A little occasional excitement is about par for the course!
Ya i was hoping for something ..
GCS Sarasvati - early Thargoid lookout megaship
- Thread starter edd
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Ya i was hoping for something ..
I've been out to the Blanco 1 cluster today to have a look around. There was nothing of interest in Odin's Wisdom, Gilthaven, McBurney's Point or Ziggy. Odin's Wisdom had already been mapped. I did find a couple of things but not related to the GCS Sarasvati:
- Lagrange Clouds. There were two in TYC 6989-451-1. Both had metallic crystals of different types and one also had Gourd Molluscs. These are cute and curious little creatures that will happily coast right up to you, even follow you around if you move slowly, though if you bump into them they squirt out something and jet off. Research limpets bounce off them. I tried scooping one (they are about the size of a cargo canister) but failed.
- Bioluminescent Pumpkins (forget the name already, it's been a long day). They were very common in AT Sculptoris - even being found on the innermost planet with a surface temperature in excess of 1700K and 3.64g surface gravity! They seem to like certain small impact craters for their home, so I wonder if they are really indigenous.
Near Colonia is a system called "Saraswati" - same name as the ship, in a different transliteration. In 3.3 it's gained a Civilian Installation called ... "Bug's Rest". Probably just coincidence
Near Colonia is a system called "Saraswati" - same name as the ship, in a different transliteration. In 3.3 it's gained a Civilian Installation called ... "Bug's Rest". Probably just coincidence
Or maybe not!
Sounds like an investigation is required?
Happy Christmas everyone!
Has anyone done a thorough fss search of all systems in the nebula where Sarasvati lies?
Mmm, looks like this thread has ended......
There is a dearth of findings and it is hard to know what events (Galnet or elsewhere) are related.
I have wondered if there are signs of Unit 1 or Thunderchild looking for the data archive mentioned in the Sarasvati logs, or otherwise pursuing their agenda. There are certainly some AI-related events (like that mining unit that went out of control a few months back) and some other unexplained goings-on that might be within their capability (stealing large holograms) but, like the Formidine Rift mystery, puzzles in ED are seldom clear enough that after the solution is revealed I can say 'I could have solved that!'. Generallly, they tend to be 'Not in a billion years could I have solved that!'
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I'm keeping my eye out but I'm going to be playing the game less for the next couple of months, so my chances of finding anything are incredibly remote - if they are even there to find, or if I can even recognise them...
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So yes, thread will stay as it is unless something else turns up
I have wondered if there are signs of Unit 1 or Thunderchild looking for the data archive mentioned in the Sarasvati logs, or otherwise pursuing their agenda. There are certainly some AI-related events (like that mining unit that went out of control a few months back) and some other unexplained goings-on that might be within their capability (stealing large holograms) but, like the Formidine Rift mystery, puzzles in ED are seldom clear enough that after the solution is revealed I can say 'I could have solved that!'. Generallly, they tend to be 'Not in a billion years could I have solved that!'
.
I'm keeping my eye out but I'm going to be playing the game less for the next couple of months, so my chances of finding anything are incredibly remote - if they are even there to find, or if I can even recognise them...
.
So yes, thread will stay as it is unless something else turns up
There is a dearth of findings and it is hard to know what events (Galnet or elsewhere) are related.
I have wondered if there are signs of Unit 1 or Thunderchild looking for the data archive mentioned in the Sarasvati logs, or otherwise pursuing their agenda. There are certainly some AI-related events (like that mining unit that went out of control a few months back) and some other unexplained goings-on that might be within their capability (stealing large holograms) but, like the Formidine Rift mystery, puzzles in ED are seldom clear enough that after the solution is revealed I can say 'I could have solved that!'. Generallly, they tend to be 'Not in a billion years could I have solved that!'
.
I'm keeping my eye out but I'm going to be playing the game less for the next couple of months, so my chances of finding anything are incredibly remote - if they are even there to find, or if I can even recognise them...
.
So yes, thread will stay as it is unless something else turns up
Yes, Im on DW2 so not directly addressing any of the puzzles for a couple of months, but keeping an eye on the hypotheses and evidence (via ftl comms!
) and may task my young clone Tyko to investigate when he gets his ship engineered.I cant remember who it was but someone pointed out that the LP that detected Sarasvati mentioned overlapping signals, so that might suggest triangulation of other units as a possible path to explore. However it still seems strange that there are no direct leads to the archive etc, which is why I asked if the nebula had been thoroughly explored & all planets mapped, however nobody responded.
As no one responded, I would assume that it has not been thoroughly explored. I know the system itself has first mapped tags. Once the mining CG is over I can stop by on my way back to the Bubble and get an idea of how thoroughly it has been searched. That said, I've been finding first mapped tags all over the place, even in very obscure places (random Y dwarf primary with distant secondary in between the Bubble and the Pleiades), so it is possible.Yes, Im on DW2 so not directly addressing any of the puzzles for a couple of months, but keeping an eye on the hypotheses and evidence (via ftl comms!
