1.4 brings explorer love?

[MarcusVatta]

From the most recent dev update:

The changes coming for supporting the stories also have benefits elsewhere. One example of this is that there are new things for explorers to find while they are out in deep space. They won't pop up on the navigation system unless you're close enough.

So, interesting. I'm guessing this is different from the normal signal sources? Some sort of "anomaly"?

I haven't had time to go through the 9+ pages of discussion on the dev update, so maybe there are more gems in there.

Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic:

"Does this support existing explorers, or does it offer a new type of exploration gameplay? Let's call the existing variety "surveyors", and the new possibility "prospectors".

Discuss

 

[CMDR_UKmouse]

'New things to find while out in deep space'... I've just started out on my 2nd exploration trip, about 2kly out at the moment.
Part of me is thinking "shall I return and install a small cargo hold?"..... hmmm... decisions.
I was planning to return to the bubble just before the release of 'Horizons'.

 

[Dr Black]

Deep space is big re--- --g. Good luck

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

'New things to find while out in deep space'... I've just started out on my 2nd exploration trip, about 2kly out at the moment.
Part of me is thinking "shall I return and install a small cargo hold?"..... hmmm... decisions.
I was planning to return to the bubble just before the release of 'Horizons'.

That's a good point. I think a cargo hold will become essential equipment for an explorer now.

Also, when Horizons come out I'm wondering if we'll need to fit a special cargo bay that houses all terrain vehicles and a buggy too (for those of us who will want to explore planetary surfaces).

I'm liking these new decisions explorers will soon be forced into making

 

[Cmdr Raz]

That's a good point. I think a cargo hold will become essential equipment for an explorer now.

Also, when Horizons come out I'm wondering if we'll need to fit a special cargo bay that houses all terrain vehicles and a buggy too (for those of us who will want to explore planetary surfaces).

I'm liking these new decisions explorers will soon be forced into making

Agreed - how big a slot are you going to sacrifice to cargo when going on long expeditions? We will have to start our discussions on explorer builds all over again

 

[Nagual]

Showing explorers some scraps more like. [Stops rant mode here and now] However I welcome this content with open cargo bays.

 

[Mysturji]

I'm > 23,000 LY from home, exploring a neutron field in the southern central bulge - with no cargo rack (no space for them). As much as I love my DGE, I may have to buy another Asp (sold it so I could afford a Python).

I'm thinking/hoping:
Dark star systems (Does a white dwarf slowly turn black as it cools down over billions of years?)
Micro (planet-mass) black holes orbiting stars.
Generation ships (and/or wreckage)
Alien civilisations (extinct?)
Spacetime anomalies (wormholes?)

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

Agreed - how big a slot are you going to sacrifice to cargo when going on long expeditions? We will have to start our discussions on explorer builds all over again

I've actually had an 8T cargo bay fitted to my ship for quite some time now, and often have 1T of Lavian Brandy in it and some Tea. I've even carted that cargo to the far side of the galaxy and back! ... but that was mainly due to one or two rumors I heard a long while ago hinting that our first encounters with an alien species could go one of two ways, we could be hostile to them, or try and be friendly (I thought trading a few human oddities would be a good idea at the time).

But now that we may be able to discover objects out there I may go with a 16T or 32T bay and sacrifice an AFMU.

 

[Le-Betz]

I'm thinking/hoping:
Dark star systems (Does a white dwarf slowly turn black as it cools down over billions of years?)
Micro (planet-mass) black holes orbiting stars.
Generation ships (and/or wreckage)
Alien civilisations (extinct?)
Spacetime anomalies (wormholes?)

Comets?
Accredition disks?
Aurorea?
Herbig Haro objects?

Just a few things that come to my mind.

 

[gooddoc]

But as Explorers we've been disappointed for months now with the attitude towards us Explorers from the DEV team.

Better to wait & see b4 getting even very slightly excited!

 

[Nagual]

But as Explorers we've been disappointed for months now with the attitude towards us Explorers from the DEV team.

Better to wait & see b4 getting even very slightly excited!

Indeed. I cannot get excited over any announcements FDev make any more. Interested a little, but excited? Too many let downs. Wait and see is the way to go forward.

