Exploration/Galactic map/system data question

[Angus]

I was thinking about heading out there to experience a nebula or two with the idea of making some cash from the exploration data. I was doing some preparation on my route and I'm confused: If you select a star on the map, and there is no system data available (either for sale or for free) does this mean that nobody has "discovered" the star, or at least not got back and sold the data?

Its just that around some of the obvious objects of interest on the Galactic map I expected a lot of the adjacent stars to have been discovered and the system data to be available - or have I misunderstood?

Thanks.

 

[Feldspar]

You have misunderstood. All that means is that you can't see or buy the data and will have to find out for yourself, there is no way of telling if someone has discovered something already unless you actually go there.

 

[Fen Harel]

Other Commanders have already tagged a lot of the famous stars, like say Mintaka in the Belt of Orion, but it is not very difficult to get your own name out there. It's easy. It is a very big galaxy, you don't have to go too far out from the Bubble to find systems waiting for you to slap on a "discovered by" tag.

 

[Makya]

If the system data is unavailable, you still get credits from turning in the scanner data. You just don't get the first discovery bonus or your name on it. The way I see it, they're doing me a favor by paying me for systems that have been previously scanned instead of forcing me to go further and further before I start to earn credits. Being first discoverer is icing on the the cake... and fun.

 

[Angus]

So does a system need to be "discovered" a certain amount of times before everyone can see (or pay to see) the system data on the Galactic map - at which point it can no longer be discovered?


Also.....

I've done a little exploration before (nothing very adventurous) but I was the first to discover a few places and was credited as such - if I could find the sytems on the map, would I still have access to all that data?

Cheers.

 

[Kzak]

Systems you have been to will reflect the data you've gathered on them on the map, yes. If you haven't detail-scanned a stellar object, it will still be unknown.

(I keep my notable discoveries logged in a text file to make finding the more remarkable systems I've been to easier.)

 

[Angus]

Thanks guys, but does anyone know how a system passes from being "still discoverable" to "discovered"? In other words, how many Commanders must scan it and sell the data before the cog turns and the data becomes accessible to everybody on the Galactic map?

 

[catanonia]

Thanks guys, but does anyone know how a system passes from being "still discoverable" to "discovered"? In other words, how many Commanders must scan it and sell the data before the cog turns and the data becomes accessible to everybody on the Galactic map?

Not sure on that one,

To avoid confusion for all the other questions here is how discovery works.


1. You only see system data on the map for places that are

a. defaulted in your computer, everyone gets
b. You have visited
c. You have paid for

If the button is red you must go and visit or buy the data.

2. When you visit a system it will show the person who discovered and sold the data on return on each body. It will say discovered by. It only takes 1 person to scan and successfully return and sell the data for this to happen.

3. A star / planet may show unexplored to you, but on the system map as discovered by someone else. It just means you haven't logged it, but someone else has already and handed it in.

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

Thanks guys, but does anyone know how a system passes from being "still discoverable" to "discovered"? In other words, how many Commanders must scan it and sell the data before the cog turns and the data becomes accessible to everybody on the Galactic map?

FD have not said that this will happen, though we must assume that it will, eventually. Of course they have to keep systems explorable for a long time so that noobs still have stuff to find without flying for 2 weeks first (yeah, yeah, hyperbole). And the mechanic for expanding colonised space is somewhere between simplistic and not done yet. But they should sort of move together, I guess. Anyway, I expect the current process to persist for a while, though if they changed the names to make things clearer, we would not get a couple of these threads each week.

 

[cDave]

Thanks guys, but does anyone know how a system passes from being "still discoverable" to "discovered"? In other words, how many Commanders must scan it and sell the data before the cog turns and the data becomes accessible to everybody on the Galactic map?

It seems to be that once a certain number of people have scanned an object, that data becomes available to purchase from stations within 20 LY of it. So if people aren't bothering to scan icy moons, they don't show up. Also there doesn't seem to be a way to buy data for far off systems.