Explain the Codex and Discoveries to me?

[Piratescribe]

Sorry for all the posts of late -- I'm starting to really get into the details and weeds of the game....
So a couple people in a another thread referred to the Codex to me, and I hadn't know what that was. Did some searching, and I found it in my ship's display. Now, I have some questions about it.... I see the section, "HUB > DISCOVERIES > ASTRONOMICAL BODIES" and STARS... it says "13 Confirmed"?? What exactly does that mean? Because I have not been to any systems since playing the game that have not already been "First Discovered" by someone else.
I look through the REGION DISCOVERIES and even find a Black Hole with a checkmark (confirmed)? I look at it, and it's the one in HR 1185 and has someone else "Reported By."
So... "Discoveries" in my Codex evidently don't mean what I think it means??
Thanks for any help!

 

[Nordmarken]

So in the region Inner Orion Spur there are in total 40 different types of stars. So far you have confirmed 13 of these (blue). In your picture a black hole is one of them while you yet have to visit or discover the 11 different types of white dwarfs. If you click on the white dwarfes to the left in the codex you'll get a new view where you're told where 11 of these wd types have been discovered. Of course they can often be found elsewhere if you want to tag your own.

 

[Piratescribe]

So in the region Inner Orion Spur there are in total 40 different types of stars. So far you have confirmed 13 of these (blue). In your picture a black hole is one of them while you yet have to visit or discover the 11 different types of white dwarfs. If you click on the white dwarfes to the left in the codex you'll get a new view where you're told where 11 of these wd types have been discovered. Of course they can often be found elsewhere if you want to tag your own.

OK so to summarize, "Discoveries" in the Codex is a record of purely what I've encounted among a list of types -- and has no bearing whatsoever on OTHER commanders or the community at large?
I.e. the black hole I "discovered" means it's just the first I've ever encountered, and does not mean I actually discovered it as far as anyone else is concerned?

OK, cool enough.
Now, is there a way to see the things I HAVE discovered as far as others' are concerned? E.g. the worlds I'm the first person to ever map, or even the first to actually discover (as per the "First Discovered By" in a system map)?

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

I did this just this week. It should help a bit.

Before this, it was already established that you would need to FSS a system.

Planets and stars will automatically ‘complete’ themselves in the Codex but there are a few other things that will not.

Sectors:

As you probably know, the map is split up into sectors, you make a bunch of discoveries in one sector, that fills that section in the Codex, as you move into another sector, you start filling that one.

Spoiler: Codex Sectors

View attachment 211914

You can see in the picture above, that I was in the Inner Scutum-Centaurus Arm, it tells me that on the left and on the right, it shows the map and my 'cursor' is on that segment, highlighted in orange. At any time, you can select a different sector by using the map, to see what other discoveries you have made in other sectors.

The table on the left is telling you all of the things you can expect to find in that sector.

As in the above picture, if we select Astronomical Bodies, we get this:

Spoiler: BODIES

View attachment 211916

This splits those up into sub sections, in the picture above stars, gas giants etc. A brief overview of what you have found and what you have not.

Finally, the varied types. Clicking one of the above will take you into a further sub category.

Spoiler: varied types

View attachment 211918

So we can see by the above that I had, in that sector, discovered a 'Rocky Planet with no atmosphere' and the blue one, the non terra formable one, is the one I discovered. The terraformable one, still in orange, is one I still have not found.


This is the same for every thing you discover. Geo sites, alien stuff and other stuff that is floating about in space.

As I said, honking and FSS, will resolve the planets and stars. Things you on the planet face, whilst can be done in a ship, you might as well get the SRV out and use the Comp scanner in that, you're probably down there collecting stuff anyway. Just map it in your fire groups, it is easy to use.

There is another category, things such as Larange Clouds, This sit out in space, every ship has a comp scanner fitted, you'll need to do the same for them.

None of this is vital to the game, but you're on a long trek and anything that helps you document that (and fill some time) is good.

 

[Dreyski]

There might be someting in commander stats for that. I'll have a look later on tonight.

 

[Dreyski]

Think of the Codex as one of those old I-spy books used to pass the time on car journeys. It tells you what's out there, and in most cases, where you can find it.

 

[[PS4] Lorenzo Waringos]

Think of the Codex as one of those old I-spy books used to pass the time on car journeys. It tells you what's out there, and in most cases, where you can find it.

We used to play the pub game. 4 people in the car, the competition was, who could spot the most pubs out of their side of the car.

