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Newcomer / Intro How does one "discover" a system?
- Thread starter Krusty
- Start date
The first person who enters a system and points the nose of their craft at the celestial object (star, planet, moon, etc) then returns to any starport and sells the scanned data gets their name on the system. You have to have at least a basic discovery scanner (comes standard on most ships).
There is a discovery bonus that comes with first discovery (approx. 50% of the scan's value, so if a scan of a star would earn 2200 cr. you'd get 2200 cr + 1100 cr bonus (3300 cr total).
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No. However, you'll only get naming credit for what you point your nose at and scan. You'll find that some systems have multiple CMDRs with first discovered credits.
If you invest in a detailed surface scanner (DSS), you'll get more money per scan. If all you do is ping the system with your discovery scanner, you'll get a base price for the celestial bodies you find but your name won't be attached to anything.
You don't need a DSS to get first discovery credit, but you'll get more money per scan, so if you want to explore I recommend you invest in both a DSS (250,000 cr) and an Advanced Discovery Scanner (ADS, 1.6ish million cr).
Also, you'll get paid regardless if your the first or not, you just won't get a bonus if someone beats you to it.
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No. However, you'll only get naming credit for what you point your nose at and scan. You'll find that some systems have multiple CMDRs with first discovered credits.
If you invest in a detailed surface scanner (DSS), you'll get more money per scan. If all you do is ping the system with your discovery scanner, you'll get a base price for the celestial bodies you find but your name won't be attached to anything.
You don't need a DSS to get first discovery credit, but you'll get more money per scan, so if you want to explore I recommend you invest in both a DSS (250,000 cr) and an Advanced Discovery Scanner (ADS, 1.6ish million cr).
Also, you'll get paid regardless if your the first or not, you just won't get a bonus if someone beats you to it.
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First off, we prefer to use the word "tagged" to describe getting your CMDR name placed next to an object, to avoid confusion with actual star and planet names. Actually renaming stars and planets isn't something that CMDRs can do without help from the Devs.
Now, entire star systems don't get "tagged" all at once. Individual celestial objects do, one at a time - stars, planets, moons etc. To "tag" an object, you first need to find it (with a Discovery Scanner, though "old school" explorers had to use parallax flying) then fly your ship up close enough to it to activate your ship's surface scanner. Once the surface scan finishes, the planet is considered "explored" by your ship's computer and if you're the first player to ever do this to that particular object, then you get your name there as the First Discoverer.
As I said, each object in a star system has a separate "discovered by" tag. It's entirely possible for a dozen different CMDRs to get their names tagged on different objects within the system. This is particularly noticeable inside inhabited space, as these stars were explored very early in the game when many of the helpful scanning aids (such as the Advanced Discovery Scanner) were not yet invented, so they were discovered and tagged piecemeal, one planet at a time.
It's important to note that "Exploring", as described above, still counts towards your Exploration ranking and you still get paid by Universal Catographics when you hand the data in, even if you're not the first person to ever explore that system. Whether you're the second person to explore it or the 100,000th person to explore it, you still get paid the same amount of cash for exploring it. Crazy, but true. UC only pays a bonus for "First Discovered by" data.
It should also be pointed out that you do need to be the first person to actually sell the exploration data at a Universal Cartographics office (every space station has one) for the tag to "count". So theoretically, someone else can beat you to the tag if they scan the same object and make it back to a space station before you do. It's unlikely to happen at random, but if you discover a particularly valuable object (such as an Earth-like planet), it's best not to blab about it's exact location on the open forum until you're safely docked, the data is safely sold and your tag is firmly in place.
A corollary of this is also that if you happen to explode before selling the data, any data you had onboard your ship is lost. So when you go out exploring for a long time and you've got millions of credits worth of data in your ship's computer, be careful when coming home.
So, which systems can you Explore? When you start the game, there are two kinds of star systems on your galactic map: Explored and Unexplored. "Explored" stars are high-population, advanced economies. No-one can ever claim "discovered by" tags for these systems. Their system maps are pre-loaded into your navigation computer, which you can look at by clicking on the System Map icon on the starmap; for Explored systems, this icon will be white, for Unexplored, it will be red and you can't click on it. Unexplored systems are either uninhabited or only have small, low population colonies inside them - though the inhabited ones will still have starports. It may seem odd to call a star system with 500,000 people and a couple of starports "Unexplored", but that's how things are. You can purchase map data for certain frequently visited "Unexplored" systems from the galactic map while you are docked at a starport, or you can fly there and Explore the place yourself.
Finally, it's a safe bet that every single star close to newbie space has been thoroughly Explored and tagged. Every inhabited star system has been visited at least once now, I'm sure - most get visited by somebody at least once a day - and most objects in most systems within the sphere of Human space have been tagged by now. To find a truly Unexplored, untagged system, you need to fly out quite a long way - about 500 LY or more from Sol should do the trick.
