A few ideas to give exploration a bit more depth:
- Possibility to see visited systems on the galaxy map, with color coding for discovered object of interests (e.g. earth-like planet, neutron star, black hole, supergiant star, etc..), also possibility to highlight systems "first discovered by me".
- Outfitting alternatives with trade-offs. Currently it is just "get the best FSD, rest of modules with the smallest weight". For example mirrored composite armor provides better resistance against thermal weapons - it would make sense to receive less heat damage from stars with this equipped. A trade off between weight / jump range and safety. This could also allow reaching places otherwise not possible. (Like the first planet of the supergiant star Betelgeuse. Tried to get a screenshot, instead almost got fried even at scanning distance.)
- Ability to dump fuel, for 2 reasons: first to shed weight to be able to make a very long jump, second so that explorer groups can share fuel (Your friend got stranded in deep space? Instead of the self destruct button, it's time for an epic rescue mission!).
- Explorer's Mothership: Anaconda description: ".. can also be upgraded with a docking bay allowing small fighters up to Sidewinder size to be carried and launched" Let us use an Anaconda as a "forward base". How I imagine it could work: Park your Anaconda in orbit around a star. Get into the Sidewinder, jump around neighboring systems gathering data. Upon returning, the exploration data is saved in the mothership. If you get yourself killed while in the small ship, you could respawn in the mothership, and lose only the latest data (and the small ship). This would give a layer of protection against losing all your exploration data. Also a tradeoff between time spent vs safety: you could play safe and scout ahead with your small ship and only go forward with the big ship to safe systems. Or jump into the unknown with your big ship and risk losing all your data. This would also go well together with the planetary landing expansion. Leave your big ship in orbit and fly around on the planet's surface with your nimble small ship.
- Possibility to see visited systems on the galaxy map, with color coding for discovered object of interests (e.g. earth-like planet, neutron star, black hole, supergiant star, etc..), also possibility to highlight systems "first discovered by me".
- Outfitting alternatives with trade-offs. Currently it is just "get the best FSD, rest of modules with the smallest weight". For example mirrored composite armor provides better resistance against thermal weapons - it would make sense to receive less heat damage from stars with this equipped. A trade off between weight / jump range and safety. This could also allow reaching places otherwise not possible. (Like the first planet of the supergiant star Betelgeuse. Tried to get a screenshot, instead almost got fried even at scanning distance.)
- Ability to dump fuel, for 2 reasons: first to shed weight to be able to make a very long jump, second so that explorer groups can share fuel (Your friend got stranded in deep space? Instead of the self destruct button, it's time for an epic rescue mission!).
- Explorer's Mothership: Anaconda description: ".. can also be upgraded with a docking bay allowing small fighters up to Sidewinder size to be carried and launched" Let us use an Anaconda as a "forward base". How I imagine it could work: Park your Anaconda in orbit around a star. Get into the Sidewinder, jump around neighboring systems gathering data. Upon returning, the exploration data is saved in the mothership. If you get yourself killed while in the small ship, you could respawn in the mothership, and lose only the latest data (and the small ship). This would give a layer of protection against losing all your exploration data. Also a tradeoff between time spent vs safety: you could play safe and scout ahead with your small ship and only go forward with the big ship to safe systems. Or jump into the unknown with your big ship and risk losing all your data. This would also go well together with the planetary landing expansion. Leave your big ship in orbit and fly around on the planet's surface with your nimble small ship.