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the FSS, watching paint dry....
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FDev obviously feel differently. As I have said many a time, having the old ADS in the game would not be a problem for me as long as they where mutually exclusive to the FSS as the old ADS would break the whole reason of using the new FSS.
I'm genuinely shocked, in a good way, getting this comment from a FSS lover.
I don't see why. These conversations seem to revolve around restoring the old ADS functionality to the FSS, which I'm vehemently opposed to, needless to say. Exploring a system by holding down a button for a few seconds is what killed any desire to explore for me, and I've been looking forward to exploring the Elite galaxy since the Kickstarter.
That being said, my love of the FSS as the entry level discovery standard does not mean I think there shouldn't be other, more advanced, tools in the explorer's tool kit. In fact, one of my frequent laments about pre-3.3 exploration is that we could fit all the exploration tools into a hauler and still have room for an optional extra. When frontier decided to fit the FSS as standard on all ships, the hauler can now carry both SRV and shields, where before you had to choose one or the other.
When you said "discovery resources," I was imagining something along the lines consumable resources, not computational resources. Probes, drones, satellites, that sort of thing. In hind sight, I should've realized that. To be honest, "set it and forget it" style gameplay does not sound very appealing in games like Elite, that have so many control settings, that I'd be expanding my extremely crude sim pit if I didn't play in VR. As it is, when I got VR, I put some of my more specialized controllers away.
Not that I wouldn't object to its presence as an optional extra, but when I'm out exploring, I want to be the one exploring, not passively waiting for something aboard my ship to do the exploring for me.
Considering that only 2.8% of systems have planets 500,000 LS away, you sure do seem obsessed with this specific exception to the rule.
FWIW, I do feel more pride in my pre-3.3 "long distance" discoveries than I do now, because I really had to work for those. I kinda wish the tags said "Discovered THE HARD WAY by Old Duck", LOL.
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I agree,
It was much more rewarding when you had to travel to places to discover them. I know they have surface mapping, but that's a complete messy faff exercise also.
Give us back the old scanner back and we can choose how to explore for ourselves.
Gen
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Yeah, it's funny. Explore by...not actually exploring anything...
Contrary to that the FSS adds the option to actively look for signals and analyze them,
you can always just honk and fly to the planets for passive resolving,
if the roving explorer is your style.
The FSS does not force anything on an explorer, it just adds to the list of tools,
without cluttering the ship, without module creep and finally a choice,
which even me got into exploring again a bit.
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If it did "break the whole reason for using the new FSS" that would be justification for the ADS being removed, but it doesn't. You just don't fit one (nor would Darkfyre99) and your discovery process remains as it is right now, post 3.3.
The player that chooses to fit one (me) gets an initial reveal of targetable bodies and a populated system map just as before, the rest is covered by the new process including pointing the ship at them and scanning or flying towards them if they are far away. Or using the FSS Scanner Screen to DSS them which would require using the 'hunt the blob' mechanism just as they do now. They would also be using up a slot, and would be carrying the mass & power requirements of the module (as before 3.3).
So the player that goes without identifies and resolves on one go, the player with the ADS identifies with the ADS and resolves either with the FSS or by targeting the unexplored body and travelling close enough to resolve it.
So which part of this do you not like Max? It would be the best of both worlds with no downside.
This is the point, you can do this in any previously tagged body but can't target an untagged body. So if the system is partially complete or completely undiscovered you currently need to use the FSS Scanner Screen or hunt for them by eye against the skybox. This is what reinstating the ADS would help with. In the bubble there would be no benefit to fitting one.
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Do i understand you correct,
that after entering FSS and honking,
you cannot target "unknown" bodies and fly to them?
If so that is an oversight, that should be easily corrected
without need for another module, as you can pinpoint the
mass shadow with ease by sensors.
I casually disagree. I feel the ADS "honk" was way overpowered. However.... I would be okay if they put a modified version of the ADS back into the game. First, no "honk", but rather make the ADS a passive scanner that resolves planets in the system as you take a lap around the sun. And unlike the three previous scanners, which had hard-falloff ranges, make the ADS like any normal camera / telescope - things closer resolve to higher resolution in the system map, things further away resolve more blurry. And the legendary 500,000 LS systems should only resolve the main stars and perhaps the gas giants, requiring travel to "close the gap" to see the smaller planets.
This new ADS could reveal the images of these planets, in appropriate detail based on distance, in the system map, but no other details (including planet type). That would require either visiting them or using the FSS.
Speaking of FSS, I'll concede the point that being able to zoom in on a volcano over 500,000 LS away is also OP. I'd be okay if the FSS had a limited number of zoom steps (just like my camera), requiring us to "close the gap" to scan those distance systems with the FSS, just as I propose for a potential new ADS.
So in summary, my problem with the original ADS is mainly the "instahonk" and the infinite range (and too much detail on the system map without a proper DSS scan). I sometimes would challenge myself by using the IDS instead, because the ADS truly is OP. That's why I hope Frontier does not cave in and bring it back as it originally was.
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What's your opinion on the infinite range of the FSS?
If the old functionality were added to the new process it would affect everyone. Several people (eg Darkfyre, picommander) have stated that they do not want the old ADS functionality.
My bad. Or MFB
I guess that’s one of the major differences between me and some of the ADS guard.
I didn’t consider flying 500kls to a distant body, throttling down the instant the scanner noise starts, and waiting ten seconds, to be discovering a body. As far as I was concerned, if I could target it, it was already discovered, and I wasn’t the one doing the discovering, the ADS did all the work.
What flying out there achieved from my point of view was “tagging” your name on a body, or gaining extra credits, neither of which appealed to me.
I don’t care if some optional module is added that has some of the old ADS functionality, as long as the FSS isn’t infected by it. I’ve been playing since the Alpha, and this is the first time I haven’t wanted to Buckyball to the Bubble. The FSS has added a sense of genuine discovery to exploration for me, and I’m having a blast using it. Eight weeks and counting, so far.
I wouldn't want the FSS limiting in range as it takes time to resolve the signals; don't need to take extra time flying out there, unless I also want to probe it .
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So you want others to have access to less information because you don't want it? Which information do you object to? How would this affect your own exploration?
I don't think I ever even owned an IDS, I saved up & bought an ADS as soon as I could afford one then went back & re-scanned everything I could remember once I had a DSS. We all play in different ways.
We all play different ways, but we all play in the same sandbox. This is why games like ED don't allow mods, whereas single-player games like Skyrim do - many which are basically cheats (kinda like the ADS).
The way I see it, I'm willing to compromise*, and I already have everything I want in these new exploration tools. Being stubborn and insisting your way or no way is not likely going to convince Frontier to change what they obviously thought was a good idea in the first place.
* you would think I'd know better by now....
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