Looks interesting... we'll see when it's released. Thanks for the update!
News Chapter Four - Exploration Reveal
So the Advanced Discovery Scanner (ADS) will no longer have an "infinite" (system-wide) range. Please, Please don't do this. I hope my understanding here is incorrect.
The ADS lets me look at a system and figure out if i care about it. THEN I decide if I want to invest the time to explore it or quickly move on. If i have to spend time and materials to find out I'm looking at a Red Dwarf system with six, or twelve, or twenty worthless ice balls...well...that's just a waste and I just give up.
The new tools should ADD to the the exploration experience by bringing skill to the detailed exploration that matters and profits. The basic information about a system, currently available, by which i decide to explore or pass by a system, should not be replaced by hide-and-seek. That is not a "more engaging" exploration experience, it's profoundly frustrating.
It just a poor analogy no matter how you look at it.
Sure, when I came back from Sag A with a huge detour I didn't mind turning my discoveries in and get payed for it.
It's not why I made that trip though.
The new system looks much more "real" to me, credible, professional, just hitting that honk button and having to eyeball planets in order to find something made me give up on exploring, this new system might get me back into it.
I do hope that they'll add a bunch of stuff to find with those probes though, especially outside the bubble.
It would give the srv much more purpose too imho.
I can't agree more with this. The addition of the supercruise probes is an amazing idea, and being able to map planets and find interesting bits is a monumentally great idea.
However, taking away the functionality of the ADS and not letting us see whether or not a system looks interesting enough to care about is awful. I've had many happy times on trips to specific places where I've honked a system, seen interesting worlds and then spent several hours cruising and looking at stuff and scanning.
With the first part of this update, you'd essentially take away that functionality and waste my time needlessly scoping out planets. What's worse, is that when in a wing in the bubble,
if someone tells me "go to this body" Currently, I can honk and go to it by a visual inspection, now I'll be wasting time searching for the blasted thing or going to a Nav Beacon.
By all means, the probes are a fantastic idea, but the necessity to scope out every body one by one is utterly horrid and will actually decrease my love of exploration. Please, Frontier, think that part through, maybe keep the ADS functionality we have now and let us enter that camera mode for some other reason. If this update was just the probes, honestly I'd be thrilled with it.
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Somebody needs to make a post rounding up all the staff answers sprinkled throughout this thread, because both of these points have already been addressed.
- Non-explorers aren't required to use this mechanic, stations and outposts will continue to show up on the nav panel upon entering a system. In some cases you will need to go scan the nav beacon where you would previously have just honked the system, which I grant is a bit slower. But on the upside, we're being told that all USSes in the system will spawn at once and be findable with the scanner, so in principle that means a lot less flying around waiting for mission signals to spawn.
- You don't have to explore with the probe launcher (the reworked DSS) because the FSS (the reworked ADS) will provide the same data that you currently need both ADS+DSS to collect. You only need the DSS and mat gathering capabilities if you want to go for the new surface mapping data. No word yet on how that will be valued by Cartographics.
It's on my wishlist, too. Things like finding a wreck and not only a log but possibly even being able to transfer some sort of loot to your ship in the way of salvaged modules, credits, or cargo. Perhaps learning some experimental blueprint that gives you some sort of benefit (or conversely, adds some sort of detrimental effect) or perhaps even more LIFE out there other than Thargoids would be nice. Tons on the wishlist, but haven't seen much other than the probe/scan thing yet.
SRV exploration is key IMO, because it was what expanded exploration with Horizons... and other than shooting skimmer skeet or spacerox it's pretty bland.
So you want to fly a spaceship in a game about flying spaceships but you don't want to actually scan and discover things in an activity that involves scanning and discovering things. Interesting.
I am bumping this post because I completely agree. I personally think this new mechanic will add a lot of wasteful actions that will *increase* the number of mundane actions and time wasted to reach a destination while also attempting to find interesting bodies. Requiring a pilot to tune for specific frequencies should be an *optional* component of this feature at best, as well. In the year 3304, we have infinite range scanners that can reveal simple body details in all directions. Employing this technological change is a step backward in astronomical technology by these standards and it seems a little evident that we'll be doing more work for "value added features."
It might pan out that way, but it sounds like the devs are intending otherwise.
