Explorers : would you consider giving up on the infinite honk for...?

[Louis Calvert]

The game's current implementation of surface scanning is far different from how NASA currently decides where to land on a planet or moon. As far back as Apollo, lots of "scanning" has gone into identifying a landing zone, and still does even if the landing is for an unmanned rover. I'd like to see more science applied to this aspect of the game. It could still be implemented to be fun to do.

I may be alone in this, but in the spirit of the NASA/Science idea I'd even enjoy taking "Geology" missions from science-based organisations to scan and record data on mineral compositions, mapping projects where you have to cover a certain amount of the surface, "location survey" missions where you're employed to find a suitable area for a new base, colony, etc. and you actually have to make decisions, maybe you get a payout depending on how good the area you picked turns out to be. There's probably hundreds of mission types that could be done on just one planet in one system. Maybe when space-legs is implemented having to ship out scientists and you land on a planet and they get out and wander round a bit taking readings, you have to ferry them around. I'd totally love all that stuff as a change from the combat stuff (which I also love!).

 

[lenna]

The game's current implementation of surface scanning is far different from how NASA currently decides where to land on a planet or moon. As far back as Apollo, lots of "scanning" has gone into identifying a landing zone, and still does even if the landing is for an unmanned rover. I'd like to see more science applied to this aspect of the game. It could still be implemented to be fun to do.

While I would tend to agree on the scanning front, where landing is concerned the technology in our ships is far more advanced than even the current NASA space flight options. As it currently stands, the point of de-orbit plays an enormous part wrt where the landing vehicle actually lands. Our space craft in ED do not suffer from this limitation in the main.