Exploration missions

space voyager

space voyager
Been thinking about what exploration missions would be easily implemented without much hassle for the FD.

1. Mission giver needs a scan of a system with a detailed surface scan of all planets (+moons?) in the system. Typically this would be a previously undiscovered system.

2. Mission giver is thinking about setting up a base in a certain region of galaxy and needs a complete scan (perhaps no need for a detailed surface scan) of a group of stars. Typically previously undiscovered stars.

3. Mission giver wants a detailed surface scan of a certain planet/moon in a previously discovered system.

4. Mission giver wants to know whether there is any geological activity on a planet/moon that has not had a detailed scan done. If such an activity exists and the body is landable, a point of interest is added with a general location of a geological formation (fumaroles...) after a detailed surface scan, then the shifting target location drives the explorer around for a while and the formation is discovered.

5. A random mission while far away from the bubble - after a scan of the system a mission message pops up that the scan revealed the existence of a geological formation in the system. After a detailed surface scan of that heavenly body (which may not even have been named in the message) a point of a point of interest is added with a general location of a geological formation (fumaroles...), then the shifting target location drives the explorer around for a while and the formation is discovered. Not even necessary that an explorer gets any financial gain from this side goal, as long as there is something out of the ordinary happening every 50 systems or so.

6. A random mission wherever - after a scan of the system a mission message pops up that the scan revealed the existence of a ship wreck/data point/SOS signal..., the rest is the same as in the no. 5.

And so forth, really I think the exploration could be very easily spiced up considerably using already existing tools only.

Any other easily added missions?

Edit

7. Same as no. 6 except that the mission message pops up after detail scan of a planet/moon.

I'll edit the post instead of adding new ones due to no real interest in the thread.
 
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space voyager

space voyager
Seriously guys, I read a load of threads on exploration not delivering, suckinvg and so forth, but if these are our only ideas how to spice it up, we just may have to live with ''honk and FSD a million times'' reality. We can't just be critics, let's be creative!
 

Qohen Leth

Qohen Leth
1. Exploration missions are just goals set by someone else, hardly works with the idea of free exploration.
2. These are far from being 'our only ideas'.
 

marx

marx
More exploration missions would be fine, so long as they're not near-mandatory. Yours are not the only ideas, of course: there have been plenty, even stuff that could be done with current in-game tools, but precious few have been implemented by Frontier. For what it's worth, to me it seems like they are wary of long-distance missions by now, seeing how easy they might be - and have been - to exploit for big rewards.
Plus there's also the fact that they tend to add new content to uninhabited space either close to the bubble (so people don't have to travel far, because travel is boring) or to all over the galaxy. I can only think of two exceptions to this: the mis-jump of Jaques station, and the Dynasty Expedition beacons and settlements. The upcoming update looks to add some more content to farther away from the bubble, though.

I wonder about the current preferences of people, but the last time there was a poll, the majority voted for additional stellar objects added to the Stellar Forge and for more ways to interact with stuff. Missions are nice, but they are essentially "do the same thing you'd probably already do, with more set objectives and more rewards". In my opinion, the long-range tourist missions were a good idea because they gave people more destinations for tourism than just Sagittarius A* and Beagle Point. Plus for exploration, they gave a possibility for explorers' finds to be added as marked in-game for others.
 
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Kenneth McGrew

Kenneth McGrew
space voyager said:
Been thinking about what exploration missions would be easily implemented without much hassle for the FD.

1. Mission giver needs a scan of a system with a detailed surface scan of all planets (+moons?) in the system. Typically this would be a previously undiscovered system.

2. Mission giver is thinking about setting up a base in a certain region of galaxy and needs a complete scan (perhaps no need for a detailed surface scan) of a group of stars. Typically previously undiscovered stars.

3. Mission giver wants a detailed surface scan of a certain planet/moon in a previously discovered system.

4. Mission giver wants to know whether there is any geological activity on a planet/moon that has not had a detailed scan done. If such an activity exists and the body is landable, a point of interest is added with a general location of a geological formation (fumaroles...) after a detailed surface scan, then the shifting target location drives the explorer around for a while and the formation is discovered.

5. A random mission while far away from the bubble - after a scan of the system a mission message pops up that the scan revealed the existence of a geological formation in the system. After a detailed surface scan of that heavenly body (which may not even have been named in the message) a point of a point of interest is added with a general location of a geological formation (fumaroles...), then the shifting target location drives the explorer around for a while and the formation is discovered. Not even necessary that an explorer gets any financial gain from this side goal, as long as there is something out of the ordinary happening every 50 systems or so.

6. A random mission wherever - after a scan of the system a mission message pops up that the scan revealed the existence of a ship wreck/data point/SOS signal..., the rest is the same as in the no. 5.

