangerous. Player ships are almost always more dangerous than NPC ships. Therefor, it makes sense to have an option to show player ships differently.

I disagree with the concept of different shapes to distinguish PCs from NPCs. If you see a red or green dot then open your sensor log.

I do agree with expanding the capabilities of the radar API. On a slightly related note (which likely deserves its own thread), I think the party controls could be expanded to allow a designated tactical control to specify group targets which could be possibly modified to show a different shape. This could be further extended by a command that targets the group target.

Go re-read the OP draug. The issue is when there are a lot of dots, not just one. I don't do border skirms, but I imagine it would be pretty helpful to glance at the radar and see where the priority targets are.

I did read it and I've done border skirmishes. I didn't comment as someone without experience.

I retract my earlier objection based on the near-fact that any changes to the radar system to allow marking of targets through shapes/colors would eventually result in the original request being fulfilled through one means or another.

I support extending the capabilities of the radar through customization of shapes and colors.

The -real- issue is that the radar does a terrible job of representing distance or movement. A fast approaching ship or one at 100m about to fill your cargo bay doors with hot neutrons looks nearly the same as one that's well outside of weapons range. It's just a lot more important to know whether a player is close to you than it is to know if an NPC is close. This would help.

If you see a red or green dot and you're currently fighting another ship, opening your sensor log is suicide. This is why TargetLess was made in the first place, but it's not part of the game.

I've got a plugin Maalik made that changes ship color to red if they're within the prox range, and green elsewise. It's less useful during border skirmishes though because you can't tell enemies from allies that way.

I made a plugin of my own that does something similar, coloring people red if they're approaching and green if they're flying away, and makes them blink when they're within prox range (or maybe I had a separately defined blink distance, don't recall). I didn't really like it though.

IMO, the best solution to that particular problem would be to add a third radar in the bottom center that uses the funky 3D mode that the occasional ignorant newb from other games babbles about being superior. Then make both radar versions optional, so that people can hide any that they don't need at a given moment.

Well, even with our current 2 scope radars if things were rendered as a shaped outline instead of just dots at their center, you could infer some sort of distance/orientation/speed/ship type from the shape of the blip.

From a new player's stand point I'm a little surprised that the radar is not much more complex for a game such as VO. All the radar seems to be at the moment is a simplified iff threat display.

I understand that there are plugins out there that try to address some of the radars current limitations and issues but I'm curious, are there plans to implement any of the following into the radar?

Radar Scale/Range - I would like the ability to toggle between different radar scales please. eg. 1000m, 2000m, 5000m, 10000m, 30000m etc.

Sensor Capabilities - I would like to be able to detect and track objects beyond the current 5000m limit please. I don't understand why there's a 5 klick limit.

Radar Display/Orientation/Configuration - I'd like to be able to toggle the way the radar displays its contacts, making it much more user configurable. eg. user definable shapes, colours, sounds, iff threat lists etc. Also I'd like to be able to point the radar cone at different parts of space for a much more detailed but narrower scan of any particular area please.

Priority/Threat - I would like the ability to priorities targets based on type, pilot, range, direction, velocity etc. etc. please. I'd also like to be able to paint and target multiple threats at the same time depending on priority so that once you've slotted your first target the radar automatically targets the next threat for you, according to how you've set it up.

Direction/Velocity - I'd like to be able to tell in which direction an object is moving and at what speed please. A simple line coming out from the centre of the radar blip could indicate direction as well as give a graphical indication of velocity, depending on the length of the line perhaps.

Type/Ship - I'd like to have an indication of the type/make of ship I'm painting with my radar please.

Jamming/ECM - I'd like the option to be able to employ counter measures please.

Target/Object Selection - I'd like the ability to toggle an active mouse cursor in the HUD for quick target selection please, click and drag maybe.

3D Radar - I'd REALLY like a 3D radar something along the lines of the one from Elite, but better. ; )

Or, at the very least, expose more of the radar's API as Pizzasgood suggested please, pretty please with bells on?

Shit, I didn't realise I'd typed so much.

ye ferget da pony hun : )