For consideration of future changes, I outlined my own ideas for how exploration should work in this thread here: Long story short, I hoped that on the initial Honk the scanner would let you know if there were record breaking objects in the system for you (new largest planet type, biggest rings etc) without saying what or where they were, for which you'd still need the surface scanner. Now with Journals I think it would add much needed meaning to exploration if the scanner did indeed trigger so, as you already have potential integration for a local log of such data...
Exploration Scans
- Thread starter Sandro Sammarco
- Start date
That's not been a big problem. Basic scanner is meant to be basic, beginner-level tech. It's the cheap standard scanner that comes pre-installed and is used by people who do not have the means or desire to upgrade.
If what you want is more variety then the basic should be left alone and the ADS should come in a variety of different versions (including current), one to suit every play style.
First of you can already add two more digits to exploration payouts as is, make it 4+ if you want to slow down the current exploration pace even more.
That said, I'm not necessarily against slowing down exploration.
But ... And this is very big bubble but(t)!
NOT WITH THE CURRENT MECHANICS!
Exploration didn't had any direct improvements in terms of mechanics nor payouts almost since release (a very very minor payout increase afaik).
We had some pretty cool concepts of scanning and we know working mechanics from other games, yet in Elite we honk, wait, jump.
Most people don't even bother flying to the bodies anymore because it hurts the cr/h you make which in the end determines you rank.
Those who do explore for the name tag get way less profit and those who actually explore to see things barely anything, and I say that considering that the min maxers already hardly get anything.
Weeks or even months worth of exploration yields you just a few million credits, something you can make in a couple hours via trading, bounty hunting or mission running, and all that with the risk of losing all those weeks or month worth of gameplay if your ship pops either because of a up or because someone kills you.
Elite feature an amazing galaxy, yet the exploration mechanics are the dumbest most mind numbing thing in the game.
It is so bad that your brain goes into standby after a few systems worth of scanning and you have to fight to stay awake.
It really makes me sad that the number one activity that should be the biggest advert for Elite and its 1:1 galaxy is barely even supported in the game.
Give us active system scan mechanics to check for bodies that isn't just a "hold your fire group button down for 5 seconds" - this could be coupled with active signal source scanning!
Give us active planetary surface scan mechanics for all the detailed data of a body that isn't just a "point your ship X ls away (heck you don't even SEE planets properly that far away) towards the body for 30 seconds" - this could be coupled with active POI scanning (and later resource veins if we ever get to get surface mining).
GIVE US PROPER PAYOUTS THAT IS ON PAR WITH THE OTHER GAME ACTIVITIES, WE'RE WORSE THAN PIRACY IN TERMS OF PROFITS (ESPECIALLY IF YOU SLOW DOWN THE PACE EVEN MORE)!
It can't be that people are out for half a year and return with just a few hundred million more!
Also give us exploration data vouchers for discovering interesting things in signal sources and POIs! Data caches (small AND big ones) are pointless and worth nothing on the black market, and driving the SRV is just a forced thing for materials instead of actually doing it for exploring a planet. POIs don't give you anything (if you can even find one nowadays now that most human made ones are gone and those only gave you a few thousand credits from a data voucher which is again, not worth the time whatsoever) and in the end you're just wasting a lot of time instead of getting rewarded with cash and rank.
And please for the love of all Thargoids if you get the orrery map done please give us intra system plotting that don't affect the galaxy map plotting so we can go from body to body in a sensible order.
Additionally something that isn't entirely exploration related:
Make the escape and approach from and to bodies quicker. Seriously you're just crawling until you get like 1c+ and then again until you get 15c+.
This would hardly shrink the size of the galaxy or the systems but would make it actually enjoyable to get up close to a body for the sights or mission alike.
That said, I'm not necessarily against slowing down exploration.
But ... And this is very big bubble but(t)!
NOT WITH THE CURRENT MECHANICS!
Exploration didn't had any direct improvements in terms of mechanics nor payouts almost since release (a very very minor payout increase afaik).
