the FSS, watching paint dry....

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

I think perspective left the building about a hundred pages ago on every conceivable side. As for your suggestion, I think it slipped by. I'm off for the night, but if you can quote yourself I'll get back to it tomorrow. As for FD commenting, based on previous cases I wouldn't expect much before, say, March or April.

My prediction is that we'll get something from Brett C saying "I've passed it onto the developers" on the 2nd, and then it'll disappear into a black hole.

Original description:

Consider instead, as I mentioned, a scanner module with limited optional sub-modules:


Want to detect volcanic activity from 500,000 Ls? Fit the appropriate sub-module.
Looking for HGEs in the Bubble? There's a sub-module that links to the Nav Beacon.
Need the schematic map of the system generated automatically? Guess what?
Going mining? Yep, there's tools to detect hotspots and cores and whatever the mechanic is now.
There's even a mini-game module that you can play if you like chasing blobs.


All the sub-modules come in various grades with varying levels of 'godliness', so everyone can tailor their ships, their outfitting and their gameplay to their particular style. It's EXACTLY how weapons work on the game - you tailor your loadout to your style and the task you're doing.


It has the advantage of being extensible as new gameplay options are added, without an ever increasing number of module/utility slots being needed.


Instead we got a simplistic one-size-fits-all system dumped on us.


Blaze your own trail? Not so much.

Responses to feedback from Old Duck and Darkfyre

The devil is always in the details.

As far as balance goes, as a general rule of thumb I'd say that tools that give more information passively (including click and hold honking) should give less reward than those which require the player to be actively involved. In that respect obviously the ADS is totally passive while the FSS occupies the middle ground. For me, truly active systems would have a failure mode - the greater the failure chance, the higher the rewards.

@Darkfyre - my submodule system would address your concerns by allowing larger class scanners to fit more submodules. The 'Conda would therefore be automatically more capable than a Hauler. It could also be used to create the infamous 'dedicated explorer' ship that so many people want - it would be the only ship able to fit a scanner capable of taking all the submodules.

 

[Pappy55uk]

I for one welcome this change. As someone who used to love exploring flying to each planet just to scan it was very tedious especially when you get a system with 60+ bodies. Now I can quickly scan everything and if there is a planet of interest I can fly to it and probe it. I now love exploring again.

 

[jasonbarron]

I heard the devs will respond when we reach 200 pages

See this? This right here is why I love this forum so much!

 

[Shinji Ikari]

I see that emotions are still running hot on this topic. I've yet to actually even fire up the game and try the new patch, but I must say that the changes sound good on paper. Exploration was always tedious and unrewarding so any change is movement in the right direction.

What do you mean by "on paper"? It's not like there's much to calculate.

 

[Ozram]

What do you mean by "on paper"? It's not like there's much to calculate.

Obv he means he’s read up on it but hasn’t had the chance to practice it himself.

 

[Shinji Ikari]

Obv he means he’s read up on it but hasn’t had the chance to practice it himself.

Oh well, at least I can dismiss much more easily his posts considering he already had strong opinions on the topic.

 

[Ozram]

Oh well, at least I can dismiss much more easily his posts considering he already had strong opinions on the topic.

Why dismiss anything? His post on the topic was clear, honest and absent of any vitriol. He basically stated that it looks good on paper but hasn’t had the chance to try the new system however is glad the old system has been reworked as he felt (from experience) that it was tedious repetition, lacking in gameplay. At least that’s how zi understood it. On the other hand I’ve been using it daily and so far enjoy the experience, seeing it as a large improvement on the placeholder we’ve had to contend with up to now.

 

[Straha Yeagar]

Why dismiss anything? His post on the topic was clear, honest and absent of any vitriol. He basically stated that it looks good on paper but hasn’t had the chance to try the new system however is glad the old system has been reworked as he felt (from experience) that it was tedious repetition, lacking in gameplay. At least that’s how zi understood it. On the other hand I’ve been using it daily and so far enjoy the experience, seeing it as a large improvement on the placeholder we’ve had to contend with up to now.

I have been using it daily since release as well. Been to a few thousand systems. Scanned and mapped thousands of bodies. Exploration has always been my thing in Elite. I enjoyed the old ADS because it always left me with that "Just one more system" feeling. The new system leaves me feeling the same way, in spades.

 

[Ziljan]

I heard the devs will respond when we reach 200 pages

I heard it was when the same 5 guys quit bumping the thread.

