Radar "orbit" operation mode

sben · Post by **sben** » Sun Jun 21, 2026 9:26 pm

TL;DR

Introduce an "Orbit" operation mode for radars next to "Surface" and "Universe".

This would connect all space platforms staying in the same orbit and the planet's surface.

Why?

I am very happy to see that radars will get "Universe" mode, as noted on FFF-441.

A common use case for Universe mode could be to either:

communicate between planet surface and platforms in the planet's orbit
communicate between space platforms in the same orbit (even more relevant since we will get platform to platform materials transfers)
broadcast materials requests for automated interplanetary logistic

The channels of universe mode could get easily oversaturated.

Eg. if one would use the wires of the planet channels for broadcasting available and requested materials for automatic interplanetary material delivery, there would be no more room to communicate between platforms in orbit and the local surface anymore. One would need to evade to other signals, eg. using "Wood" channel for Nauvis orbit communication and also set up signal translations (mapping read moving from / to signal to the wood signal). An elegant and efficient solution would be an "Orbit" communication mode as proposed.

eugenekay · Post by **eugenekay** » Sun Jun 21, 2026 9:33 pm

This may already exist? The linked section of FFF-441 actually says:

On a platform you can filter the channels by current location to get missing planet materials or available cargo, and implement whatever logic you might like to control and command your fleet.

sben · Post by **sben** » Sun Jun 21, 2026 11:58 pm

Yeah, it's possible, but the max of two coloured wires per channel might be too few for some applications.

3x communication paths can hardly fit into only two wires.

It would get worse if some of the paths would actually require both wires.

What I want is an unnamed channel, similarly to the surface channel, but connecting the surface with the space platforms at it.

You would still need to set and filter the universe channels in many scenarios, eg. for requesting the materials onto the platforms in the automated interplanetary logistic scenario.

Onii-ChanFL · Post by **Onii-ChanFL** » Fri Jun 26, 2026 3:49 pm

+1 I think orbit is pretty important to be added aswell

gridstop · Post by **gridstop** » Sat Jun 27, 2026 1:00 am

eugenekay wrote: Sun Jun 21, 2026 9:33 pm This may already exist? The linked section of FFF-441 actually says:
On a platform you can filter the channels by current location to get missing planet materials or available cargo, and implement whatever logic you might like to control and command your fleet.

Has anyone seen anything that this is referring to? I don't see any special circuit option or anything. I wonder if they just meant you could place 5+ radars on a platform and use deciders to filter the input/output when stopped at a planet? I tested to see if 'surface' on a space platform would connect to the surface network when in orbit, and it doesn't.

I find myself wanting multiple per-planet channels, like a 'vulcanus orbit' 'vulcanus inter-planet inventory' 'vulcanus outpost requests' sort of situation. I guess there might be mods to add lots of virtual signals in this way eventually.

So I guess a couple possible features could be:
1) Have surface channel connect to a planet's surface channel when in orbit? I doubt anyone is using surface networks within a space platform currently that would get broken.
2) Add a specific 'local orbit' one that connects all ships at rest and the planet on the ground if set to orbit.
3) Let the 'channel' have a numeric value along with the signal? Then I could use a planet + value to identify multiple different networks per-planet. "planet = 1" is ship requests, "planet = 2" is export ready inventory, etc..etc..
4) I like the idea of a input set channel option, but that would obviously limit you to only connecting to either the red or green network at a given time, since one has to be used for the input. Of course you could use two radars.

eugenekay · Post by **eugenekay** » Sat Jun 27, 2026 4:24 pm

: Screenshot 2026-06-27 122123.jpg (1.28 MiB) Viewed 29 times

: 06-27-2026, 12-24-27.png (98.6 KiB) Viewed 29 times

Good Luck!

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