Detailed Scanning....

[darkcyde6666]

....anyway of speeding this up? The distance from the body when the scanning actually starts seems to vary hugely, Gas Giants and stars being scanned from the furthest out, and planets varying from 50Ls, right down to 7Ls~....I'm assuming size = distance somehow.

But the time to scan seems to take an age....is there anyway of speeding this up at all? I've tried diverting more power to sys, but that doesn't seem to make any difference.

 

[Dissentient]

There's no way, it seems that FD think that waiting while doing nothing is fun. Maybe they are trying to help monitor manufacturers, as this game is almost unplayable without a second monitor to do things on during times when the game doesn't require any input.

 

[darkcyde6666]

Luckily have at quad monitor set up.....nvidia surround on three for the game running in borderless mode, and then the forth open.....well, on the forums so I can be typ...........ing when scanning (just needed to move to the next planet) ;-)

 

[Stkx]

The bigger they are the further you can scan them. The closer you are the faster you can scan them. So stars (EXCEPT NEURON STARS) and gas giants are pretty easy to scan due to size (not sure about distance). Moons and planets scan range vary from 20-10ls I believe. Some smaller objects may be even less than 1ls

Edit: Now that I think about it scanning black holes worked differently (at least the vids on youtube did). Noticed they were all scanned up close the despite size.

 

[bobilon]

diverting energy to systems to increase speed of all kinds of scanners would be a great feature. now it improves shield regeneration only.

 

[Pete]

I asked the same thing here, and we have quiet a discussion about it...
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=90563

-- Pete.

 

[Zieman]

The bigger they are the further you can scan them. The closer you are the faster you can scan them. So stars (EXCEPT NEURON STARS) and gas giants are pretty easy to scan due to size (not sure about distance). Moons and planets scan range vary from 20-10ls I believe. Some smaller objects may be even less than 1ls

Edit: Now that I think about it scanning black holes worked differently (at least the vids on youtube did). Noticed they were all scanned up close the despite size.

Belt clusters seem to be the ones you need to be closest to start a scan. The treshold is 5 Ls (IIRC it was 10 Mm some time in the Beta/Gamma era ).

 

[jadefriendly]

Higher spec scanners / faster scans maybe?

I've only seen C3 scanners so far...

 

[Pete]

Belt clusters seem to be the ones you need to be closest to start a scan. The treshold is 5 Ls (IIRC it was 10 Mm some time in the Beta/Gamma era ).

They also pay nothing. Don't waste your time scanning them, they're worthless. I had to force myself to stop...but once I managed to get over the "have to scan EVERYTHING" idea I was glad I did.

Neutron stars are the same, need to be within 5 Ls, but they pay a lot more!

-- Pete.

 

[jadefriendly]

They also pay nothing. Don't waste your time scanning them, they're worthless. I had to force myself to stop...but once I managed to get over the "have to scan EVERYTHING" idea I was glad I did.

Neutron stars are the same, need to be within 5 Ls, but they pay a lot more!

-- Pete.

I don't understand why belts are worth nothing. Surely they are one of the main things that would be looked for - mining opportunities?

 

[darkcyde6666]

They also pay nothing. Don't waste your time scanning them, they're worthless. I had to force myself to stop...but once I managed to get over the "have to scan EVERYTHING" idea I was glad I did.

Neutron stars are the same, need to be within 5 Ls, but they pay a lot more!

-- Pete.

So what is your scanning procedure?

I arrive at the system, wait for initial discovery, scan the star and move in for fuel scooping and do an intermediate scan whilst refueling......then I look at what has been found, if anything, skip asteroids, scan stuff that looks like gas giants, and anything that shows up without a image/icon, and anything else that looks like it might be interesting, like stuff out on the fringe.

 

[Dissentient]

I don't understand why belts are worth nothing. Surely they are one of the main things that would be looked for - mining opportunities?

Don't expect to find sense in current exploration model. You get paid the most for valuable planets (like high metal content and earth-like) and rare stars (neutron stars, black holes), while asteroid clusters, ordinary stars and rocky/ice/gas planets give you so little they are not worth time spent scanning them.

