A focused approach to exploring

[Ultra Fluffy]

As an explorer I find it useful to have a focused goal to achieve, rather that just wandering around in space hoping to find something interesting. This goal gives me a direction to travel in. I then explore each system that I come to on that route. Sometimes I look for interesting bodies in the systems I visit, sometimes I land and look for biologicals or collect materials. I currently have a full complement of materials found on landables and the biologicals are becoming a bit same old thing in a slightly different colour. So random wandering is not working for me. I have recently finished doing the Canonn Challenge (link), which I really enjoyed. I am now looking for something else to do. I have considered the following:

• Finding every species of biological.
• Travelling around the very edge of the galaxy.
• Seeing how far you can go in each direction.
• Seeing how far you can get away from Sol. Not sure I could get anywhere close to where other people have got.
• Trying to find Raxxla (if it even exists). This one seems to me to be a random wandering around until you find it.
• Visiting every region in the galaxy (I have already completed 90% of this already).
• Completing all the badges on EDSM.
• Visiting POIs mentioned by other explorers.
• Visiting nebulas.
• Going on an organised expedition.

Do you fellow explorers have a focused goal when exploring or are you and random wanderer? If you have a goal, what is your strategy?

 

[nemolomen]

I'm a random wanderer and take off to do explo on a whim as I do a lot of other thigns too. My primary exploration ship is also my primary laser mining ship as well.

T7, SRV, 160T cargo, PreEngineered DSS, fuel scoop, 25LY jump...

 

[Codger]

Do you fellow explorers have a focused goal when exploring or are you and random wanderer?

I just head out, find an untouched area and stay there, exploring around the spot. So I'm mostly a random wanderer. I don't have any particular goals, other than to enjoy the process. Maybe rank up in something.

 

[Old Duck]

Do you fellow explorers have a focused goal when exploring or are you and random wanderer? If you have a goal, what is your strategy?

I pick a region of space that I consider interesting and then set out to survey all systems (including the boring ones) in a cubic sector of that space. I find this more interesting than just traveling in a straight line and scanning one system, jumping over dozens, scan another random system, etc.

In doing this, I've created my own little "bubbles", where I "own" most (not all since I explore close enough to the Bubble to overlap some "line" explorers) of the systems in that space. I've also discovered some of the most interesting planets, including binary ELWs, in systems that are often overlooked, like M-class star systems.

In some ways I feel more like a surveyor than an explorer, at least in regards to my location in the galaxy. Still, it gives me much more "focus" than just randomly pointing my ship somewhere "out there". Since the galaxy map provides a nice cubic grid overlay, along with the visited vs not visited filter, I have a concrete goal to achieve, even if it's just a personal goal.

 

[Dragsham]

I took off a few mths ago hellbent on finding a triple monazite ring. So I can have a x3 chance the core would be monazite. Then fill my hold with 10k of em.
Since then I've stopped 4 jumps out, only 1600ly or so, and began mapping everything surrounding the carriers system. 250+ so far the circle is getting bigger!
Found alot of stuff and began inadvertently doing bios. I'm just gonner continue till... when fdev fix odysseys performance.

 

[Arnoldo]

Draw a shape on the Galmap, pick a star type and try and find every one of 'em, go full eco on a sector until you've visited every single system it holds, join (or even build and lead) an exped.....

Once you've completed all of that in your go-to explorer ship, do it all again in a Sidewinder....

(That'll keep Fluffy busy while I try and catch up with Chiggy's ELW record )

 

[Arnoldo]

Draw a shape on the Galmap, pick a star type and try and find every one of 'em, go full eco on a sector until you've visited every single system it holds, join (or even build and lead) an exped.....

Once you've completed all of that in your go-to explorer ship, do it all again in a Sidewinder....

(That'll keep Fluffy busy while I try and catch up with Chiggy's ELW record )

If you're crazy enough to follow any of that advice, watch out as you'll end up with a travel map like this...

 

[Gut]

I fly to Explorers Anchorage to make that my ' base of operation ' , Then travel 3/4k in some direction , put the ship into Economy jumps , and spend ages just going 1k , there are about 500 stars in that 1k , and not being too far from a station helps =-)

 

[Frankymole]

Do you fellow explorers have a focused goal when exploring or are you and random wanderer? If you have a goal, what is your strategy?

Map an entire sector or, more satisfyingly, mark out a 100 x 100 ly cube and first-map or first-footfall everything in it. Make a chunk of the galaxy yours! Also makes it worth revisiting when new content arrives, as was the case with thin atmosphere planets being landable, and exobiology.

 

[LifesAJourney]

I tend to have a goal but it changes often. Like, I'm on my way to a nice POI to visit and I find a HRGG. The POI can wait, I switch to scanning the area for HRGGs. Then I find a landable that is located very close to gas giant's ring and happens to offer some jumponium mats. I switch to SRV and drive quite a distance enjoying the view and replenishing mats.

In fact a "constant change" is the main rule of playing in ED for me. Any activity gets tedious if is done for too long.