We had some pretty cool concepts of scanning and we know working mechanics from other games, yet in Elite we honk, wait, jump.
Most people don't even bother flying to the bodies anymore because it hurts the cr/h you make which in the end determines you rank.
Those who do explore for the name tag get way less profit and those who actually explore to see things barely anything, and I say that considering that the min maxers already hardly get anything.
Weeks or even months worth of exploration yields you just a few million credits, something you can make in a couple hours via trading, bounty hunting or mission running, and all that with the risk of losing all those weeks or month worth of gameplay if your ship pops either because of a up or because someone kills you.
Elite feature an amazing galaxy, yet the exploration mechanics are the dumbest most mind numbing thing in the game.
It is so bad that your brain goes into standby after a few systems worth of scanning and you have to fight to stay awake.
It really makes me sad that the number one activity that should be the biggest advert for Elite and its 1:1 galaxy is barely even supported in the game.
Give us active system scan mechanics to check for bodies that isn't just a "hold your fire group button down for 5 seconds" - this could be coupled with active signal source scanning!
Give us active planetary surface scan mechanics for all the detailed data of a body that isn't just a "point your ship X ls away (heck you don't even SEE planets properly that far away) towards the body for 30 seconds" - this could be coupled with active POI scanning (and later resource veins if we ever get to get surface mining).
GIVE US PROPER PAYOUTS THAT IS ON PAR WITH THE OTHER GAME ACTIVITIES, WE'RE WORSE THAN PIRACY IN TERMS OF PROFITS (ESPECIALLY IF YOU SLOW DOWN THE PACE EVEN MORE)!
It can't be that people are out for half a year and return with just a few hundred million more!
Also give us exploration data vouchers for discovering interesting things in signal sources and POIs! Data caches (small AND big ones) are pointless and worth nothing on the black market, and driving the SRV is just a forced thing for materials instead of actually doing it for exploring a planet. POIs don't give you anything (if you can even find one nowadays now that most human made ones are gone and those only gave you a few thousand credits from a data voucher which is again, not worth the time whatsoever) and in the end you're just wasting a lot of time instead of getting rewarded with cash and rank.
And please for the love of all Thargoids if you get the orrery map done please give us intra system plotting that don't affect the galaxy map plotting so we can go from body to body in a sensible order.
Additionally something that isn't entirely exploration related:
Make the escape and approach from and to bodies quicker. Seriously you're just crawling until you get like 1c+ and then again until you get 15c+.
This would hardly shrink the size of the galaxy or the systems but would make it actually enjoyable to get up close to a body for the sights or mission alike.
Blank spheres in system map - NO. Discovery scanners should work like they do in 2.1.
Detailed map revealed only after detailed scan - I'm OK with that.
Detailed map revealed only after detailed scan - I'm OK with that.
Completely agree, you should certainly check it out Sandro.
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Please, we need options here. Some ppl like the idea of having to go up to a planet before you see it and for me that is pointless and basically what we have now. As an explorer that values naming things I would love to know if the plant I have to fly 300 000lys will be worth it in the end or just another plain old pink blob.... Put the feature to see the planet on one honk behind a big price point, i really don't mind that but please let us have the option to play the game the way we would like to.
That's an excellent point. The scan time is way too long.
The more I think about it the more I would like to be able to launch probes onces in a system and manage them to scan planets.
As long as the gameplay takes about the same time and you can make it a mini game that could be fun... just my 2 cents
The only thing I wasn t a fan of was getting into a system and knowing everything about it already. But on the other hand who wants to spend 30 minutes scanning for crap with no rewards for time spent. Yeah that s immersion but its not fun. If I am going to have to spend time to scan those planets I would rather do it by managing probes from my ship instead of having to move to each planet one by one.
