Finding bacteria is a bit too difficult and suggested improvements.

[DWorth]

Not a reliable solution. Even using my ship, I spent 14 hours flying around a supposed hot spot and saw nothing.

No, but it lets you find them on the way to the more obvious stuff. Fourteen hours is at least a week's available playing time for me

 

[Vardaugas]

The problem with bacteria is that they are not always hard to find. Otherwise they could just increase the payment: Problem solved.

They could modify the payout by the general scarcity of life on the planet. And on top of that modify it by the scarcity of viable biome area for a certain organic.

 

[Erei]

I had one or 2 on a world, and I couldn't find them. I left after spending a while looking for them. The SRV scanner thing was full of signal because I had 3 bio and 1-2geological stuff.

Heat map was basically the entire planet, it didn't help.

The problem with bacteria is that they are not always hard to find. Otherwise they could just increase the payment: Problem solved.

It's not like it's paying well to begin with.

 

[simulacrae]

I have to ask…. Should it be easy to find bacterial colonies?
I mean its not like a shrub or something you spot normally walking down the street … well i take it back… there are some streets in seattle….

 

[Firedrax]

I understand the problem finding bacteria, some are easy to spot and some aren't. I have had a couple where they blended into the surface very well. For the first it was keep going and when I got all 3 samples there was a sense of achievement. For the second I found the first sample easily then just couldn’t find any more, I left a did some missions and went back and found the next 2 samples very quickly.

 

[Sumica]

Just let me roll down the window on the srv and scan as I drive. For now I keep low flying on the sun side with the sun in my eyes seems to make it easyer to spot the bactiria especaly if done in a impact crater. Works well till I find a abnormally large stealth rock.

 

[Erei]

I have to ask…. Should it be easy to find bacterial colonies?
I mean its not like a shrub or something you spot normally walking down the street … well i take it back… there are some streets in seattle….

Considering we have none of the tool to do it and it's a game, then I say yes. All we have a a sci fi "scanner" and the good old mk1 eyeball. IRL you have microscope and stuff.

 

[nanite2000]

First, get a ship with good downward view, I have a Krait Phantom for instance, spend 5 minutes getting bacteria samples, that's it!

Pretty sure only you and @anthonycsheehy think that eyeballing the ground for invisible items constitutes good gameplay.

 

[Burstar1]

In my experience, bacteria are among the lowest paying flora. Tussock right there with it. My advice is to focus on scanning other life, and if you don't see any bacteria at all in an area where they should be by the time you're done with the rest just forget about it and move on. They aren't worth the search.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

I think it would help already if the Bacteria actually had their supposed colors instead of many being... just grey.

On top, we really need the currently useless Sensors to start becoming useful.
This would also help soften the negative side-effects of the super low draw distance and LOD pop-ups the current Alpha build of the Engine still produces.

My suggestion for logical integration and Sensor Fusion (Ship, SRV, hand-held scanner) I wrote elsewhere :

The DSS Filters can be quite frustrating and deceptive indeed.
I sure wish we could get an actual Heatmap, so the Filter doesn't send you down to places where it can be easily next to impossible to find the set Filter Bio.

On top, we IMHO need Sensor Fusion and logical steps going from Space (DSS) -> Ship Scanner (above Ground) -> SRV (Wave Scanner) -> on-foot (hand-held Scanner).

1) why can't the Ship Scanner give out something at all? It was used previously and I think it could be put to good use, currently it's literally playing dead and useless over a Planet.

• when in Combat Mode, only shows normal contacts and classic POIs, basically similar to how it works in Horizons
• but when in Analysis Mode, switches to a localized Heatmap or maybe use a modified way to indicate presence of Biological/Geological Signals

2) what about the SRV Wave Scanner? In rough terrain or vs. some Biologicals (i.e. Bacteria), its visually almost impossible to detect anything; currently the Wave Scanner doesn't give even a beep vs. the new Bio/Geo Signals

• when in Combat Mode, have its Wave Scanner focus on classic POIs/anything man-made, Meteorites or artificial (structures)
• but when in Analysis Mode, have its Wave Scanner give strobes towards Bio/Geo Signals instead (with a useful range to reflect its potent Sensor Package)

3) the hand-held Pulse Scanner.... Pinging it has only minimal Range and is hardly of any use. Even Auto-Landing the Ship commonly has the CMDR placed outside of the Pulse distance to a visually picked up Biological one is landing nearby

• when sending out a normal Pulse (short click), it can remain as it is
• but when pressing & holding the Pulse, it charges and sends out a correspondingly long-range Pulse (draws a bit suit energy)
• the left top Mini-Map is then populated with locations (detected within Pulse Range) or directions (weaker/stronger signals outside Pulse Range, strobes like the SRV Wave Scanner)
• Controls setting Ship Scanner Range should be usable to setup MiniMap Display Range for better overview

Once those basics are in, I think the whole process would become a whole lot smoother and far more intuitive.

 

[CMDR Sheehy]

Pretty sure only you and @anthonycsheehy think that eyeballing the ground for invisible items constitutes good gameplay.

