That Whole Smoke - Fire Thing

Another thread. I only say this once per thread: "I like the new exploration!"
You do, nice one!
I definitely prefer the FSS over the old system, and exploring the outer reaches is defo more fun, but honk in the bubble and where the FSS will populate all the local asteroid fields when clicking one of them, each Transient Signal Source, HGE, USS etc has to be clicked on individually, T'would be good to fill in all local versions of those things.

Well I for one Fully agree with the OP. There. I said it.
For me, the biggest failure of the FSS lies in the fact that it’s yet another thing that takes me out of my cockpit and into a huge display with very little of that real estate actually being used. We have a little display screen near our nether regions which would be perfect for the FSS. <Sigh>
FDEV should try to ‘integrate’ new features into our ships, not just ‘bolt’ them on with rusty nuts.
I also think the FSS should be a screen that opens in cockpit (maybe the central screen zooms to fill the cockpit, but still giving you situation awareness of your surroundings).

Isn't the old exploration system still a thing, I've honked systems and scanned loads of planets just by flying up to them but like the option of the FSS for really large systems as it saves me time. I don't know what the OPs point is. Nothing has been taken away by FD but things have been added.

Honk does not give the full system map in an unexplored system anymore.
Only those bodies someone else has scanned will show.
This needs to be stickied as you have people like Stigbob spamming the forum (no offense SB) repeating the opposite like a mantra.
 
It looks like Frontier only has three floors.

tV64o8J.png

Completely off-topic, sorry... It seems that SDC is surrounding Fdev. Do we have to fear something ?
 
Instead, they chucked out a system that worked for most and ...

Curious as to where did you get your data to base this assumption?

As far as there being other mechanics that need reviews. Yes, correct there is. There is many GREAT IDEAS, EXECUTED poorly that need reviews. This was not one of them, and it had been a long time asked and in coming.

I could not be prouder to support FDEV with my money customizing the ships on my ONE account.

BRAVO FDEV! SRV gameplay and mechanics next!
 
Last edited:
I put down the game in October 2016. The new changes to mining and the codex have pulled me back... I love the mining mini game and the deep core mining explosion is especially satisfying.... Vopals give too much payout IMO, but I have a 6bn commander anyway so a few extra millions are nothing.

The Codex is what this game really needed years ago. A way to find out some of the cool stuff in the game... Before the codex, I managed to find exactly one asteroid base by complete chance. Everything else I found with Youtube/Forums.

But now with the Codex, I can find new and exciting things to go and visit without the malarkey of external sites etc.
 
That whole smoke - fire thing, to put it simply. So here's thread fifty-one.

Smoke and Fire are physical, factual things. So deriving a cause / effect relation is valid.

FSS / honk are opinions - more like quantum mechanics as both opinions can be valid at the same time like some kind of forum-superposition.

New ED releases are kinda like Shrodinger's Cat - you don't know which opinion has been chosen until you open the box and see the new ED release :)
 
Except it does.
It is no longer possible to visit an unexplored system and resolve the bodies in that system without using the FSS or parallax.

I can't believe I'm still having to explain this.

I think the point is that simply jumping to a system, honking and getting info on every body was not really seems as exploring.

So yes you want to know exactly what is in the system you need to use the FSS - ok now what this means is that if you really want to resolve the basic facts about all those tiny moonlets around each gas giant then yes it will take you a little extra time.

However as other have said - want to get the full details on a body - well the FSS is much better for that - no need to cruise 500 - 1000 - 10000 -100000 l/s to do that you can get it via the FSS a lot quicker.

Want to visit or map a planet - well yes you still have to drive all the way there.

So really the main thing which has changed is you cannot spend approx 10 seconds 'honking' a system which could be literally hundred of thousand of light seconds across and expect to see everything now.

You can still easily identify elw,ww,aw etc from the FSS so it is not like you have to 'investigate' every signal to see if there is anything interesting.
 
In another thread where someone was objecting to exploration mechanics, I saw this:


Perhaps when you do get the same topic fifty times, you can start to recognize there's actually an issue.