The probes minigame could work like Salvage works in eve. Just a thought but I agree it is a difficult issue because no matter what some people will be unhappy
As long as the gameplay takes about the same time and you can make it a mini game that could be fun... just my 2 cents
The only thing I wasn t a fan of was getting into a system and knowing everything about it already. But on the other hand who wants to spend 30 minutes scanning for crap with no rewards for time spent. Yeah that s immersion but its not fun. If I am going to have to spend time to scan those planets I would rather do it by managing probes from my ship instead of having to move to each planet one by one.
The probes minigame could work like Salvage works in eve. Just a thought but I agree it is a difficult issue because no matter what some people will be unhappy
Here is my quick thoughts.
In order to not make the tiers below obsolete, why not allow them to be stacked. Get rid of the advanced discovery scanner and incorporate into having both an intermediate and basic discovery scanner. Then have the detailed for the new surface maps.
Basically
Having A basic discovery and an intermediate discovery scanner would be the same as having an advanced discovery scanner. Therefore there is purpose to having both. You can still just have either basic or intermediate but then you lose the stacking effect of both.
Performing basic ping with any stellar scanner will reveal crude graphical image of bodies within scanner ranges. Not blacked out or greyed out because that just isn't fun at all. Perhaps low-res at first, or maybe tie it into the level of scanner. Basic, gives you crude image of what the planet looks like, intermediate would give you a clearer picture but still a bit fuzzy, and then of course if you have both scanners you would get the 2.1 level of thumbnail. These will all still be visible enough to make out interesting planetary features. Lastly, 2.2 system map will be tied to detailed surface scan, but I say increase the range of that so it doesn't seem silly to have to scan something you could easily fly around and see for yourself. Passive scans will remain the same, tied to the type of scanner you have.
This I feel works the best for exploration. Exploration at it's heart is about going and finding the unknown, sometimes it's not exciting but it's not about what you eventually see, it's about the journey you take. I Eliminating the advanced discovery scanner gives us that one last opportunity to really go out into the unknown, not knowing what we will find. Using the old ways of finding those out there systems. Having the system map images clarity defined by type of scan will add to wanting to have the different scanners. And will entice you to go further out to that interseting yet blurry planet to see what it is really all about.
As for improvements on the detailed discovery side, I really think we need to look into having it help us locate planet-side poi's much better. I think a way point system integrated into the new 2.2 surface maps is very much needed and using that you can overlay some basic clues on to wear to find some of the more persistent poi's that are coming. Of course we'd also need some way of getting that info in cockpit and I really think if you can time some of those poi's to the salvage mechanic that would be very welcoming. Anyways just my thoughts on what I'd like to see.
And for those who say you'd lose module space, then sorry, that is the choice you must make. It's not always easy out in the big old black.
In order to not make the tiers below obsolete, why not allow them to be stacked. Get rid of the advanced discovery scanner and incorporate into having both an intermediate and basic discovery scanner. Then have the detailed for the new surface maps.
Basically
Having A basic discovery and an intermediate discovery scanner would be the same as having an advanced discovery scanner. Therefore there is purpose to having both. You can still just have either basic or intermediate but then you lose the stacking effect of both.
Performing basic ping with any stellar scanner will reveal crude graphical image of bodies within scanner ranges. Not blacked out or greyed out because that just isn't fun at all. Perhaps low-res at first, or maybe tie it into the level of scanner. Basic, gives you crude image of what the planet looks like, intermediate would give you a clearer picture but still a bit fuzzy, and then of course if you have both scanners you would get the 2.1 level of thumbnail. These will all still be visible enough to make out interesting planetary features. Lastly, 2.2 system map will be tied to detailed surface scan, but I say increase the range of that so it doesn't seem silly to have to scan something you could easily fly around and see for yourself. Passive scans will remain the same, tied to the type of scanner you have.
This I feel works the best for exploration. Exploration at it's heart is about going and finding the unknown, sometimes it's not exciting but it's not about what you eventually see, it's about the journey you take. I Eliminating the advanced discovery scanner gives us that one last opportunity to really go out into the unknown, not knowing what we will find. Using the old ways of finding those out there systems. Having the system map images clarity defined by type of scan will add to wanting to have the different scanners. And will entice you to go further out to that interseting yet blurry planet to see what it is really all about.
