the FSS, watching paint dry....

[gooddoc]

This is my gripe with it, you actually spend way too much time in the FSS and then you still have to go to every planet to finish the process, actually take 10 time longer to survey a system than the old way of doing it.

Sorry but that's rubbish!

Once you've used the FSS & got all the Planets in the system, you scanned the system. All this is done without spending minutes flying to each Planet in turn, to scan it - as in the old method. If this is taking you 10x longer, you're doing something wrong.

You only have to then go to any Planets if you want to check them out further, eg if they contain structures/features. The structure/feature information is giving to you in the FSS scan (Yes! it can take up to 30 seconds to get this info), but if you're looking for these structures/features, you'll wait for the info!

Then a session of Planetgolf reveals the locations of EVERY SINGLE ONE of these structures/features.

How can this be 10x longer than spending hours flying upside down, a few km above a Planet using MK1 eyeballs to locate stuff, stuff which MIGHT not even be there anyway - that's the old method!!

Boring & tedious?? Well like the word Grind, these words are subjective & a 'cop out'. They really depend on if you are doing something within the game which you have to, but dislike.

But if you're saying the new method is taking you 10x longer, then you're either doing it wrong or don't understand what you're doing!!!

BTW. I had GRAVE concerns about this method when it was first explained to us back in September's initial Livestream. Only when I tried it out myself in Beta, was I happy with what FD had done.
In fact I could get EVERY single System body (in a multi bodied system) scanned in a much quicker time, than my previous method (when I didn't scan Rock/Ice Worlds, but scanned everything else).

It's DIFFERENT!! but I like it.

 

[Stigbob]

The fss used for signal sources only and the DSS added to old exploration. Keep the credit buffs.

EDIT: more better, add the wildlife thargoid guardian raxxla anomaly detectors to the fss too. As someone amazingly pointed out, geological features are already stated on the system map there’s no need to god mod this information when you can just go read it.

I found honk and then fly at things a little less than compelling to be honest.

The new system as it is in 3.3. Anything is an improvement to the old place holder. But all this ranting for and against the mechanics is a moot point, FD have made the decision, it seems there are more players in support of it than against it so there is no reason at all for FD to change or amend it.

Yep pretty much how I see it. Some people just enjoy complaining, they rarely have actual opinions or reasons.

Thanks to B1rdy for proving my point :

An actual mechanic that would qualify as 'game' by definition.

 

[B1rdy]

Thanks to B1rdy for proving my point :

So we actually do agree on something?! *marks calendar*

 

[Enderby]

F-F-S

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

I found honk and then fly at things a little less than compelling to be honest.

Course it is.. no free discovery tags. They've taken a major reward away and given it away just for clicking. Really 2 name tags? That's so sub optimal.

Its almost like they weren't confident in their own system, and without making it truly a god powered device and FORCING it on people noone would use it.

 

[Riverside]

The new system as it is in 3.3. Anything is an improvement to the old place holder. But all this ranting for and against the mechanics is a moot point, FD have made the decision, it seems there are more players in support of it than against it so there is no reason at all for FD to change or amend it.

Your write as though you speak for everyone, clearly you are incorrect. Personally I'm happy for the new system to remain, I'm looking to retain the old discovery process along with it (ie the ADS module).

There is no democratic vote, and you have not backed up your numbers with any evidence (although I'd expect FDev to be able to with time). There is no good reason to remove the ADS from the game beyond 'because I say so', and while it's absolutely fine that you (or anyone else) prefers the new system, the old one still has a role it can play, not least of which is that it isn't the FSS.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Course it is.. no free discovery tags. They've taken a major reward away and given it away just for clicking. Really 2 name tags? That's so sub optimal.

Its almost like they weren't confident in their own system, and without making it truly a god powered device and FORCING it on people noone would use it.

You do understand this is so transparent only those few who already agree with you will pretend this is true, right? Having 99% of exploration consist of loading screens and straight-line SC was atrocious to most. It is great that you enjoyed it, more power to you, but you wont convince anyone having fun now. Which is the huge majority, so FD will keep it. No matter how you try to twist it.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Your write as though you speak for everyone, clearly you are incorrect. Personally I'm happy for the new system to remain, I'm looking to retain the old discovery process along with it (ie the ADS module).

There is no democratic vote, and you have not backed up your numbers with any evidence (although I'd expect FDev to be able to with time). There is no good reason to remove the ADS from the game beyond 'because I say so', and while it's absolutely fine that you (or anyone else) prefers the new system, the old one still has a role it can play, not least of which is that it isn't the FSS.

