60,000 light years, 500 Neutron Stars, 70 Black holes, 1 Supermassive and 22mil Profit!

[Sim Maker]

I'm hunting Black Holes, Neutrons, White Dwarfs, Earth likes, Water Worlds and Pristine Reserves (Test drilled a few as I'm set up as an armed prospector/explorer).........I Surface scan every star I jump to (pretty much).....ping the system with ADS...have quick look at system map, nothing good? Next..............
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Rock Planet Number 9 around Red Dwarf X?...............when you know it is going to be a rocky rock..........its like walking in to a desert, and expecting to find something other than sand and the odd puddle......
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I know there are purists that like to look under every rock.......but meh.......not for me. If there was a reason/value, Alien ruins or something.....sure..........

 

[Huita]

So, after 60000 ly, you aren't even close to elite in exploration? Lame...

 

[CMDR Flaxton]

I am more of a scan everything kind of guy so I have been stopping and scanning most systems on my trip to the core so far. I bet I am into 150-200 fully scanned systems so far and still have maybe 20k ly to go. The only down side is my trip is taking soooooo long. I maybe do 250-300 l/y per evening as I have limited time and only get a few hours after the kids have gone to bed

My route has been to travel below the galactic plane as far as reasonable and then head inwards to the core. Pretty much every system I come across is undiscovered. The only exception so far to the full scans have been half a dozen systems with a few ice planets only and a few systems where there has been a star with a massive distance 250k+ l/s from the drop point. I am still in for a massive time consuming trip, maybe quick jumps on the homeward leg.

Other than that I am enjoying myself discovering things, not really fussed above the credits, although I would be pee'd if I got myself sploded with all the data on board >.<

CMDR Flaxton

 

[Whiterose]

Sweet. I have found some systems that have been "first discovered" but obviously with a basic scanner, as when I scanned with an advanced I spotted a waterwolrd. So off I tootled and surface scanned. Its up to the individual what they surface scan as its their exploration. The latest count was we had discovered 0.001%. Brings it home really. I have just done my 110th system, I think I might come back after 1,000.

 

[_Dastardly_]

So, after 60000 ly, you aren't even close to elite in exploration? Lame...

A little under halfway I think to elite. If I had stopped and scanned every object in every system I went through on that 60,000 light years, I'd have probabily made elite. But the trip wouldnt have taken 2 weeks, it would have taken 2-3 months (or more!)

 

[Ben_BigBen]

If it walks like an Icy wasteland and quacks like an Icy wasteland ....

With numbers so big I see it as a challenge for us to collectively visit all the systems in the Milky Way any we'll never do it if we scan all the planets will we ?

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

You're absolutely right.
Discovery should be about bringing complete System scans back home.

After all, they're paid by Universal Cartographics and not "Gravity Cartographics" that only care about Hyperjump destinations.

But as it's implemented on deep Alpha-Level - this is what you get.
Make a quick round-robin tour (basically just hopping from System to System like a rabbit on steroids) while not Discovering - and you'll be rewarded with maximum Credits/hour.
Really doesn't get any more absurd than this - but that's something very familiar to ELITE in more respects than I could possibly count. Technically speaking therefor - this actually blends in just nice with the rest

I think it was a missed opportunity to add some meat to the bones of exploration when FD released it with a one-does-all scanner. I'm sure it wouldn't have been difficult for the devs to have thrown several scanner types into the mix on release, and not just ones that vary their range (like basic, intermediate, and advanced). But scanners that are specific at picking up certain signals.

For example; a scanner specialized at pinpointing high intesity gravity wells, like black holes and neutron stars. A scanner specialized at looking for organic compounds in atmospheres i.e. one that works particularly well when detecting Earth-Like words and water worlds. And a scanner that is specialized in detecting high value minerals and metals - i.e. a prospectors dream, one that is tailored to detect high metal worlds and mineral rich asteroid belts.

3 different scanners and the ability to fit only one or two types to a ship would have allowed players to think about what type of explorer they wanted to be.

Scientific - looking for astrophysical anomalies or black holes.
Prospector - looking for resource rich worlds.
Searcher - looking for Earths and possible life.