As for improvements on the detailed discovery side, I really think we need to look into having it help us locate planet-side poi's much better. I think a way point system integrated into the new 2.2 surface maps is very much needed and using that you can overlay some basic clues on to wear to find some of the more persistent poi's that are coming. Of course we'd also need some way of getting that info in cockpit and I really think if you can time some of those poi's to the salvage mechanic that would be very welcoming. Anyways just my thoughts on what I'd like to see.
And for those who say you'd lose module space, then sorry, that is the choice you must make. It's not always easy out in the big old black.
Ok here's what I would like, starting with the key feature:
Any planet which has previously been discovered by another CMDR will have a colored thumbnail preview icon in the system map. ONLY planets which are completely unknown to anyone will have the black icon in the system map. So if the planet has a "first discovered by" tag in the system map, it will ALSO have a thumbnail preview icon. If you see a planet/body with a black icon in the system map, you can be assured that scanning it will get your name on it and a "first discovery" bonus.
Here's what you should "get" at each scanning level:
1) Level 1 Scan = Honk (any honk regardless of scanner type) gives you the locations of bodies in the system, subject to scanner range. They appear as "unexplored" in your nav panel and (if undiscovered by ANY cmdr) as black spheres in your system map. (Otherwise they appear as thumbnails as in current implementation).
Intermediate Discovery Scanner should have a SUBSTANTIAL range increase, to the point where it will hit the majority of bodies in the majority of systems, and the (still infinite-ranged) Advanced Discovery Scanner should be mostly pointless for most people, and only exists so that you can be 100% sure that you're not missing anything.
2) Level 2 scan (where you point your ship at the body) gives you thumbnail image of planet in system map, and all the pertinent information about orbital periods, planet type, etc.
3) Level 3 scan (where you point a detailed surface scanner equipped ship at the body) gives you *details* about the *surface* of the body you are *scanning*. SO: you get the fully zoomed in rotatable textured planet surface, plus info about mineral composition and maybe hopefully some MORE info like locations of POIs, etc.
INSIDE THE BUBBLE:
• If you purchase the system data for a given system, or scan the NAV beacon, you get all of the above info (All bodies in the system, their thumbnail previews, relevant information, and the zoomed in rotatable surface map. (except maybe POIs and mineral composition, which can only be acquired by fitting your own DSS and directly scanning the planet. Not 100% sure on this one and I'm open to different ways of handling it)
ENGINEERING:
Add blueprints for:
• Increased surface scan range
• Decreased surface scan time
You should be able to modify your scanners in such a way that the surface scans (where you have to point your ship at the individual bodies) can be done in as little as 5 seconds, OR from much further away at the current scan rate.
MECHANICAL CHANGES to Surface Scanning:
• The closer you are to a given body, the faster the surface scan goes. The 30 second wait time that we're all used to will be the maximum scan time at the outermost edge of the scanner's range. If you are right on top of the planet, your scan times will be extremely short.
• As long as you're within scanning range, locked onto the body, and it is in your forward field of view AT ALL, your scanners will activate and begin scanning the body.
• The more precisely ON TARGET you are (ie lining up the plant in your crosshairs), the faster your scan will go.
Here are some time benchmarks for surface scans using an unmodified(not engineered) scanner:
• Maximum Range, edge of FOV (ie not centered on target): 1 minute scan time
• Maximum Range, centered on target: 30 seconds scan time (ie what we have now)
• Right on top of the body (so close that the 3d rotatable textured preview in the system map is "worthless"), edge of FOV: 10 seconds scan time
• Right on top of the body (again at "worthless" range), centered on target: 5 seconds.
