UA Mystery thread 4 - The Canonn

[b_laiskiainen]

Maia B1BA is a horrible place.

It's dark and full of 10k high mountains and who knows how deep chasms.

 

[Kristov]

I think Squiggsy's point was that dumping another, completely unrelated alien story on us before we've even scratched the surface of the current one would be confusing. LOST had a tendency to dump mysteries on its viewers and then neglect to progress them, eventually causing many to just abandon the series altogether. The longer you leave a mystery unsolved, the bigger the reveal has to be in order to justify all the time people will spend fruitlessly trying to answer it, and it only hurts things if you try to dump too many big mysteries on the audience too quickly. We do have multiple storylines going on right now, but they are all clearly defined and mostly seperate from each other. It's like art - it's not a science, and sometimes crazy things can work, but it has to be done carefully. There is a fine line between a brilliant painting and a splatter of paint.

Why would it be confusing? It's another storyline in a game that literally spans the galaxy, one that already has multiple different storylines ongoing. To many on these very forums, the UAs mean nothing, don't matter to them at all, aliens and all that, pishposh. They only care about the stories concerning their little corner of the bubble and nothing else registers for them. And some here don't even care about that much. And some of us look at every single story in GalNet and wish for MORE stories, there's so little going in such a massively populated area spread out over hundreds of light years of space...confusing? No, it's far too simplistic!

As for Lost, sorry, but what does bad television have to do with anything?

UAs, cool plotline, not sure what it means yet but Thargoids, not likely, wrong area of space, not their tech, not their style. Something else going on there, appears to be something sentient related, but the area involved, the unknown technology with a seemingly passively destructive application, not sure WHAT is behind them, but hostile or just unaware of the damage it causes? Not enough data at this time to make a conclusion of any real value, other than it's not Thargoids.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

I think that's because "Large Barnacles" is a name given to them by the "interstellar explorers", but that's not what they're actually called, assuming mankind does indeed have a name for them.

Following a little braindump on how to find Large Barnacles or Meta-Alloys.

So Meta-Alloys are somehow a combination of organic and non-organic material, presumably metallic. So I wonder if those things may cause a wave that will show in both the natural and artificial section of the Wave Scanner.
Also, as I had previously not looked at the details of the Wave Scanner, simply taking "Line at the bottom, natural stuff; line at the top, artificial stuff" I had a look at its Wiki page (http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Wave_Scanner) and learned that the middle line is for vessels.
This of course means that my recent find regarding UAs/Occupied Escape Pods does not mean that the scanner shows living things, but things can may contain a living thing. Do I think this will apply to Meta-Alloys? No. Do I think this will apply to Large Barnacles? Possibly. If the Large Barnacle = Downed Thargoid Ship holds, then quite certainly so.

Preferably I'd like a way to decide whether I should look for natural or artificial signal sources, or maybe even for vessels. I think we need to look for "unusual" signal sources, but I still find that a bit hard as I didn't put much focus on learning the different signals.
Also, can somebody tell me what those "columns" are that sometimes show up on the scanner? They go pretty much from top to bottom through all 3 sections, my assumption is that that's mountains or something.

I have read somewhere that is the signal for a POI spawning so to keep on going for a while. Try Kat's compendium, think I saw something on there (or one of her links) https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=210881

 

[magillag]

Throwing this one out there:

The wave scanner is not able to find Meta-Alloys nor barnacles because they are organic. The wave scanner can only pick up metallic and elemental signatures.

Agree/disagree/provemewrong

 

[Ihazevich]

Sweet! Do you have a screen shot of the wave scanner scanning it per chance?

It's two thin lines on top, same as the beacons.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Just to make it clear, we do not know if those things in the trailer are barnacles. We should of course search for them, but until we know for sure we should not assume that they are the same things that appear in the in-game description and which are associated to meta-alloys. They may end up being that, but we just don't know yet.

Absolutely correct Jorge, but there is nothing wrong in hypothesisng that they are, and then reasoning towards a testable experiment; however I have run out of ideas to test (well I have one, but maybe tomorrow or Friday)......

 

[Colonel Kenney]

Throwing this one out there:

The wave scanner is not able to find Meta-Alloys nor barnacles because they are organic. The wave scanner can only pick up metallic and elemental signatures.

Agree/disagree/provemewrong

Either way - we know they are "exceedingly rare" which means you are more likely to spot them from the air than the ground. You can cover way more terrain in the air.

 

[Jorki Rasalas]

Well I've been out of the loop for a while but generally what was great about the UA threads is that we would embrace every idea put forward, however wacky, crazy or idiotic it might seem.

I mean yeah sure be critical and express that constructively if you want, but I think the UA search, Canonn and all that at it's core thrives on enthusiasm and for me I think it's great to encourage that above all, even if you personally think whatever is being suggested make no sense whatsoever!

It's really easy to get disillusioned and burn out sometimes, I definitely have, if that happens my advice would be to take a break and come back when something piques your interest.

Things are probably a bit worse now that they were though, this thread seems to move even faster that it used to and it can sometimes be a little frustrating when your suggestion seems to get and buried within the space of a few hours.

