Exploration totally broken

arfonfab · Jan 20, 2015

I'm alternating exploring and trading in a type 6 (Advanced Discovery Scanner, Detailed Surface Scanner), along with watching Netflix on my other screen. I like it - it passes the time, I've seen some interesting planets, and I've netted 1.5m credits from exploration (highest sale was about 70k IIRC) - and it's more interesting than trading alone.

On the other hand - if the "selling" part of it isn't fed back into the sim, if selling the data has no effect on the data available to other players, then I'll agree that exploration is indeed broken. I hope it is feeding back, but I suspect it isn't.

Gibbonici · Jan 20, 2015

Cristari said:
LOL I have no idea what you are doing when you scan but I can get 40k+ per system The only times I have seen that low a payout is if you just warp in scan then leave without looking for other planets in the system. Don't get me wrong some systems are like that!.

Absolutely, these are the trash systems that you jump through on your way to the juicy spots, or the ones that are full of ice planets and not worth the time. But you inevitably end up with loads of them on your sell list, all of which take the usual 5 second click-and-wait to sell. That's the depressing bit.

shadowwar · Jan 20, 2015

Tod said:
Does anyone know if when scanning a planet and it goes to analysing data, can you move on to your next target while it is analysing or will it want to scan again if you move off the target before it finishes analysing?

Hi Tod,

You need to wait until Scan Completed before moving on to the next target. Otherwise the scan is broken and incomplete.

Agony_Aunt · Jan 20, 2015

scubaian said:
traders don't have to put up with 'realistic' loading and unloading times

Hey! That's a great idea! How about 1 second per ton?

Skip Intro · Jan 20, 2015

Realistic loading times would have to include a tea break of 15 minutes. Every 30 minutes.

Agony_Aunt · Jan 20, 2015

Gibbonici said:
Absolutely, these are the trash systems that you jump through on your way to the juicy spots, or the ones that are full of ice planets and not worth the time. But you inevitably end up with loads of them on your sell list, all of which take the usual 5 second click-and-wait to sell. That's the depressing bit.

I once got over 50k just for doing an advanced honk at a system and scanning the sun. It had well over 50 objects though and plenty of juicy objects in it. If i'd had taken the time to scan everything, i think the payout would have been approx 4 times that (if i understand how the mechanics work correctly).

Gibbonici · Jan 20, 2015

Loki_666 said:
Hey! That's a great idea! How about 1 second per ton?

Or realistic times for repairs. Two weeks in the garage with loads of teeth-sucking and "Ooh, I dunno guv. Hard to get the parts, innit?", and then get charged three times the quote

Tod · Jan 20, 2015

shadowwar said:
Hi Tod,

You need to wait until Scan Completed before moving on to the next target. Otherwise the scan is broken and incomplete.

Yes I know, but can you move on while it says "analysing data"?

Portent · Jan 20, 2015

Dont think its broken but it does have room for improvement, which should be coming.
.
I made 380k in one session the other night on a loop around some unexplored systems on the frontier. As mentioned above, trick is to know what to scan. Get an advanced discovery scanner then only do detailed scans on stars you can scan from your current location, gas giants and anything that looks like it might have water or be in the habitable zone.
.
Ignore the random rocks and moons as the effort and time required exceeds the payout.
.
Would be good to get a bonus for completing scans of all astro bodies in a system but that doesn't appear to be the case.

specialsymbol · Jan 20, 2015

Issmir said:
I'm curious - what exactly is causing the damage? I've never known any ship take anything like that kind of damage from a single jump. Unless you fell into the gravity well of the sun or took heat damage?

It's the time spent in supercruise at high speeds (above 1000 c)

So no, I did not drop out of SC nor did I overheat. At no point. It was a pretty basic trip, two jumps in total. The only difference was the 1 1/2 hour long trip in SC.
I just tested again, it's the time spent in SC at high speeds that destroys the ship.

poshblobfish · Jan 20, 2015

The closer you get to the body you are scanning, the faster the scan goes.

Darkflame · Jan 20, 2015

I think we need more explanation as to how that damage happened before we can comment on it. I really dont think its intentional though.

--

As for more general exploring comments;

I mostly want to play Elite for exploring, and certainly want more in it.
Specificly;
1. More rare stuff to find. Things that are usual and feel a bit special. Weird things. Things with story. Rare collectable artifacts? Old ruins scanned on a planet? ultra-rate natural phenomenon? I am not saying everything would fit, but Id love more "stuff to find" things that make me go wow from more then a visual procedural aspect. Things that let me deserve, piece together, or maybe even invent a story around is especially nice. (broken abandoned space station? old weapon platform.....looks like it exploded from the inside.....is that uranium in the belt nearby? Where they making explosives and it got out of control?)

2. Scanning would be nice to be less passive. Purchases you first get a scan that highlights points on the world and you then need to fly over them all? (ie, its getting "suspected points of interest" and then you need more interaction to get details?)