- The general experience should be such that you can fly directly towards one body and will generally end up scanning it much faster than the default 30 seconds, OR you can have a body targeted and still scan it even if you are not flying directly towards it so long as you keep it in your FOV (making it easier to do "sweeps" of bodies that are relatively close together)
- Credit payouts should be adjusted in a way that makes sense given these changes. If you have any objections or constructive criticism to my proposed changes I'd love to hear them but PLEASE do not bother bringing up Credits/Hour as a talking point. It's the easiest thing in the world to adjust and it's never a good reason to hold back mechanical and tactical depth.
WHY do I want this:
1) It's doable. This is meant to be the "low imagination, low effort" path towards adding mechanical depth to the exploration and scanning system. I would LOVE to see a complete trashing of the current system and a rework from the ground up. However we all know that this is impossible. The proposed changes are in keeping with Frontier's preferred method of development, where they tweak numbers and add/remove timers here and there. The proposed changes above would be comparatively easy to do and would not require the development of any new assets or unique play mechanics. If they can tweak heat weapon damage endlessly, they can do this.
2) It's reasonable. It validates the existence of all the different scanners and gives appropriate actionable information at each scanning level.
3) It's fair. Most players will have access to most of the features of the system map most of the time without having to do anything. Within the bubble you will usually have all of this information "for free." Outside of the bubble it becomes an intersting mechanic which requires you to make MEANINGFUL decisions about how you outfit your ship and then how you choose to spend your time and attention in any given system, with appropriate rewards (not just credits) for different approaches.
4) It's fun. It adds a layer of depth to moment-to-moment decisions making while you are scanning bodies, it allows for a wider range of strategic thinking at all levels of exploration, and provides an enticing layer of mystery where appropriate, without excessively locking features away from players who are not interested exploration.
5) It's coherent. All of the scanners would do exactly what it sounds like they should do. All of the scanning levels would accomplish exactly what you would intuitively expect them to accomplish. All of the scanners would have a use and a role. Compare this to the current implementation, where the Advanced Discovery Scanner is the "I win" button, the Intermediate scanner is totally pointless, and the Detailed Surface Scanner has no gameplay use at all other than to increase credit payouts.
Any planet which has previously been discovered by another CMDR will have a colored thumbnail preview icon in the system map. ONLY planets which are completely unknown to anyone will have the black icon in the system map. So if the planet has a "first discovered by" tag in the system map, it will ALSO have a thumbnail preview icon. If you see a planet/body with a black icon in the system map, you can be assured that scanning it will get your name on it and a "first discovery" bonus.
Here's what you should "get" at each scanning level:
1) Level 1 Scan = Honk (any honk regardless of scanner type) gives you the locations of bodies in the system, subject to scanner range. They appear as "unexplored" in your nav panel and (if undiscovered by ANY cmdr) as black spheres in your system map. (Otherwise they appear as thumbnails as in current implementation).
Intermediate Discovery Scanner should have a SUBSTANTIAL range increase, to the point where it will hit the majority of bodies in the majority of systems, and the (still infinite-ranged) Advanced Discovery Scanner should be mostly pointless for most people, and only exists so that you can be 100% sure that you're not missing anything.
2) Level 2 scan (where you point your ship at the body) gives you thumbnail image of planet in system map, and all the pertinent information about orbital periods, planet type, etc.
3) Level 3 scan (where you point a detailed surface scanner equipped ship at the body) gives you *details* about the *surface* of the body you are *scanning*. SO: you get the fully zoomed in rotatable textured planet surface, plus info about mineral composition and maybe hopefully some MORE info like locations of POIs, etc.
INSIDE THE BUBBLE:
• If you purchase the system data for a given system, or scan the NAV beacon, you get all of the above info (All bodies in the system, their thumbnail previews, relevant information, and the zoomed in rotatable surface map. (except maybe POIs and mineral composition, which can only be acquired by fitting your own DSS and directly scanning the planet. Not 100% sure on this one and I'm open to different ways of handling it)
ENGINEERING:
Add blueprints for:
• Increased surface scan range
• Decreased surface scan time
You should be able to modify your scanners in such a way that the surface scans (where you have to point your ship at the individual bodies) can be done in as little as 5 seconds, OR from much further away at the current scan rate.