 

[GroG79]

I like herbigs!

 

[Faded Glory]

Bit of both really... My goal was always aiming for a specific location, and then wandering around a bit as I headed there (and back). Pre Odyssey it was generally searching for ELW's, WW's and AW's and was in a dedicated exploration ship, and TBH I could only ever stick it for a couple of weeks at a time. But I did a few trips a year and made Elite in exploration.

Now in Odyssey, I decided to get a fleet carrier, stuck all my ships on it and decided to head for a random location that I'd bookmarked ages ago that was too far for my previous MO - Only about 25k Ly, but I would class myself as a casual explorer...

So, I plotted a route (using Spansh), and each jump I stop and head out in one of my dedicated explorer ships and head up and down from my carrier randomly scanning, and of course playing Odyssey I decided to try scanning bio signals. Why not? Also, if I happen to find an icy ring with tritium hotspots I'll do a couple of mining sessions just for laughs - I took enough for the whole trip as I'm not a huge fan of mining, but it does break up the exploration once in a while.

So, I'm half way to my target system, and it's taken me since April! By far the longest exploration trip I've done. My wandering goals are the usual high value bodies including terraformables and on that goal I'm more than paying for my carrier just in the commission that it gets from me selling my exploration data - and I'm now at Exploration Elite IV, soon to be V. The other goal is bio hunting, so now I'm scanning pretty much every system (that's not been previously discovered) then studying the system map to decide whether any planets with signals might have 'interesting' stuff based upon their atmosphere type then mapping those also and scanning what I think might have high value signals. No idea what my exobiologist rank is as I didn't install that carrier service since I wasn't planning on scanning bios. Guess I'll find out in a few months time. I have become very selective about what I bother to scan I'm afraid as the process isn't really that exciting, but it's always gratifying when I stumble upon a new (to me) 'rare' bio type.

Oh, and I'm always on the look out for a glowing green gas giant. Don't expect to find one, but since it's all random, maybe one day I'll get lucky!

 

[Ultra Fluffy]

Sounds like a lot of people are doing the same as me. Pick a target in the distance and travel there, scanning every system as you go. I have taken the goal of finding every variety of bio, taking a screen shot and compiling a Word doc with them all in. I am also scanning high value bodies and trying to save up for a fleet carrier. I have a couple of third part tools that help me:

• VoiceAttack (Link) and EDDI (Link). These inform me of suitable bodies to map through verbal comments. You can also program other phrases based on what you are doing and add voice commands.
• Elite Observatory (Link) and MattG's plugins (Link), particularly BioInsights. These predict the bios that may be on bodies, based on criteria like star type, materials, atmospheres etc. BioInsights also allows you to mark types of bios that you have not seen before. It will then inform you if a body is likely to have one of those bios.

So my plan is:

• Head out to a random system in a region that I have never been to before.
• Along the way map high values and scan bios.
• Once I reach my destination, scan every system in the sector.

Draw a shape on the Galmap, pick a star type and try and find every one of 'em, go full eco on a sector until you've visited every single system it holds, join (or even build and lead) an exped.....

Once you've completed all of that in your go-to explorer ship, do it all again in a Sidewinder....

(That'll keep Fluffy busy while I try and catch up with Chiggy's ELW record )

@Arnoldo and Chiggy, your ELW record is safe. I'm nowhere near you!! Where are these records published?

 

[goemon]

for quite a while i visited all real-galaxy hypergiants. now i'm visiting the rare proc-gen hypergiants other have found.
as i already have first discovered real galaxy hypergiant, i hope to first discover a proc gen hypergiant - with the same method to find a green gas giant.

basically most of my exploration gameplay has been to fly from a to b and find interesting stuff on the way.

 

[ORANGEORANGE]

for quite a while i visited all real-galaxy hypergiants. now i'm visiting the rare proc-gen hypergiants other have found.
as i already have first discovered real galaxy hypergiant, i hope to first discover a proc gen hypergiant - with the same method to find a green gas giant.

basically most of my exploration gameplay has been to fly from a to b and find interesting stuff on the way.

If you're talking about proc-gen supergiants near 500 solar radii, they are easy to find. Just skim H mass systems for B class supergiants, they will probably over 200 solar radii.

Every star greater than 500 solar radii is a catalog star I'm afraid, due to the game's arbitrary cap of 500 solar radii on proc-gen stars.

 

[Darth Ender]

If i still had the motivation to explore in this game, and i was looking for some new goal, I'd probably look at that thread talking about how to reverse engineer locations to find unlisted bodies in systems and goto each one i find.

Discussion - Warning! Galaxy Map operating beyond safety limits.

No longer Working in EDO try EDH3.8 Galaxymap Supercharged! After getting some inquiries, I'll try to explain here how to find just about any body generated by the game using the Galaxy Map Search Bar. This includes bodys that are not in Game like Comets, well at least were they should be. The...

forums.frontier.co.uk

That seems like the only really interesting thing to invest a lot of time in exploration in at this time.