Well, we could always go back to wireframes and dots on a map if you think it would help. At least it will run like a greased pig and stop the "I can see repeated patterns" crew from spanking everyone who doesn't agree with their doomsaying!

Otherwise what's the point of having nice things to look at? Screenshots? That's not gameplay - though great meta and good for stories!

I think it would help already if the Bacteria actually had their supposed colors instead of many being... just grey.

[Looks back through his screenshots]

Lime

Green - Not much variation there - they both look like pavement pizzas...

Mulberry (What's mulberry - Purple?)

Well this is certainly visible...

It depends on the species of Bacteria. Some of them stick out like sore thumbs. Some blend. I have abandoned searches after a single sample - at least you can still claim a 2500cr voucher from a single sample and it fills your planetary information page.

I do agree with @Burstar1 it's not worth the pain unless you are one of those people who "just have to get them all!"

 

[sallymorganmoore]

This feels like an opportunity to ask a CM.
@sallymorganmoore . Does the srv scanner thing pick up biological sites in odyssey / should it?

Thanks in advance.

Hello!! So sorry for the delay It's been such a busy week, hence me kind of doing things here outside of the "usual Thursday" to spread the load a bit
Right then!
Bio sites are not picked up by the SRV sine-wave scanner, no. The shootable materials on the Horizons organics and geologicals will show up on the scanner, but none of the new Odyssey Organics currently will.
At the moment, if Odyssey organics were to show as targetable objects on the sine-wave scanner, it would mean that when you're in your SRV in an area densely populated with them; if every one of them showed as a target signal, it would light up like a Christmas tree. There would be way too much noise and you would have a really hard time being able to see the terrain.
The design team are aware of potential issues around this decision however and are 100% looking into those. This thread here is super helpful! Thank you!

 

[Raliel]

Hello!! So sorry for the delay It's been such a busy week, hence me kind of doing things here outside of the "usual Thursday" to spread the load a bit
Right then!
Bio sites are not picked up by the SRV sine-wave scanner, no. The shootable materials on the Horizons organics and geologicals will show up on the scanner, but none of the new Odyssey Organics currently will.
At the moment, if Odyssey organics were to show as targetable objects on the sine-wave scanner, it would mean that when you're in your SRV in an area densely populated with them; if every one of them showed as a target signal, it would light up like a Christmas tree. There would be way too much noise and you would have a really hard time being able to see the terrain.
The design team are aware of potential issues around this decision however and are 100% looking into those. This thread here is super helpful! Thank you!

a minor suggestion would be a pulse wave style scan from the SRV similar to the biofinder pulse generated by the sampling tool, but for a wider area?

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

a minor suggestion would be a pulse wave style scan from the SRV similar to the biofinder pulse generated by the sampling tool, but for a wider area?

You beat me to that. Seconded.

 

[sallymorganmoore]

a minor suggestion would be a pulse wave style scan from the SRV similar to the biofinder pulse generated by the sampling tool, but for a wider area?

Happy to pass on any suggestions, sure! Like I say, the guys are actually aware of these thoughts so thanks for putting your heads together too

 

[NSR2]

Hello!! So sorry for the delay It's been such a busy week, hence me kind of doing things here outside of the "usual Thursday" to spread the load a bit
Right then!
Bio sites are not picked up by the SRV sine-wave scanner, no. The shootable materials on the Horizons organics and geologicals will show up on the scanner, but none of the new Odyssey Organics currently will.
At the moment, if Odyssey organics were to show as targetable objects on the sine-wave scanner, it would mean that when you're in your SRV in an area densely populated with them; if every one of them showed as a target signal, it would light up like a Christmas tree. There would be way too much noise and you would have a really hard time being able to see the terrain.
The design team are aware of potential issues around this decision however and are 100% looking into those. This thread here is super helpful! Thank you!

Thank you for the reply!
This makes a lot of sense.

 

[Raliel]

Happy to pass on any suggestions, sure! Like I say, the guys are actually aware of these thoughts so thanks for putting your heads together too

thank you!

 

[sallymorganmoore]

Thank you for the reply!
This makes a lot of sense.

thank you!

No problem AT all. I will always keep circling back with thanks to you all too. A good thread here

 

[HRDiagram]

How about integrating the pulse of the genetic sampler into the Artemis suit's radar?
Currently, when exploring, the radar has no use: having the blips (blue, green and purple) as they appear on the ground to also show on the radar would be a little QoL improvement.

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

How about integrating the pulse of the genetic sampler into the Artemis suit's radar?
Currently, when exploring, the radar has no use: having the blips (blue, green and purple) as they appear on the ground to also show on the radar would be a little QoL improvement.

This.

Being able to emit a Pulse as you're driving the SRV and seeing the result as if you were on-foot. This is all the more necessary because I'm finding on my exo-biology jaunt that the wide scattering of bio life means that just walking around trying to 'pulse' for another sample of the same species isn't practical due to the distances involved between each scannable example.