That whole smoke - fire thing, to put it simply. So here's thread fifty-one.

The devs could have left the existing exploration mechanics alone and layered the planetary surface scanning dynamic like a cake with more rewards for those who want to 'dial the radio'. Instead, they chucked out a system that worked for most and replaced it (and mining) with a grindy multi-screen mini-game that isn't intuitive and makes little sense. And this isn't the first time.

The new ships, SLF, planetary landings, additional station interiors and other contextual changes through the years were great. Yet, some areas of the game need serious review:

- Powerplay
- Crime & Punishment
- Arena / CQC
- BGS
- Missions
- Multi-player
- Mining
- Exploration

All of the above releases degraded my in-game experience. Each has illogical rules imposed that ruin game balance, especially when taken together.

I've played E: D literally every day (with few exceptions like holidays) since January of 2015. Today is the last day of my two week stay-at-home Christmas vacation and I've not booted up any of my accounts, save to update the game itself.

I do think the majority of FDEV staff are magnificent; they care and are a talented group, but some of the base decisions made in core game mechanics are horrifically flawed. I'm an optimist and look forward to hearing what they have planned for 2019 and beyond. Two of my four accounts have LEPS so I'm not worried about access to future material. However, until they sort out the above list, I'll be spending my free time (and money) in other companies games.

If I had to summarize Elite: Dangerous today into one line, I'd say it was 'poor ideas, brilliantly executed.' The latest release, for me, was the straw that broke this camels back. YMMV. If you enjoy the new FSS, congrats. I hope you're buying twice what you normally do in the Frontier store to make up for those of us who have stopped. Frontier Developments has said repeatedly that it wants to use income from E: D to finance future development of other projects. I'd suggest it's prudent to take the time to fix the cracks in the foundation, before adding the third and fourth floors.

I just disagree here. I'm also a long time player and The only thing that really strikes me as odd is the inconsistancy between multicrew payouts versus wing missions. In one case crew share depends on the difference in ranks, so a new player can't leech too much profits by just sitting in another ship, and in case of wing missions a new player can just afk while other players with big ships do the job and earn 50 millions for all the wing members.
I don't really mind one or another, but the inconsistancy of those systems bugs me.
 
You can still easily identify elw,ww,aw etc from the FSS so it is not like you have to 'investigate' every signal to see if there is anything interesting.
Terraforming candidates, glowing gas giants, very large/small landable bodies for example. Not forgetting binary/trinary /other interesting clusters/co-orbits of bodies.
 
Last edited:
Terraforming candidates, glowing gas giants, very large/small landable bodies for example. Not forgetting binary/trinary /other interesting clusters/co-orbits of bodies.

Yes but you would not know if a body was terra formable until you had done some sort of surface scan - which meant you had to travel to the body - even if it was like 200,000 l/s away.

Also if you think about it taking a single snap shot (honk) of a system should not allow you to resolve orbits etc as you would need to see the system in at least 2 different time points to resolve orbits etc so that was 'unrealistic' (ok I know it's a computer game!)

So yes for undiscovered system it will take longer to get a full system map - but when you have done it using the FSS it is like you have travelled to each body and have a detailed surface scan....

And that will then tell you if there are any POI's and if so then you can take the time travelling to the body then probe it and then land at investigate.

It just makes exploring more involving for me....
 

sollisb

Banned
With 10,560 hours in, and been around since June of 2016, I'd reason you can see where a vast amount of my gaming hours have gone.

And I disagree as well.

I never had the opportunity to purchase a LEP, nor throw the hundreds or even thousands of dollars some others have into the game's development from the kickstarter days - and I wouldn't have either. Not because I don't believe in the game, but because that's just not how I'd ever spend that sort of cash. Perhaps if I could have bought in at the $100k mark as an investor with a promising ROI... but that's a different matter entirely.

Now, is the new stuff perfect? Of course not. There's room for improvement, and Frontier has shown they are more than capable of improving things as we go. Give it time to mature. That applies to posters as well.

