Content Recap - Beyond - Chapter Four Livestream - Exploration and the Codex

[CMDR timjt]

like
almost everything...

con
new "ship" tag that replaces the current "module" tag, it is harder to do active power management for combat pilot.
i understand it is good for new player but plz put a button for me to switch back to old UI when the situation required

 

[AveCandido]

Frontier is recovering players those who left the game ... Bravo¡¡¡. Good job for this improvements of the Elite Dangerous

 

[etien]

Looks good

 

[Mephane]

like
almost everything...

con
new "ship" tag that replaces the current "module" tag, it is harder to do active power management for combat pilot.
i understand it is good for new player but plz put a button for me to switch back to old UI when the situation required

Frankly, I don't like the idea of fiddling with the modules panel at all during combat. What I would rather see in the future is the ability to define your own power management presets that can then be selected quickly with hotkeys.

 

[Barking_Mad]

Good point, well made.

Rep

Frontier said that they would,

“seed the galaxy with a series of unique things to find”.

These are in the form of geological, biological, and other phenomena.

 

[Cweord]

I am really excited about this update, Exploration, and UI improvements.

What would also be useful for those of us that use voice control or Macros, would be an improved range of available key commands, so we can instantly access or activate those functions with a single command.

e.g. target object and a single command without going through menus to request docking permission. This can be done with macros, but you have to be set to the right screen or it jumps to the wrong place.

an 'Advanced' tab in commands, with a complete set (so there is a simplified version for those that do not want to get too confused), would be really useful.

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

A question concerning the geological places spotted during the livestream.

Can we interact with them? For example make a scan with the SRV?
Is there some new gameplay on the surface on the planets or does that remain unchanged?

Very happy with what I've seen in the livestream (except for the infinite probes :x ). Keep up the good work!

 

[Deareim]

Even me who is quite critic towards FD has been impressed. Waiting for the beta to see it real but looks like a good job. Let see for BGS now!

 

[march topcat]

Absolutely great stuff! I look forward to going on an exploration again. But please reconsider the infinite probes, I think this is a very bad idea. Why do I need shooting skills when I can slam a countless amount of probes on a planet? Where's the challenge in this? And by the way, it kills immersion. I would like to see the need to collect at least some common materials to create new probes. This would be great in combination with an alternative way to scan the planet surface and getting the same results. As I suggested some weeks ago, the scan could also be done with the surface scanner of the ship by orbiting the planet at a certain distance. Thus players would have the choice how they want to scan a planet.

 

[nexxo]

First off, congratulations Frontier ! You gave explorers real hope again. Also, I'm part of the DW2 organisation team and our minds are very much aligned to making this a big success. Boiling with ideas already. And yes, the stream itself was presented in a very good and authentic manner, so commendations to all 3 of you !

There is something sensitive that I will have to comment on: the infinite amount of probes

Now I know you thought a lot about this, tried to find a formula with a certain amount that might work and at some point you went for a middle-ground solution by using a efficiency target. It is a smart idea in a way, but in another way it is a missed exploration opportunity. Because exploration like you now showed is awesome, but most experienced explorers that are not shy of going long distances do embrace synthesis as part of their journey: heat sinks, SRV fuel, SRV repairs, hull repair limpets, etc. And yet none of these people like grinding.

So I feel this should be re-brainstormed a bit, because there is an opportunity to include probe synthesis within the exploration experience. Keep the materials tier 1 or 2 and you have an incentive to explore planets more, since prospecting and shooting rocks is something you do at the same time as exploring ! Finding planet surface POIs is not a separate activity with your SRV, instead it is a combination of activities that form a whole. And it is not just for increasing the incentive at planet surveying and prospecting but also mining. Shooting and detonating asteroids, knowing that it will yield some cheap mats for your probes simply adds value to the experience.

So once you know collecting probe materials is part of an explorers journey as long as you keep the cap high (similar to what you did for other materials) and the cost low, then you know discarding synthesis completely for probes feels really off as it is inconsistent with other synthesis operations they do use as part of exploration. This is also why the grinding argument is biased and risks judging to quickly as it comes from a perspective of the past that does not think in the new mechanics and context of the explorers dream coming true.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the synthesis of probes required planet bound mat's ... that would exclude non-horizons players. Or at the very least, explorers out in the black without mining lasers. Problem?

True, but I wouldn't bind the mats to prospecting only, and non-horizon players that don't have mining equipment as an explorer sounds like bad outfitting considering how mining becomes more part of exploration experience (discovering locations on the rings). So it's a niche situation that is only applicable to non-horizon players out in the black (the rest can prevent it), so I'm not sure if you should handicap the whole player-base for it, but if FD wants to solve it, they can think of how to allow finding the materials to be gathered in more generics way as well.

Scooping random fragments in rings would be an easy way out of this.

Gotta say I'm way more happy to believe the New Improved DSS module can now passively collect gas and dust from the incomplete vacuum of deep space to make probes, than having to go through the drudgery of collecting materials to synth them.

