How do you understand the "heatmap" for planet exploration?

[Fizzatron]

A-ha...much like the process many use for scanning for Cores with the pulse wave analyzer (e.g. boost just above/below the ring using that technique). That's a good idea, I'll try that next time I'm in game - I'm guessing the compo scanner is useful but too small to be fully relied upon as a 'bio-finder.' Good tip though.

I've just been in my DBX so far but wondering as I go along which ship I could try next as a dedicated Bio-ship (I do like a purpose for each of them .)

The DBX is how I fly mostly when doing this sort of thing, and it's got that Blue Thunder vibe to it that suits this type of thing perfectly. The comp scanner is useful as it flashes when you go over something and as long as you're not going too fast you can slow and reverse to get it. I got the cousin of the gray bacterium on a gray planet, though not at night mentioned earlier, and this method tracked it down pretty easily overall.

 

[Ohanka]

You can cycle through the different bios in the DSS, it does the trick well enough, and it's probably less confusing than the heat map tbh.

In what world is a heat map confusing? Different shades = different density. Darkest being most dense and therefore having the most of the subject in question. Fairly simple.

 

[Cori]

A-ha...much like the process many use for scanning for Cores with the pulse wave analyzer (e.g. boost just above/below the ring using that technique). That's a good idea, I'll try that next time I'm in game - I'm guessing the compo scanner is useful but too small to be fully relied upon as a 'bio-finder.' Good tip though.

I've just been in my DBX so far but wondering as I go along which ship I could try next as a dedicated Bio-ship (I do like a purpose for each of them .)

I use a Krait II mostly; although the Courier is easier to land in mountains when you're looking for Fungoids.

 

[jojon]

You can cycle through the different bios in the DSS

Speaking of which... Maybe one dare sneak in a reminder to any developer who lurks the forum, that it would be rather neat if one could cycle through the filters without having to ascend to orbital cruise altitude... :7

 

[Fizzatron]

In what world is a heat map confusing? Different shades = different density. Darkest being most dense and therefore having the most of the subject in question. Fairly simple.

I think it was more that there was no key to inform you of what was what. I'm not generally referring to heat maps per se.

 

[Fizzatron]

Speaking of which... Maybe one dare sneak in a reminder to any developer who lurks the forum, that it would be rather neat if one could cycle through the filters without having to ascend to orbital cruise altitude... :7

Please dare by all means, I mentioned it in another thread (I think, they are both now starting to blend together) and it would be most welcome.

 

[Riverside]

A-ha...much like the process many use for scanning for Cores with the pulse wave analyzer (e.g. boost just above/below the ring using that technique). That's a good idea, I'll try that next time I'm in game - I'm guessing the compo scanner is useful but too small to be fully relied upon as a 'bio-finder.' Good tip though.

I've just been in my DBX so far but wondering as I go along which ship I could try next as a dedicated Bio-ship (I do like a purpose for each of them .)

The ideal is probably an eagle or Viper MkIV, they have a small enough footprint that they can land in rough terrain but have good acceleration & deceleration which helps you to cover ground more quickly (searching) without overshooting. The Viper MkIV can be fitted with pretty beefy shields too so you can be less careful with your landings, and both have their entry at the front making the process of jumping out, scanning the thing & jumping back into your ship quicker & more intuitive.

The Dolphin is excellent too, and it's side entry isn't too much of a handicap and like the DBX it can have a really good jump range too.

I do most of my salad hunting in a Cobra MkIII but that's more about multi-crew. One advantage of travelling with a carrier is that I can swap ships & the ship's jump range isn't so important. Salad hunting in a Conda or other big ship is harder work & more time consuming; more walking, more SRV use.

 

[Cori]

In what world is a heat map confusing? Different shades = different density. Darkest being most dense and therefore having the most of the subject in question. Fairly simple.

The problem was that the colours used were basically a spectrum from red to blue. There was no darker/lighter. Without a legend it was never clear which colour meant highest density, or even if that's what the different colours meant at all.

 

[jojon]

The uncharacteristic rapidness with which the "analogue" heatmap was replaced with the digital one, and the twitch timing minigame for the bioscanner was unceremoneously dropped, kind of evoked the impression that maybe both these had already been points of debate in-team, and the barer-bones options held prepared and ready to go, should one side find their stance strengthened by feedback . :7

 

[Cori]

The uncharacteristic rapidness with which the "analogue" heatmap was replaced with the digital one, and the twitch timing minigame for the bioscanner was unceremoneously dropped, kind of evoked the impression that maybe both these had already been points of debate in-team, and the barer-bones options held prepared and ready to go, should one side find their stance strengthened by feedback . :7

Not really. All they did with the heat map was change all the colours to the same colour, and all they did with the minigame was simplify it to just holding the button down all the time - the minigame interface itself is still there. Not big changes to make at all.

