So i guess one of the things we're asking for in this thread is: what kind of more fundamental changes to exploration and scanning would folk be interested in seeing?
Ok, well, if that's what you're asking Sandro, here's my complete list!
1) I would like to see Discovery Scanners and Detailed Surface Scanners
mounted in utility slots, instead of internal compartments. It would help to explain why most of the dedicated explorer ships have 4 utility mounts (which they don't really need) and yet so few internal compartments (which they DO need), while also freeing up internal space for other modules... and all of the other scanners in the game (kill-warrant, FSD wake, & cargo scanners) are all mounted in utility slots, so it would make sense if the Discovery Scanners were as well!
2) Now that we've made some space inside the ships, I would like to
add supercruise-capable probes, that can be launched to go and perform surface scans on planets so as to reveal the new 3D map (so you don't have to fly all the way there to scan the planet yourself, which seems to be what so many people are concerned about). Obviously having to launch probes would not be quite as quick as just honking the ADS once, but if the probes are fast enough then it should only be slightly slower - by the time you launch the last probe, the first probe might already be reporting back, so very little time is wasted.
The probes could also introduce new gameplay elements, if they have limited fuel supplies... for example, a probe launched to a nearby world could return to you afterwards, ready to be used again, but a probe launched to a distant world might not have enough fuel to make it back, obliging you to either rendevous with it halfway, or to just abandon the probe and have to synthesize a new one. And if there is an alignment of planets, like there was when Voyager 2 was launched, then you could send a single probe to investigate several planets one after another, making the most efficient use of your fuel - which might be important, if you are in a system with no scoopable stars! Trying to decide how many probes to launch, and what the most efficient route for them to take would be, could become a nice little exploration mini-game...
3)
The Orrery View! This would be really useful for when you are trying to determine the most efficient route for your probes, and it would also be useful for my fourth suggestion, too:
4)
Nerf the Range on the ADS, and oblige the player to use parallax, and the information available on the system map, to track down other bodies in the system! I can already hear the outrage, but hear me out - most explorers who object to having to use parallax do so because it would be tedious and slow, as well as frustrating and just not rewarding enough - all legitimate points. But most of these complaints only apply when you are trying to find PLANETS via parallax, because after all, planets are small, faint, and you have no way of knowing where they are (or even if there are any at all), you just have to fly around randomly until you stumble across them.
What I am suggesting is that the ADS should have a range of perhaps 50,000 light seconds, enough to find practically every planet orbiting the primary star when you first jump into the system... but if there is another star in the system, more than 50,000 ls away, you have to use parallax to find that star - and ONLY the star, because once you get there you can again find every planet in orbit around it just by honking once. I see this as a good compromise, not just because finding stars is easier than finding planets (they're big, bright, and you know how many there are because even undiscovered stars show up on the system map) - but also because you can use your brains to scientifically work out where the stars will be (based on how they affect the orbit of the primary star, what kind of star it is, what the orbital eccentricity is, etc), and then use parallax while flying in that general direction! It's not random, and it shouldn't take very long - but I'm sure that it would be very satisfying to track down a star like this (much more so that just a honk, anyway...)
I would also buff the range on the Intermediate Discovery Scanner, up to 5,000 ls, which is respectable (about as far out as Saturn in our own solar system) - enough to find almost all Earth-likes, Ammonia Worlds, High Metal Content Worlds, etc... and it makes for a nice progression, with the Basic Discovery Scanner's range being 500 ls, the Intermediate one being 5,000 ls, and the Advanced one being 50,000 ls. (I like number patterns!) I would also rename it the Standard Discovery Scanner, so that it doesn't sound so much like a stepping stone, and I would make it cheaper too, so that some people might actually be tempted to use it...
I see a lot of people in this thread asking for all of the Scanners to be given infinite range, with the Basic showing the black blobs, the Intermediate showing what it does at the moment, and the Advanced showing the full 3D planetary surface, and I admit that this would be a very elegant solution to the current problem. But I never liked the whole "infinite range honk" thang, and I sincerely hope that we get probes (or something!) instead... giving ALL the scanners infinite range would be a step in the wrong direction, in my opinion at least.
