Odyssey Exploration - feedback and ideas

[shadow27Jirka]

Hello everyone,
First, I´d like to thank devs for working hard on fixes and some of the new stuff they implemented in past few months. I also appreciate info about whats going on and what we can expect in next update.
However, after playing Odyssey for arround half a year now I´d like to point out some stuff that need improving and other stuff that I´d like to see added to game.

So lets head to improvements first:

• Increase the variety of organics on planets. Current number is nothing compared with the number of planets and their composition. That should offer not only different coloring of species but completly random stuff. I´d really like to see them procedurally generated so we may never know what we´ll bounce into
• Increase the number of organics that can actually be on a planet surface. Going through the process of scanning, landing and finding just for one or two signals is just a waste of time
• Hide the exploration stuff from Codex! This is really important cause right now you always know what you can find and you know where it can be (what are the conditions) long before you actually go explore something. Current way feels more like "confirm that the species wasnt erased from this planet" rather then "bring me new information explorer"
• Please, please give us more canisters for sample scanning. If an explorer has a possibility to scan more samples right away, this stuff will be much quicker and less boring. You can implement this in multiple ways. First is automatic - canister will be changed automatically when scanning partialy scanned sample. Second is manual, mini-game like: Explorer will have to find a correct canister himself and "reload" the scanner. Second approach suits me better but I dont really care at this moment. Anything is better then current state
• Increase money gain for exploration stuff. Explorer cannot affor much compared to miner at this moment. This can go in-hand with first point

Some of this stuff was already discussed for example here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/fixing-exploration-once-and-for-all.591320/

Now some new features that I´d like:

• Add organics scanner module for ship and SRV. This could be active or passive (depending on your decision). In general it should help Explorer to find "hotspots" of selected signal source even when he is already on planet. Current state forces explorer to go to orbit every time he wants to find another species or he forgets where the species should be. It takes additional time and doesnt make much sense. Or at least let him check the planet in System map with the biology overlay showing his current position
• Add a custom waypoint option for landable planets. This can go hand-in-hand with previous point but it has another benefits as well. For example when I see something interesting from orbit (some area or such) and I want to check it later. The waypoint should be targetable same way as settlements
• Add organics sampling missions to game. Quest givers can be those guys from Vista Genomics or any random 3rd party guys in next settlement who wants to make a tea from "herb never found"?
• Add caves and caves organics that cannnot (or maybe can?) be scanned from orbit. There are so many places or any planet where the cave could be placed in and its surely not that hard to implement. Some caves could be explored by SRV, some only on foot. Some could be even that big that it´ll hide a small ship? Of course scanning a cave system from SRV / ship / handheld scanner would be revarded by money in the end. Maybe these data could be sold to official authorities or maybe at black market to smugglers?
• Add planetary surface/subsurface mining feature. I understand this is really complex and such but It doesnt have to be full scale mining at first stage. More like mineral sample gathering. Exlorer could buy a module for ship or SRV that will allow him in marked planet regions (deposits/hotspots) to drill a hole to planet surface and gather minerals. The content of hotspot should be unknown until multiple samples are collected. Only then Explorer will have some idea about real composition about hotspot. Selling these data should be rewarding since these can be later sold to other commanders (miners) that will deploy their mining drills at sites they like best! Imagine it - beeing an Explorer could actually mean something!!! There wont be any mining data without Explorers! You can also add mining sampling missions!

I think thats enaugh for now.

Please note that text above represents my thoughts after half a year of playing Odyssey. I´m aware of the state of the game and I know there are more important stuff to fix right now. I´d however see these as an important insight for developers. Implementing these would make me enjoy the game much, much more and could possibly bring back many players that already have up since Odyssey focus so far was on first person shooting rather then exploration (as a name could bring up).

EDIT (13.11.21):
So I´ve finally returned from my personal mini expedition that took me about 2 months of real time (no idea about game time tho). I´ve scanned 598 systems, mapped some interesting planets inside them and also did some exobiology there. I travelled almost 22k LY in total.
Even tho I was first to discovery like half of the systems I got following rewards:

• 130 016 777 credits from Universal Cartographics
• 55 051 244 credits from Vista Genomics

Thats only 185 068 021 credits!!! To be honest, its not really worth the trouble I can have this money after a really short time when deep core mining. I really think FD should do something about this. Not really going to explore anything now until the rewards are significantly higher or it will mean something more to be an explorer.

 

[SixthVG]

More survival mechanics out in the black.

 

[Ultra Fluffy]

I agree with everything here.
However I doubt whether we will see caves. The terrain generation seems to be a simple procedural height generator. That is why the terrain looks like a 3D plot from Excel. It can't generate overhangs or arches or other structure. Think of it as a cloth that you can pinch and pull, but nothing else.

Variants of plants seem to be a stock of prescribed graphics. This is why the variant have been done as a pure colour change. The same structures, with just a different texture bitmap.

The problem with exploration missions is that there are no mission givers outside the bubble or Colonia, so there is no chance of doing those missions when outside those areas.

I agree that there needs to be more for explorers to do, especially out in the black. At the moment I have a full complement of planetary materials, so I'm not collecting those. I'm doing searches for biological signals, but the only challenge is finding the plants. Then when you do find one its a case of "another one of them", but in a different shade of green.

I agree that it needs more exciting or challenging features. I like your suggestions, though I doubt that FDev will ever implement them. They seem to concentrate on populated area activities. The rest of the galaxy is just a massive expansion area that they have no use for at the moment.

They could have:

• Antient ruins to discover, with buildings that you can go in. The current ones are few and far between and just the odd wall that you can drive around and over.
• Animal life to collect / destroy / communicate with.
• Weather condition to make flight more challenging.
• More uses for materials, so you have to keep collecting them.
• More civilised areas. Or at least making it more economical for fleet carriers to have more services. Most of the fleet carriers I have been on only allow you to refuel, repair and sell your exploration data. Nothing else.
• I have a cargo hold and nothing in it. Now if I could collect interesting things (apart from plants) and sell them somewhere out in the black. You could even combine them to form collections that are worth more as a group.
• You could have other activities such as the ability to repair your hull yourself on planet surfaces.
• You could have space walks.
• You could have problems to solve and clues to follow.
• You could have more traits to discover. At the moment there are a couple of molluscs that do one strange thing. Very limited.
• More chance of discovering something that nobody else has. It seems that all the plant types have been discovered in all the regions. We are just rediscovering stuff.

Any of these would be better than the "fly, scan, search ,search, search and repeat" that we have at the moment.

 

[LKx]

 

[nevim]

Completely agree with more diversity and the stuff you talked about with organics. I just feel I "discover" the same species all over the planets.

It would be also great to put some sense into exploring. Firstly - STOP paying for exploring of already discovered stuff (yes Road to riches, I mean you). This doesnt make any sense that hundreds/thousands of CMDRs get paid for scanning the same bodies. They can get some highly nerfed payment for updated scan but never the same as the first discovery.

But I love your idea of exploring motivation. The missions, geology would be great.

 

[Gut]

Seems to be all about ' planet Landing ' rather than Exploring . Put 500 thousand space stations/platforms out there for explorers to find , large weird shaped Asteroid/Comets to land on and explore ( and Comets don't need tails if away from main star) . Planet rings made of water or fog just for new visuals.