So you want to know about the Formidine Rift? (Part 3)

[Sterlino]

finally someone is waking up

6 months ago i left the game just because i found silly to continue to search things (the barnacles at the time)
using only my eyes on my monitor (that has a very low resolution) all the gameplay time.


how can a game of this level having such silly and boring mechanics of gameplay?
ok, the combat is important, nobody can deny that .. but exploration is one of the most important things to do in this game.
and it is treated this way?

this is intolerable.

We Should start a real remonstrance
and a continuous whining until something will change.

it would be just enough something very simple: like a ranged sensor scan
1 year and we do not have anything of similar to it.
it's almost incredible.

 

[Baton]

So players are now having to lower their graphics settings just to reduce the risk of flying over it and not missing it.

What the chuff do graphics settings have to do with the game??? It's just players being forced to work around a missing game mechanic in order to achieve the next to impossible.

So as a *BARE MINIMUM* take that component, the need to lower graphics and add a mechanic so players don't need to do this.

A simple mechanic where if you come within 30 odd km it's highlighted, you then take out the p--- poor aspect of players being forced to change settings and players literally flying over things and just not being able to see them.

Have a rep, I am a living example of that, I went over Delta site around Sunday with settings on Ultra and no surprise I did not spot it, then by sheer accident, I went over the same exact spot few days later with settings on Low and here it was. Yes definetely something should be done.
My main concern is, taking part of this search it looks like let say 300 pilots is taking part, this is next to nothing in terms of a group that demands changes to the game. This is probably why changes to exploration have such low priority over things like combat. Unfortunately

 

[The Excubitor]

finally someone is waking up

6 months ago i left the game just because i found silly to continue to search things (the barnacles at the time)
using only my eyes on my monitor (that has a very low resolution) all the gameplay time.


how can a game of this level having such silly and boring mechanics of gameplay?
ok, the combat is important, nobody can deny that .. but exploration is one of the most important things to do in this game.
and it is treated this way?

this is intolerable.

We Should start a real remonstrance
and a continuous whining until something will change.

it would be just enough something very simple: like a ranged sensor scan
1 year and we do not have anything of similar to it.
it's almost incredible.

It seems like whenever there is a quality of life update for exploration, it gets shot down during Beta, because for some reason or another the community says it kills their immersion. Such as the detailed planet map upon honking.

 

[Jaiotu]

Have a rep, I am a living example of that, I went over Delta site around Sunday with settings on Ultra and no surprise I did not spot it, then by sheer accident, I went over the same exact spot few days later with settings on Low and here it was. Yes definetely something should be done.
My main concern is, taking part of this search it looks like let say 300 pilots is taking part, this is next to nothing in terms of a group that demands changes to the game. This is probably why changes to exploration have such low priority over things like combat. Unfortunately

Not tools that find the target for you. Tools that narrow down the search. It would be awesome if the shear fact of flying over a POI would put some kind of flag up on the surface map saying "investigate here".

I hate that a DETAILED surface scanner can't scan the surface for details.

 

[lotusexcelle]

Not tools that find the target for you. Tools that narrow down the search. It would be awesome if the shear fact of flying over a POI would put some kind of flag up on the surface map saying "investigate here".

I hate that a DETAILED surface scanner can't scan the surface for details.

I like the quadrant/bookmark idea as well. Even further along in the "not going to happen" list... what if players could set up orbital beacons that relay already searched areas to arriving ships. Kinda like we could zoom in on the planet and see where other people have flown. After you've searched you fly to the beacon to upload your data for the next poor *person that was born without a legitimate father* that decides to go blind looking for stuff.

 

[ishmair]

Happy to help with team search, but just useless with latitude and longitude. Can't wrap my tiny brain head round it, despite many attempts.

- - - Updated - - -



Any particular reason for the Sidewinder?

use your heading. 0 degrees is north, 90 degrees is east, 180 degrees is south, and 270 degrees is west.

 

[Assimilator1]

Search made "easy"

Get to the north pole - top number (latitude) on your hud should be 90 (-90 for south pole), the second number does not matter to get there. Just turn your ship to bearing 0 and fly (normal, sc, glide, does not matter) till you get to 90 - you are at the north pole.

Then pick up any number you like on the lower display (thats longitude -180 to 180) , this is the one you will be searching along and you need to stick to it, turn your ship towards south pole (bearing 180 in the middle top of your hud) and just go. Make sure your bearing is 180 and the bottom number is what you selected (so let say you picked up longitude -57, on the bottom part it should say -57, if you move away from it to check something, then just come back)

Bum! after 6 hours you arrived at the south pole (top number -90) , then pick up another longitude ie.135 , turn your ship to bearing 0 and you go for the north pole along 135 - another 6 hours