Most important problem, however, is the fact that exploration pays so little per hour even with best possible equipment it never makes sense to do it. Pointless 30-second waits are just a cherry on top of a cake.

 

[burzum]

There's no way, it seems that FD think that waiting while doing nothing is fun. Maybe they are trying to help monitor manufacturers, as this game is almost unplayable without a second monitor to do things on during times when the game doesn't require any input.

Yes, I totally agree. The game has far too much incredible boring and repetitive game mechanics.

I mean none of them is a challenge, super boring cruise, mining, fuel scooping. They're just annoying time sinks and highly repetitive. They'll need to find a way to make them enjoyable.

 

[Pete]

I mean none of them is a challenge, super boring cruise, mining, fuel scooping. They're just annoying time sinks and highly repetitive. They'll need to find a way to make them enjoyable.

And yet all of those things are more interactive than scanning a celestial object (which can take anywhere from 15 seconds to over 30 seconds).

It is the most non-interactive timesink in the game, at least when you are doing a long SC between stars in a system, you can select other objects, plot a hyperspace route, change direction, etc - when you're scanning you have to have the object selected, and be facing it for the entire time!

-- Pete.

 

[SvennoJ]

Don't expect to find sense in current exploration model. You get paid the most for valuable planets (like high metal content and earth-like) and rare stars (neutron stars, black holes), while asteroid clusters, ordinary stars and rocky/ice/gas planets give you so little they are not worth time spent scanning them.

Most important problem, however, is the fact that exploration pays so little per hour even with best possible equipment it never makes sense to do it. Pointless 30-second waits are just a cherry on top of a cake.

I bought the advanced scanner, yet it's not any faster, it only finds the companion star as well. I guess it is a useless expense, flying 40K ls or more to scan the second star is probably not worth the time, mind numbingly boring too. I alt-tab out of the game while it's going, listening for when the fsd starts to sound like it's approaching too fast. Yet one time it crashed on switching back and placed me back at the start :/ My highest payout for mapping a system is 40k so far. Most of the time it's sub 10K. In the same time to scan one system I can make over 300k trading in a Type 6. Still hopeful I'll find something interesting some day. Flying around a star fuel scooping looks pretty anyway. But really, how long can looking around the cockpit or browsing through the stats screens stay entertaining while waiting for the scanner to do its thing.

 

[Renegade Roach]

The entire exploration mechanic is tedious beyond belief and one of my biggest disappointments with this game. Exploration and discovery ought to be one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of Elite game play and yet all we have been given is a boring click and wait grind. Where is the imagination in design, where is the skill or thought in game play?

 

[Jack Luminous]

While I understand the complaints in this thread, I have to say that I and many others are enjoying exploration a lot - it's just a different mindset of playing, close to what non-combat flight sims offer. And there's more content to come, though it may take a while...planetary landings etc. Go for combat, trading or smuggling if you're a more action-oriented player who doesn't care for sightseeing

 

[KevinMillican]

The entire exploration mechanic is tedious beyond belief and one of my biggest disappointments with this game. Exploration and discovery ought to be one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of Elite game play and yet all we have been given is a boring click and wait grind. Where is the imagination in design, where is the skill or thought in game play?

Break it up by visiting most USS signals, and don't bother too much with detail scans in systems with strong governments. I tend to do more detail scans in Anarchy systems where I regularly get interdicted (carrying some gold helps) and can make some nice bounties at the same time. This reduces the tedium and can increase the money made considerably.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

They also pay nothing. Don't waste your time scanning them, they're worthless. I had to force myself to stop...but once I managed to get over the "have to scan EVERYTHING" idea I was glad I did.

Neutron stars are the same, need to be within 5 Ls, but they pay a lot more!

-- Pete.

Lol same boat! Its the completionist in me. Must stop scanning everything

 

[Mikey2305]

I just dont like to leave anything unexplored. Got to get that very last rocky or icy planet or it will look untidy! I personally dont find the waiting time in any way tedious or boring. But what do i know...