That right there would have added so much to the profession.

If you look at trade and combat, they are full of loadout options, all geared to allow the player to mix and match their loadouts to tailor their preferred playstyle. Not so in exploration sadly. So its a choice between grinding credits by using a map that filters all the juicy targets for you (like non-sequence stars) without the need to actually search, or go sight seeing.


Reaching Elite in exploration should have been about what you found. Rare worlds, special places, possible life, alien artifacts, derelict ships of unknown origin. Even doing specific exploration orientated missions once you reached Pioneer, missions without which the last few steps on the path to Elite would not be possible. It really shouldn't have been about pressing a buzzer several thousand times and cashing it in.

 

[Pekka]

I haven't heard about any new plans for improving exploration. If only a small fraction of the stuff talked about in the DDF would have made it to the game, things would be so much better for explorers.

Exploration in ED is the ugly stepchild of combat and trading.

 

[Diwrnach]

So, after 60000 ly, you aren't even close to elite in exploration? Lame...

It will take another 4 trips of this magnitude to reach Elite. If you want Elite handed to you then I guess you don't have the right stuff.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

-- Deleted --

 

[Witzo]

View attachment 18683
This was what I used. No weapons, just some heat sinks for when I was not paying enough attention.

Retracted power usage is bigger than power available? How do you keep it running?
And retracted is bigger than deployed? Remarkable ship.

Yes, I am considering using your screenshot as an example for outfitting my recently acquired Asp.

 

[Sim Maker]

To me exploring is not about making money, it's about finding cool stuff and cataloging. Maybe its the CDO (like OCD except the letters are in the right order) in me but I have to scan everything so my maps complete. Rushing around, as fast as posable doesn't sound fun to me.

Does this look like fun to you?
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[_Dastardly_]

Retracted power usage is bigger than power available? How do you keep it running?
And retracted is bigger than deployed? Remarkable ship.

Turn off everything while in flight. Once the two auto field maintenance units are disabled there is enough power. Disable cargo hatch and power distributor for normal flight (not needed). If your doing repairs your going to drop out of Supercruise anyway.

 

[Lupin]

Planning to on another long explore soon, this post just makes it more likely. +1.

Also your images would make better desktop backgrounds then the stuff that was in digital pack with mercenary edition.

 

[Sim Maker]

Planning to on another long explore soon, this post just makes it more likely. +1.

Also your images would make better desktop backgrounds then the stuff that was in digital pack with mercenary edition.

Dunno if you have any background on when exploring, and I am sure you know going by your avatar.......but all fo B7 is on YTube......I've had it on the past few evenings, laptop, right next to my fuel gauge. ...Stops it being so.....lonely......
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A question to the OP.......
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You mention 500 Neutrons, 70 Black holes.....etc.........when you sell your data, can you see a Star Type tally at the end? Or do you have to keep track of it yourself?

 

[CMDR Thrope]

You're absolutely right.
Discovery should be about bringing complete System scans back home.

It would be nice, I think, if there was a bonus associated with a complete system scan as opposed to the cherry-picking that goes on. To each CMDR his or her own, of course, but I would think Universal Cartographics would be most interested in comprehensive data sets.

 

[Sim Maker]

It would be nice, I think, if there was a bonus associated with a complete system scan as opposed to the cherry-picking that goes on. To each CMDR his or her own, of course, but I would think Universal Cartographics would be most interested in comprehensive data sets.

I think quite different. I think they would be intrested in worlds and data useful to humanity.........Earth likes and Water Worlds.........and a path to them that stays away from danger, and finding black holes and Neetron stars can be dangerous........far more valuable than what is on Rocky Planet 9s 14th Rocky Moon.......trailblazers vs map makers............
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I do however agree there should be a bonus for a complete system scan(rather than a nerf of the current mechanics).............I recall that one reason I don't do it, is on my first test "explore", as many do, I zoomed off 500ly....found an Undiscovered, zoomed back to sell my data...........and was rewared with nice credits, and my name on....80% of the objects? even though I had scanned everything, even the asteroid belts.........and then the next day, some more of my tags in that system vanished leaving about 70% discovered by me.......(no other CMDR names showed up)................and that made me think, what is the point of ME being that fussy, if the sim is'nt.......?........