 

[Sapient6]

But as Explorers we've been disappointed for months now with the attitude towards us Explorers from the DEV team.

Better to wait & see b4 getting even very slightly excited!

Exactly. By the description this is what I'm expecting: ESS. Yes. Exploration Signal Source.

Going exploring? Want to make extra cash? Fly out a couple kylies, point away from the main star, zero your throttle and wait for an ESS to appear (they're Rare! So you get to wait longer than for USS! Weeee!)



Cynical, maybe. I prefer to think of it as "pattern recognition".

 

[MarcusVatta]

Exactly. By the description this is what I'm expecting: ESS. Yes. Exploration Signal Source.

Going exploring? Want to make extra cash? Fly out a couple kylies, point away from the main star, zero your throttle and wait for an ESS to appear (they're Rare! So you get to wait longer than for USS! Weeee!)



Cynical, maybe. I prefer to think of it as "pattern recognition".

Oh god I hope not. I'm hoping for more of

"Stellar forge indicates a 0.002 chance of something interesting in system. For each instance of the system, roll the dice and if you get it, spawn the object at a fixed location (hopefully on the ecliptic and somewhat near a large mass). Based on what the object is, derive a "scan-able range" based on the emissions of the object and the general background "luminescence" of the system, which in turn would be derived from the stellar type, size, distance from object, etc."

Theoretically, you could farm that by jumping into and out of the system over and over again, but it wouldn't be efficient.

 

[Erimus Kamzel]

But as Explorers we've been disappointed for months now with the attitude towards us Explorers from the DEV team.

Better to wait & see b4 getting even very slightly excited!

Dejection is after disappointment, then acceptance, then renewed optimism

That's how its gone with me anyway... this time last year it was pure excitement, by January and the 1.0 patch it was irritation at the lack of exploration love in that patch, by March it was disappointment...

May brought anger when Power Play added nothing at all for explorers.... June, July, and August brought on dejection... gradually followed by acceptance.

The only thing left is to quit, or find new optimism in any bone FD throw us

 

[Bomba Luigi]

I've actually had an 8T cargo bay fitted to my ship for quite some time now, and often have 1T of Lavian Brandy in it and some Tea. I've even carted that cargo to the far side of the galaxy and back! ... but that was mainly due to one or two rumors I heard a long while ago hinting that our first encounters with an alien species could go one of two ways, we could be hostile to them, or try and be friendly (I thought trading a few human oddities would be a good idea at the time).

But now that we may be able to discover objects out there I may go with a 16T or 32T bay and sacrifice an AFMU.

Be careful with that, what is good for us can be poison for a diffrent species! you might start a war with Lavian Brandy

 

[MarcusVatta]

...might start a war with Lavian Brandy...

Wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Archvillain]

This sounds like exactly what I've been asking for, so I'm pretty chuffed. (I assume it will be simpler and cruder than what I'm hoping for (because the lion's share of dev time goes to creating the massive stuff like CQC and planetary landings), but even so it creates the framework and may well get improved on as time goes on.)

Time to start building a broad-purpose explorer ship - an adventurer ship for deep space expeditions!

Hmm... what should that look like?

Small cargo bay...
Small mining laser...
Small weapon...
Light shields...
Chaff...
Room for a surface rover (in a few months)
Fuel limpets?
What else?

(What happens if you scoop a mined chunk but don't have a refinery?)

 

[Ziljan]

Indeed this is a great day for scavengers and salvagers, but what about explorers?

 

[Archvillain]

Indeed this is a great day for scavengers and salvagers, but what about explorers?

You're not exploring unless there is an unknown to be found.

Hopefully they'll have learned from the mistakes made with the UA such that for anything unknown discovered in deep space, discovery will only be the first step in investigating and making sense of it (and there will be some sense to be made).

 

[Darrett]

'New things to find while out in deep space'... I've just started out on my 2nd exploration trip, about 2kly out at the moment.
Part of me is thinking "shall I return and install a small cargo hold?"..... hmmm... decisions.
I was planning to return to the bubble just before the release of 'Horizons'.

That was my plan too. Going to start making a return trip, hopefully I'll be back in about a month, long enough to fit a cargo rack and get back out a reasonable distance.