News Chapter Four - Exploration Reveal

[Noogillim]

How will the new scanning system operate with occulted objects? I take it to be meaningful as the view system is more or less line of sight, then you'll have to move to get a view of them and not like the current system that just reveals their location.

For instance (no pun intended) you arrive at a star, to get a view of objects behind the star you'll have to navigate to a suitable vantage point?

 

[Kris]

I like that discovery scanner now doesn't automatically show all system bodies. Yes, scanning will be much more time consuming, but i think its good that some thing need more work. Makes galaxy more mystery.

Makes discovering things more difficult, but that means discoveries are more rewarding (and i don't mean credits).

 

[ALEX CAOS]

Will your muticrew member be able to enter SRV?

sutch a little thing with imense fun factor at guardian ruins etc. 1 in ship or fighter rest at srv´s. Thats multicrew for me?

 

[Behmski]

I think this all sounds great and am very excited to see it in game! It would be also awesome to see a scanner rack internal module. i.e. A module where say a class 1 ADS and a class 1 DSS could be put in 1 class 2 internal compartment.

 

[Turd Ferguson]

more removal of RNGsus....I like it.

 

[Uthxis]

The initial 'honk' will just reveal the entry star. As you use the to explore, more stellar bodies will be revealed as you find them, which will then populate the system map.

This worries me ☹ It will make exploring a very tedious task and a boring one real quick… The amount of uninteresting systems in which I scan nothing is much more than ones containing interesting finds. I have yet to see it in practice, but I am not convinced and a little scared exploring will become too time consuming for a casual player like me…

 

[who?]

Lots of interesting improvements here, but I've got to say that unless the DSS probes have a REALLY long range then the following statement is nonsense:



We currently have to fly to within range of a planet to use the DSS.

We will STILL have to fly to within range of a planet to use the DSS.

With the new system, you'll be able to detail-scan using the probes. I don't know if it mentions range, but if they're long range they'll save you a lot of travelling (unless you DO want to visit that body).

 

[Viajero]

@Will:

Apologies if asked already: In addition to the surface detailed scanner showing POI such as brain tree locations etc will it also serve to show which areas of the surface contain higher concentrations of a certain mineral/material so it can help guide SRV based mining?

 

[Adam Bourke-Waite]

I would say I'm happy, but then I have a doubt - how does this fit with existing non-exploration use of the discovery scanner?

Say, I jump into an unknown - to me - system within the bubble, say for a mission, and I have to go to a given planet. At that time I am not interested in looking around for things - I just want to find that planet and go there fast. Now, I just honk the scanner, detect the planet and set course. What happens with this new mechanism?

If you want the location data without using the discovery scanner you can still scan the Nav Beacon to obtain this information.

 

[Zurie]

If the USS are no longer random, does that mean they are finite? If i am going to a certain type of system to search for certain types of mats in High Grade Emissions? are there only going to be 1 or 2 spawning? Before, with randomness I could fly and farm them as long as i wanted to play... Do we have the ability to still aquire the same amount of HGE in 1 system or do we now need to fly out and back in? Is there a decay on how long they are up? are we waiting 10 minutes like the mission board for USS spawns?

 

[bitstorm]

With the USSs.

People use these for hunting material.

I wonder will this mean that material is harder to come by.

That in a way we will be replacing slow-cruising through a system to find (say high grade emmisions) for jumping in and out repeatedly to refresh USSs?

 

[UmbraRex]

Ummm, this blows.

A lot.

And hard.

I run around doing missions. A lot. I go here and there all over the bubble. So I'm constantly taking missions to low pop systems I've never been to.

Now: I drop into a system and whoops, never been here. 'Honk' Okay there is my target. Off I go.

After the update: Drop into a system, whoops. Never been here 'Honk' OK, find a signal... Nope, that's not it. OK, find another… Nope ...36 stellar bodies later... *ragequit

Edit to add: Just saw the 'you can still scan the nav beacon' reply. I haven't scanned more then three nav beacons since I installed the game. Will scanning a nav beacon reveal a planetary scan mission target?

 

[Auronio]

I do not wanna pretend I had understood everything - still not sure whether I got the new mechanic.
But practice and exercise will teach.

The changes sound significant and a true upgrade of exploration.
Looking forward to have "First Mapped by..." some nice bodies.

o7

 

[mossfoot]

How about adding the ability for using two SRVs from one ship..
For example, im exploring 60kly out there somewhere, my friend in the bubble wants to join me in multicrew. We land somewhere and get SRVs because im carrying 4G SRV bay which holds 2 SRVs.

Yeah, how about that..

I want this too... or at least the ability for a crew member to use the SRV while the commander flies the ship.

 

[Dommarraa]

1. Can you please guarantee that plot related locations will always be detected by the ads, and not require probing?
If we ads a thousand systems looking for the lastest 'added mysterious object' only to find that we needed to probe, my laptop will be delivered to frontier towers in pieces along with the bill.

2. Probe ammo must be easily replenished. No ingredients that require the bubble!

3. Could a targeted uss please NOT expire (like current)

 

[Siobhan]

God this is a great point, if we tell someone to go to body A 2 A in a given system ('cos there's something there or for a race or meetup), currently they can honk and then work out which body it is from the system map.

How will this work in the new system?

At a guess we'd be able to share the orbit characteristics of a body, and a follow up can scan/probe the orbit to quickly narrow the search... or maybe shared data could make it appear on the screen as soon as the star is identified.

I suspect the empty system will be mostly for first discoveries.

 

[Cmdd_Legendie]

please no ammo for the surface scanner.... just give it infinite ammo or let the probes return to the ship or something...

I agree. If not that, I would be okay with a high ammo count and the ability to recharge the ammo by looking for resources to synthisize more ammo. I just don't like the idea of planning a really long exploration trip with a limited amount of probes to deploy. Other then that, everything else is amazing!

 

[Astinius]

There is some good content.
Little note.
Now ofthen Combat ships have Discovery Scanner for skip the navigation beacon drop while in search of mission objective. Maybe FDEV can add an "auto Discovery scanner" with no reward and no 1st discovery for keep this advantage.

I hope FDEV are testing well Q4 update. Is better check twice than do a poor figure like the GNOSIS.

Remember the GNOSIS

Astinius

 

[CMDR_Raikkonen]

In multicrew can your crewmates select / share targets for the pilot to fly towards?

It would drag if a multicrew player finds something, then has to tell the helm, and then the helm would have to find it themselves lock it and fly to it.

Basically a bit of discovery and course plotting in a co-pilot role.

 

[PeanutPete]

Totally loving the detailed surface scanner idea. Away to finally find interesting stuff without having to eyeball it or follow some coordinates you found on redit (im terrible at following coordinates)