Where did they prove that? The only thing I see them proving is that they do not test nor quality control their code.
 
Where did they prove that? The only thing I see them proving is that they do not test nor quality control their code.

Yes but your proof of that assumption doesn't stand up to scrutiny, like your inaccurate claims about NPC's not being affected by experimentals. The issues you identify don't exist.
 
What saddens me the most about these sort of threads is that the ones complaining do so in a calm manner (mostly) and never say anything about taking away the new mechanics, they just want a compromise return of the old mechanics. Yet many of the pro FSSers (and I like the FSS) seem to lack reading comprehension and have a complete inability to compromise...also many seem to be belligerent halfwits to boot.


Pro FSSers.....COMPROMISE people....stop being plonkers.


I can't believe I'm engaging in this.... but the new FSS does nothing to stop you from exploring your old dumb way. Please stop.

Yeah this wins the complete ignorance reward!! and sums up what I say above, Well done. slow clap.
 
I can't believe I'm engaging in this.... but the new FSS does nothing to stop you from exploring your old dumb way. Please stop.

If pointing at balls is something that makes you feel like a superior intelligence, that speaks loads about you.
 
Last edited:
That whole Vocal minority thing.



Joking aside, if you listen to the signals it's pretty easy to work out which signals are which and a search of the system looking for specific planets is pretty quick. maybe not as fast as 'honk' - 'look at system map' but it is more involving, which for me works really well and the new FSS is one of my favorite additions to ED in a while.

Still so much for me to try! Personally I'm Lovin' it - Now bring me a Big Mac! .. I have a hole in my hull and those things are great for plugging holes!
 
Another thing to consider is that the game is at a near all time high of average players on steam. So your dissatisfaction with the game is not necessarily representative of the larger community.
Neither provide the numbers the reason, why players are playing the game. Some of my friends, for instance start the game mostly when there is a new gold rush and leave the game a few play sessions later for months.

Nevertheless, with regard to exploration I'd point you to your own signature quote: Any grind is in your mind. The exploration mechanics are more involved, which means, IMO, that you should review your goals. A 10KLY trip is now going to take at least 4 times as long as it used to.
Of course, the new mechanics are more involving, because it could get less with the old system. The trip only takes longer, if you scan every single dead rock on your way.
 
Personally, I really like the new exploration mechanics with the FSS and yet I was originally not happy when Frontier announced what they were planning for exploration in Chapter 4. Once I actually tried the new FSS, after getting used to how it worked, I thought the FSS was an improvement.

However, I do recognise that some do not like the new mechanics and would prefer the old method of exploration and I am willing to compromise by saying I don't mind if Frontier include the old mechanics as an option, but with a caveat.

If Frontier bring back the old mechanics as an option I personally think it's important that one can only choose the old method or the new method (per ship) but not have both available.

To be able to use both the old and new mechanics at the same time is just too OP as one could quickly scan the good objects in just a couple of minutes before moving on to the next system.

You can see this OP method of exploration in operation now by doing the following:


  1. Jump to a system in the bubble you haven't personally explored.
  2. Honk.
  3. Look at the system map and select (i.e. target) a good object (for the purpose of the demo it could be anything).
  4. Move your ship so you are pointing directly at that object.
  5. Bring up the FSS and as you are pointing directly at it, you can zoom in and perform the scan.
  6. Repeat steps 3 to 5 as needed.

So, as you can see if Frontier were to bring back (in full) the old method the different mechanics would have to be exclusive to each other.
 

To be able to use both the old and new mechanics at the same time is just too OP as one could quickly scan the good objects in just a couple of minutes before moving on to the next system.

With the FSS a player can quickly surface detail scan the entire system in a matter of minutes. And the good objects in less than a minute.
Planetary mapping is only available with the new DSS probing sensor and not the old DSS. This is an addition.

The only advantage the old system has is that the player can see the system map after the initial honk while moving is super cruise. It's really just the system map and the left hand navigation panel.
 
Back
Top Bottom