Best post 3.0 HGE signal source search technique?

[Quantis Trap]

In SC around Checkpoints and the like.

For example, say you need Pharmaceutical Isolators, you would go to an outbreak system. Simple so far right? Well, if you also find one in Civil Unrest spawning Checkpoints you will find way more USS's nearby in SC.

Tl;Dr Find 'Dual State' systems with your desired HGE source types able to spawn (Outbreak, etc.) AND have it be in Civil Unrest spawning Checkpoints. Hover in SC around the Checkpoint.

Here's a technique I've not specifically tried before. I'll have to try this in a high population system if I can find it in the dual state.

I still haven't finished editing the accompanying video, so here is the text of the short version of my guide which will be posted in full somewhere on this forum soon...

Nice work Aashenfox. +rep I'll read this and your new post when I comes.

I agree with your idea that it's all about reducing the variables in order to get the mats you want. I've employed that idea in the past.

 

[zarrazee]

In SC around Checkpoints and the like.

For example, say you need Pharmaceutical Isolators, you would go to an outbreak system. Simple so far right? Well, if you also find one in Civil Unrest spawning Checkpoints you will find way more USS's nearby in SC.

Tl;Dr Find 'Dual State' systems with your desired HGE source types able to spawn (Outbreak, etc.) AND have it be in Civil Unrest spawning Checkpoints. Hover in SC around the Checkpoint.

I had to laugh at your tl:dr. Are we now at the stage where 4 short sentences is too much to read?

 

[Quantis Trap]

There is no search technique.

There are things you can do that may make the RNG work, but there's no real method to consistently getting them.

Sacrificing a small child to a blood moon in the back yard of Braben's house on the 30th February while Elvis sings and Hendrix plays might help your chances somewhat.

LOL! I can always count on you for great entertainment! Tried to +rep, but you have your quota from me for a while.

 

[AbsinthSvK]

best search technique so far is find a slave who will be search for you

 

[GunnerBill]

USS of any kind seem to spawn more when you are approaching to drop on an object, another USS or are about to jump.

If you find one USS approach it as if to drop and often as you are nearly there another USS spawns. Me and wing mates often use this technique and have spawned maybe 3 or 4 consecutive USS off an initial one until a HGE appears - they don't always appear though.

Again if not successful we initiate an H-Jump and often just as the timer is about to zero a USS appears. The trick here is to not be aligned so the jump doesn't automatically initiate.

We also find that USS spawn frequently when about to drop in on a station.

It could be any USS because I don't think there's any way to spawn a particular kind just that HGE might be more frequent in certain types of system (Boom High Pop etc), so the more you spawn the greater the chance of finding an HGE.

 

[Aashenfox]

USS of any kind seem to spawn more when you are approaching to drop on an object, another USS or are about to jump.

If you find one USS approach it as if to drop and often as you are nearly there another USS spawns. Me and wing mates often use this technique and have spawned maybe 3 or 4 consecutive USS off an initial one until a HGE appears - they don't always appear though.

Again if not successful we initiate an H-Jump and often just as the timer is about to zero a USS appears. The trick here is to not be aligned so the jump doesn't automatically initiate.

We also find that USS spawn frequently when about to drop in on a station.

It could be any USS because I don't think there's any way to spawn a particular kind just that HGE might be more frequent in certain types of system (Boom High Pop etc), so the more you spawn the greater the chance of finding an HGE.

Bill, the thing about HGEs is that their main trigger is 'deep space'. Now they also have a small chance to spawn in shipping lanes as well, but still the main trigger is deep space. Within a certain distance of populated areas, bodies, stars, you have a much higher variation of USS types, close to system bodies you will get: weapons fire, convoy wakes, all kinds of emissions (now including HGE, albeit rarely), whereas going a certain distance away from everything immediately reduces dilution from weapons fire detected and convoys. In fact, 1500ls+ from the nearest body, you ONLY get Degraded Emissions, Encoded Emissions, Distress Calls, and HGEs, with the occasional VERY rare other type thrown in.

So getting into the sweet spot 2000ls above a star doesn't directly increase HGE spawns, but it DOES reduce the other spawns. Then there's the fact that the further away you go from the system out into deep space, the less USS spawns you get, this gives you a notable 'sweet spot' and why I made the guide on the first page.

 

[AbsinthSvK]

Aashenfox HGEs expert ,
can you please tell me why sometimes information about Deep space do not show? Its bug or something? Sometimes there is name of system even when im far far from main star and no other star is in system.
And i guess with no Deep space information HGE doesnt spawn.