Sure ! Sounds great But then I'd have to see that happening e.g. going nearby a gas giant and see my probes refill. Great idea, as long as it's a visible in-game mechanic that involves the player a non-grinding, but explorer activity

Outer space isn't a true vacuum though - it's more of a very sparse plasma than true vacuum - just look at those particles whizz onto your shields when in supercruise and wear away at your paintjob, for example - why can't the DSS be passively collecting that stuff

I'm with Baroness Galaxy here. I would argue that the player could stock, say, 100 probes, which are cheap to buy and take up little space, and could synthesise more on the fly. This would require common materials only. The explorer already needs to manage other repairs and maintenance, so why not this? It would tie discovery of resources to immediate reward: the opportunity to collect them and top up supplies.

And yes, a mining laser may be an appropriate exploration tool. In fact, FDev could create a special Explorer class of mining laser: a light-weight, compact, lower energy unit which has a lower/slower yield than a beefy Industrial mining laser, but works on a wider range of materials and has the possibility to do core sampling for detailed analysis.

 

[Renrew LaHorg]

omg! Three thumbs up for Q4! There will be things to adjust and tweak but the overall look is nothing but great (to me)! Thank you FD!

 

[Iskariot]

Easy to solve the Horizon / non-Horizon problem regarding probes:

Give the standard DSS infinite probes, but it can only fire 3 at a time.

Then, implement engineer recipes for the DSS which can allow you to fire 4 or 5 at a time and also increase their flight speeds, BUT now the DSS can only hold a limited number of them. Say a couple thousand or so, after which you'd need to synthesize more using commonly found materials in both rings or planet surfaces. The bigger & better probes are much larger than the stock ones, thus only so many can be stored at a time!


WALLA!!! Now we have a system which supports both non-Horizon players and Horizon players alike. Choices via engineering. If you want faster more numerous probes then you give up the unlimited ammo for them!

Great suggestion.
I really would like to have to synthesize Probes.
I hope FDev has a look at this thread.

 

[Corbin Moran]

I did have questions:
1. Will all the regions be named after exploration community region names?

the below link is the full 9000px image.
https://www.edsm.net/img/poster/9000px.png

Olivia raises a question that I believe is important for many residents of the exploration forum - so on behalf of the Galactic Mapping Team I have started a thread there solely for the discussion of that issue. Please feel free to join in!


New Regions – Why not use the ones already established by the exploration community?

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

Hey guys, take a look to my simple proposal to solve unlimited probes...

Instead of reduced scanner range the Basic and Intermediate Scanners have a limited stock:

BASIC SCANNER: 200 probes
INTERMEDIATE SCANNER: 2000 probes
ADVANCED SCANNER: unlimited

This would solve all issues and make everyone happy
my full proposal: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...-Advanced-got-unlimited?p=7090268#post7090268

 

[Khelthos]

Wonderful guys, thanks!

 

[Bigmaec]

Did someone notice / can someone confirm if the new scan mode can only be used in supercruise or if it works in normal space?

 

[Daish]

let's keep things for the new update as is.

Hi Will. Looks great overall. However, in relation to persistent PoI's, is there any way you guys could have a half-way point between the current "eyeball the whole planet til you find it" approach & the proposed "instantly targetable once you probe the planet" approach?

My personal view is that probing a planet should reveal "Search Zones"-square or circular areas (of say about 5km or 10km size) marked on the planet-within which the PoI's will reside. Having an "X marks the spot" system takes away a lot of the fun of ground-based exploration IMHO. Of course having a shipboard active scan mechanic (like a "ping" system), that allows us to more easily "hone in" on these PoI's would be cool too. I hope you guys will consider some of these ideas during the beta.

It is pointless asking for change ATM, let's get the beta going first, thing is with POIs we have had those sessions of riveting around for literally hours a da not coming up with much it makes a change to now go direct to a point and find things, let's try this first and see.

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

Hi Will. Looks great overall. However, in relation to persistent PoI's, is there any way you guys could have a half-way point between the current "eyeball the whole planet til you find it" approach & the proposed "instantly targetable once you probe the planet" approach?

My personal view is that probing a planet should reveal "Search Zones"-square or circular areas (of say about 5km or 10km size) marked on the planet-within which the PoI's will reside. Having an "X marks the spot" system takes away a lot of the fun of ground-based exploration IMHO. Of course having a shipboard active scan mechanic (like a "ping" system), that allows us to more easily "hone in" on these PoI's would be cool too. I hope you guys will consider some of these ideas during the beta.

Totally agree... I'm happy with the new contents, but I hoped to see more gameplay on planets surface and more stuff to do with the SRV.

 

[c00ky1970]

Easy to solve the Horizon / non-Horizon problem regarding probes:

Give the standard DSS infinite probes, but it can only fire 3 at a time.

Then, implement engineer recipes for the DSS which can allow you to fire 4 or 5 at a time and also increase their flight speeds, BUT now the DSS can only hold a limited number of them. Say a couple thousand or so, after which you'd need to synthesize more using commonly found materials in both rings or planet surfaces. The bigger & better probes are much larger than the stock ones, thus only so many can be stored at a time!


WALLA!!! Now we have a system which supports both non-Horizon players and Horizon players alike. Choices via engineering. If you want faster more numerous probes then you give up the unlimited ammo for them!

Mengy, you obviously were still asleep when Adam said the above when they were shooting out the probes.

Default is max 3, increase number of probes in flight through engineering, they didn't mention different flight speeds though....

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Ziggy happy.