Exploration in Odyssey can be awesome - good job, Frontier!

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
I hate to start with a disclaimer, but here we are. If you want to skip ahead to the feel-good part, please do so. here we go:

I am aware that there are lots of problems with Odyssey and it runs terrible for alot of people, and that some think Frontier missed the mark with Odyssey. I sincerely don't want to belittle those who have issues, and I'm not "white-knighting" or anything. I am fortunate that for me Odyssey runs very well in VR by now, but then I also threw alot of money and hardware at it to do get it that way. From that, lets call it luxury, position I think Frontier doesn't get enough credit for what they did really, really well with Odyssey, and I also happen to like most of the features of the new planetary tech. Credit where credit is due. So there.

I'm currently out in the black(ish). Not really far (around 2.5k ly from Sol), and more on a space tourism trip than "serious" exploration, and I've just had the best few hours in Odyssey since... ever. I am having a blast, and I never took that many screenshots - I just had to stop over and over.

I am currently landed on a small moon of a gas giant orbiting a nice, bright A-class star at a distance of around 3700 ls. I landed on it because it was a landable atmospheric that had seven bio signals. It's a (seemingly) boring rocky body, but it's hands down the most awesome moon I have ever set foot on. After completing the DSS the location map showed three of the seven bios confined to rather small patches of terrain. The area I decided to touch down in is the most awesome terrain I have ever driven on. So, here is my little photo story.

This is the plateau I started from:

landing_plateau.png


The area around is like an adventure quarry on steroids - various hills, plateaus, trenches, connected with what looked like dirt roads made exactly for that purpose. Also, the area was just riddled with forests of three of the organisms living on that moon. As I haven't really done serious exobiology in EDO, I have never seen some of them. Up on my landing plateau were three patches of cactoids, but I forgot to take a picture of them :) . Then, right after driving down the hill from my landing zone I found this:

concha_renibus_blue.png


Seriously, some of the EDO assets are both aewsome and hilarious. Driving over the hill I found more of those things, and one looked especially funny to me, so I decided to stop for a photo opportunity. Here is my masterpiece:

concha_renibus_blue_2.png


What made me really enjoy looking for those plants was the environment: The clear blue sky, the faint image of the gas giant, the galaxy in the background and the distant sun glaring down. Of course I tried to take a picture of it, so here it is:

gas_giant_vista.png


Then I came to the edge of that little "quarry":

quarry_edge.png


I drove over the edge and down into this valley:

over_the_hill.png


The bottom of the valley was again riddled with those funny finger thingies, so I really couldn't resist. Here's my version of the cliché waving picture:

wave.png


I kept going and was finally greeted by this vista:

vista.png


I turned left, and the terrain opened up into an open plane with more cactoids and again a load of, I think, fungoida?

cactoid_plane.png


As it was time to call it, I recalled my ship and was curious where it would land. Recently, sometimes it would ignore the plane I was waiting in and try to land in the surrounding hills 2 km away... with no success I might add. Anyway, my Anaconda made it to the surface without a scratch, and of course I couldn't resist to take a goodbye picture of the are:

goodbye.png



So, I had a really good time. This was by far the best planet I have landed on, something I would not have expected from a plain, boring rocky body. The terrain felt very well balanced, almost like I imagine a real rock out in space would be like. It's not as spectacular as Mount Neverest or Pomeche 2C, but it feels more like a planet and less like a testicle :D.

Now, I still have to find four more bios, and I guess I will have to move to the other side of the planet, I hope it stays that great. I've already said it a few times, I think Frontier did a great job with the atmospheric planets, and I really love the bio assets. The blue finger squid thingie is my absolute favorite ;). Seriously, good job!
 

Jack Winter

Jack Winter
I think in general the planet and moons are better in Odyssey, especially the atmospheric ones.

Still a pity that the extremes in past versions of the game disappeared, more bodies with canyons and mountains would be nice to see again.. And quite honestly, something like Mt Nerverest ought to be hand crafted, it's too bad that those places are gone. At least in my not so humble opinion.. :D
 

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
Frillop Freyraum said:
It's quite telling and sad at the same time that when you enjoy the game (or at least parts of it) you feel like you have to fill out an anti-white knight form so that you don't get treated like a traitor. This fantastic community is sometimes so... :censored:
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Yeah well, we all know how internet forums work, so... maybe this way increases the chance to not being shouted down for trying to be positive. I've seen how those threads can end... ;)
 

Taimaru

Taimaru
I fully agree, OP. Whilst Odyssey has had issues (and still does) it has definitely been worth buying for me. I also look forward to what Frontier bring to the game in the future as I know they are working hard on the game.

Once you've sold your exploration data (so you've got your name on it) OP, it would nice for you to update this thread with the location of the system/body portrayed in your post as I wouldn't mind visiting it sometime.
 

Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
Oh I don't care. The system is totally worthless, it's three gas giants and a handful of rocky bodies. Yeah, somebody can "steal" my name tag... whatever :) . Also it's entierly possible that the rest of the moon is totally bonkers, I have traveled less than 10 km. Also, it can be just me, and the moon is a total dissapointment to anyone else.

Having said that: The system is Blu Thua YK-N d7-4, and the moon is 1 d. The first bio I scanned is at 33.45/-11.98. Come visit me :). I'll be off finding the remaining bios and probably move on though. But I am definitely bookmarking this moon. I like it.
 
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Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
I got another picture. I just logged back in and was greeted by this view:

moonrise.png


As you can just make out, one of the moons has creeped up from behind the gas giant. The other two spots are stars, I think, but I'm not sure. The left one matches with the position of moon 1 b, maybe that one is out of render distance. Anyway, awesome vista in VR!

Edit: The left bright dot seems to be moon 1b, it has moved behind the gas giant now. Not sure what the dot behind the other moon is, it's nothing I can target in my panel. Also, I can just about make out the ring plane of the gas giant, it's exactly perpendicular to my and just a faint line. Awsome.
 
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Iron Body

Iron Body
Taimaru said:
Once you've sold your exploration data (so you've got your name on it) OP, it would nice for you to update this thread with the location of the system/body portrayed in your post as I wouldn't mind visiting it sometime.
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The galaxy has thousands of interesting planets and moons like this. I like the icy/rocky moons which have glaciers coming down from the higher plateaux.

They are not common enough to be too repetitive, and I have spent hours exploring some of them.
 

Nick Nova

Nick Nova
Had quite an exciting moment the other day doing exobiology.

The planet I was on had 7 biological signals and I had found 6 of them without much trouble. After a lot of searching I caught a glimpse of the last one.. at the bottom of a ravine. I walked to the edge to get a closer look and figure out how to get my srv down there. Apparently it was steeper than I thought and I slipped and slid all the way to the bottom.

Good thing was that I got my last biological, but I could see no easy way out. I was basically stuck. The ravine was too narrow for my ship to land in and too deep and steep to jetpack out of. Had to hike untill i finally found a way out a couple of km away. When I recalled my ship I only had around 12% energy left with no spare energy cells.
 
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Helmut Grokenberger

Helmut Grokenberger
:) I too had a similar one-step-too-close slip a few days ago when looking for the last bio. It didn't help that it was on the night side of the planet and there wasn't even anything to scan at the bottom of the ravine. Luckily I had found an Artemis with NV shortly before, but that was a tough experience. It wasn*t as close for me, but at some point I too started worrying about my energy reserves... when I was out I thought "sod it", abandoned the search and took off.

It was the same bio that kept me in circles on this moon - Osseus. Man, that stuff's got my number :) . I'm glad I finally found a third one, time to move on now (y).

In the spirit of my little photo story, here's a goodbye picture. I forgot to wave, but at least my eyes are not closed :) .

osseus.png
 

The Lawful

The Lawful
When EDO came out, it had technical issues, and some of them it still has. But it's the best Elite experience so far, and by far, and in VR too. It is epic, and no other game on the market can get close to it in terms of simulating the galaxy. Just that a raging mob rammed it to the ground last year, and there it is.

O7,
:)
 

Rosefine

Rosefine
In addition to the bubble and colonia, I think the galaxy became more interesting to explore and witness what it looks like out there and you can share pictures with the nice community in the forum.

But with my opinion, it would have been perfect if there were a few more species to explore on the surface, but as I said, that's just my opinion.
 

Iron Body

Iron Body
Nick Nova said:
Had quite an exciting moment the other day doing exobiology.

The planet I was on had 7 biological signals and I had found 6 of them without much trouble. After a lot of searching I caught a glimpse of the last one.. at the bottom of a ravine. I walked to the edge to get a closer look and figure out how to get my srv down there. Apparently it was steeper than I thought and I slipped and slid all the way to the bottom.

Good thing was that I got my last biological, but I could see no easy way out. I was basically stuck. The ravine was too narrow for my ship to land in and too deep and steep to jetpack out of. Had to hike untill i finally found a way out a couple of km away. When I recalled my ship I only had around 12% energy left with no spare energy cells.
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Don't do what I did and drive my srv into an extinct volcanic crater. I could neither climb out or drive out. These things are deadly !
 

quackinthebush

Q
The Lawful said:
When EDO came out, it had technical issues, and some of them it still has. But it's the best Elite experience so far, and by far, and in VR too. It is epic, and no other game on the market can get close to it in terms of simulating the galaxy. Just that a raging mob rammed it to the ground last year, and there it is.

O7,
:)
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Well raging mob might be a bit of a stretch, but at launch it deserved all the flak that it got. I think it left a bad taste with many players that lingers today. But it's coming along and I agree it is the better ED experience by far, flaws aside.
 
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