Newcomer / Intro Planetary Scan without SRV?

[ThirdH0rseman]

Is it possible to do Planetary Scan jobs and other types of jobs where you interact with data panels without using an SRV? I notice the ship also has a Data Scanner so technically this should be possible, right?

I attempted to do this in the SRV Training mission. I left the ship in the SRV, drove a bit away to activate it fully, then returned to the ship. This allowed me to open my hardpoints on the ship and use my lasers to blow the power generator, disabling the turrets. However when I flew in close to the data panel I was unable to target it thus I cannot use the data scanner.

It's possible that this function is just disabled in the tutorial mission, and I haven't had the guts to try this in Open Play yet because those turrets do pack a punch. But if nobody has a solid answer to this then maybe I'll give it a try and report back.

Thanks!

 

[Faded Glory]

No, scans of planetary data points require the SRV data scanner.

The ship's data scanner is to interact with data points on other ships, such as the 'lost' ships and I think mega-ships.

 

[Maenden]

If you're interacting with the tower at a base it has to 'sense' your presence.
There's a little panel bottom left hand corner in the SRV which says something like 'tele-sensing' with a wiggly line.
When you get close enough the tower rises and becomes active - then you can scan it.

Sorry to sound a bit vague but haven't done one for a while.

 

[aRJay]

You also have to target the data point to scan it and ships can't target anything smaller than a landable base on a planet unless it is shooting at them.

 

[ThirdH0rseman]

You also have to target the data point to scan it and ships can't target anything smaller than a landable base on a planet unless it is shooting at them.

Well I can target cargo containers and materials on planetary surfaces when doing retrieval missions and scoop them without issue, and they are pretty small. So I don't think this is a size issue as much as a game design choice forcing players to use the SRV rather than just the ship.

 

[ThirdH0rseman]

No, scans of planetary data points require the SRV data scanner.

The ship's data scanner is to interact with data points on other ships, such as the 'lost' ships and I think mega-ships.

Okay, thanks for the info! I had seen the information regarding using ship scanners to interact with Generation and other mega-ships, but wasn't sure if planetary bases would work as well. I won't bother trying any of these planetary scan missions in my ship then.

If you're interacting with the tower at a base it has to 'sense' your presence.
There's a little panel bottom left hand corner in the SRV which says something like 'tele-sensing' with a wiggly line.
When you get close enough the tower rises and becomes active - then you can scan it.

Sorry to sound a bit vague but haven't done one for a while.

Yea I noticed when I did the SRV training mission that when in the SRV the tower "wakes up" and activates when I approached but did not when I flew in close with the ship. I wasn't sure if this was just because it was a training mission (there seems to be a lot of functions disabled in these training sessions) or an actual game mechanic. Seems like it's the latter, and it's implemented to force players to use the SRV more.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

I always though that "perking up" of the tower was its way of trying to prevent us from scanning it, since it almost forces you into turret mode to complete scanning it.

I do wish the ship's data scanner could be used though.. it would make some missions far more enjoyable.

 

[T4ct1csOG]

I am not new at all to ED lol, but sometimes (like now) I still feel new..

I have a question totally related to this thread, I had two planetary scan missions to the same planet without realizing it one for 119k and one for 760k I did what I thought was the first one (not realizing it was the same planet) and couldn't figure out why the second one wasn't working so I went ahead and turned the first one in to avoid any confusion but now going back to the planet without that first mission to confuse where I need to go I am at the planet landed where my mission tells me to go and yet the data point says "scanned" but it is not scanned for this mission and thus I cannot turn it in, not sure what to do here...

 

[Maenden]

I am not new at all to ED lol, but sometimes (like now) I still feel new..

I have a question totally related to this thread, I had two planetary scan missions to the same planet without realizing it one for 119k and one for 760k I did what I thought was the first one (not realizing it was the same planet) and couldn't figure out why the second one wasn't working so I went ahead and turned the first one in to avoid any confusion but now going back to the planet without that first mission to confuse where I need to go I am at the planet landed where my mission tells me to go and yet the data point says "scanned" but it is not scanned for this mission and thus I cannot turn it in, not sure what to do here...

