Matrix Games Forums

I understand how to use the Expansion Planner to find potential colonies, resources/mine locations, etc. What I don't understand is how to "center" it. If I use it to locate a certain resource, say Argon, it will show all the known sources, and more importantly, the distance. When you click on one of the sources, it is pinpointed on the small galaxy map by the intersection of two blue lines. Sometimes there is an intersection of two red lines also. I have assumed this was where the distance from is measured (and sometimes there are no red lines at all). If the intersection of the red lines is used to measure the distance, then how do you position it (center it) so it is a useable tool? I thought originally it was measure from my Capitol's location. In my current game my empire primarily sits on the south east edge of a ring galaxy and I have recently expanded through conquest into the less dense center region three or four sectors away. The Expansion Planner is now able to show me resource locations of equal distances, but in two different parts of the galaxy. My Capitol is on the Eastern most part of the ring, and the equally distant locations are not equidistant from my Capitol. One is right next to my Capitol and one is near the center of the Galaxy! I have attempted to set where the red lines should pinpoint too (click onto my Capitol and actually zoom in to it before I bring up the Planner). If the red lines show up, they always seem to be in some arbitrary location, and not where I hoped they would be. Is there some way to set the location where they will appear? It would make locating needed resources which are near where I require them easier. As it is I spend lots of time clicking on each potential resource listing individually. Rather tedious if I have 100+ potential sites listed. I hope this makes some sort of sense to someone out there.

Sometimes there is an intersection of two red lines also. I have assumed this was where the distance from is measured (and sometimes there are no red lines at all).

The intersection of red lines is the location of the currently-selected unassigned construction ship, the one listed in the drop-down menu at the bottom of the expansion planner (note that 'currently-selected' means 'selected in the drop-down menu,' not 'currently selected in the main game window,' and that only construction ships with no current assignments can be selected in the drop-down menu; if you're looking at potential colonies rather than mining targets, then unassigned colony ships capable of colonizing the currently-selected potential colony will be listed in the drop-down menu instead of construction ships and the red crosshair will mark the location of the selected colony ship). As far as I know, this has nothing at all to do with the distance listed; the distance listed in the expansion planner would appear to be the distance to the nearest colony or (perhaps more likely) spaceport, though I've not bothered to check carefully enough to determine which.

If you really wanted to have a 'distance to homeworld' metric, you could build a construction ship (or, for colonies, a colony ship) whose sole purpose is to idle in the home system, and name it something that makes it easy to select in the list. You could also, if you so desired, build additional such vessels and station them in locations from which you might want to know distances (e.g. major shipyards). Moving the red crosshair would require moving the construction ship to the location from which you want to know distances, or selecting a different idle construction ship.

I see!
Thanks Aeson.