Newcomer / Intro Biological heatmap - help please!

[Fnord Velkor]

Then the whole mapping of the planet to find likely areas of specific Bio/Geo sites are located is just a waste of time and doesnt really show anything of value to the player, since when fully mapped, a planet is shown as plain light blue and if we then ignore any slight 'shading' due to the topography underneath we are left with the same light blue colour. I was under the impression that the slight shading of the darker blue areas was where I should start my searches.

On a newly mapped planet, what changes to the original light blue colour are we suppose to look for?

So mapping a planet/moon is only for extra Cr's since we are to ignore this blue effect and switch out to topography view that showis us plains/hills etc.

So I could, if I wanted to, skip the mapping and go and land on the planet and search for Geo/Bio sites as normal?

If you look at the screenshots I posted above (#30) you will see that there are areas with no blue overlay i.e. those bios will not be found there.

Today it took me ages to find any blue colouring at all on a whole planet with the fungoid filter selected - turned out to only be found in a few very small areas.

 

[CMD Malandark]

After doing some more tests I have gone from thinking the Detailed Surface Scanner was a waste of time to... It's actually a pretty useful tool...

But first lets get some misconceptions out of the way...

When using the Detailed Surface Scanner....

1. Different shades of blue or, pixelated areas should be always be IGNORED.

2. There is NO heatmap involved in scanning/mapping a planet/moon/body. It's either Blue or it's not.

3. For planets/moons that have more than one type of Geo or Bio the 'common' types will often (but not 100%) share the same locations as each other, hence why selecting some Geo/Bio types from the Detailed Surface Scanner will often 'look' like they share the same blue areas on the planet/moon.

For me, the misconceptions I had about scanning/mapping planets/moons arose from watching early Youtube Vids, where the content creator either directly or, implide, that the different colours of blue or, the 'smooth' or 'pixelated' areas actually means 'something'. Even from personal observations these different shades of blue 'seems' to indicate that they mean something!. I now know they don't.

Where this mapping tool comes into play is for searching for a specific Geo or Bio type that can ONLY be found in just a HANDFULL or SMALL areas of the planet/moon that the chances of you landing or, comming across that specific area by chance is, extremly low. This is a BIG time saver.

 

[Sysmon]

After doing some more tests I have gone from thinking the Detailed Surface Scanner was a waste of time to... It's actually a pretty useful tool...

But first lets get some misconceptions out of the way...

When using the Detailed Surface Scanner....

1. Different shades of blue or, pixelated areas should be always be IGNORED.

2. There is NO heatmap involved in scanning/mapping a planet/moon/body. It's either Blue or it's not.

3. For planets/moons that have more than one type of Geo or Bio the 'common' types will often (but not 100%) share the same locations as each other, hence why selecting some Geo/Nio types from the Detailed Surface Scanner will often 'look' like they share the same blue areas on the planet/moon.

For me, the misconceptions I had about scanning/mapping planets/moons arose from watching early Youtube Vids, where the content creator either directly or, implide, that the different colours of blue or, the 'smooth' or 'pixelated' areas actually means 'something'. Even from personal observations these different shades of blue 'seems' to indicate that they mean something!. I now know they don't.

Where this mapping tool comes into play is for searching for a specific Geo or Bio type that can ONLY be found in just a HANDFULL or SMALL areas of the planet/moon that the chances of you landing or, comming across that specific area by chance is, extremly low. This is a BIG time saver.

Notice that the DSS can also find other points of interest on the planet surfaces. So overall a useful tool.

S

 

[Ozric]

Knock it off please. (you know who you are)

Also please don't expect a reply from Zac confirming exactly what he had said, as he has moved to being a Product Manager for F1.

 

[Fnord Velkor]

....

Where this mapping tool comes into play is for searching for a specific Geo or Bio type that can ONLY be found in just a HANDFULL or SMALL areas of the planet/moon that the chances of you landing or, comming across that specific area by chance is, extremly low. This is a BIG time saver.

You completely ignore the fact that the overlay shows you where what you are looking for can NOT be found - i.e. no blue. This is an even bigger time saver.

 

[Codger]

There was also this post by another FDEV person, from the QA dept, QA-Jack, way back when the 'heat' was first removed from the map.

Issue Tracker

issues.frontierstore.net

It just confirms what Zac posted. There's only one color.

 

[Frankymole]

The slight shading is just the planet topography underneath.

No it's not.

You can clearly see the same terrain is giving different shading for the different types of life that are in the same area

.

 

[Fixitman]

No it's not.

You can clearly see the same terrain is giving different shading for the different types of life that are in the same area

It's more like the shading is showing the effect of the topography on the probability of that particular bio. Bacterium are usually found on smooth areas, while Fonticula seem to prefer slight rockiness. Those two images show that perfectly.

 

[Fixitman]

Something else worth mentioning:
Switching between Navigation mode and Combat mode is very helpful when picking a landing spot. I've seen several smooth blue areas for bacterium, only to discover they were so mountainous that only fungoida and frutexa could grow there. Combat mode removes the overlay, allowing you to see the terrain texture. Switching back will maintain the last selected filter.

 

[Jim1670]

Soi f it doesn't show anything, what is its purpose? is there any point in asking ED to explain is there?

 

[aRJay]

Soi f it doesn't show anything, what is its purpose? is there any point in asking ED to explain is there?

It does show something.
The blue* areas show where you can find the indicated bio type, the areas that aren’t blue* will not have that particular bio. So the purpose is to narrow down your search.

They aren’t big on explanations.

*There is a lot of disagreement about what if anything the different shades of blue indicate. Personally I am dubious about the shade and suspect it is related to the original failed heatmap and just not removed so I tend to favour smaller areas.

 

[Frankymole]

Not forgetting the ED HUD manager plugin overlay for Enhanced Biome Overlay to make the "teal" areas ("perfect biome"), where finds are more likely, even more obvious.