MECHANICAL CHANGES to Surface Scanning:
• The closer you are to a given body, the faster the surface scan goes. The 30 second wait time that we're all used to will be the maximum scan time at the outermost edge of the scanner's range. If you are right on top of the planet, your scan times will be extremely short.
• As long as you're within scanning range, locked onto the body, and it is in your forward field of view AT ALL, your scanners will activate and begin scanning the body.
• The more precisely ON TARGET you are (ie lining up the plant in your crosshairs), the faster your scan will go.
Here are some time benchmarks for surface scans using an unmodified(not engineered) scanner:
• Maximum Range, edge of FOV (ie not centered on target): 1 minute scan time
• Maximum Range, centered on target: 30 seconds scan time (ie what we have now)
• Right on top of the body (so close that the 3d rotatable textured preview in the system map is "worthless"), edge of FOV: 10 seconds scan time
• Right on top of the body (again at "worthless" range), centered on target: 5 seconds.
- The general experience should be such that you can fly directly towards one body and will generally end up scanning it much faster than the default 30 seconds, OR you can have a body targeted and still scan it even if you are not flying directly towards it so long as you keep it in your FOV (making it easier to do "sweeps" of bodies that are relatively close together)
- Credit payouts should be adjusted in a way that makes sense given these changes. If you have any objections or constructive criticism to my proposed changes I'd love to hear them but PLEASE do not bother bringing up Credits/Hour as a talking point. It's the easiest thing in the world to adjust and it's never a good reason to hold back mechanical and tactical depth.
WHY do I want this:
1) It's doable. This is meant to be the "low imagination, low effort" path towards adding mechanical depth to the exploration and scanning system. I would LOVE to see a complete trashing of the current system and a rework from the ground up. However we all know that this is impossible. The proposed changes are in keeping with Frontier's preferred method of development, where they tweak numbers and add/remove timers here and there. The proposed changes above would be comparatively easy to do and would not require the development of any new assets or unique play mechanics. If they can tweak heat weapon damage endlessly, they can do this.
2) It's reasonable. It validates the existence of all the different scanners and gives appropriate actionable information at each scanning level.
3) It's fair. Most players will have access to most of the features of the system map most of the time without having to do anything. Within the bubble you will usually have all of this information "for free." Outside of the bubble it becomes an intersting mechanic which requires you to make MEANINGFUL decisions about how you outfit your ship and then how you choose to spend your time and attention in any given system, with appropriate rewards (not just credits) for different approaches.
4) It's fun. It adds a layer of depth to moment-to-moment decisions making while you are scanning bodies, it allows for a wider range of strategic thinking at all levels of exploration, and provides an enticing layer of mystery where appropriate, without excessively locking features away from players who are not interested exploration.
5) It's coherent. All of the scanners would do exactly what it sounds like they should do. All of the scanning levels would accomplish exactly what you would intuitively expect them to accomplish. All of the scanners would have a use and a role. Compare this to the current implementation, where the Advanced Discovery Scanner is the "I win" button, the Intermediate scanner is totally pointless, and the Detailed Surface Scanner has no gameplay use at all other than to increase credit payouts.
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Disappointed we wont get planet surface maps revealed with the ADS like in the Beta (which I never got to try but really liked the sound of). I don't see the point in having to go up to a planet and doing a close scan just so the system map can then show me what I now already know (I am right next to the body and can see it with mk1 eyeball...) ...I want to know if it's worth going to look at the planet before I go to look at it.
Shouldn't scanners give you information about some thing that you cant already ascertain with your own eyes?
Shouldn't scanners give you information about some thing that you cant already ascertain with your own eyes?
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Bookmarking surface locations on planets.
