Exploration suggestions

[Junkit]

Hey there, I'm pretty new to ED and the forum so I'll try and keep this quick. I've recently outfitted a hauler for exploration and have found it to be very enjoyable. But I feel like there really isn't much incentive to go out there and scan every planet and star in a system other than your own curiosity. As it stands currently, you jump into a system, use your advance discovery scanner and then leave if the system doesn't have any good paying planet scan data (Earth like, water world, terraforming candidate, high metal). I've come up with a few ideas to help make exploration more intersting and lucrative.


1. Bonus credits for %100 detailed surface system scan.

This would help make exploration more profitable and it makes sense that the universal cartographics would pay a bonus for a very thorough system scan.

Commanders will receive bonus payment for gettting a %100 detailed scan of the system. Amount of bonus credits would be based on how many stars, planets, and moons are in a system.For example, you %100 detail scan a system with one star and two icy planets, bonus would be very small. But then you scan a system with six stars, a couple of black holes, and many planets. The bonus payout would be much larger.


2. Points of interest.

This would sort of be the USS's of planet scanning and would add to a planets inforamtion pannel.

Lets say for example you scan a small moon orbiting a gas giant. On the surafce it looks like every other small moon, nothing very interesting. But then your surface scanner picks up an anomaly. These anomalies could range from abandoned colonies, secret surface outpost ( Pirates, Military, Smugglers, mercenaries, ect), crash sites (Traders, exploers, Civilian, Military, Captial ships?), illegal mining operations, research facilities, ect ect. This data would then further increase the profit of the system scan or could be used for exploration specific missions.

Obviously the kinds of "points of interest" would depend on how far away you are from populated space. Would make no sense to find a pirate outpost 800LY away from any populated system.I feel like this would help add to the immersion and make each planet feel more unique.

Let me know what you guys think!

 

[Liance]

Exploration/Intelligence

This is a great idea and could lead to a new profession - Intelligence gathering.

Even in explored systems one could find hidden objects - secret bases whether pirate, faction, or corporate. scan-hacking ship databases or stations for information, couriering information, spying on the activities of others, ect.

Of course some of these activities would carry consequences if discovered - fines, attacks, bounties, faction favor reduction, and the like.

 

[DirkLarien]

Yeah exploration needs lot of work ....

Ill add something that i have in mind.
You might not like it. It's just what i would like to see one day:

Every ship has basic sensors (no slot required)

These sensor would have same function like discovery scanner.
However without any limit.
You know how you can look at radar close up?
Well lets not move our head to that radar,
But, make the radar projection bigger when appropriate key is pressed (i believe its “2” or “3” key currently by default)

So now we have giant sphere of a radar all over our cockpit, ofcourse it is transparent so we see if we are about to crash into a planet.

As soon as you make that TADAAA noise...
(seriously make the sound shorter like a ping - same sound just lot shorter perhaps with echo.)
something like this but less sucking

… radar wave in form of small sphere on radar view would grow bigger and bigger from your ship outwards and along the way would make a ping when it hits something.

Now you have few unresolved radar contacts represented by some flickering dots on the surface of your projected radar sphere.
Sphere rotates with your ship.

Closer and bigger the object stronger the signal.
Far away signals would appear only shortly
Closer signals would be recognized as either planetary bodies or Unknown signal sources.
(USS are not detectable at very long ranges.)
If you want to investigate far away contacts you will know only roughly the vector (you seen the blip on your radar when you made the ping)
As you travel roughly towards the blip you make another ping
Blip gets stronger and soon as you getting closer still your radar ping gets you flickering signal (like those when you cant target ship that is too far away or running silently.)

That is standard sensors functionality.

Scanning individual planets and stars is made ONLY by specialized surface scanner.
Which will tell you the composition of the stars, asteroids, planets, giant ass spacewhales
planetary/stellar scanning is not made just by staring at it for a long time.

Here we need some sort of overlay put on the planet
We can get !inspired! by what we seen in mass effect 2

Don't know what would you need to do to scan the planet/star/whale
But some kind of activity, Just don't use any frogger or similar simplistic minigames.
Something more interesting....
Does anyone have an idea ?