There are plenty of numbers, these forums are almost the only one where you cant see the popularity of a post/opinion. Check reddit and see the karma scores, it is really obvious.

 

[dubsdj]

Being out in the black it was the perfect opportunity to rinse and repeat the new fss and I can say without a doubt that it is a hundred times better than the original way. It is tedious yes but a lot less tedious than watching the triangles and travelling to each planet to get the data. My only criticism is that from my travels using the new system it does really highlight how very little there is out there to actually find. Sure you can find more than you could with the original system but its most of the time just repetitive geo sites that become pretty boring after the first few. There was one planet that I visited which I have to say was impressive and I was blown away by the attention to detail.

 

[Riverside]

I spend five hours exploring yesterday. I found tons of fumeroles, geysers and gas vents, of which I found none in the previous years. I even found bark mound, my first own discovery of life. It was awesome, and I spend almost no time doing nothing. Compared with the old system, where you mostly did nothing and virtually never found anything, this is an infinite improvement.

There finally is exploration gameplay, and I cant wait to get home from work early!

Glad you're enjoying it, but none of what you describe would be affected by putting the ADS back into the game. It should not have been removed.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

There are plenty of numbers, these forums are almost the only one where you cant see the popularity of a post/opinion. Check reddit and see the karma scores, it is really obvious.

Are you kidding? The ed reddit years ago turned into a self affirming cult. If you even suggest something that isn't the same as what the status quo are either loving or collectively hating you get downvoted into oblivion. Reddit is really scary, they have the star citizen attitude. Oh wait its you Nevermind.

 

[Riverside]

There are plenty of numbers, these forums are almost the only one where you cant see the popularity of a post/opinion. Check reddit and see the karma scores, it is really obvious.

So provide some evidence if you want to state that claim.

 

[M00ka]

Your write as though you speak for everyone, clearly you are incorrect. Personally I'm happy for the new system to remain, I'm looking to retain the old discovery process along with it (ie the ADS module).

There is no democratic vote, and you have not backed up your numbers with any evidence (although I'd expect FDev to be able to with time). There is no good reason to remove the ADS from the game beyond 'because I say so', and while it's absolutely fine that you (or anyone else) prefers the new system, the old one still has a role it can play, not least of which is that it isn't the FSS.

How am I writing like I am speaking for anyone but myself and how am I incorrect - I gather from that statement infers you and only you are correct.

Yes I can't quote any numbers, just like you can't quote overwhelming evidence that a compromise must be made between the old and new systems. IN MY OPINION (yes I capitalised it so you can understand it is MY OPINION) everything the old ADS did can be done by the new FSS, just the new system does so much more. Therefore IN MY OPINION the BDS/IDS/ADS system has been superseded by the new FSS system and is now obsolete to requirements.

 

[Ian Skippy]

So provide some evidence.

One of the top voted topics at the moment.
https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDange...o_way_is_the_new_exploration_mechanic_faster/

Come on dude, it is everywhere: the overwhelming majority of us love the new system. Just accept it...

If you want to know how the community feels, dont look at these boards but at reddit and general gaming forums. Here you have a handful of people posting dozens of "I dont like it!". Elsewhere hundreds of people say "this is awesome!" once and get back to playing.

Recent steam reviews? 1500 people or so, massively positive at ~90%.

 

[Runis]

The new system is tedious and it's not really exploration.
Sitting in your ship playing a minigame is less exploration than actually flying to the bodies themselves and see them with your own eyes.
I am about 35k ly out in the black, when i will get back at playing E.D. i will not spend 95% of the playtime in the FSS minigame.
I will just go straight to the actual targets i'm aiming, Sag. A and a few others.

It's good that i did my Elite exploration a very long time ago, i wouldn't have patience to do it like this.
But i'm not really an explorer and i can see the appeal for those who like it. So if people like it keep it like this.
I'm not sure everybody will still like it in a few months when it won't be a novelty anymore.

 

[OldManKnott]

I love it and hate it.

I love the fact that in a few minutes I've got data on the whole system, especially when planets are hundreds of thousands of light seconds away.
I hate the key bindings in any form, just no.

 

[Riverside]

Come on dude, it is everywhere: the overwhelming majority of us love the new system. Just accept it...

I am looking for the old ADS module to be put back into the game, there is no downside to this. The number of players happy that exploration has finally received some attention is overwhelming.

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

From a reformed ADS-aholic...

Many of you will know that over the years I've fought and fought any ideas to remove the ADS.

Frankly, now that I played with the FSS in the betas, now that I've been playing since 3.3's release, I can never go back to the old ADS. Here's why...