This is how I did find Delta site anyway

This is an excellent method & can work with many players or just a few, but what we would need to do is record the longitudes that have been searched in a table here, or at least linked here.
.
The only thing I don't understand is that it seems in your 1st paragraph you suggest starting from the north pole & fly all the way round back to the north pole, but that would mean you'd be in the dark roughly 1/2 the time ......... Oh wait, did you mean, To get to the north pole, you'll want your top hub number at 90°, so to achieve this ........... no I don't get it, how does bearing 0 get you to the north pole when the north pole is 90° latitude? , surely we'd want to head for 90 don't we??
.
Cmdr Mogriax
Wow that's a low max speed! I guess you have your ship is totally stripped down for the best jump range? (What is it btw?).
My ships is not a pure jump range ship, so I have A grd thrusters with a top normal speed of ~290 m/s, so it would 'only' take ~12 hrs to do 1 longitudinal strip

 

[Barking_Mad]

I agree with the lack of exploring mechanisms and the fact it's nuts to rely on finding them by eye, but I'm not convinced about any solutions that are little more than a point and click shortcut that ultimately makes finding something that's currently very difficult to find, very easy.

For instance If we had a scanner that gave a reading suggesting there's man made objects in a certain area, (say a quarter of a planet), we'd have found them all weeks ago. So design wise I have sympathy with FD, I can't see an easy fix*.

*Apart from having detailed atmospheric worlds where searching a visually interesting area large or small, is interesting in itself.

- - - Updated - - -

Search made "easy"

Get to the north pole - top number (latitude) on your hud should be 90 (-90 for south pole), the second number does not matter to get there. Just turn your ship to bearing 0 and fly (normal, sc, glide, does not matter) till you get to 90 - you are at the north pole.

Then pick up any number you like on the lower display (thats longitude -180 to 180) , this is the one you will be searching along and you need to stick to it, turn your ship towards south pole (bearing 180 in the middle top of your hud) and just go. Make sure your bearing is 180 and the bottom number is what you selected (so let say you picked up longitude -57, on the bottom part it should say -57, if you move away from it to check something, then just come back)

Bum! after 6 hours you arrived at the south pole (top number -90) , then pick up another longitude ie.135 , turn your ship to bearing 0 and you go for the north pole along 135 - another 6 hours

This is how I did find Delta site anyway

Thanks, I'll give it another go.

Today i've started taking a screenshot of the system planet map and marking off the random areas I've checked. It's like peeing in the sea, but at least there's some sense of progress. I'll put a link up later to the image.

 

[Moraes]

In one of the Rift logs, the guy quotes Reorte and Riedquat, coincidence? Maybe not, what brings us back to the line of Reorte and Riedquat quoted in the book, for the 2 aligned and follow to the end of the arm and a little more, I'm leaving the searches in the Rift and already moving to the line and Starting to pull me away from the Rift, any news I scream.

Expedition Log 07/09/3270
"Finally fixed the drive, more monotony." I can not believe it's been six months since we've been out of Riedquat. More months before we can turn and head back. The stars are thinning out, you can the whole galaxy just hanging there ... "

Just out of curiosity, "The vain queen rides a giraffe that remembers her daughter's hero.," the line is in Cassiopeia (queen) if I am not mistaken, and is above Camelopardalis that would be the giraffe, near Perseus the hero, and Andromeda daughter, well, looking towards the end of the galaxy a bit down you can see, maybe I'm already crazy about that empty space, or I just need to sleep, but it's something I noticed yesterday

 

[Assimilator1]

finally someone is waking up

6 months ago i left the game just because i found silly to continue to search things (the barnacles at the time)
using only my eyes on my monitor (that has a very low resolution) all the gameplay time.


how can a game of this level having such silly and boring mechanics of gameplay?
ok, the combat is important, nobody can deny that .. but exploration is one of the most important things to do in this game.
and it is treated this way?

this is intolerable.

We Should start a real remonstrance
and a continuous whining until something will change.

it would be just enough something very simple: like a ranged sensor scan
1 year and we do not have anything of similar to it.
it's almost incredible.

.
You all make good points folks, but can we get back on topic now?
Maybe we should start a new thread re the searching issue (unless their already is 1?).

 

[Baton]

This is an excellent method & can work with many players or just a few, but what we would need to do is record the longitudes that have been searched in a table here, or at least linked here.

Yes, that what I was trying to do asking pilots to help : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ybon23PwwD5HWrHqDfRWPhvGUAOZkM3SN5fJ6-xIYFo/edit?usp=sharing

The only thing I don't understand is that it seems in your 1st paragraph you suggest starting from the north pole & fly all the way round back to the north pole, but that would mean you'd be in the dark roughly 1/2 the time .........

Nope, being on any pole you pick up any longitude you like, ideally stick to the one that is sunny at the moment

Oh wait, did you mean, To get to the north pole, you'll want your top hub number at 90°, so to achieve this ........... no I don't get it, how does bearing 0 get you to the north pole when the north pole is 90° latitude? , surely we'd want to head for 90 don't we??

