So you're not bothered by a consumable scanning mechanism, you're just bothered by the way it's consumed. How would the satellites be dealt with? They wouldn't be able to just leave potentially 10s of thousands of satellites orbiting a planet endlessly.
News Chapter Four - Exploration Reveal
So you're not bothered by a consumable scanning mechanism, you're just bothered by the way it's consumed. How would the satellites be dealt with? They wouldn't be able to just leave potentially 10s of thousands of satellites orbiting a planet endlessly.
Which is not something I support. I've already said that Persistent PoI's need to be less precise than "X marks the spot", but more like a relatively small search zone highlighted on your HUD & System Map. By the same token, though, transient PoI's need to be a bit more precise-& persistent-than the current, awful "blue circle that disappears below a 3km altitude" mechanic. As Arsen suggests, we should get at least a vague hint as to where these transient PoI's are-especially if they are artificial (which would require them to be more persistent). Once below orbital cruise, though, there needs to be a means of tracking them from your ship that doesn't require the player to stay at a very narrow "altitude corridor", until a blue circle appears. Again, perhaps move away from a passive system towards a more active approach. Active scanning (either a honk or a less intrusive secondary scan) might give the player directional information via their scanner, that they can then follow towards the PoI. The closer the PoI, the stronger & more precise the indicator (sort of like a variant of the SRV Wave Scanner). This scanning mechanic may also then allow players to learn more about what the PoI is (is it natural or artificial, how many specific objects does it contain, are there any sign of rare materials). This is similar to my thoughts about active scanning revealing more info about Signal Sources, dependent on how close you are when you scan, as opposed to the current passive scan mechanic.
Not human junk, necessarily. For my part I believe there is room to start introducing Procedural Generated *alien* content-not just Thargoid or Guardian-but a whole range of alien species that exist far beyond the human bubble. The aliens could be long extinct, lacking in long-range FTL travel, limited to a single star system, or even limited to largely a single planet. Either way, though, we might find evidence of their presence, even without the presence of full atmosphere worlds.
Likewise, I am also cool with the idea of more naturally occurring transient PoI's, outside of Outcrops & the like.
Either way that would still need the retention of transient PoI's, which in turn necessitates a better mechanic for finding them.....IMHO.
I'd like that myself, but there's been push back against such a thing before. There are people that don't want anything to be anywhere outside of civilized space to keep it to 'if we haven't seen it in real life it shouldn't exist' aside from Thargoids of course. Obviously nothing human should be out there since we've never been there before, or have we? Nah, not possible.
400 billion stars, yet people can't countenance the idea of there being more than half a dozen sentient species in the galaxy? LOL
Stop. Making. Sense.
Except he didn't clarify the part where the satellites are purged from the game world. Are they to fall out of orbit and crash on the planet anyway? Do we just allow 10s of thousands of satellites to continue orbiting planets forever? Do they become rogue and float endlessly through the system? I highly doubt they want player assets to stay populated in the game world like that, for performance reasons, so they need to be retrievable or destroyed in some way, if we're going to make sense.
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They should make the entire new scanning suite a multicrew station (like gunnery is now) and leave the rest of the mechanics alone.
That way those of us who want to fly our spaceships can carry on doing that, and those who get their jollies playing 'Science Officer' can do that.
It's why FDev designed it so that you can't fly and explore simultaneously- they should embrace the concept properly rather than doing a half-bottomed job that doesn't suit anyone.
That way those of us who want to fly our spaceships can carry on doing that, and those who get their jollies playing 'Science Officer' can do that.
It's why FDev designed it so that you can't fly and explore simultaneously- they should embrace the concept properly rather than doing a half-bottomed job that doesn't suit anyone.
I think you need to look in the mirror. So what part of the game do you not use the UI/HUD to play the game.
Yeah, I think someone is being less than honest, which highlights the increasing desperation of certain people to be "right". In psychology terms, they refer to comments like that as "projection".
I like the probes and the USS/ring scan changes quite a lot myself (well at least on paper they do sound great). It's only the initial scan that I have big reservations about (this seems to be the only divisive part I believe, all the other changes seem to be quite liked by most everyone).
Like the engineer change in Q1, as a whole, I agree, it seems a step forward. Doesn't mean I have to like all parts of it. I disliked the change to needing to fully upgrade mods from G1 every single time (which would have become inventory management hell if it weren't for external tools), and I'm pretty convinced I'm going to dislike having to park at every single system main star and play with the space binoculars for who knows how long, just to be able to decide if I want to stick around in the system or not (which is, to me, when the actual exploration begins).
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.....and where have I said I 100% support the new mechanic? Already made it clear that there are things I want them to alter or add-on to the system they laid out in the OP.....but a return to the Infinite detailed Insta-honk is definitely not one of them.
Thanks for the incidental hint, heh. Couldn't post there as it was closed (gave some rep, for what it's worth), so I'll say it here. Excellent suggestions and a lot of stuff more or less 1:1 what I've been thinking while zipping through the black. Actually made some similar suggestions here in this very thread, but good luck finding those.