I'm currently heading towards my previously discovered Earthlike worlds, starting with one which is above the galactic centre. About 10.5 kylies from Colonia from where I've set off. Haven't reached there yet because on the way over I've discovered a new ELW, have gone visiting a few geological locations, and have discovered quite a few terraformable HMC's and Water Worlds, for which I feel compelled to fully surface map

"The Honk-when-you-enter-a-new-system is gone! "

Actually no it's not. You can in fact jump and insta-honk, after mapping the honk to one of your buttons. I have it mapped to my joystick button as before. And you simply keep your ship in Exploration mode as you jump. The honk is still there! Just like old times.

So the technique I use now is Hyperjump----Fwip into a new system---Honk whilst fuel scooping. This does a couple of things...

1) You instantly get a body count.
2) You instantly get; A) Every star in the system fully scanned. B) Any close orbiting bodies (e.g. planets) fully scanned.

My Captain's Log application ( ) updates with this information as well. It tells me the total number of stars and planets which have been scanned in that system so far. So now I can tell if that total matches the body count the FSS honk gave me earlier. If there's more to find then...

After scooping is complete, I fly away from the jump-in star, watching the speed until it counts up to about 12c - this is because it's better to fly away from the jump-in star before using the FSS because the closer you are to the star the more likely it will obscure bodies on the other side of it - then set throttle to zero and activate the FSS view.

By now I'm well versed with the frequency indicator at the bottom. I can instantly tell if there are ELW's, Water Worlds, Ammonia Worlds, HMC's, Icy Bodies etc. etc. Depending on how I'm feeling/what I'm wanting to do at the time, if all there is is HMC's and Icy Bodies and one or more Gas Giants, I'll either stay and scan, or move on to the next jump. Exactly as the ADS days. If there's a Water World and/or ELW then of course the decision has been made to stay for a bit. If I'm feeling like looking for some nice icy moons or rocky moons with canyons and such I'll stay and scan - a good clue to that is having a Gas Giant signal and Icy Body and Rocky/HMC signals - there's bound to be moonlets here, hopefully with volcanism, let's find out.

"It takes too long to scan using the FSS! Large body-count-systems are a nightmare! "

I thought that would be the case. I completely surveyed a 61-body system last night.

Here's the thing: The time it takes to scan something like a 61-body system is offset by...

1) You do not have to fly to each and every one of those 61 bodies. Imagine the time it takes to fly to them all. A lot of those might be orbiting stars which are Hutton Orbital distances away from the jump-in star, and be honest with yourself; how many of you actually bothered to fly that far using the old ADS system and you saw just how distant they were? I'd wager only one or two of you. I for one couldn't be bothered most of the time. Only exception would be if there was an ELW that far away - and even then I've simply not bothered and jumped on.

2) You get a full surface scan for each of those planets without having to fly to them. Again, imagine how long it would have taken to fly to each and every one of those 61 bodies and wait for the surface scanner to stop twirling and tell you a result.

Summary: It's actually much, much faster to fully survey an entire star system. You'll even get a UC credit bonus for a full survey.

You now have full information on that 61-body system. You can now decide which bodies to specifically fly to, whether that's to Probe Map them because they're a terraformable HMC or Water World, Ammonia World, ELW, or whether it's that enticing-looking moonlet which has canyons and/or volcanism. Or just for the heck of it.

Probe mapping, by the way, is bloody awesome in and of itself! It's a very enjoyable break from FSS scanning and jumping, and it gives you an incentive to fly over to a body. And it has been fun perfecting my technique for getting a probe mapping efficiency bonus - I'm at 100% body-for-body now

Basically, I cannot bear to go back to the old ADS now. I've seen the light. I'm fully on board with the new FSS mechanics. Once you have set your control schema for the FSS, HUD mode, probe mapping, to something you're comfortable with, then Exploration just got a whole heap more enjoyable and rewarding for your time.

And lastly - of course, the above is just my completely subjective opinion and experience. I'm not trying to convince everyone else that This Is The One And Only Opinion You Should Hold. Not at all. I'm just saying why I find the new exploration mechanics to be far superior to the old!

Regards o7

 

[Runis]

2) You instantly get; A) Every star in the system fully scanned. B) Any close orbiting bodies (e.g. planets) fully scanned.

But they don't show on the system map?

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

But they don't show on the system map?

The stars and any very nearby planets which the FSS honk detects and gives you a scan for, do in fact show up in the system map. Then you play the exploration as I described above. The more you FSS scan the more you get on the system map. And as described above I no longer need the system map to decide what I'm going to do - I can tell what types of bodies are remaining to scan and depending on what I'm feeling like doing, either move on or stay longer.

Rgds o7