Now, entire star systems don't get "tagged" all at once. Individual celestial objects do, one at a time - stars, planets, moons etc. To "tag" an object, you first need to find it (with a Discovery Scanner, though "old school" explorers had to use parallax flying) then fly your ship up close enough to it to activate your ship's surface scanner. Once the surface scan finishes, the planet is considered "explored" by your ship's computer and if you're the first player to ever do this to that particular object, then you get your name there as the First Discoverer.
As I said, each object in a star system has a separate "discovered by" tag. It's entirely possible for a dozen different CMDRs to get their names tagged on different objects within the system. This is particularly noticeable inside inhabited space, as these stars were explored very early in the game when many of the helpful scanning aids (such as the Advanced Discovery Scanner) were not yet invented, so they were discovered and tagged piecemeal, one planet at a time.
It's important to note that "Exploring", as described above, still counts towards your Exploration ranking and you still get paid by Universal Catographics when you hand the data in, even if you're not the first person to ever explore that system. Whether you're the second person to explore it or the 100,000th person to explore it, you still get paid the same amount of cash for exploring it. Crazy, but true. UC only pays a bonus for "First Discovered by" data.
It should also be pointed out that you do need to be the first person to actually sell the exploration data at a Universal Cartographics office (every space station has one) for the tag to "count". So theoretically, someone else can beat you to the tag if they scan the same object and make it back to a space station before you do. It's unlikely to happen at random, but if you discover a particularly valuable object (such as an Earth-like planet), it's best not to blab about it's exact location on the open forum until you're safely docked, the data is safely sold and your tag is firmly in place.
A corollary of this is also that if you happen to explode before selling the data, any data you had onboard your ship is lost. So when you go out exploring for a long time and you've got millions of credits worth of data in your ship's computer, be careful when coming home.
So, which systems can you Explore? When you start the game, there are two kinds of star systems on your galactic map: Explored and Unexplored. "Explored" stars are high-population, advanced economies. No-one can ever claim "discovered by" tags for these systems. Their system maps are pre-loaded into your navigation computer, which you can look at by clicking on the System Map icon on the starmap; for Explored systems, this icon will be white, for Unexplored, it will be red and you can't click on it. Unexplored systems are either uninhabited or only have small, low population colonies inside them - though the inhabited ones will still have starports. It may seem odd to call a star system with 500,000 people and a couple of starports "Unexplored", but that's how things are. You can purchase map data for certain frequently visited "Unexplored" systems from the galactic map while you are docked at a starport, or you can fly there and Explore the place yourself.
Finally, it's a safe bet that every single star close to newbie space has been thoroughly Explored and tagged. Every inhabited star system has been visited at least once now, I'm sure - most get visited by somebody at least once a day - and most objects in most systems within the sphere of Human space have been tagged by now. To find a truly Unexplored, untagged system, you need to fly out quite a long way - about 500 LY or more from Sol should do the trick.
If you scan and/or map a body (Star, planet,...) this is in your exploration data stored on your ship. If your ship is destroyed, data is lost. But if you dock at a station and sell your exploration data, it counts, and you get paid. Any first discoveries or first mappings you have done also count. Should another CMDR (in solo or open) also have scanned or mapped a certain body, the first discovery goes to the CMDR who first sells the data, the other CMDR get paid normally, but does not have first discovery. So first discovery means you sold the data before all others.
Also keep in mind that it never is the entire star system, it is always one or more bodies. If you arrive in a system where nobody ever was, the first thing you 'discover' is the star where you arrive, and all bodies in 1000ls distance if you use the discovery scanner (honk), and if there are any. This is automatic. If you FSS scan the system, you 'discover' all the other bodies. If you only 'honk' you see only the arrival star and bodies near it. Honking also reveals the number of bodies in a system, and other stellar bodies, but not planets and moons further away.
So it is entirely possible, that when you arrive in a system, the main star is already 'discovered by', you will see this in the system map. Maybe the innermost planets are also discovered, but the outer planets are not discovered. This is the result, if another CMDR visited the system, but did not use FSS, and only 'honked'. You will then get first discovery for all the bodies further away, if you use the FSS. The same goes for mapping: If nobody has mapped a planet or moon before, you get 'first mapped' status and bonus.
Typical (for me at least) also is: If you arrive in a system you normally (in the bubble) see the arrival star immediately in the scanner display. If you see nothing on the scanner for a second or two, the star was never discovered before! It is auto discovered after a moment and then shown in the scanner. If you then use the discovery scanner (honk), then all the other near bodies appear in the scan.
If you scan a planet (a metal rich body for example) which another CMDR already discovered and sold, then you still can get first mapping bonus, if you are the first to map the planet.