 

[Shinji Ikari]

Why dismiss anything? His post on the topic was clear, honest and absent of any vitriol. He basically stated that it looks good on paper but hasn’t had the chance to try the new system however is glad the old system has been reworked as he felt (from experience) that it was tedious repetition, lacking in gameplay. At least that’s how zi understood it. On the other hand I’ve been using it daily and so far enjoy the experience, seeing it as a large improvement on the placeholder we’ve had to contend with up to now.

I said that because just about half of the people who I talked to before the official release told me time and time again that you could not critize it without trying (even though the beta gave me that oportunity), however, that same notion applies the other way around.

 

[Bravador]

I am satisfied with the new system on my side. Before, I was not interested in exploring that I found too basic and tedious. But now, I'm having a lot of fun browsing the galaxy to scan the systems. I would not want to go back to the old system, it would be so horrible.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

I heard it was when the same 5 guys quit bumping the thread.

He says, bumping the thread.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

I am satisfied with the new system on my side. Before, I was not interested in exploring that I found too basic and tedious. But now, I'm having a lot of fun browsing the galaxy to scan the systems. I would not want to go back to the old system, it would be so horrible.

Just as well nobody is suggesting that anyone be forced to go back to the old system.
We're just asking for a choice.

 

[velospeed2002]

It's comical that the FSS tedious time-sink would even be necessary in an environment with such advanced technology. Surely, AI could do this task for us. The previous "honk" made so much more sense in that regard. And it made sense that we would be required to travel to bodies to get more detailed information.

Instead, for no good reason, we have to mindlessly chase blue blobs, circles and freaky sounds in some fugly mini-game that takes us out of our pilot cockpit perspective.

The more I use it, the more I hate it.

Why oh why is this thing mandatory, and not optional?!?!

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

Faded Glory has covered my issues with lack of integration of the FSS with the rest of the game pretty well. It's a separate screen, divorced from everything else, the only purpose of which is to populate the Nav Panel. It's about as complex as an Advent Calendar and being 'free' it doesn't even require an outfitting choice.

Consider instead, as I mentioned, a scanner module with limited optional sub-modules:

Want to detect volcanic activity from 500,000 Ls? Fit the appropriate sub-module.
Looking for HGEs in the Bubble? There's a sub-module that links to the Nav Beacon.
Need the schematic map of the system generated automatically? Guess what?
Going mining? Yep, there's tools to detect hotspots and cores and whatever the mechanic is now.
There's even a mini-game module that you can play if you like chasing blobs.

All the sub-modules come in various grades with varying levels of 'godliness', so everyone can tailor their ships, their outfitting and their gameplay to their particular style. It's EXACTLY how weapons work on the game - you tailor your loadout to your style and the task you're doing.

It has the advantage of being extensible as new gameplay options are added, without an ever increasing number of module/utility slots being needed.

Instead we got a simplistic one-size-fits-all system dumped on us.

Blaze your own trail? Not so much.

This is closer to what I would have preferred. I would have added sub slots to the sensors module where you put all the different types of scanners and comms devices.

But we don't have that. We have the FSS and I have adapted my playstyle to suite it. I would love FDev to do this, but I can't see it happening unfortunately.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

It's comical that the FSS tedious time-sink would even be necessary in an environment with such advanced technology. Surely, AI could do this task for us. The previous "honk" made so much more sense in that regard. And it made sense that we would be required to travel to bodies to get more detailed information.

Instead, for no good reason, we have to mindlessly chase blue blobs, circles and freaky sounds in some fugly mini-game that takes us out of our pilot cockpit perspective.

The more I use it, the more I hate it.

Why oh why is this thing mandatory, and not optional?!?!

No different to the flying space ship tedious time sink, the galaxy map tedious time sink and all the other tedious time sinks like playing any aspect of the game.

 

[Burke]

I dont understand the silence from devs. They must be aware that people are unhappy and likely of the existance of this thread. So why let things roll on? Say something.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Just dropping by to say i like the new system. Saves a lot of flying around and its more interesting working the FSS than watching the counter as you fly towards a target.

Now you only need to fly to targets if you want to visit them or map them.

 

[CaptainKremmen]

I dont understand the silence from devs. They must be aware that people are unhappy and likely of the existance of this thread. So why let things roll on? Say something.

Frontier must resolve each individual posting in this thread using their Forum Spectrum Scanner, then fire a probe at any notable posts to see if there is meaningful information.

 

[da_wae]

I heard the devs will respond when we reach 200 pages

Nah. They only respond when there's a change.org petition.