How do people find all the "cool stuff"

[2Karl]

Hi all,

this may have been answered already, but although searching the forums has led me to some great resources like the canonn webpage, I'm still confused as to how a lot of the awesome stuff in the game (generation ships, crashed alien ships, abandoned bases, ghost ships) is initially discovered. I mean I had hoped that by reading GalNet updates I might get some clues as to weird stuff going on, or leads that I can follow to find some of this stuff myself (I know I can follow guides posted by people on the forum, but I was hoping there's be some sort of immersive, in-game method).

I found a crashed nav buoy on a planet, but that was pure luck and apparently that's a randomly generated encounter. How do people search whole planets to find hidden bases? How do people even know which systems to look in? If I wanted to set myself up as an explorer-savant, what tips could you give me?

It's just that as much as I'm loving the game, every time I read an exciting news article on eurogamer about how some CMDR has solved a mystery that's been around for years, I feel a little sad inside, like there's this whole side of the game I'm not participating in.

Any advice?

 

[Factabulous]

Look at your nav panel in every system. Investigate anything you don't recognise. Same on planets. Keep fingers crossed - it will happen [up]

Edit: For finding phenomena we know about there are often guides. Barnacles / Brain Trees / Guardians / Thargoid Structures / Organics / Geologics. Read the guides, talk to the experts. Or wait for Q4 2018, where it should switch to easy mode.

Edit2: Read Herald (only Herald, others are generated) Articles not tagged with Freelancer in stations. Follow clues.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Yep, use your eyes, your ears, your navigation panel, your radar, even your Data Scanner.

I got caught up not that long ago chasing signals given off by data points and satellites from one system to another. It was a fun distraction.

It just takes some effort to actually find a thing never before found.

 

[Chris Simon]

Hi all,

this may have been answered already, but although searching the forums has led me to some great resources like the canonn webpage, I'm still confused as to how a lot of the awesome stuff in the game (generation ships, crashed alien ships, abandoned bases, ghost ships) is initially discovered. I mean I had hoped that by reading GalNet updates I might get some clues as to weird stuff going on, or leads that I can follow to find some of this stuff myself (I know I can follow guides posted by people on the forum, but I was hoping there's be some sort of immersive, in-game method).

I found a crashed nav buoy on a planet, but that was pure luck and apparently that's a randomly generated encounter. How do people search whole planets to find hidden bases? How do people even know which systems to look in? If I wanted to set myself up as an explorer-savant, what tips could you give me?

It's just that as much as I'm loving the game, every time I read an exciting news article on eurogamer about how some CMDR has solved a mystery that's been around for years, I feel a little sad inside, like there's this whole side of the game I'm not participating in.

Any advice?

There are lots of ways. I remember when FD released a sneak-peek video of an alien ruin, someone was crazy enough to triangulate the location based on the stars in that video. It is the most mind-boggling thing I've seen in this game.
Other times it's just blind luck. There are simply enough people looking, that even a really improbable things are quite probably going to be found.

I suspect hacking into game files is also a valid option to some people.

 

[2Karl]

Edit2: Read Herald (only Herald, others are generated) Articles not tagged with Freelancer in stations. Follow clues.

I'm not fussed about being the first to find something, but I would like to find something just using cues in-game rather than foillowing a guide on the forums. It feels a little immersion-breaking. Thanks for the heads up on Herald though

There are lots of ways. I remember when FD released a sneak-peek video of an alien ruin, someone was crazy enough to triangulate the location based on the stars in that video.

I suspect hacking into game files is also a valid option to some people.

Yeah see that's awesome about the triangulation thing, but both of these feel too "out of game" for me. I guess I'll keep looking and checking Herald. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Factabulous]

Seriously, the Heralds are least interesting - especially as many are in code. Nav panel is most useful. I've been first to find megaships just by looking at the Nav Panel and wondering - what's that?

 

[Oss133]

I just look in my wardrobe. All the cool stuff is there.

 

[Vasco Sapien]

I just look in my wardrobe. All the cool stuff is there.

 

[GTwannabe]

There are lots of ways. I remember when FD released a sneak-peek video of an alien ruin, someone was crazy enough to triangulate the location based on the stars in that video. It is the most mind-boggling thing I've seen in this game.
Other times it's just blind luck. There are simply enough people looking, that even a really improbable things are quite probably going to be found.

I suspect hacking into game files is also a valid option to some people.

That's what they claimed at least. A lot of this stuff is actually being found by picking apart the game files after each update.

 

[mpax]

That's what they claimed at least. A lot of this stuff is actually being found by picking apart the game files after each update.

Was supposed to be a "aint nobody got time for dat" gif...

 

[Chris Simon]

That's what they claimed at least. A lot of this stuff is actually being found by picking apart the game files after each update.