I've had a similar problem and commented on it before.
It is apparently a known bug and I believe it's been addressed in the current beta - although I haven't tested it.

What seems to happen is that the first beacon gets scanned - all the blue messages roll past - but it doesn't register.
You then do the second scan and the FIRST ONE gets updated.

Abandon the one you didn't get paid for and do something else.

 

[T4ct1csOG]

I've had a similar problem and commented on it before.
It is apparently a known bug and I believe it's been addressed in the current beta - although I haven't tested it.

What seems to happen is that the first beacon gets scanned - all the blue messages roll past - but it doesn't register.
You then do the second scan and the FIRST ONE gets updated.

Abandon the one you didn't get paid for and do something else.

I have 6 days left on it I hate abandoning missions and on PC 700k is a lot of credits to me right now (also thanks to glitchy load earlier I lost my ship for about the same rebuy cost which means I am actually in the hole between these two missions right now for about 600k after wasting 2 hours trying to figure out why I couldn't scan this thing and flying to and from the base etc and figuring out the REALLY frustrating SRV controls...)

Really hoping it will fix itself but you are probably right and I've been dreading abandoning it knowing I probably will have to I think that is the second highest paying mission I've done on PC so far.

 

[Faded Glory]

I have 6 days left on it I hate abandoning missions and on PC 700k is a lot of credits to me right now (also thanks to glitchy load earlier I lost my ship for about the same rebuy cost which means I am actually in the hole between these two missions right now for about 600k after wasting 2 hours trying to figure out why I couldn't scan this thing and flying to and from the base etc and figuring out the REALLY frustrating SRV controls...)

Really hoping it will fix itself but you are probably right and I've been dreading abandoning it knowing I probably will have to I think that is the second highest paying mission I've done on PC so far.

Before you abandon it, just try a couple of things.

Check the mission details in the transactions tab. Does it specifically say which planet to go to, or does it just state the system? If it says the planet, then a new search venue should have spawned, but if it just says the system, then you will need to scan the nav beacon or honk the discovery scanner again. Personally, whatever the transactions tab says, I would scan / honk again and see if it forces a mission update.

It seems that sometimes the missions get messed up and the wrong one completes, or in some cases even though the beacon is scanned the mission doesn't update. I've had both of these glitches on occasion, but never not been able to complete the mission (I know, that's not exactly helpful, sorry), usually just resetting the instance (which you did by jumping back to hand in the first mission) is enough to refresh the mission. It's strange that you are having so many issues, and if you are unable to complete it, I'd suggest you submit a bug report.

When you say the data point shows as already scanned, do you mean that when you target it it says it is inactive? It's a bit strange, as if this is just a standard planetary scan (rather than a base incursion), these outposts are only spawned because you have the mission, they aren't persistent, so if you go back to the planet a new base and data point spawn so there's no way really that it would show as inactive / already scanned, and if the mission has actually completed, no base would spawn.

 

[T4ct1csOG]

Before you abandon it, just try a couple of things.

Check the mission details in the transactions tab. Does it specifically say which planet to go to, or does it just state the system? If it says the planet, then a new search venue should have spawned, but if it just says the system, then you will need to scan the nav beacon or honk the discovery scanner again. Personally, whatever the transactions tab says, I would scan / honk again and see if it forces a mission update.

It seems that sometimes the missions get messed up and the wrong one completes, or in some cases even though the beacon is scanned the mission doesn't update. I've had both of these glitches on occasion, but never not been able to complete the mission (I know, that's not exactly helpful, sorry), usually just resetting the instance (which you did by jumping back to hand in the first mission) is enough to refresh the mission. It's strange that you are having so many issues, and if you are unable to complete it, I'd suggest you submit a bug report.

When you say the data point shows as already scanned, do you mean that when you target it it says it is inactive? It's a bit strange, as if this is just a standard planetary scan (rather than a base incursion), these outposts are only spawned because you have the mission, they aren't persistent, so if you go back to the planet a new base and data point spawn so there's no way really that it would show as inactive / already scanned, and if the mission has actually completed, no base would spawn.