 

[Aashenfox]

Aashenfox HGEs expert ,
can you please tell me why sometimes information about Deep space do not show? Its bug or something? Sometimes there is name of system even when im far far from main star and no other star is in system.
And i guess with no Deep space information HGE doesnt spawn.

I was wondering this myself the other night. I assume it's a state of 'zero' space somewhere between deep space (and sometimes beyond it) and shipping lanes, I agree it's weird that it just says nothing there sometimes. Can't help on that one I'm afraid. Thanks for the vote of confidence though, I appreciate it.

edit: Thinking about the coding aspect of it, you have to think what the designation method is. Is it that shipping lanes are defined and everything 'else' is 'Deep Space'? Or is it the other way around (unlikely)? Or, what is possibly more likely as an explanation for the anomaly you refer to, is that both shipping lanes and deep space are defined by parameters extrapolated from specific aspects of the system layout, and anything that is not one or the other is 'zero' space, and Frontier is ok with that.

 

[Conch]

i wished they removed the whole USS feature thing.. and replace it with good gameplay.

nobody in the right mind enjoys looking for USS..

 

[Deleted member 38366]

My personal "best shot at it" remains the same as pre 3.0 :

- the higher the System population, the better
- fly 90deg above or below the System's orbital plane
- head out between 2500-7500Ls
- keep throttle somewhere in the blue and fly back towards/away from the Sun
- if nothing useful comes up after some ~5-10mins, manually reset instance (drop Normal Space/re-enter SC)
- if nothing useful comes up after a long time, screw that System and fly to another that qualifies for what you need
- good luck

 

[Aashenfox]

i wished they removed the whole USS feature thing.. and replace it with good gameplay.

nobody in the right mind enjoys looking for USS..

Yes. I couldn't agree more, BUT, how do you satisfy everyone? If you say that all G5 manufactured materials drop from combat and get rid of HGEs, how does an explorer who is averse to combat get them? If you say, add them to encoded and degraded emissions, but rarely, then we will have the same problem of people waiting for the right spawns, and even then maybe not getting the rare material they want.

I'd love to get rid of the HGE search, but I can't think of another method that's fair on all player types.

 

[Hellakitty]

Yes. I couldn't agree more, BUT, how do you satisfy everyone? If you say that all G5 manufactured materials drop from combat and get rid of HGEs, how does an explorer who is averse to combat get them? If you say, add them to encoded and degraded emissions, but rarely, then we will have the same problem of people waiting for the right spawns, and even then maybe not getting the rare material they want.

I'd love to get rid of the HGE search, but I can't think of another method that's fair on all player types.

Let us buy them with credits, or at least give us favourable lateral trades across the board for rare materials at the respective traders.

Those that want to gain them organically through their normal playing of the game, can still do so. Those that want to buy them or use other rare mats to trade laterally, can do so, while the odd few HGE's that you'll run across while you play the game will be a nice surprise and be nothing more than a welcome top-up.

 

[Aashenfox]

Let us buy them with credits, or at least give us favourable lateral trades across the board for rare materials at the respective traders.

Those that want to gain them organically through their normal playing of the game, can still do so. Those that want to buy them or use other rare mats to trade laterally, can do so, while the odd few HGE's that you'll run across while you play the game will be a nice surprise and be nothing more than a welcome top-up.

Hm...Maybe a special materials trader that ONLY deals in G5, and swaps 2 for 1, even between material types. That would mean keeping HGE mechanics though. I don't agree with credit purchase, cos I don't have enough, lol.

Another option is mission rewards, for example, instead of offering biotech conductors, the mission giver could give you a choice of the G5 materials they have in stock from a wider selection. But then some people don't want to do missions either, such as my good friend Conch, above.

There are things that could be done, for sure, if I spent a good deal of time thinking about it. As I say, I fully expect after this raft of complaints, that FD also see HGE mechanics as the last bugbear that needs sorting for engineering, so I expect a significant change to this sometime this year.

 

[Conch]

For explorers there should be more planetary POIs, where they can get manufactured mats.

or keep the USS, but change how it works. Bind it with the disco scanner.. honk and you get a few USS. Instead of floating aimlessly waiting for stuff to spawn.

 

[Sylow]

I'd love to get rid of the HGE search, but I can't think of another method that's fair on all player types.

