The Design Philosophy Conflict: CCP is trying to avoid EVE's "Spreadsheets in Space" reputation to make Frontier feel like an action-survival game. But in doing so, theyāve made basic industrial tasks needlessly tedious. A survivalist wouldn't explore without tools; they'd have sensors to tell them what they are looking at before risking precious fuel.
What Needs to Change Before Launch
If CCP wants Frontier to retain players who actually enjoy the sandbox economy, the UI needs a serious overhaul:
1. Unified Overlay: Instead of zooming out to a completely separate system map view, give players a dynamic, togglable 3D Tactical Grid that stays anchored around the ship.
2. Contextual Rock Scanning: A proper HUD scanner element that populates ore types (like Char, Silica, or heavy metals) on screen without needing to open sub-menus or squint through the windshield.Ā
3. Flexible UI: Give players the option to toggle on a classic EVE-style telemetry grid if they prefer data-heavy navigation over cinematic visual targeting.
If they keep the dark, brutal survival mechanics but give us EVEās level of spatial clarity and data readability, the game loop would feel vastly more rewarding.