 

[Dreyski]

Now, is there a way to see the things I HAVE discovered as far as others' are concerned? E.g. the worlds I'm the first person to ever map, or even the first to actually discover (as per the "First Discovered By" in a system map)?

Doesn't look like it. There's a (very slim) chance you might be the first to find astronomical body in a far-off sector, which will become the specimen type in the discoveries tab, but commander stats for exploration just mentions systems visited, number of jumps, number of scans etc.

 

[CMDR SleepyDelegate]

One important thing regarding the CODEX:

If you find something no one else has found yet in a particular sector of the Galaxy (Inner Orion Spur for example), then it is shown in the CODEX not only as confirmed, but also as REPORTED by you. That means, that your name will be there for everyone else to see for ever.

Anything else, that you only confirm, but not report, is only your own record, noone else can see your name there...

So if you want to put your name in the codex, let me give you a hint that will guarantee it to you:

Find a super massive black hole in any galactic region aside from Galactic centre... No one has found one yet... Everything else has been likely discovered and recorded in Codex...

 

[Thatchinho]

OP, to clarify, generally what's in the discoveries section of the Codex are the first discoveries of specific types of things, per galactic region (there's 42 galactic regions.)

'Reported' is for the playerbase as a whole.

'Confirmed' is for you personally.

If you are the first in the playerbase to discover something, your 'Reported' and 'Confirmed' will be the same for that thing.



Extra info:

- For some things (astronomical bodies) there's also 'Records' - these are your personal records for that type of thing. Records is in the sense of smallest/largest, hottest, coldest, that type of thing. Some of this may be bugged (there were some issues with it and I haven't checked whether it's all been fixed).

- There's also 'Rumoured' but that doesn't appear to have been used as yet.

- Discoveries in the Codex are only from when the Codex went live (3.3 - Dec 2018). Many things were first discovered before then, but they don't show in the Codex.

Edit - partially ninja'd by @CMDR SleepyDelegate

 

[Thatchinho]

Now, is there a way to see the things I HAVE discovered as far as others' are concerned? E.g. the worlds I'm the first person to ever map, or even the first to actually discover (as per the "First Discovered By" in a system map)?

It's recorded in the system info, and will be shown to others who enter the system and FSS scan the bodies in question, or check them on the System Map.

There isn't a list of the bodies you're the first discoverer of though, except for the ones in the Codex, but as per the other posts the Codex only shows the first discoveries of types of things, not of every instance of a thing.

 

[Dreyski]

One important thing regarding the CODEX:

If you find something no one else has found yet in a particular sector of the Galaxy (Inner Orion Spur for example), then it is shown in the CODEX not only as confirmed, but also as REPORTED by you. That means, that your name will be there for everyone else to see for ever.

Anything else, that you only confirm, but not report, is only your own record, noone else can see your name there...

So if you want to put your name in the codex, let me give you a hint that will guarantee it to you:

Find a super massive black hole in any galactic region aside from Galactic centre... No one has found one yet... Everything else has been likely discovered and recorded in Codex...

I was going to recommend searching for a White dwarf in Aquila's Halo...

 

[Sapyx]

Unfortunately, there isn't any way of listing all of your in-game First Discovery tags. The game doesn't store these tags by CMDR, it stores them by system - so the only way of generating such a list is if the Stellar Forge interrogates every single star system in the galaxy, and then each object in each star system, to see if your name is there. Which would take far longer than you or anyone else would be prepared to wait.

Even third-party sites like EDSM, with their incomplete databases, don't give you a list of your first discovery tags. This is partly because they rely on information recorded in the game journal files, and First Discovery tag awards are not journalled.

Your only way of recording it is with a good ol' fashioned pen and paper, writing things down as you discover them. Or maybe a spreadsheet, if you don't mind constantly alt-tabbing. The only in-game tool to help you is the Bookmark function, but you only get given 120 bookmarks so you'll run out very quickly if you try to Bookmark everything. Taking screenshots of the "Congratulations!" screens when you sell the data can also work.

Perhaps it's for the best that you don't see such a list. Newbie explorers like yourself wouldn't have a very long list, but for veterans like me... I've been to tens of thousands of Unexplored star systems, with an average of about 11 stars/planets/moons per system. That's a very, very long list to have to generate, or to sort through if I'm looking for a specific system.

But yes, back when the Codex was announced, we were all hoping, perhaps even assuming, that it would include a record of all our personal discoveries. Many were disappointed to find out that this was never planned or intended. The Codex, as implemented, is little more than a trainspotter's guide to what's what in the Galactic Regions.