In short: When surveying a system, payout dependent on distance away. With some twists.
When surveying you are looking for two things: INDUSTRIAL finds and SCIENCE finds.
INDUSTRIAL finds are things like Resource belts, Ring systems (preferrably metallic,) and High-Metal worlds.
These actually return more, the closer the system they are discovered in, but overall, yield lesser returns than SCIENCE finds.
-The reasoning here, is that mining and industry will pay more for readily accessible resources, but not as much for knowledge from systems beyond practical reach.
SCIENCE finds are things like unusual star types, black holes, anything with life on it, etc.
These yield higher returns the farther away the find. These also tend to pay out higher values, but are overall rarer, requiring further exploration to find.
-The reasoning here, is more direct, to reward the player for deep-field exploration.
One final twist though.
The Distance a surveyed system is from the CAPITAL of Allegiance (Sol for Federation, Alioth for Alliance, Achenar for Empire and Sirius i believe for Independent) Determines the payout for each system, not so much the system it is turned in, with the 20ly limit from the point of turn-in remaining in place.
This should lead to some interesting mechanics, where cartographic data for one galactic power is worthless within it's own sphere of influence, but valuable in another.
Finally, we could do with some Bulletin Board missions for explorers. Sciencey stuff like scanning comets (if and when...), planets beyond inhabited space, etc. Also, throw in some cloak and dagger stuff, like scanning a station or planet of one galactic power, for one of the other powers. Real cold-war type stuff.
When surveying you are looking for two things: INDUSTRIAL finds and SCIENCE finds.
INDUSTRIAL finds are things like Resource belts, Ring systems (preferrably metallic,) and High-Metal worlds.
These actually return more, the closer the system they are discovered in, but overall, yield lesser returns than SCIENCE finds.
-The reasoning here, is that mining and industry will pay more for readily accessible resources, but not as much for knowledge from systems beyond practical reach.
SCIENCE finds are things like unusual star types, black holes, anything with life on it, etc.
These yield higher returns the farther away the find. These also tend to pay out higher values, but are overall rarer, requiring further exploration to find.
-The reasoning here, is more direct, to reward the player for deep-field exploration.
One final twist though.
The Distance a surveyed system is from the CAPITAL of Allegiance (Sol for Federation, Alioth for Alliance, Achenar for Empire and Sirius i believe for Independent) Determines the payout for each system, not so much the system it is turned in, with the 20ly limit from the point of turn-in remaining in place.
This should lead to some interesting mechanics, where cartographic data for one galactic power is worthless within it's own sphere of influence, but valuable in another.
Finally, we could do with some Bulletin Board missions for explorers. Sciencey stuff like scanning comets (if and when...), planets beyond inhabited space, etc. Also, throw in some cloak and dagger stuff, like scanning a station or planet of one galactic power, for one of the other powers. Real cold-war type stuff.