One thing's for sure, exploration is in dire need of new and meaningful mechanics and content. How this new scan mechanic among the other additions play into that, remains to be seen.
That sounds like forum exposure to me. ;-)
But seriously, it must be tough on the devs, particuarly if you are a creative and sensitive soul.
off Topic.
Devs, just for the record: Love you guys, love the game!
When the press in '84 said "Not so much a game, more a way of life" they couldn't have known how true they spake.
I am very encouraged with this update plan and look forward to it.
Others have listed this already ... (Mengy for example) .. Mechanic and Content.
The big thing I hope I am reading correctly in the OP for Ch.4, is data analysis and interpretation.
Two or more commanders arriving in the same system or area of space should not necessarily each discover the same things when they complete their exploration.
Each should leave with, both a common set of a core data and individually, different detailed data/discoveries.
All this is based on their own interpretation of the same basic 'honk' data that was achieved.
The fact is that, if a commander is willing to go out into the deep dark, then they are likely a commander willing to put in the time and effort, to learn and develop skills. In other words, the rewards comes from the work needed to eek out the critical details necessary to find the discovery.
Still on mechanics, the interpretation should then inform, what type of scan parameters to use next, by way, to further enhancing the data quality and thereby getting closer to a discovery.
Regarding content, i.e. discoverable items, features, natural phenomenon, and so on ... the common stuff should be easy, the less common more hidden and the true big discoveries, hardest to find.
These big "would ya look at this Whoa!" discoveries could be rare metals which would call for returning with your mining rig for example ... or get sold as a grid ref to the market .....
Another side scenario that comes to mind;
Commander 1 is the first discoverer of System A and indeed first mapper for Planets A, B & C there. But Commander 2 is the first to find "the big discovery" of hidden Guardian artifacts because Commander 2 has developed better skill interpreting his/her honk data.
S!
P.S. + Rep to Mengy also .... I very much share his ideas
Others have listed this already ... (Mengy for example) .. Mechanic and Content.
The big thing I hope I am reading correctly in the OP for Ch.4, is data analysis and interpretation.
Two or more commanders arriving in the same system or area of space should not necessarily each discover the same things when they complete their exploration.
Each should leave with, both a common set of a core data and individually, different detailed data/discoveries.
All this is based on their own interpretation of the same basic 'honk' data that was achieved.
The fact is that, if a commander is willing to go out into the deep dark, then they are likely a commander willing to put in the time and effort, to learn and develop skills. In other words, the rewards comes from the work needed to eek out the critical details necessary to find the discovery.
Still on mechanics, the interpretation should then inform, what type of scan parameters to use next, by way, to further enhancing the data quality and thereby getting closer to a discovery.
Regarding content, i.e. discoverable items, features, natural phenomenon, and so on ... the common stuff should be easy, the less common more hidden and the true big discoveries, hardest to find.
These big "would ya look at this Whoa!" discoveries could be rare metals which would call for returning with your mining rig for example ... or get sold as a grid ref to the market .....
Another side scenario that comes to mind;
Commander 1 is the first discoverer of System A and indeed first mapper for Planets A, B & C there. But Commander 2 is the first to find "the big discovery" of hidden Guardian artifacts because Commander 2 has developed better skill interpreting his/her honk data.
S!
P.S. + Rep to Mengy also .... I very much share his ideas
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Since we're on the topic of improving the exploration experience, I'm wondering if it would be possible to add more information on the DSS interface.
Leaving aside the surface material info on this gas giant (?), it looks like there's a slider below the INFO bar, which would -I hope- let us display astronomical information without having to open the sysmap like we have to do currently. There is also plenty of room to display more stuff. Cause, erm, if we have to honk, then fiddle with sensors and the DSS interface, and then open the sysmap to find the info we want, that'll just be too many layers for me. Deeper, yes; more screens and layers, no thanks.
Leaving aside the surface material info on this gas giant (?), it looks like there's a slider below the INFO bar, which would -I hope- let us display astronomical information without having to open the sysmap like we have to do currently. There is also plenty of room to display more stuff. Cause, erm, if we have to honk, then fiddle with sensors and the DSS interface, and then open the sysmap to find the info we want, that'll just be too many layers for me. Deeper, yes; more screens and layers, no thanks.
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I like that a lot. Nice idea
Couple things. No, because I don't really play with other people so it'd be a MP feature that then excludes me. So the change would solve no problems for me.
You're still 'flying your spaceship', it doesn't go into stasis while you scan for things. Your ship will be moving in the same way it still moves while you check system/galaxy maps, it will still be vulnerable in the same way. I don't know where you get that you don't fly and explore simultaneously... I think you're reaching a bit too far for the 'I actually like flying my ships in a game about flying ships' fallback.
I know you don't like it, I know some other people don't like it. There have been good suggestions on compromise, allowing us to have a bit of both, but this one isn't going to work.