3. Results of the scan in a little more detail. I want to know just a little bit about what the data I am passing on is

Overall for me its not about the money, I just want more surprises!

AlexRyder · Jan 20, 2015

Firedshot said:
I think your ship needed repairing before you left?
Scanning a system is radar or sonar which would quick but seeing what some thing is takes longer. It might be boring but it's a way to balance the money making in the game.

Good luck using sonar in space.

Lobstris · Jan 20, 2015

I do think the ship integrity thing is a bit out of whack. Even in a Cobra I was surprised when the integrity went down over 20%, and I ended up with a 22k cr bill, for a half-hour cruise to a station 1,700,000ls away.

AlexRyder said:
Good luck using sonar in space.

Sonar does work in space. Chris Roberts told us so in the Wing Commander movie.

Dragotha · Jan 20, 2015

specialsymbol said:
Ok, there are two things that simply don't work with exploration:

1st
Ship integrity. My ship integrity went down to 44% after exploring a SINGLE system that had planets at the outer sun, which was 0.17LY away. The loss is some 227000 credits in repairs plus change for the paint.
Are you kidding? That not only never pays off, it does also mean that when I'm up for some serious exploring (for the fun of exploring, NOT TO MAKE CASH) I'll explode after the second or third big system!

2nd
I totally accept that you need to go from planet to planet to scan them. But having the scanner scan for 30 seconds and then some more for analyzing the data? That's simply boring. It doesn't add anything. It's neither adding to realism (because what difference do 30 seconds make) nor does it add to fun (which I frankly expect from a game).

What do you think? Is exploration broken or not?

I think you're doing it wrong. You shouldn't ever take damage while exploring - usually, the only way to do so is if you take heat damage while fuel scooping.

The actual scanning mechanic is rather slow and painful, I'll grant that. And it doesn't pay nearly enough for the time it takes. But it doesn't break your ship.

Gibbonici · Jan 20, 2015

Loki_666 said:
I once got over 50k just for doing an advanced honk at a system and scanning the sun. It had well over 50 objects though and plenty of juicy objects in it. If i'd had taken the time to scan everything, i think the payout would have been approx 4 times that (if i understand how the mechanics work correctly).

Yeah, it's funny how that can work. I was expecting my biggest payouts on my last trip to come from the S171 systems in the NGC 7822 nebula due to the preponderance of black holes there (many have two, a couple have three!), but although they paid out around 50k on average my single biggest payout was 100k for some random system I couldn't even remember.

Agony_Aunt · Jan 20, 2015

Gibbonici said:
Yeah, it's funny how that can work. I was expecting my biggest payouts on my last trip to come from the S171 systems in the NGC 7822 nebula due to the preponderance of black holes there (many have two, a couple have three!), but although they paid out around 50k on average my single biggest payout was 100k for some random system I couldn't even remember.

Sometimes quantity > quality

Ralph Vargr · Jan 20, 2015

Payout could be better. Waiting for a scan while targets approach you is annoying. Death Suns Suck!

But, I enjoy exploring. Combining exploring and trading has worked out pretty well for me.

This part of the game will get better. The Level 2&3 scans show that it's in the works for sure. Planet Landings show it will be worked on, as well.

Those fingers in Cambridge UK can only type *so* fast...

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specialsymbol said:
It's the time spent in supercruise at high speeds (above 1000 c)

So no, I did not drop out of SC nor did I overheat. At no point. It was a pretty basic trip, two jumps in total. The only difference was the 1 1/2 hour long trip in SC.
I just tested again, it's the time spent in SC at high speeds that destroys the ship.

That actually makes sense. I've seen aircraft that have exceeded their design limits. I take the 5th.

Martin1956 · Jan 20, 2015

specialsymbol said:
Ok, there are two things that simply don't work with exploration:

1st
Ship integrity. My ship integrity went down to 44% after exploring a SINGLE system

Curious, never happened to me, what sort of ship do you have, and do you have any strange loadout settings, like lower class shields etc? I only ever get the ship integrity down when getting too close to the stars, being interdicted or having a fight with someone.

neXib · Jan 20, 2015

specialsymbol said:
It's the time spent in supercruise at high speeds (above 1000 c)

So no, I did not drop out of SC nor did I overheat. At no point. It was a pretty basic trip, two jumps in total. The only difference was the 1 1/2 hour long trip in SC.
I just tested again, it's the time spent in SC at high speeds that destroys the ship.

1 1/2 hours in SC, are you mental?

Exploration is partly about looking at new/interesting places sure, but it's also a profit vs. time thing like any other "profession in this game". Not even a black hole would make me SC for anything more than 15 minutes. And no other data is worth such a long cruise tbh.

Take a look at Nutter's exploration thread to see the value of what you scan, there's no point in finding EVERYTHING, like every icey planet that gives you a couple of hundred credits.