Here are my remarks, then suggestion about the surveying part of the exploration gameplay :
Now, onto suggestions :
I will conclude by saying that I have an Elite rank in exploration, have been scanning thousands of bodies, and still enjoy it at times. However, I'm much more fond of the SRV gameplay in exploration, as well as photo OP's (esp near PN)
and canyon racing. Gating those activities behind numerous time consuming/low skill DSS scans is not wise idea if the goal is to improve/deepen/expand the exploration gameplay of ED.
- Scanning in general is low skill, low challenge activity. It requires no thinking. Just point at the dot, and wait. That, IMO is the core issue with planet scanning.
- In general, gating high skill, high involvement activities behind time tolls is a losing proposition : players not bothering to go through the tedium. E.g. in that case : photo OP's, SRV racing, planet flybys and canyon racing, which are all valid part of exploration.
- I do think it would be better to have 1 honk + 1 skill involved DSS scan on a promising target, than 1 honk and 30 non-skill involving DSS scans.
- The SRV wave scanner game mechanic is good. Why not do something similar elsewhere ?
Now, onto suggestions :
- Keep the surface maps tied to the ADS. This good, as it gives players options, and facilitate greatly picking good targets for SRV/flyovers/Photo OP's/High speed canyon non-sense, that would otherwise be put behind a time tax.
- Make the DSS scans more valuable by tying it to map overlays helping in locating interesting POI's like : geyser fields, possible exolife signs, anomalous signals and so on. These overlays just give some ideas of where interesting stuff can be found, not pinpoint to it.
- Exploration probes, reusable. I.e. enter a system, honk, look at the most interesting targets. Fly to one, deploy probes to the others. Those will do DSS then come back.
- Add in some "hidden" objects that the honk does not reveal, just suggest that something is there. (persistant POI's or objects visible from 1Kls, or less) To find those, add in some game mechanic similar to the SRV wave scanner to the discovery scanner. Possible anomalies/hiden objects : AI relic probe, UA/UP, Explorer wreckage, comets (non-gasing), and so on...
- When using a map surface overlay, allow to select a potentially interesting area (e.g. "Geologically active rift") and then use the wave scanner mechanics to allow the players to locate (pin point) one or several POI's in the area.
I will conclude by saying that I have an Elite rank in exploration, have been scanning thousands of bodies, and still enjoy it at times. However, I'm much more fond of the SRV gameplay in exploration, as well as photo OP's (esp near PN)
and canyon racing. Gating those activities behind numerous time consuming/low skill DSS scans is not wise idea if the goal is to improve/deepen/expand the exploration gameplay of ED.
This all sounds excellent, though one modification I'd make would be to change the basic/intermediate/advanced discovery scanner to use a combination of angular size (as seen from the current location) and albedo+illumination from star rather than absolute distance.
That's not really exploration, is it? I mean, Vasco De Gama didn't have a Rough Guide book or Google Maps.
I think the main problem isn't an information problem , but rather that flying back and forth in a system is incredibly dull and grindy.. If an effort is required to unlock the secrets of a system, Why then can't it be a different interaction than the same grindy travelling that already makes up 90% of exploration.
So if it's required that the played does NOT get the surface information or clue's on basic scan. (because it would be to easy or disrupt the effort/reward balance) Perhaps we can do something different to get that information.
I'd suggest something like a wide spectrum scan. A rough scatter of the spectrum along bodies in a system (like a heat map) including a rarity value.. this would give certain information with a new gameplay mechanic where a player can figure out what would be the most interesting bodies to surface scan.
So if it's required that the played does NOT get the surface information or clue's on basic scan. (because it would be to easy or disrupt the effort/reward balance) Perhaps we can do something different to get that information.
I'd suggest something like a wide spectrum scan. A rough scatter of the spectrum along bodies in a system (like a heat map) including a rarity value.. this would give certain information with a new gameplay mechanic where a player can figure out what would be the most interesting bodies to surface scan.
I would like the discovery scanner to give the surface in the planet view, and then the use of the surface scanner would require a full orbit of the body, revealing POI areas and types on the planet view, such as material fields etc. This could come in 3 different levels as well and give increasingly accurate data.