 

[Ambivalent]

I've been doing something fairly similar but a much more sedate pace, I left civilization in the middle of janurary, and wombled my way out to NGC 6357 via red spider and lagoon, then I moved up 1000 lys above the eliptical and began moving towards the center and looking for the start of the neutron / white dwarf cloud. Once I found it I navigated so far around another 40k ly's or so purely jumping between neutron stars all the way to sag A* and then along the bar to its terminus where the spiral arms branch out, which is where i still am now.

I've been looking for an earth like orbiting a neutron star and also looking for large black holes, so far i have found alot of CFT's including water worlds and also ammonia world but no actual earth like around a neutron star, several mini nebula stellar remnant things and many interesting systems.

I have no idea how much the trip will net me when i return, I'm guessing about 30kk, so far i've visited less than 2000 systems so I go pretty slow, scanning and enjoying the view. I can however say there are millions and millions of neutron stars and black holes around the core region, its like 2 huge donuts of them one above and one below the galactic plane. 10k ly's wide and at least 1k ly's thick.

I plan to make a dash for home over the weekend and get back intime for 1.2, so we will soon see what my travelled will reward me with!

 

[Zenith]

Well done OP!

I've switched from the "prospector" activities looking for interesting worlds with life, terraform candidates and Earth-likes. I'm now in "industrial grinding" mode and in a neutron star rich area, just like you were.

I keep a spreadsheet running of my discoveries so I still log if I find a gas giant with water or ammonia based life, or a likely looking terraform candidate (I've got very good at spotting them now). Just lately though, 2 out of 3 stars are neutron stars or white dwarves. With this data tracked, I calculated that I scanned through more than 1.5M Cr of exploration data last night alone!
I've already worked out how many objects it will take and the approximate timescale. My intention is to stay out here gathering enough data to guarantee leapfrogging Pioneer straight to Elite.

I've been looking for an earth like orbiting a neutron star and also looking for large black holes, so far i have found alot of CFT's including water worlds and also ammonia world but no actual earth like around a neutron star, several mini nebula stellar remnant things and many interesting systems.

I've also found gas giants with water and ammonia based life in orbit around neutron stars. I've even found a couple of terraform candidate high metal content planets around neutron stars.

The closest I've come to an Earth-like around a neutron star was a K class star 50k ls out with a mini system of 4 terraform water worlds and an Earth-like in orbit. They aren't directly in orbit around the neutron star though.

 

[stren]

My latest exploration trip was only going to be 8000 light years but I ended up on a huge trip to Sag A* and I figured out how to make exploration pay (not as good as trading but an actual decent amount).






This is one section about 17,000 light years from Sol, note that ONLY Non Sequence Stars are selected (Neutron Stars and Black holes).

View attachment 18673

There are millions of them, if you add in white dwarfs as well then this probably triples the number.

Each one is worth 20k + Exploration bonus of 10k and you can do about 1 per minute. Just jump in, scan star, jump to next one, and because they are really close together you can scan loads before you have to fuel scoop.

View attachment 18678

That's from one page that took around 20 minutes to complete, + 50% discovery bonus = around 1.5 to 1.7mil per hour. And really it's not that amount because you have to spend 12-18 hours of just jumping just GETTING to that area.

I'm on a similar trip, still 10 K ly to SOL. And I have found the same patch of neutron stars , but did not stop to specifically map them.

It's quite ironic that not Discovering but rather shotgunning (only Detail-scan what is within immediate range, then jump right off) is the most profitable and fastest way indeed...

Only moving around for Earth-likes or Terraforming candidates then, leaving 99% of these Systems unexplored since it simply consumes way too much time and is highly unprofitable at the same time.

That's how I do it.



You can be a completionist if you want, there is plenty enough systems for everyone. So I say explore how you like and don't belittle someone's way of exploring as all explorers sacrifice a lot of time for a very long and sometimes tedious game play, not to mention the loneliness.