With the introduction of the new Full System Survey Scanner (FSS) in 3.3 surveying a system has become much quicker because it can now be done at a distance. This is a great feature that allows the player to decide whether to visit a distant planet based on the full information of what's on that planet. As they get close the new mapping functionality allows the location of what points of interest the survey revealed.
An initial pulse wave is sent out from the ship (the 'honk') which populates the FSS Scanner Screen with information on what was found: where it is, what it looks like & what it's relationship is to other nearby objects among other things. This honk can be done outside of the FSS Scanner Screen at speed as well as from the FSS Scanner Screen itself.
The player then manually explores FSS Scanner Screen, locates a signal, tunes into it & resolves it to catalogue the full details of the signal.
However this initial basic information gathered by the honk is only available in the FSS Scanner Screen. I'd like the option to be able to see this snapshot of automatically discovered information before deciding whether or not to survey the planet or system at all.
We have a system map capable of showing this information, it already does for any pre-populated system (like Sol for example) or any system where another player has surveyed it & sold the data already.
I'd like to propose that this data gathered from the initial honk be displayed on the system map for all systems, not only the ones previously surveyed.
There are a great many systems to visit, many of which could be quickly established to hold no interest to that player beyond monetary value or tagging kudos. Having some basic info on which to make a decision on whether to invest any time surveying the system would be a worthwhile time saver, in line with the new process speeding up the surveying of the system if it is to be scanned. The player can therefore reach a system that does contain something of interest to them more quickly. In terms of encouraging players to find interesting things I think having this snapshot available at speed is better than blindly passing through the a system at speed with the current 'honk', where the chances of spotting something of interest is reduced to only automatically resolved objects. It also avoids confusion for any new player visiting undiscovered systems for the first time.
However there is also some demand for the sysmap to remain unpopulated so as not to spoil the reveal while using the FSS Scanner Screen to resolve the system a bit at a time.
With this in mind I'd like to request that the recently removed ADS module be reinstated into the game and be made available in outfitting to any player (exactly as before).
This solves both issues without creating frustration for any player, because the ADS module and the basic information it provides is generally already well understood.
Some background on this issue is provided here.
An initial pulse wave is sent out from the ship (the 'honk') which populates the FSS Scanner Screen with information on what was found: where it is, what it looks like & what it's relationship is to other nearby objects among other things. This honk can be done outside of the FSS Scanner Screen at speed as well as from the FSS Scanner Screen itself.
The player then manually explores FSS Scanner Screen, locates a signal, tunes into it & resolves it to catalogue the full details of the signal.
However this initial basic information gathered by the honk is only available in the FSS Scanner Screen. I'd like the option to be able to see this snapshot of automatically discovered information before deciding whether or not to survey the planet or system at all.
We have a system map capable of showing this information, it already does for any pre-populated system (like Sol for example) or any system where another player has surveyed it & sold the data already.
I'd like to propose that this data gathered from the initial honk be displayed on the system map for all systems, not only the ones previously surveyed.
There are a great many systems to visit, many of which could be quickly established to hold no interest to that player beyond monetary value or tagging kudos. Having some basic info on which to make a decision on whether to invest any time surveying the system would be a worthwhile time saver, in line with the new process speeding up the surveying of the system if it is to be scanned. The player can therefore reach a system that does contain something of interest to them more quickly. In terms of encouraging players to find interesting things I think having this snapshot available at speed is better than blindly passing through the a system at speed with the current 'honk', where the chances of spotting something of interest is reduced to only automatically resolved objects. It also avoids confusion for any new player visiting undiscovered systems for the first time.
However there is also some demand for the sysmap to remain unpopulated so as not to spoil the reveal while using the FSS Scanner Screen to resolve the system a bit at a time.
With this in mind I'd like to request that the recently removed ADS module be reinstated into the game and be made available in outfitting to any player (exactly as before).
This solves both issues without creating frustration for any player, because the ADS module and the basic information it provides is generally already well understood.
Some background on this issue is provided here.
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