You are confusing bearing with coordinates - bearing - middle top of your HUD - 0 takes you to north pole.
OK, I reedited my OP as it was actually bit confusing at places - sorry about that

 

[bitstorm]

Have a rep, I am a living example of that, I went over Delta site around Sunday with settings on Ultra and no surprise I did not spot it, then by sheer accident, I went over the same exact spot few days later with settings on Low and here it was. Yes definetely something should be done.
My main concern is, taking part of this search it looks like let say 300 pilots is taking part, this is next to nothing in terms of a group that demands changes to the game. This is probably why changes to exploration have such low priority over things like combat. Unfortunately

Here's an example for one of the Hawkin's Gap sites...

Can you see the site? Look closely, I promise you it's right there below you!

Now look at this...

Spoiler

This is with shadows disabled. You can see it now.

If you have shadows turned on in the graphics settings you would not even see it.

How ridiculous is that? This is what we have to deal with. It's hard enough as it is.

The amount of time we are being asked to search such huge areas and you literally won't see it if you have shadows on.

Think about that, if you've spent hours upon hours searching, like many of us have, you might have flown right over it but missed it because shadows were on.

Well... it upsets me anyway.

 

[Adec]

Thanks for the reply. I've been wondering though, I read somewhere that whatever we are looking for, doesn't require horizons. I'm curious as to why people want to scan surfaces?

 

[Assimilator1]

Because the bases are their.
.

use your heading. 0 degrees is north, 90 degrees is east, 180 degrees is south, and 270 degrees is west.

That sounds easier , so is that the compass you're referring to or the hud?

 

[bitstorm]

Not tools that find the target for you. Tools that narrow down the search. It would be awesome if the shear fact of flying over a POI would put some kind of flag up on the surface map saying "investigate here".

I hate that a DETAILED surface scanner can't scan the surface for details.

Yes that for me.

I do actually like the act of surface scanning, flying over a planet looking for stuff. It really gives the planetary procgen a chance to shine (especially so in VR).

But when you have to turn off all the details to do it?

Or even if you do you still can fly over and miss it?

The planets are big enough as it is, we should not be put in a position where someone flies right over the top of it and can't see it (in 3300).

I don't know if it's the right solution really, but I think a coloured highlight on the object if within 30km could work as a start. It should be easy to implement, makes minimal changes to what we have but gets rid of the "stupid" of it all. It's just a mechanism that says... look you've got close enough, there you go.

 

[Assimilator1]

Btw, yea I do agree something needs to be done to help searching a bit, I think something like the SRV scanner which gives a rough idea of where something is, once you're within say 10 kms, or more.

Here's an example for one of the Hawkin's Gap sites...

With shadows, can you see the site?

http://i.imgur.com/NN8MzoJ.jpg


And here with shadows disabled.

Spoiler

http://i.imgur.com/xuPTR8J.jpg

If you have shadows turned on in the graphics settings you would not even see it.

Seriously how ridiculous is that?

The amount of time we are being asked to search such huge areas and you literally won't see it if you have shadows on.

Think about that, if you've spent hours upon hours searching, like many of us have, you might have flown right over it but missed it because shadows were on.

Well... it upsets me anyway.

Errr, I can't see the base in either pic! lol, where is it?
[edit] Oh wait, is it that miniscule xmas tree shaped thing near a little crater?

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

Here's an example for one of the Hawkin's Gap sites...

Can you see the site? Look closely.

http://i.imgur.com/NN8MzoJ.jpg

Spoiler

And here with shadows disabled.

http://i.imgur.com/xuPTR8J.jpg

If you have shadows turned on in the graphics settings you would not even see it.

Seriously how ridiculous is that?

The amount of time we are being asked to search such huge areas and you literally won't see it if you have shadows on.

Think about that, if you've spent hours upon hours searching, like many of us have, you might have flown right over it but missed it because shadows were on.

Well... it upsets me anyway.

Honestly, I can't see it with or without shadows!

Errr, I can't see the base in either pic! lol, where is it?

Oh good! It's not just me!

 

[racer1]

I too agree we really need some better search/exploration mechanics. It really is such a shame. The game is great already, but could be so much better. Plus the recent glaring bugs in new core content are a concern as well. I really hope for next season allowing them to have headline features while giving them time to consolidate existing game play at the same time.

Regarding a pole to pole search broken down by degrees of longitude. We just need to be careful we aren't missing stuff as 1 degree of longitude around the equator of an earth sized planet is just over 110km wide. My feeling is that with that much width the base may not be visible even from 25km up.

Someone please check my maths lol (2pi r/360) were r is 6400km for earth.

 

[bitstorm]

Honestly, I can't see it with or without shadows!



Oh good! It's not just me!

Heh really?

I added another image into the spoiler in my post.

 

[Assimilator1]

Honestly, I can't see it with or without shadows!



Oh good! It's not just me!

Lol , I think I finally did spot it, I think it's that miniscule xmas tree shaped thing near a little crater, look (nearly) straight up from his ships RH winglet, 1/2 way in the canyon.
Btw I found looking at a my monitor from a different angle helped a lot! (From higher up).