Quick question about the FSS...

[Stealthie]

I arrive in a system, stop off at a Nav-Buoy and scan it.
My Nav-HUD gets updated, with all the "unexplored" turning into planet names and all the USSs being identified.
I then fly out to my destination planet.
Once I get within a certain range I get a message from the FSS saying "[nearby planet] identified"

What's going on there?

Scanning the Nav Buoy already identified all the planets in the system so why's the FSS telling me it's identified something.
Does being in proximity to a planet provide additional data to what I have from the Nav-Buoy?

Long past getting Exploration Elite and I'm not fussed about the credits that selling system-data provides but I do like to gather as much data as possible, in case some of it's useful or interesting, so I'd be interested to know if the FSS does provide data in addition to what's provided by the Nav-Buoy, or is it just a duplicated message - the result of obtaining the same information in two different ways?

 

[Ian Skippy]

I think it is a duplicate. To be sure, check if you get all planetary stats on the system map. AFAIK you should, in which case the message is meaningless.

 

[Stealthie]

I think it is a duplicate. To be sure, check if you get all planetary stats on the system map. AFAIK you should, in which case the message is meaningless.

Yeah, if I look at the sysmap, all the planet data appears to be provided (diameter, mass, elemental composition etc) after scanning the Nav-Bouy.

I just wondered if there's some extra information I'm not noticing or whether it is, perhaps, just that you get extra credits for visiting a planet compared to what you get for just scanning the Nav-Buoy or something.
Like I say, I don't pay a lot of attention to the rep/credits for "exploration" stuff so I probably wouldn't notice if it was related to that.

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

Uhm... please check the following.
Does the Nav Beacon provide also detailed information about surface? For example Volcanic Activity and Materials List?

If it doesn't it means that the Nav Beacon still works as before, so it provides only the general information but not the Surface Data, while the FSS provides both. So it's possible the flying close to it you get also the remaining surface information.

 

[Hooplah]

I think that it is old school Detailed Surface Scanner (if you have it installed) providing the planet data upon approach as before. Haven't paid attention per an unknown planet after ADS scanning then going to the planet.

 

[Stealthie]

Uhm... please check the following.
Does the Nav Beacon provide also detailed information about surface? For example Volcanic Activity and Materials List?

If it doesn't it means that the Nav Beacon still works as before, so it provides only the general information but not the Surface Data, while the FSS provides both. So it's possible the flying close to it you get also the remaining surface information.

Not sure what you mean by "surface data".
Either scanning the Nav-Buoy or using the FSS fills in the information sidebar in the sysmap.
Beyond that, don't you need to use the DSS to obtain anything more?

 

[Stealthie]

I think that it is old school Detailed Surface Scanner (if you have it installed) providing the planet data upon approach as before. Haven't paid attention per an unknown planet after ADS scanning then going to the planet.

Ah, that could be it.

I have a policy of always fitting a DSS to any ship that also carries an SRV so all my multi-roles have a DSS.

So, what I'm seeing is the result of the DSS performing an old-style "proximity scan" as I approach the planet?

In that case, I have to ask, what data is that providing?
The sysmap sidebar's already filled-in and I still need to shoot off probes to get info' about surface POIs etc so what's the DSS "proximity scan" giving me?

Is that what the Codex calls a "level 2 scan"?

 

[Ian Skippy]

Not sure what you mean by "surface data".
Either scanning the Nav-Buoy or using the FSS fills in the information sidebar in the sysmap.
Beyond that, don't you need to use the DSS to obtain anything more?

Yes. The FSS/beacon shoukd tell you if there are geysers. The probes/dss should tell you where on the surface.

 

[Thatchinho]

I arrive in a system, stop off at a Nav-Buoy and scan it.
My Nav-HUD gets updated, with all the "unexplored" turning into planet names and all the USSs being identified.
I then fly out to my destination planet.
Once I get within a certain range I get a message from the FSS saying "[nearby planet] identified"

What's going on there?

Scanning the Nav Buoy already identified all the planets in the system so why's the FSS telling me it's identified something.
Does being in proximity to a planet provide additional data to what I have from the Nav-Buoy?

Long past getting Exploration Elite and I'm not fussed about the credits that selling system-data provides but I do like to gather as much data as possible, in case some of it's useful or interesting, so I'd be interested to know if the FSS does provide data in addition to what's provided by the Nav-Buoy, or is it just a duplicated message - the result of obtaining the same information in two different ways?

It's probably just the FSS passive scan not taking into account that you've already got the data form the NB and still giving you the message to tell you it's detected a body in range.

But just to expand on the question about what the FSS gives vs what the NB gives, yes there is a difference.

The FSS will pick up any surface signals, and signals from in space in the vicinity of a body and inform you of those when you're zoomed in on the body in the FSS screen. That info doesn't appear on the SysMap info from the NB. It also doesn't appear on the SysMap via the FSS. It'll only appear on the SysMap after fully Mapping/Probing a body.

It might be that the message you're getting is a notification that the passive scan is picking up signals from the body in question, but I'd say it's much more likely that it's just the standard passive scan body discovery message, as described above. Easiest way to tell would be if it is a notification of the FSS picking up signals from on/near the body would be to see whether's there's a noticeable difference between what happens with bodies with vulcanism and planets with no obvious things on the surface or in orbit.

