Remember, every time I visit an explored system, ED downloads that system data. I'm betting I can jump from star to star faster than I can purchase system data from a station. Frontier's servers can handle it
Galaxy-Wide Cartographic Data for Explored Systems
- Thread starter Old Duck
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Remember, every time I visit an explored system, ED downloads that system data. I'm betting I can jump from star to star faster than I can purchase system data from a station. Frontier's servers can handle it
The UI for buying system data already exists in the game - no added complication at all, it just needs to be "unlocked" for systems outside the Bubble.
It's a great idea actually. It's certainly at least possible to implement. The thing which might concern me if I was FDEV would be "there would have to be some kind of database lookup to see if the star systems <this game client> is looking at, have been explored yet or not, so <this game client> can display such" - now, multiply that by how many game clients can be looking at the galaxy map at any given moment, and that's gonna be a shed-load of database lookups at FDEV's end
I could see remote buying of cartographic data extended to the whole galaxy, but I doubt Frontier would extend the 'available cartographic data' filter beyond the bubble. If this comes, it would have to stay tied to the popup you get when you select a system, to limit the rate at which you would query the UC database to even know there is data to buy.
that's gonna be a shed-load of database lookups at FDEV's end
Thats why, if you have a public API, you rate limit the pulls it can make... First thing to do when you setup such a thing, else you're (honestly literally) just asking to get ddosed, even if accidenially.
As for the suggestion; id much prefer filters for the gal map: 2 new categories, discovery and mapping. With 3 options for display: fully, partially, not. No need for more details than that, which im pretty sure wouldnt be anywhere near EDDNs 8GB of data. Two bits (filter type and the category within the filter) for each system you see in the map, downloaded at the time you select the filter... no, this cant be even near 8 gigabytes, id be surprised if this amounts to half a kilobytes worth of data, maybe a kilobit or two, considering you can see... how many stars at the gal map at a given time? 500?
Now of course if it'd be pulling the data for all systems in the galaxy, lets say 2 billion. That'd be 4 billion bits, or ~500GB. But wait, thats pretty stupid to do because why store data for "none", simply have 0 aka none be no data. Suddenly we cut this absurdly big number into something more manageable. We've only 1% of the systems visited? 500*0.01. 5GB, to store all discovered systems. (just that they have been discovered though)
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It's a great idea actually. It's certainly at least possible to implement. The thing which might concern me if I was FDEV would be "there would have to be some kind of database lookup to see if the star systems <this game client> is looking at, have been explored yet or not, so <this game client> can display such" - now, multiply that by how many game clients can be looking at the galaxy map at any given moment, and that's gonna be a shed-load of database lookups at FDEV's end
The need to purchase the data, using current game mechanics, should act as a "flow rate limiter" to keep the database from being hit too hard. Remember, every time I visit an explored system, ED downloads that system data. I'm betting I can jump from star to star faster than I can purchase system data from a station.
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This is exactly what I want and how I would want it implemented. You could quickly see if any system has been explored AND THEN opt to either pay credits to view the information OR fly there and "confirm" the data and get paid for it. Implementing this would not ruing things like "the Road to Riches" path for those who wish to do it (I haven't bothered), would allow us to view far away systems that have been explored already for a fee, and allow explorers to quickly sort out systems already explored and not even bother jumping to them if that is there preference.
In short, this is a Win/Win/Win solution.
It should also have its range limitation (e.g. can only buy data for systems 20 ly or less away) removed.
If anyone is interested in current exploration, PBS's Nova has a episode about the New Horizons Probe to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt.
There is also an excellent one about Apollo 8.
If anyone wants to look at "real" exploration, watch as the team tries to find an object in the Kuiper Belt for the probe to intercept.
It took *years* to get a stellar occultation/eclipse to find one. Look closely at the two frames of the Ultima Thule object that show it's existence.
Shall we bring KSP to Elite?
There is also an excellent one about Apollo 8.
If anyone wants to look at "real" exploration, watch as the team tries to find an object in the Kuiper Belt for the probe to intercept.
It took *years* to get a stellar occultation/eclipse to find one. Look closely at the two frames of the Ultima Thule object that show it's existence.
Shall we bring KSP to Elite?
It's a great idea actually. It's certainly at least possible to implement. The thing which might concern me if I was FDEV would be "there would have to be some kind of database lookup to see if the star systems <this game client> is looking at, have been explored yet or not, so <this game client> can display such" - now, multiply that by how many game clients can be looking at the galaxy map at any given moment, and that's gonna be a shed-load of database lookups at FDEV's end
Which is why I will never get a copy of my official list of First Discoveries.
Great suggestion, seems logical too. When looking at astronomy in our own solar system. We know the planets are there because that information is globally shared. The same with other discoveries made in the universe. Plus we're sending probes to learn more about the planets in our solar system. All that is shared information.
So in ED a system wide scan (aka honking) would discover all solar bodies and asteroid belts in the system. The FSS gives you the optional task of getting detailed information of the planetary body. When someone sells data unknown to the galactic DB it should be updated and everyone who loads an instance of that system afterwards should see that data. Weather it be the results of a fast system scan or additional detailed planetary scans. All game clients get the information from the same galactic DB. So any game client who instantiates a system gets the data that is in the galactic DB at that moment. So it could be you're discovering something in the system and someone else is just selling data for it, which you don't know about yet.
Although you lose systems where not all planetary bodies are discovered if the honk would return as it was. Also the fact of selling the data. I think it's not logical that the maintainers of the universal cartographics would pay twice for the same data. Even when at a reduced price. There are more than enough undiscovered systems, so you should only get paid for actual new discoveries imo. For example the road to riches. Why continue to pay for data that's already owned by universal cartographics. It makes no sense. Even if two commanders sell data at the exact same time, only one will get credited for it in my case scenario. Mutual exclusion in the form of an atomic operation. Only it would come as a big surprise to the commander who ends up second place though. Since both see that they can sell the data. Maybe that and what I mentioned earlier made them think otherwise. But I still think it makes no sense.