If you are interested in first discoveries, you need to go above or below the galactic plane and you need (in my experience) at least 2000-3000 ly distance to the bubble. Then first discoveries are a given, they happen always. As long as you use routes which are not directly pointed at points of interest, you will discover lots of new systems, sometimes also quite valuable. I was lucky enough to first discover an entire system with an ELW, a water world and two metal rich planets besides other bodies. Nothing of this was ever seen before by a CMDR, but I was around 5000 ly from the bubble. So I have now first discovered and first mapped for this ELW.
Also keep in mind that it never is the entire star system, it is always one or more bodies. If you arrive in a system where nobody ever was, the first thing you 'discover' is the star where you arrive, and all bodies in 1000ls distance if you use the discovery scanner (honk), and if there are any. This is automatic. If you FSS scan the system, you 'discover' all the other bodies. If you only 'honk' you see only the arrival star and bodies near it. Honking also reveals the number of bodies in a system, and other stellar bodies, but not planets and moons further away.
So it is entirely possible, that when you arrive in a system, the main star is already 'discovered by', you will see this in the system map. Maybe the innermost planets are also discovered, but the outer planets are not discovered. This is the result, if another CMDR visited the system, but did not use FSS, and only 'honked'. You will then get first discovery for all the bodies further away, if you use the FSS. The same goes for mapping: If nobody has mapped a planet or moon before, you get 'first mapped' status and bonus.
Typical (for me at least) also is: If you arrive in a system you normally (in the bubble) see the arrival star immediately in the scanner display. If you see nothing on the scanner for a second or two, the star was never discovered before! It is auto discovered after a moment and then shown in the scanner. If you then use the discovery scanner (honk), then all the other near bodies appear in the scan.
If you scan a planet (a metal rich body for example) which another CMDR already discovered and sold, then you still can get first mapping bonus, if you are the first to map the planet.
If you are interested in first discoveries, you need to go above or below the galactic plane and you need (in my experience) at least 2000-3000 ly distance to the bubble. Then first discoveries are a given, they happen always. As long as you use routes which are not directly pointed at points of interest, you will discover lots of new systems, sometimes also quite valuable. I was lucky enough to first discover an entire system with an ELW, a water world and two metal rich planets besides other bodies. Nothing of this was ever seen before by a CMDR, but I was around 5000 ly from the bubble. So I have now first discovered and first mapped for this ELW.
The reason i asked is I've been making my way out. I'm only about 7kly out. I found an interesting system. Lots of bodies, lots of geo locations. I've been mapping everything cuz it looks like nobodies been here before. But.... I'm not going all the way back to sell it... It's taken me long enough just to get this far... And I've got a long long way to go before i want to start thinking about returning... Cheers
You may not have to go all the way back. There MAY be a place to sell your data en route. Low probability but it's worth keeping an eye on your galmap for populated systems.
If you’re planning on heading to the centre and visiting SagA then you could hand your data in at Explorers Anchorage.
System Stuemeae FG-Y d7561 - EDDB
System Stuemeae FG-Y d7561 in Elite: Dangerous - Make the most profit from here!
eddb.io
Maybe add the bookmark to your galaxy map, you’ll probably appreciate seeing civilisation again...
At 7000 LYs distance, it's a pretty safe bet that no-one else would have a prior claim to it, nor is anyone else likely to dash out, scan it, and dash back to steal your claim. At least, you would have to be very, very unlucky. Unless, of course, you do something foolish like post the name of the system on an open forum. That's just asking for trouble.
Personally, what I do is make a note of "interesting" sytsems I wish to prioritize a claim for, then the next time I dock at a starport, I manually hunt through my list of discovery data to find the specific systems I'm interested in, and only cash in those specific systems. That's because I don't necessarily want to "waste" dumping mimllions of credits worth of data on a tiny remote outpost where I'm already Allied, just to claim the few systems in the bulk lot of data that I actually care about getting my Tag on. Selling exploration data is a great way to purchase friends and allies when you're back in the Bubble, plus it's a great Influence-pusher for BGS manipulation; it's too precious to throw away for no reason.
Personally, what I do is make a note of "interesting" sytsems I wish to prioritize a claim for, then the next time I dock at a starport, I manually hunt through my list of discovery data to find the specific systems I'm interested in, and only cash in those specific systems. That's because I don't necessarily want to "waste" dumping mimllions of credits worth of data on a tiny remote outpost where I'm already Allied, just to claim the few systems in the bulk lot of data that I actually care about getting my Tag on. Selling exploration data is a great way to purchase friends and allies when you're back in the Bubble, plus it's a great Influence-pusher for BGS manipulation; it's too precious to throw away for no reason.
Intel is old, payouts are still the same with NEWLY added recognitions like "First Landfall."