Hope that helps clear things up! o7

 

[Stealthie]

It's probably just the FSS passive scan not taking into account that you've already got the data form the NB and still giving you the message to tell you it's detected a body in range.

But just to expand on the question about what the FSS gives vs what the NB gives, yes there is a difference.

The FSS will pick up any surface signals, and signals from in space in the vicinity of a body and inform you of those when you're zoomed in on the body in the FSS screen. That info doesn't appear on the SysMap info from the NB. It also doesn't appear on the SysMap via the FSS. It'll only appear on the SysMap after fully Mapping/Probing a body.

It might be that the message you're getting is a notification that the passive scan is picking up signals from the body in question, but I'd say it's much more likely that it's just the standard passive scan body discovery message, as described above. Easiest way to tell would be if it is a notification of the FSS picking up signals from on/near the body would be to see whether's there's a noticeable difference between what happens with bodies with vulcanism and planets with no obvious things on the surface or in orbit.

Hope that helps clear things up! o7

Cheers.

My attitude toward exploration is more like "sightseeing" than rigorous investigation so I visit something have a look around and then leave.
I wouldn't be surprised if there's lots of stuff I've left undiscovered as a result of not paying attention to prompts that were trying to alert me to exta things that were nearby.

This one was pretty "in your face" though, so I thought I'd ask about it.

On the bright side, cos I have a DSS fitted to all my multi-role ships (and exploration ships, obviously) I guess the only time I won't be alerted to this will be when I'm in cargo ships or combat ships... and in those cases I'm probably doing something other than "sightseeing" anyway.

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

Ok I'll make it a bit clearer:

Old school scanning:
the ADS and the Beacons gave you the same type of information about a planet. Type, Size, Gravity, Orbit, but not surface data like: surface map (landable ones only), volcanic activity and materials available on the surface (Iron, Nickel, Yttrium, Polonium and so on). To get this data you had to scan the planet with a DSS fitted.

New school scanning:
ADS is gone. When you discover a planet with the FSS you get all the information that you normally had with ADS+DSS.
I presume that the nav beacons instead didn't change behaviour. So they are still providing the old ADS infomation only, without the surface information.
I suppose that flying close to an undiscovered planet (undiscovered with the FSS) the ship will automatically perform a full FSS scan providing also the nav beacons missing surface information.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

Its seems like just a weird coming together of the old and new systems... or more a sign of how they were grafted together.

How your ship and you 'know' about something occurs in many different ways now.. could be either the bubble exemption pass for combat users, the nav beacon (another exemption pass for bubble users), the fss scanning which is the same as the old point for duration detailed scan, the proximity flash scan, also the same as the old detailed scan.

Im pretty certain you don't get detailed scanning credit for using the nav beacon even in those 'unexplored' systems, even though it looks like it. Its hard to initially see because the fss even though it appears to be fully resolved in the exempted systems kinda works again when you go in and zoom in on the bodies for the first time yourself. The old unwritten rule which shows some systems as fully named yet some as 'unknown' also manifests itself in all this... even though you're getting it for free, the class of systems that were not pre named still show up as 'unknown'.

Best not to think too hard about it and obsess about the rewards you're getting.

 

[Thatchinho]

Cheers.

My attitude toward exploration is more like "sightseeing" than rigorous investigation so I visit something have a look around and then leave.
I wouldn't be surprised if there's lots of stuff I've left undiscovered as a result of not paying attention to prompts that were trying to alert me to exta things that were nearby.

This one was pretty "in your face" though, so I thought I'd ask about it.

On the bright side, cos I have a DSS fitted to all my multi-role ships (and exploration ships, obviously) I guess the only time I won't be alerted to this will be when I'm in cargo ships or combat ships... and in those cases I'm probably doing something other than "sightseeing" anyway.

No worries.

I've got a newish Alt that's in early days and doing Bubble stuff at the moment, so when I'm in game I'll check and see if I can give you a definitive answer.

I'm pretty sure though that the only way you'll get alerted to the presence of Surface or Orbital Signals is if you scan a body via the FSS interface. (Or if you fully Map/Probe the body, but there's obviously a lot more involved in Mapping/Probing bodies than there is in FSS scanning them. Generally it would go FSS Scan (identify signals) -> Map/Probe bodies to locate detected signals.)

Just to try to clarify some things, this is how it was for Scans:

Level 1 - what the Discovery Scanner provided via the Honk (General orbital info)

Level 2 - what the Discovery Scanner provided via targetting a body and flying towards it. (A basic Surface Scan - atmosphere type, etc.)

Level 3 - what the Detailed Surface Scanner provided via targetting a body and flying towards it. (A Detailed Surface Scan - Vulcanism, Composition etc.)


As it is now:

The FSS provides what was the Level 3 Data. That's via the FSS mode, but the FSS has a approx 30ls passive scan range, and will detect, identify and provide what was Level 3 Data for any bodies within range.