.
My only issue with the whole HGE system is, how boring it turns out in actual use. I mean, you even already pointed out how to eliminate most other USSes, which sure reduces the effort of checking out "wrong" USSes, but that also eliminates all variety.
.
I personally find USS hunting more bearable when being a bit closer to the star and also dropping into distress calls for example. That quite often results in having to fight off a wing of pirates. It's not most efficient, but more fun, which more than compensates for the additional effort, in my eyes.
.
So my ideas on how to improve things here would be along the lines:
- "Camouflage" HGEs a bit. You might find some populated by pirates and the likes and other Events.
- Give distress calls also the option to reward you with materials. I mean, i can find HGEs with a destroyed T9 and a pile of pharmaceutical isolators still floating around. But if i enter a distress call, where a T9 is just fighting for survival, i don't get anything. Wouldn't it be reasonable, that perhaps the T9 of a distress call, as a gesture of gratitude, would also drop some material?
.
It's just one idea and i guess people can easily come up with more such things. Implementing this shouldn't be impossible, but in my eyes would add a lot to the experience.
.

 

[Lori Jameson]

I had to laugh at your tl:dr. Are we now at the stage where 4 short sentences is too much to read?

You should see some of the fine specimens of our species. Some refuse to read at all, others requre you to bring out the crayons... I even heard that a select few actually are required to eat their books for the words to properly process!

I'll edit it to reflect what I wanted to convey.

 

[Aashenfox]

.
My only issue with the whole HGE system is, how boring it turns out in actual use. I mean, you even already pointed out how to eliminate most other USSes, which sure reduces the effort of checking out "wrong" USSes, but that also eliminates all variety.
.
I personally find USS hunting more bearable when being a bit closer to the star and also dropping into distress calls for example. That quite often results in having to fight off a wing of pirates. It's not most efficient, but more fun, which more than compensates for the additional effort, in my eyes.
.
So my ideas on how to improve things here would be along the lines:
- "Camouflage" HGEs a bit. You might find some populated by pirates and the likes and other Events.
- Give distress calls also the option to reward you with materials. I mean, i can find HGEs with a destroyed T9 and a pile of pharmaceutical isolators still floating around. But if i enter a distress call, where a T9 is just fighting for survival, i don't get anything. Wouldn't it be reasonable, that perhaps the T9 of a distress call, as a gesture of gratitude, would also drop some material?
.
It's just one idea and i guess people can easily come up with more such things. Implementing this shouldn't be impossible, but in my eyes would add a lot to the experience.
.

I like the idea of increasing spawn rate of HGE along with accompanying risk, in other words, a threat level other than 0. The pirates should definitely be aware that all the PF members are scouring space for high end materials and set up appropriate ambushes. So yeh, to spell it out mechanically, triple the HGE spawns and givem them a totally random threat level between 0 and, say, 3 (cos again if you give high risk, you've got combat averse people moaning).

 

[Muetdhiver]

I like the idea of increasing spawn rate of HGE along with accompanying risk, in other words, a threat level other than 0. The pirates should definitely be aware that all the PF members are scouring space for high end materials and set up appropriate ambushes. So yeh, to spell it out mechanically, triple the HGE spawns and givem them a totally random threat level between 0 and, say, 3 (cos again if you give high risk, you've got combat averse people moaning).

It would be neat, sure. But I think a serious rework of the SS system need to be done. Soon.

• Upon entering SC, there should be 5-10 ships already doing their stuff. Not this drip drip drip populating we have now.
• Same goes for SS, entering SC we should have a number of them, identified by type from the get go, if possible in interesting places.
• Said SS should be long lasting (like 10-30 min) and be persistant (get into one, get back in SC => the ones not yet explored are still here)
• Tie SS better with missions. Include for example HGE's in salvage missions, or piracy missions (pirate a T9 with medicine that drop PI as cargo along it).

Why would it be good :

• It would remove the wait-to-play "gameplay" tied with mat collection. That alone would be huge. If you have 6 different SS to pick from from the moment you get in SC, it's likely that you'll find something you are interested in.
• Allow player to consitently get what they are seeking while doing "usual" stuff. Like : take a piracy mission in a outbreak system => get PI and medicine that will sell for good profit. Maybe even some experimental medicine for $$$.
• Much improve immersion : if stuff is already there when I enter SC, it gives the illusion that something was going on while I wasn't there.

 

[Maro-Val]

Looking for HGE signal sources. OMG what a soul destroyer..

 

[GG7]

Because of the overwhelming number of complaints and confusion over HGEs in 3.02, with many of those complaints being lodged by veteran players who know this mechanic VERY well, I think the logical conclusion to draw is that the current system is bugged.

I am certainly not seeing the increased spawn rates claimed in the 3.02 patch notes. I am also noticing a major drop in the predictability of the G5 material provided based on the system state.

Hopefully, whatever went south in the HGE code in 3.02 gets corrected in 3.03. This next point update is supposedly due out either Thursday of this week, or Tuesday next.

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/413563-Community-Feedback-and-3-0-3-Update