Why the need for an additional module though? Both things can be done with the internal discovery scanner. Buying system data. Don't understand why this is in the game at all. It makes sense that UC is funded by different factions. So why the virtual micro transactions? We already do the heavy lifting for them in terms of missions. We're probably severely underpaid
So in ED a system wide scan (aka honking) would discover all solar bodies and asteroid belts in the system. The FSS gives you the optional task of getting detailed information of the planetary body. When someone sells data unknown to the galactic DB it should be updated and everyone who loads an instance of that system afterwards should see that data. Weather it be the results of a fast system scan or additional detailed planetary scans. All game clients get the information from the same galactic DB. So any game client who instantiates a system gets the data that is in the galactic DB at that moment. So it could be you're discovering something in the system and someone else is just selling data for it, which you don't know about yet.
Although you lose systems where not all planetary bodies are discovered if the honk would return as it was. Also the fact of selling the data. I think it's not logical that the maintainers of the universal cartographics would pay twice for the same data. Even when at a reduced price. There are more than enough undiscovered systems, so you should only get paid for actual new discoveries imo. For example the road to riches. Why continue to pay for data that's already owned by universal cartographics. It makes no sense. Even if two commanders sell data at the exact same time, only one will get credited for it in my case scenario. Mutual exclusion in the form of an atomic operation. Only it would come as a big surprise to the commander who ends up second place though. Since both see that they can sell the data. Maybe that and what I mentioned earlier made them think otherwise. But I still think it makes no sense.
Why the need for an additional module though? Both things can be done with the internal discovery scanner. Buying system data. Don't understand why this is in the game at all. It makes sense that UC is funded by different factions. So why the virtual micro transactions? We already do the heavy lifting for them in terms of missions. We're probably severely underpaid
Great suggestion, seems logical too. When looking at astronomy in our own solar system. We know the planets are there because that information is globally shared. The same with other discoveries made in the universe. Plus we're sending probes to learn more about the planets in our solar system. All that is shared information.
So in ED a system wide scan (aka honking) would discover all solar bodies and asteroid belts in the system. The FSS gives you the optional task of getting detailed information of the planetary body. When someone sells data unknown to the galactic DB it should be updated and everyone who loads an instance of that system afterwards should see that data. Weather it be the results of a fast system scan or additional detailed planetary scans. All game clients get the information from the same galactic DB. So any game client who instantiates a system gets the data that is in the galactic DB at that moment. So it could be you're discovering something in the system and someone else is just selling data for it, which you don't know about yet.
Although you lose systems where not all planetary bodies are discovered if the honk would return as it was. Also the fact of selling the data. I think it's not logical that the maintainers of the universal cartographics would pay twice for the same data. Even when at a reduced price. There are more than enough undiscovered systems, so you should only get paid for actual new discoveries imo. For example the road to riches. Why continue to pay for data that's already owned by universal cartographics. It makes no sense. Even if two commanders sell data at the exact same time, only one will get credited for it in my case scenario. Mutual exclusion in the form of an atomic operation. Only it would come as a big surprise to the commander who ends up second place though. Since both see that they can sell the data. Maybe that and what I mentioned earlier made them think otherwise. But I still think it makes no sense.
Why the need for an additional module though? Both things can be done with the internal discovery scanner. Buying system data. Don't understand why this is in the game at all. It makes sense that UC is funded by different factions. So why the virtual micro transactions? We already do the heavy lifting for them in terms of missions. We're probably severely underpaid
The way I see getting paid for scans is mass amounts of corroborating data. I find it more incredulous that a single scan has learned all the everything about Planet X and that there's nothing left to learn from a second or even a hundredth scan.
This vast amount of data isn't really represented in the game, but then again we're pilots, not UC datamonkeys. We press the buttons, they do the parsing.
What I find most annoying is that my previous ADS would show the whole system. Now it doesn't if it's not been fss scanned previously by someone. So I have to now drop into a system and honk, read that it's says 56 boddies found and then open the system map and count the boddies one by one to make sure the whole system has been fully fss scanned. Whereas before I could just moved my curser over a body to see if it had someone's name on it. I want my ADS back ! Not a low range cheap version
So tell me, how is having to count boddies a quality improvement ?
So tell me, how is having to count boddies a quality improvement ?
Having used the FSS a fair bit now I think they should just have new and old side by side.
I don't see it as OP. If you want to see anything other than the system map you have to use the FSS. It is still where you would go any time you wanted to spend anything more than a few seconds in system.
I don't see a down side.
I personally prefer the FSS as an exploration tool and don't thin it loses any value by me having a look at the system map to see if the FSS is worth entering. Sure I can look at the spectra but that only tells planet types.
I would also like the FSS to allow the FSD to be charging in the background and non zero throttle positions, but that is a separate issue.
I don't see it as OP. If you want to see anything other than the system map you have to use the FSS. It is still where you would go any time you wanted to spend anything more than a few seconds in system.
I don't see a down side.
I personally prefer the FSS as an exploration tool and don't thin it loses any value by me having a look at the system map to see if the FSS is worth entering. Sure I can look at the spectra but that only tells planet types.
I would also like the FSS to allow the FSD to be charging in the background and non zero throttle positions, but that is a separate issue.
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This is the thread you are looking for:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...-game-I-would-have-rather-bought-an-old-radio
Once I have a little more time, I'll come up with a better title for my thread (which is on a completely different topic) to avoid this confusion in the future.
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