I cant remember who it was but someone pointed out that the LP that detected Sarasvati mentioned overlapping signals, so that might suggest triangulation of other units as a possible path to explore. However it still seems strange that there are no direct leads to the archive etc, which is why I asked if the nebula had been thoroughly explored & all planets mapped, however nobody responded.
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There is still the possibility of undiscovered companions to the GCS Sarasvati but as time goes by without discoveries, especially how easy it is now to find signals, I wonder if any are there. The Sarasvati is an old ship... maybe companions are just surface wrecks. I visited the North America Nebula and Pelican Nebula a week or so ago (before the current Buckyball Race started, came back to take part) as a possible place to look but found nothing but Bark Mounds (there were Lagrange Clouds only in a system with an Earth-like over 200LY away). There haven't even been many Generation Ships discovered in 3.3. If they're there, I think it will be a chance encounter, as it's hard to know where to look (and I think some of us did check all systems the right distance from Jotunheim).
I passed through with DW2
Lots of Bark Mounds but nothing else of note.
Nothing to suggest why long range recon in that direction, assuming previous contact with the Thargoids was in the direct of the Pleiadies
The way the logs are worded it seem there may be more lookout GCS (Gal Corp Ships ?) in other locations.
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Indeed. We are having a discussion about where they might be
After a lot of reasoning and testing and searching, I kinda gave up. I went as far as trying to determine where the signal originated from the sarasvati and intercepted by the LP in Jotunheim was targeted (assuming that being intercepted in Jotunheim meant it was not a broadcast but rather a directional/p2p comm, to no avail). The logs clearly indicate there were other Proj Equinox megaships around but by now, I gave up to the idea that, contrarily to the GCS Sarasvati, the other were dismissed properly and not forgotten in the black. And regarding unit 01, well the logs would also suggest we have at least another unit to which Jullian Lyons may have belonged, but where they may be (or have been at the time the transmission from Julien was intended to transmit) is just speculation.
After so much time without a follow up, I'm inclined to believe this was added as an in-game support to a book/novella that went unfinished/unpublished.
The location could be a reference to the galaxy map in the Elite: First Encounters, as in, directions at the time were a bit upside down, and what would have been "north" is now "south". Pleiades nebula, Mic Turners adventures, INRA, Thargoids, Miacke, all this happened in the "north", now it would be "south", but GCS Sarasvati still remains in "north", like an reference to the old times. Was this discussed a few pages back?
Other option would be that Thargoids are a nomadic species, and bubble happens to be on their migration route. They pass through every few centuries or so, making use of solar winds and hibernating, and while it might seem like a very slow process, it's very swift in larger scale of things.
Of course, if something was ever learned, it would inevitably come close to some heavy lore stuff, core concepts, like what happened to the Galactic Co-Operative, what happened to the INRA, Mic Turner, past Thargoid wars...
Other option would be that Thargoids are a nomadic species, and bubble happens to be on their migration route. They pass through every few centuries or so, making use of solar winds and hibernating, and while it might seem like a very slow process, it's very swift in larger scale of things.
Of course, if something was ever learned, it would inevitably come close to some heavy lore stuff, core concepts, like what happened to the Galactic Co-Operative, what happened to the INRA, Mic Turner, past Thargoid wars...
There are a few indications that FD were originally planning for goids to be based in Bovomit sector, one (apparently now non-canon) early source had goids historically coming “across the Formidine Rift”. So Sarasvati’s location may make sense against that possibility, in which case I would expect a second unit aligned with Sarasvati at a right angle to the RR line to provide a good baseline for triangulation. Of course that then makes the Dynasty expedition have a different interpretation- maybe intentionally terraforming worlds which would be settled by humans who would be canon fodder in an invasion.
But it seems they changed their mind & moved goidland to Col70.
And I also find it strange that a log message at the Conflux beta site talks about hyperdiction and seeing something strange, but there has been no sign found (so far) of alien presence, Thargoid or otherwise.
edit: I think the recorded logs were actually received from ships that participated in the Dynasty project (since one of them is clearly from a ship captured in the gravity well of a neutron star and presumably destroyed by it), so there may be signs of aliens etc still to be found in the FRift, Conflux and Gap some way from the base locations (and DW hinted that there was more to be found). So there may also be some link to the Sarasvati puzzle.
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I agree about more to be found, I was out in the rift a couple of weeks ago but didn't see much and TBH it seemed pretty well explored, very few undiscovered systems. One thing to note is that all the logs are from ships, not from the sites themselves. My theory is that the sites are listening posts set up to monitor project dynasty and ensure no - one returned