Perhaps poor scientific method, Probably too many theorists, Definitely insufficient experimenters, Absolutely too much paranoia!

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Has anyone tried punching a UA in the face?

In many movies, solutions are found by punching things (people, animals, etc) in the face. The UA seems to have a face, and therefore it can be punched there. Maybe it'll squeal and tell us what it knows. Or maybe punching it in the face will simply provide a sense of moral rectitude.

If that doesn't work - we could approach a UA nonchalantly and take up a position as though we are waiting to have our shoes shined by it, then hand over a £20 note and whisper "What's the word on the street, Johnny?"

If that doesn't work, back to punches in the face, repeatedly.

(It has to be in the face though, or it won't work. Right in the face)

Rubber hose, or high voltage electricity attached to the podules. Has anyone tried waterboarding one??

 

[unrealization]

Maia B1BA is a horrible place.

It's dark and full of 10k high mountains and who knows how deep chasms.

Told ya. ;-)
I'll be back there in about 45 minutes, I guess.
If you like we can wing up for a search, maybe one on the ground and one in the air.

 

[Iridium Nova]

Please, re-read my post. I haven't stated anywhere that I don't think Thargoids are coming, just that we don't have certainty that they are already here.

Ok, I see what you're saying. However, FD did say in a Q&A session that Thargoid content is in Season 2. I suppose you're right, we don't know if that means it's currently in season 2 or that it's coming.

I don't think we'd actually pass 'through' Polaris that way, Witchspace is a different dimension after all. We've already noted that we no longer come out in the same direction/facing as we entered into Hyperspace, we did at one time, but FD changed that a few updates back(it WAS useful when coming out of hyperspace in a binary or more system, as the direction you came at the system from would determine where you'd exit at, no longer works however).

Your idea about the following the wake sounds good at first, but following a wake in SC is not the same as following one for a Hyperspace jump, you can't make the jump without having a target destination, and Polaris is locked out, so it wouldn't work, even using a Wake Scanner, it would select Polaris, no permit, no jump allowed. Can't even fly there via SC(if there's even a system within range for that) as you can't fly from 1 system to another via SC, you still have to make the jump via Hyperspace to end up in the instance the system is in. A nice way for FD to get around us ignoring the permit locked systems I might add, because we CAN travel via SC to many of the permit locked systems. It's a long flight in some cases, but we've got the hardware to do it, an Asp has a 64t tank and using 1t/hr, that's a very long way you can travel at 2001c, add some extra tanks and there's not any permit locked system in the bubble you can't reach. May take you some days of real time flight in SC, but you can do it easy enough, people have. Hell, I sent my own Asp flying straight out from a system for 10 hours, flew far enough to reach another system, still had to make the jump to get INTO the system.

First, my idea was to jump through the section of Witchspace that Polaris occupies, and see if we can see anything out the window. I'm sure we've all heard the crazy reports that people claim to have seen weird things in Witchspace. Maybe there really is something there? Probably not, but if anyone's in the Polaris region, might not be a bad idea to check. And maybe try it with a UA in the hold too. As far as wake scanning, wouldn't it be enough of a breakthrough if we could simply see a wake going into Polaris? Sure, we can't follow it, but a screenshot of that might get the ball rolling on some new theories. Proof that SOMEONE (even if it is an npc) has a permit to go there. Then we can dig around and analyze who they are, faction, ship type, what they had for breakfast, etc... This is what the Canonn does from what I gather.

Why would it be confusing? It's another storyline in a game that literally spans the galaxy, one that already has multiple different storylines ongoing. To many on these very forums, the UAs mean nothing, don't matter to them at all, aliens and all that, pishposh. They only care about the stories concerning their little corner of the bubble and nothing else registers for them. And some here don't even care about that much. And some of us look at every single story in GalNet and wish for MORE stories, there's so little going in such a massively populated area spread out over hundreds of light years of space...confusing? No, it's far too simplistic!

As for Lost, sorry, but what does bad television have to do with anything?

UAs, cool plotline, not sure what it means yet but Thargoids, not likely, wrong area of space, not their tech, not their style. Something else going on there, appears to be something sentient related, but the area involved, the unknown technology with a seemingly passively destructive application, not sure WHAT is behind them, but hostile or just unaware of the damage it causes? Not enough data at this time to make a conclusion of any real value, other than it's not Thargoids.

My point was that it wouldn't be confusing, IF it was properly explained and developed. I don't have any problem with multiple first encounters stories going on at the same time. I'd just want them to make sense and be explained. The longer it takes for a mystery to be solved, the harder it is to justify the time and effort it takes to solve it. My question is, can they deliver a satisfying outcome to this mystery? I guess we'll see.

Throwing this one out there:

The wave scanner is not able to find Meta-Alloys nor barnacles because they are organic. The wave scanner can only pick up metallic and elemental signatures.