 

[Ohanka]

I think it was more that there was no key to inform you of what was what. I'm not generally referring to heat maps per se.

I would assume being a heat map it would follow the same formula as any heat map.

Red = hot = more
Blue = cold = few.

At any rate it’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a simple key on the scanner, rather than giving players the rather useless overlay.

 

[Riverside]

I would assume being a heat map it would follow the same formula as any heat map.

Red = hot = more
Blue = cold = few.

At any rate it’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a simple key on the scanner, rather than giving players the rather useless overlay.

Didn't even need an in-game key, players would have worked it out from experience. I think the UI team just had bigger fish to fry following the feedback from Alpha & what we have now was considered good enough to ship.

 

[Fizzatron]

I would assume being a heat map it would follow the same formula as any heat map.

Red = hot = more
Blue = cold = few.

At any rate it’s nothing that couldn’t be fixed with a simple key on the scanner, rather than giving players the rather useless overlay.

I believe it was a bit more complicated than that in regards to incorporating different bios. However, it's been too long and it was very quickly changed so my recollection of it isn't the best. The way it is suffices enough with the only improvement I would like to see is being able to cycle through bios in discovery mode rather than having to enter DSS, but that's a small quibble.

 

[jojon]

Not really. All they did with the heat map was change all the colours to the same colour, and all they did with the minigame was simplify it to just holding the button down all the time - the minigame interface itself is still there. Not big changes to make at all.

Well, I wasn't so much thinking about the actual work load of altering the behaviour (regardless by which means this is done), as I did the decision-making bureaucracy that leads to it... :7

 

[photomankc]

Hi All


Sadly I have to agree.
I've just this moment been doing planet scanning. Found some biological signals, went down to the planet surface, searching for the bio's in Odyssey.
Mind numbing tedium, found one, but after roughly a half hour of combing the planet I just gave up and landed back on my Carrier.
In Horizons (now legacy) it was straightforward, logical, simple straightforward actions, end result a sense of achievement.
It beggars belief, whoever thought up this convoluted system of gameplay would be exciting, engaging or anything else for that matter, I'm sorry but as it stands at the moment I don't think you've hit the right button.


Jack.

It could have been fine except they opted to put zero effort into the "heat map" instead simply smearing blue on it if the engine decides it could place this bio here before all other disqualifiers are considered. \o/. So this garbage is what we got. Just to really add insult to injury an "All" was added that is not actually "All" but instead the far far far far far far less useful "Any". "All" implies locations where all types would be found. "Any" implies a location where any one type might be found which is what we actually get shown.

 

[Northpin]

It could have been fine except they opted to put zero effort into the "heat map" instead simply smearing blue on it if the engine decides it could place this bio here before all other disqualifiers are considered. \o/. So this garbage is what we got. Just to really add insult to injury an "All" was added that is not actually "All" but instead the far far far far far far less useful "Any". "All" implies locations where all types would be found. "Any" implies a location where any one type might be found which is what we actually get shown.

IT would have been fine if the blue smearing would have been actually accurate and not list zones where the plant cannot actually be due to terrain or whatever

 

[photomankc]

IT would have been fine if the blue smearing would have been actually accurate and not list zones where the plant cannot actually be due to terrain or whatever

My working theory is that it comes up with that map before it knows what the terrain really is and that it also can't feed that info back. In other words the lifeforms are decided, at some point later the terrain is applied as some kind of tiles which then filters what life is actually expressed and they don't have a good way to represent that filtered set. I'm probably wrong but that's the way it seems to me.

 

[rchiokis]

I'm absolutely lost and I've not found an efficient guide that actually explains all the the blue.

Ever since Ody released, I've not found a single biological or geological entity with this new heat map. What am I trying to differentiate from the insane amount of blue?

Thank you.

One thing to keep in mind about this "heat map" (which has nothing to do with heat by the way) is this; just because the map says "<biological name> could exist here" doesn't mean you will find it there. One of my most frustrating experiences is the one type of fungoida that will only grow in high elevations, but you get a blue map that tells you the fungoida can be found on 95% of the planet's surface, but the surface of the planet is basically flat. I end up going down and up, then down again and up, trying to find the rare mountain on the surface that will actually have fungoida on it. Definitely pay attention to the type of terrain you find biologicals in. For example, bacterium prefer smooth terrain versus rough terrain, but have no preference for sloped vs flat. If you find an biological where your scan shows very small spots of blue, those are usually easier to find than the ones where the blue map covers the entire surface.

 

[galahad2069]

Tbh the whole blue planet thing seems to be a textbook case of this:

 

[Kenpachi85]

I still have issues with this and have just given up on biological stuff till this hopefully gets improved as unlikely as that may seem. Till then if I need raw mats I hit conda sites or switch back to horizons to go mine crystal forests. Only time i switch to horizons is for that so much easier