I interpret this as somewhat like the current "planet songs" system, where with some practice you can quickly eyeball or ear-ball the waveform and tell if there are terraformables or metalics or what-have-you in the system.
Thanks for the update, it's good to finally see what kind of direction FDev is looking to take the game, and it does seem to be a more engaging one than we currently have.
I have mixed feelings about this, much like I had about the revised C&P in Q1 (which turned out well in my view but was not for everyone). Most of my ships already have both ADS & DSS fitted and it's good to read that no additional modules will be needed.
I have a minor concern about how this might affect non-horizons players, but as I have Horizons I'll leave that for someone it might actually affect to worry about
BTW I'm liking this new level of communication, and hopefully FDev are seeing the benefits of doing so outweighing any concerns that may have kept them quiet on matters like this with a more positive community relationship overall and better expectation management.
I have mixed feelings about this, much like I had about the revised C&P in Q1 (which turned out well in my view but was not for everyone). Most of my ships already have both ADS & DSS fitted and it's good to read that no additional modules will be needed.
I have a minor concern about how this might affect non-horizons players, but as I have Horizons I'll leave that for someone it might actually affect to worry about
BTW I'm liking this new level of communication, and hopefully FDev are seeing the benefits of doing so outweighing any concerns that may have kept them quiet on matters like this with a more positive community relationship overall and better expectation management.
It sounds awesome and engaging. The only thing i have to add is (hopefully going to be addressed): Multi-crew exploration with SRV compatibility.
I definitely agree that there does need to be more to discover, especially if the time taken is going to increase, but even before that. Though I fear that if there is too much to discover the community will push back with arguments about realism and immersion as it has before. I suppose it's all in what they add though. I know NMS is a controversial subject, but if they keep to that idea of science based scanning ala flora, fauna, rock formations or things we already have like guardian and thargoid relics it might be acceptable. Who knows.. I don't think the community has ever completely agreed on something.
Terrible decisions once again. Honestly, this increases the time to see the entire system, why do this? It says you want to reduce time taken to scan bodies in a system, then WHY add time-grind to the discovery of bodies in a system?!? This makes no sense at all.
What's going to be the point of the ADS without the massive range? We hoped to get better tools, don't make them worse for no reason! The ideas for finding special locations (volcanic activity too plz!) on surfaces sound really great, that's what we want. But if scanning complete systems end up taking forever...
The vast majority of bodies in systems you visit end up being fairly non-interesting, so currently it's just a ADS honk and moving on to the next system until you find a system that has something interesting. If we end up having to "gameplay scan" our way to see every body in system after every bloody jump, how do you not see this is madness? Please play your own game...
Unbelievable, if this truly happens I think I'm done with Elite: Dangerous, the last hope for things to get better is put on the Q4 exploration updates but if you guys bungle that up too it's going to be the last straw for many people I bet.
Just drop into a Nav beacon. It doesn't take but 30 seconds or so.
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Well don't say fdev does not communicate if you cannot understand what's being communicated. This thread degenerated once again in a mess
I haven't had much reason to deploy my srv while exploring unless it was for gathering some materials or to make some nice screenshots.
This new system sounds pretty good to me but especially the probes, how cool they may be, will loose their charm quickly if there's not so much to find on the surface.
Btw, this new exploration setup calls for a cool new exploration ship design too imho
Woops. [blah] Sorry Will.
Amen. I made my Elite rank in exploration some time ago by scanning, almost exclusively, undiscovered worlds, just the opposite the Roads to Riches. I take pride not in the distance I've traveled, but in finding undiscovered worlds and systems as close to the Bubble as I can, 4 years after the game was released (slim pickings), which includes getting my name on actual catalog star systems - you know, IRL stars. So the way I see it, _I_ am a "hardcore" explorer, and all these roadtrip space hippies who think Beagle Point is the throne of God don't speak for me, LOL
Nobody likes to be labeled and I can't blame you for reacting this way, but you're completely missing the point of what the person talking about "hardcore" exploring meant.
You don't realize the value of the current ADS and why the quick "honk, check, jump" mechanic is valuable when you're not traveling extremely vast distances across the galaxy.
So again, totally understand the annoyance of being labeled as something negative in this context, but by arguing the merits of the label you're missing the point of what was inferred. But I agree, labels generally destroy arguments.