Agree/disagree/provemewrong

I dropped my UA on Pleione 4 during an experiment. Drove around a bit pointing my SRV at it. It does show up on the wave scanner. It shows in the upper middle range, where you'd expect a ship to show up, and makes about the same sound as a cargo canister (aside from its usual whale/scream). If you really want it, I can put up screenshots and even a vid. I did notice that it didn't turn toward Merope when sitting on the surface, but that may be because it lacks any form of ambulatory appendage. Also, it stopped decaying while on the surface. That part was interesting. Everything else cargo-related decays. UA's decay in space. But this one sat on the surface at 100% for a good 3 or so minutes before I picked it back up again.

 

[unrealization]

Throwing this one out there:

The wave scanner is not able to find Meta-Alloys nor barnacles because they are organic. The wave scanner can only pick up metallic and elemental signatures.

Agree/disagree/provemewrong

I think at least one, if not both of them will show up on the scanner.

 

[rizal72]

I dropped my UA on Pleione 4 during an experiment. Drove around a bit pointing my SRV at it. It does show up on the wave scanner. It shows in the upper middle range, where you'd expect a ship to show up, and makes about the same sound as a cargo canister (aside from its usual whale/scream). If you really want it, I can put up screenshots and even a vid. I did notice that it didn't turn toward Merope when sitting on the surface, but that may be because it lacks any form of ambulatory appendage. Also, it stopped decaying while on the surface. That part was interesting. Everything else cargo-related decays. UA's decay in space. But this one sat on the surface at 100% for a good 3 or so minutes before I picked it back up again.

It does not decay if you drop it from SRV. If you drop it from ship it decays as usual.

In the video I've posted few days ago, you can clearly see how it shows on the Wake Scanner. Two lines in the 2/3 upper part of it. Like any other Cargo Canister.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZfKzhRIMvQ

 

[yoda711]

Either way - we know they are "exceedingly rare" which means you are more likely to spot them from the air than the ground. You can cover way more terrain in the air.

umm no. We have no proof that either meta alloys or barnacles are in POI's that are large enough to be spotted from the air. I would say that FD wants us driving the SRV, and that is how they will likely be found.

 

[squiggsy]

Throwing this one out there:

The wave scanner is not able to find Meta-Alloys nor barnacles because they are organic. The wave scanner can only pick up metallic and elemental signatures.

Agree/disagree/provemewrong

In their description it says "Many elements form the structure so technically they are alloys". I think they might show up on the bottom of the wave scanner like the rocks that contain materials for this reason. I have been thinking about this a lot though, someone might have had one on their wave scanner and discounted it as something else and ignored it at some point.
Though hopefully the "Large" is not an overstatement and they will be quite obvious.

 

[Han_Zen]

I think at least one, if not both of them will show up on the scanner.

The word 'organic' is dangerous. It can mean different things in different contexts.
In this case describes the growth pattern, not the chemical composition. Meta-alloys are metal. They should show on the scanner.

 

[Julio Montega]

umm no. We have no proof that either meta alloys or barnacles are in POI's that are large enough to be spotted from the air. I would say that FD wants us driving the SRV, and that is how they will likely be found.

No proof, but logic.

Meta-alloys are cargo, so they qualify as being randomly generated rare stuff,
like the sap-8 containers could be found in U.S.S.es free-floating sometimes.
Simple logic here is, that there are mission to go out and bring 1 meta-alloy back,
which can only be done, if it is a piece of cargo.

The barnacles however, i think are a fixed POI,
following the popular thesis of them being structures planetside.
They also were inhibiting the player from calling his ship in,
which is a quality of fixed POIs.

 

[Colonel Kenney]

umm no. We have no proof that either meta alloys or barnacles are in POI's that are large enough to be spotted from the air. I would say that FD wants us driving the SRV, and that is how they will likely be found.

Well then if you assume that then it WOULD show up in the wave scanner. For it to be organic then and not show up on the radar would be ridiculous.

 

[yoda711]

In their description it says "Many elements form the structure so technically they are alloys". I think they might show up on the bottom of the wave scanner like the rocks that contain materials for this reason. I have been thinking about this a lot though, someone might have had one on their wave scanner and discounted it as something else and ignored it at some point.
Though hopefully the "Large" is not an overstatement and they will be quite obvious.

good point. So far I have been ignoring the lower half of my scanner, but I think I will at least check out some of the metallic meteorite signatures.

...since meteorites are found "in space" and "on planet", seems to fit.

img credit: dognosh

 

[squiggsy]

The word 'organic' is dangerous. It can mean different things in different contexts.
In this case describes the growth pattern, not the chemical composition. Meta-alloys are metal. They should show on the scanner.

Why are meta-alloys metal? as my above post shows they only say they are composed of many different elements, while a metal is involved in alloys normally, the wording of in the description "so technically they are alloys" implies they aren't necessarily classed as one. (though yes they probably do contain some metallic elements, but how much?)
Also the scanner seems to pick up non-metalic elements since sometimes I'll only get carbon in a rock that it has happily detected on the scanner

 

[Zenith]

good point. So far I have been ignoring the lower half of my scanner, but I think I will at least check out some of the metallic meteorite signatures.

img credit: dognosh

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Cmdr shellström over on G+ has put together a little interactive tool to visualise the wave scanner. It includes a short audio clip for some objects.
http://www.sandladan.nu/projects/sweep-scanner/