There has never been a proof of this. I've just added it as a tongue-in-cheek remark.

 

[Knightshark]

Watch your CPU load, it increases if something is nearby. Turn graphics to minimum, surface objects appear as artifacts. Science man!

 

[Strangepork]

Hi all,

this may have been answered already, but although searching the forums has led me to some great resources like the canonn webpage, I'm still confused as to how a lot of the awesome stuff in the game (generation ships, crashed alien ships, abandoned bases, ghost ships) is initially discovered. I mean I had hoped that by reading GalNet updates I might get some clues as to weird stuff going on, or leads that I can follow to find some of this stuff myself (I know I can follow guides posted by people on the forum, but I was hoping there's be some sort of immersive, in-game method).

I found a crashed nav buoy on a planet, but that was pure luck and apparently that's a randomly generated encounter. How do people search whole planets to find hidden bases? How do people even know which systems to look in? If I wanted to set myself up as an explorer-savant, what tips could you give me?

It's just that as much as I'm loving the game, every time I read an exciting news article on eurogamer about how some CMDR has solved a mystery that's been around for years, I feel a little sad inside, like there's this whole side of the game I'm not participating in.

Any advice?

Have you tried YouTube?

 

[2Karl]

Have you tried YouTube?

Sigh.

 

[2Karl]

Seriously, the Heralds are least interesting - especially as many are in code. ?

I love codes though. I love piecing together clues and searching, rather than just randomly stumbling across things. These are the sorts of things I'm most interested in and I wish were more frequent in the game - little news reports of strangeness in whatever system, a missing ship in this area, a coded message leading me on a trail to find other clues. That's exactly what I want to be doing, but finding the start of a "rabbithole" or breadcrumb trail eludes me.

 

[Stinja]

Frontier did mention they seed clues in-game to use on puzzles:

[video=youtube;n8e_AUqQDds]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8e_AUqQDds[/video]

They were talking about Jaques and a treasure hunt specifically, but inferred it happens for other stuff too.

I wonder if anyone ever get all the Jaques clues after the fact?

 

[shadow133]

More specific question... how the heck did CMDR Robbie Junior came across CMDR Jameson’s cobra? I visited the place and would guess its proximity with the inra bases could point to the system. Other than that its a small ship in the middle of nowhere, in a dark (when I visited) whole. Even with the coordinates in hand it took me several flybys to locate the poor . There is no nav point or clue on nav tab from what I noticed, and it almost feels like pure luck or hand of god type of thing, but if there is another explanation I would love to know.

 

[Factabulous]

More specific question... how the heck did CMDR Robbie Junior came across CMDR Jameson’s cobra? I visited the place and would guess its proximity with the inra bases could point to the system. Other than that its a small ship in the middle of nowhere, in a dark (when I visited) whole. Even with the coordinates in hand it took me several flybys to locate the poor . There is no nav point or clue on nav tab from what I noticed, and it almost feels like pure luck or hand of god type of thing, but if there is another explanation I would love to know.

<yawn> wish people would look into this rather than casting aspersions. I actually think that ship is visible at a longer range than the bases - I spotted it at around 40 Km out and I usually can't see anything. Anyway, here - yet again - is the explanation for how he cora was found: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ed-Ships-etc?p=6162301&viewfull=1#post6162301

As for the wannabe earlier - what a clot. xdeath and others spent weeks on tracking down the base.

 

[shadow133]

<yawn> wish people would look into this rather than casting aspersions. I actually think that ship is visible at a longer range than the bases - I spotted it at around 40 Km out and I usually can't see anything. Anyway, here - yet again - is the explanation for how he cora was found: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ed-Ships-etc?p=6162301&viewfull=1#post6162301

As for the wannabe earlier - what a clot. xdeath and others spent weeks on tracking down the base.

Thanks for the post and the free sarcasm, somehow I missed post #264 out of #304. If it bothers you so much, why write? Jezz I wish I had this kind of time available, the guy found by luck after 3 hours looking for anything. But seriously, thanks for pointing out (again) the answer, I am sure more people will wonder the same (again) soon, but now one more person knows where to find this “cool stuff”.

 

[Factabulous]

Thanks for the post and the free sarcasm, somehow I missed post #264 out of #304. If it bothers you so much, why write? Jezz I wish I had this kind of time available, the guy found by luck after 3 hours looking for anything. But seriously, thanks for pointing out (again) the answer, I am sure more people will wonder the same (again) soon, but now one more person knows where to find this “cool stuff”.

Yeah, I was more wound up by the other guy, sorry you got some flack I guess I prefer it when people just ask how things are found with an open mind, and I see the way the finders are treated by default as if cheats, which ... isn't great
o7