Forget the heat maps and fancy system maps, let's start with a few simple things, like:
Unknown Signal Source : Degraded Emissions
Right now, these resolve into some wreckage and a Data Cache. Which means a ship was there at some point in time.
Let's step these up a bit and add:
Unknown Signal Source: Distress Call
We have these already, but let's add something to this, to support some of the new game devices we have and some old ones that have been around a while, like...
Fuel Transfer Limpets - Hey look, an explorer who wasn't paying attention to their Fuel gauge. Hit them up with a limpet or two so they can be on their way and receive a little reward via the pop-up mission system.
Hull Repair Limpets - Oh look, an Explorer in a damaged ship. Hit him up with some Hull Repair so he can be on his way, and as above, gain a nice little reward.
Potential Combat Situation - Find an Explorer in trouble - he's been engaged by another ship - a hostile human or even a roaming Thargoid. Distract or destroy the aggressor so the Explorer can escape and win yourself some gratitude (Rep and Influence) and perhaps even some financial gain.
Those Data Caches - how about instead of scooping them up and hauling them off, we Data Link Scan them instead and get some story-line material, or Cartographic Data for another system.
Just a few things like this, even with low chances of happening on them, would go light years towards improving Exploration.
Now let's mix things up a bit more. That Detailed Surface Scanner you've been hauling - it's nice for finding out things like what a ball of rock or ice is made of, but let's really make it useful - drop below Orbital Cruise, and see Search Zones pop up on planets. We already have Search Zones, and they do what they're supposed to do pretty well. But what could we possibly find in an otherwise Unexplored system in such a place?
Rare Mineral Samples - if you've ever cruised around geysers and such on planets, you've likely seen there are some Other Kinds of Rocks to shoot at - various Crystalline formation and other kinds of not Outcrop type rocks that produce various Elements and other goodies. Why not drop some "Valuable Sample" or "Rare Sample" items to turn in at those Science Contacts we now have? We've got the hot water, we've got the dried leaves, let's make tea already.
Crashed Ship - Perhaps you actually weren't the first person out this far, perhaps someone else made it here, and didn't make it back. Throw in a data point to link scan, a neat little blurb about who and how they came to crash here, and turn that into a sellable data package, just like the ones we get from some of those data points, and you've got gold. Tie some of these up into generating story material, and that gold becomes platinum.
Something Just Plain Neat - the fossilized remains of some long dead creature sticking out of the side of a rock, or the ancient ruins of what might have been a remote Guardian outpost half-buried under a mountain, or really just about anything with something to lock onto, scan, get a little blurb to read, and some data to turn in for some profit.
Really simple things that would transform exploration into something far more rewarding than a simple photo op. Just these few simple things would be a G5 upgrade to what we have while we wait for all the fancy and pretty things that Could Be.
Initiating Discussion now.
Unknown Signal Source : Degraded Emissions
Right now, these resolve into some wreckage and a Data Cache. Which means a ship was there at some point in time.
Let's step these up a bit and add:
Unknown Signal Source: Distress Call
We have these already, but let's add something to this, to support some of the new game devices we have and some old ones that have been around a while, like...
Fuel Transfer Limpets - Hey look, an explorer who wasn't paying attention to their Fuel gauge. Hit them up with a limpet or two so they can be on their way and receive a little reward via the pop-up mission system.
Hull Repair Limpets - Oh look, an Explorer in a damaged ship. Hit him up with some Hull Repair so he can be on his way, and as above, gain a nice little reward.
Potential Combat Situation - Find an Explorer in trouble - he's been engaged by another ship - a hostile human or even a roaming Thargoid. Distract or destroy the aggressor so the Explorer can escape and win yourself some gratitude (Rep and Influence) and perhaps even some financial gain.
Those Data Caches - how about instead of scooping them up and hauling them off, we Data Link Scan them instead and get some story-line material, or Cartographic Data for another system.
Just a few things like this, even with low chances of happening on them, would go light years towards improving Exploration.
Now let's mix things up a bit more. That Detailed Surface Scanner you've been hauling - it's nice for finding out things like what a ball of rock or ice is made of, but let's really make it useful - drop below Orbital Cruise, and see Search Zones pop up on planets. We already have Search Zones, and they do what they're supposed to do pretty well. But what could we possibly find in an otherwise Unexplored system in such a place?
Rare Mineral Samples - if you've ever cruised around geysers and such on planets, you've likely seen there are some Other Kinds of Rocks to shoot at - various Crystalline formation and other kinds of not Outcrop type rocks that produce various Elements and other goodies. Why not drop some "Valuable Sample" or "Rare Sample" items to turn in at those Science Contacts we now have? We've got the hot water, we've got the dried leaves, let's make tea already.
Crashed Ship - Perhaps you actually weren't the first person out this far, perhaps someone else made it here, and didn't make it back. Throw in a data point to link scan, a neat little blurb about who and how they came to crash here, and turn that into a sellable data package, just like the ones we get from some of those data points, and you've got gold. Tie some of these up into generating story material, and that gold becomes platinum.
Something Just Plain Neat - the fossilized remains of some long dead creature sticking out of the side of a rock, or the ancient ruins of what might have been a remote Guardian outpost half-buried under a mountain, or really just about anything with something to lock onto, scan, get a little blurb to read, and some data to turn in for some profit.
Really simple things that would transform exploration into something far more rewarding than a simple photo op. Just these few simple things would be a G5 upgrade to what we have while we wait for all the fancy and pretty things that Could Be.
Initiating Discussion now.