And so forth, really I think the exploration could be very easily spiced up considerably using already existing tools only.

Any other easily added missions?

Edit

7. Same as no. 6 except that the mission message pops up after detail scan of a planet/moon.

I'll edit the post instead of adding new ones due to no real interest in the thread.
Click to expand...

rock samples from distant planets that would make me happy :) the said rock samples, or organic samples would only be available on said planet, to be honest there is lots of similar mechanics I would dabble in,

to be honest if all your missions were on the board tonight when I got home and within 5-10kly I would accept them all, and this would make my time in the bubble gaining rep etc more enjoyable, (as long as they were time proportionate, a 10kly journey for the same rep as a data courier mission would be stupid! (just like passenger missions ay!!))

but there is nothing better than free exploration which I don't need missions for, I wish the galaxy were harder to navigate if im honest, beyond the edge jumping is by far the most "fun" for me, plotting a 1kly route to a star you can see on a map is just meh...

A new galaxy with a map shroud for anyone who hasn't been there would be an amazing exploration mechanic for me personally, prob not everyone's cup of tea, i.e. you couldn't find beagle point unless to just headed in the general direction and searched for it, you didn't know where the edges were, or the rifts and low density areas, didn't know where nebula's were etc, I like jumping into the unknown and there should be risk involved, stars that melt you, thargoids, black hole wormholes or something.

im rambling ill shhhhh this is all unpopular stuff.
 

space voyager

space voyager
Ok, sorry for getting upset, I frequently forget that people have been playing ED for two years before me.

I'd be most glad if there was something to break the monotony out there, so I'd love to see the on-the-fly missions even more than ''real, in-station'' missions. The latter bind you to return while the former let you fly wherever and still get an occasional goal to achieve.

I like the way you can get missions while in space and this would be a welcome distraction.

''Commander, we have been told you're in xx system ATM. Would you please do us a favour and hop to yy and do a thorough scan of all the planets in it? We'd make it worth your while upon your return, naturally.'' Or something along these lines.
 

Cliff Dobbs

Cliff Dobbs
Kenneth Mcgrew said:
but there is nothing better than free exploration which I don't need missions for, I wish the galaxy were harder to navigate if im honest, beyond the edge jumping is by far the most "fun" for me, plotting a 1kly route to a star you can see on a map is just meh...
Click to expand...

I totally agree. Finding yourself stuck in a lightly populated region, having to plot one jump at a time, backing up and trying another route - that's the life :D

TBH, I wish they hadn't extended route plotting to 1000lys. The real heroes of exploration did what they did when we could only plot 100lys at a time.

The cat is well and truly out of the bag now, so no going back, but I'd have liked route plotting beyond the bubble to have been a little more challenging.

C
 

space voyager

space voyager
I very much understand the appeal of freeform exploration but would it not be great to have an occasional sidequest that would not interfere with the general freeform-edness?
 

Jaiotu

Jaiotu
I would love ... misjumps. Misjumps that could land you anywhere in the galaxy ... and disable the galaxy map and remove labels from all the stars. Force you to manually plot your way home by eyeballing it. That would be my kind of exploration "mission". I'm sure it would infuriate 99.99% of the rest of the player base though...

- - - Updated - - -

space voyager said:
Can please somebody move this thread to suggestions? And delete this post? Just noticed my mistake.
Click to expand...

Click "Report this Post" on your original post and detail what you'd like the moderators to do.
 

Lestat

Banned
Lestat
Jaiotu said:
I would love ... misjumps. Misjumps that could land you anywhere in the galaxy ... and disable the galaxy map and remove labels from all the stars. Force you to manually plot your way home by eyeballing it. That would be my kind of exploration "mission". I'm sure it would infuriate 99.99% of the rest of the player base though...
Click to expand...

LOL I kinda like it. It would be a pain in the rear when you are in the center. The other hard part would be locating planet to refuel from. Crap with a anaconda you could make ship with fuel tanks and try it. Guided by nebula and such.
 
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space voyager

space voyager
Oh, I'd love to see a need for weapons and SRV. I carry both but neiter is needed, it is mostly a distraction. Well, and my kid wants to drive the SRV from time to time... Anyway, a slightly dangerous alien life and caves to drive into. Yes please. :)
 

fbiancal

F
Hi guys, I'm new to the game, how do I join the upcoming exploration missions? What exactly do I need to do to sign up? Everybody seems to know but me. Is there a clear list of available upcoming exploration missions somwhere?

I have ED on Mac without Horizons.

Thanks!

F.
 

space voyager

space voyager
First, buy Horizons. Now. :) Well, it is worth the price IMO.

Then decide which exploration expedition you want to join and read all about it in their threads. This thread is a suggestion to add game content. There are no exporation missions currently in game.
 
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