I think I got that one finished earlier finally lol but yeah planetary scan missions seem a bit buggy. I did manage to figure them out partially and logging out and back in fixed a similar problem (i think) for me today. Managed to at least make my money back from losing my ship plus about a million credits (only took me like 6 hours... lol) horrible time to money ratio but having fun driving the SRV now that i've mostly figured out the controls. (it was showing it as inactive to answer your question above even after leaving that system and turning the other mission in, I think honestly there may have been a second area that wasn't showing on the system map on the same planet that I could scan that I eventually stumbled on which fixed this not sure if it had anything to do with me waiting a day or not though)

 

[Faded Glory]

I think I got that one finished earlier finally lol but yeah planetary scan missions seem a bit buggy. I did manage to figure them out partially and logging out and back in fixed a similar problem (i think) for me today. Managed to at least make my money back from losing my ship plus about a million credits (only took me like 6 hours... lol) horrible time to money ratio but having fun driving the SRV now that i've mostly figured out the controls. (it was showing it as inactive to answer your question above even after leaving that system and turning the other mission in, I think honestly there may have been a second area that wasn't showing on the system map on the same planet that I could scan that I eventually stumbled on which fixed this not sure if it had anything to do with me waiting a day or not though)

Glad you got it sorted. As I said, I'm a tad confused as the missions that I think you are referring to don't show up on the system map, they are non-persistent locations (identified as something like 'Search Area : Outpost'), so you wouldn't really be able to 'go back to it'.

There's no requirement to wait a day for these types of data points to become active again, just resetting the instance (going to supercruise then returning, logging out and back in) will do it. There are some persistent data points (such as the ones at Dav's Hope for example) which I believe have a cool off period before a player can scan them again.

Completely off-topic, regarding making credits, get your reputation up to allied with minor factions and you will see an increase in the rewards they offer you for missions. As an example, from my 'home' base, where I am fully allied to all factions, these planetary scan missions typically pay between 1 and 3 million credits. Making credits can be tough at the beginning of the game, but you'll soon have more than you know what to do with, and reputation with the mission givers is the key thing here.

 

[T4ct1csOG]

Glad you got it sorted. As I said, I'm a tad confused as the missions that I think you are referring to don't show up on the system map, they are non-persistent locations (identified as something like 'Search Area : Outpost'), so you wouldn't really be able to 'go back to it'.

There's no requirement to wait a day for these types of data points to become active again, just resetting the instance (going to supercruise then returning, logging out and back in) will do it. There are some persistent data points (such as the ones at Dav's Hope for example) which I believe have a cool off period before a player can scan them again.

Completely off-topic, regarding making credits, get your reputation up to allied with minor factions and you will see an increase in the rewards they offer you for missions. As an example, from my 'home' base, where I am fully allied to all factions, these planetary scan missions typically pay between 1 and 3 million credits. Making credits can be tough at the beginning of the game, but you'll soon have more than you know what to do with, and reputation with the mission givers is the key thing here.

The planetary scan missions once you either hit the nav beacon or use your advanced discovery scanner mark the planet (not the exact location on the planet) of your objective. But as you get close to the planet you can see the publications as well in this case I only saw the one and remembered the name and layout to know it was the same one, I think I later discovered a second location on that planet like 1/3 of the way around the same planet but not until the next day.

 

[Faded Glory]

The planetary scan missions once you either hit the nav beacon or use your advanced discovery scanner mark the planet (not the exact location on the planet) of your objective. But as you get close to the planet you can see the publications as well in this case I only saw the one and remembered the name and layout to know it was the same one, I think I later discovered a second location on that planet like 1/3 of the way around the same planet but not until the next day.

Yes that's right. You fly to the planet and there will be a "Search Location : Something" that you can target and follow down which eventually resolves to the building / outpost. They are randomly spawned, and there are a couple of different layouts that they can be. Once you complete the mission they are gone forever.

If they have an actual name, then that sounds more like a base incursion mission, as those small bases are persistent. It's possible that if you take two base incursion missions to scan data points at the same base then that might require a cool off period for the beacon to activate again. I don't know...