The honk detects, identifies and provides surface scan info for all stars in a system (as far as I know, the info for stars only goes up to L2 and doing an old DSS scan wouldn't have provided any extra info).

Using the FSS mode will enable the discovery of previously undiscovered bodies, and on top of the L3 info, will detect numbers of any surface signals by type (Human, Thargoid, Guardian, Biological, Geological, Other).

So, you should get alerted in whatever ship you use.

The DSS now provides the Probe mechanism rather than it's old function. This will locate and populate the NavPanel and HUD with targetable locations for all Surface Signals.

(You can still target, fly towards and scan bodies as you would have done previously rather than using the FSS - the L3 version of that might have been shifted to the FSS along with as it has for the other FSS functionality, or it might still be with the DSS for the target & scan functionality. Not had occasion to check which module has what for the target & scan.)

Anyway, long post there, but thought I'd try and get it all as clear as possible. o7

 

[Phil JMac]

SenseiMatty has it correct


If you want to test this then:

go into an unexplored system with a nav beacon

scan the nav beacon

go into SC and FSS the system - you'll find nothing resolved and you would have to "find" all the bodies again.


Think of it like the Nav Beacon is giving you general system info but not to the detail level the FSS would give you.

 

[Cmdr Nemo]

Personally, I've no interest in naming any of the objects I happen across when playing. Thus I still honk every system I enter, the way I use to and if I have business in a particular system, I scan the NAV Beacon. The only difference between the way I do it now and the previous is, I now have to switch from a one mode to another, but only if I've been involved in combat.

Thus if one doesn't like the NEW way, the old way is still up and running.

 

[Stealthie]

The FSS provides what was the Level 3 Data. That's via the FSS mode, but the FSS has a approx 30ls passive scan range, and will detect, identify and provide what was Level 3 Data for any bodies within range.

The honk detects, identifies and provides surface scan info for all stars in a system (as far as I know, the info for stars only goes up to L2 and doing an old DSS scan wouldn't have provided any extra info).

Using the FSS mode will enable the discovery of previously undiscovered bodies, and on top of the L3 info, will detect numbers of any surface signals by type (Human, Thargoid, Guardian, Biological, Geological, Other).

So, you should get alerted in whatever ship you use.

Wait, so we're saying it's the FSS, rather than the DSS, that's now providing me with the "proximity scan"?

As I say, I'm not really fussed about stuff like stat's in the Codex or payments for data but I do like to ensure I'm not missing out on potentially interesting stuff.
When I'm out exploring "properly" I will, obviously, use the FSS and DSS fully.

For example, though, I just got a tip-off which led me to the Pleiades.
The system had a nav-buoy so I scanned it to fill in the system data.
Went to the target planet, mapped it (nice to see that the DSS now locates crashed ships, BTW, so you don't need to manually navigate to them) and discovered some interesting things on the surface.
The system in question (Pleiades Sector IH-V C2-16) seems to have a lot of POIs which I want to explore further.

Are we saying that, even though I've scanned the Nav Buoy, I might get extra info' by using the FSS?
I guess I should have just checked it anyway but, at the time, I was focusing on finding the crashed ship and checking out the other POIs on the same planet.
That was my lot for last night and the intention was/is to snoop around more tonight.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Wait, so we're saying it's the FSS, rather than the DSS, that's now providing me with the "proximity scan"?

As I say, I'm not really fussed about stuff like stat's in the Codex or payments for data but I do like to ensure I'm not missing out on potentially interesting stuff.
When I'm out exploring "properly" I will, obviously, use the FSS and DSS fully.

For example, though, I just got a tip-off which led me to the Pleiades.
The system had a nav-buoy so I scanned it to fill in the system data.
Went to the target planet, mapped it (nice to see that the DSS now locates crashed ships, BTW, so you don't need to manually navigate to them) and discovered some interesting things on the surface.
The system in question (Pleiades Sector IH-V C2-16) seems to have a lot of POIs which I want to explore further.

Are we saying that, even though I've scanned the Nav Buoy, I might get extra info' by using the FSS?
I guess I should have just checked it anyway but, at the time, I was focusing on finding the crashed ship and checking out the other POIs on the same planet.
That was my lot for last night and the intention was/is to snoop around more tonight.

Yes, the FSS auto-scans nearby planets if you dont manually scan them, or use the beacon. You get all the stuff with a beacon as you do with the fss. To see the number of POI you need to check the body in the fss screen as the system map only gives the type. You canuse the DSS to find the actual location of these poi on the surface.

 

[Thatchinho]

Wait, so we're saying it's the FSS, rather than the DSS, that's now providing me with the "proximity scan"?

As I say, I'm not really fussed about stuff like stat's in the Codex or payments for data but I do like to ensure I'm not missing out on potentially interesting stuff.
When I'm out exploring "properly" I will, obviously, use the FSS and DSS fully.

For example, though, I just got a tip-off which led me to the Pleiades.
The system had a nav-buoy so I scanned it to fill in the system data.
Went to the target planet, mapped it (nice to see that the DSS now locates crashed ships, BTW, so you don't need to manually navigate to them) and discovered some interesting things on the surface.
The system in question (Pleiades Sector IH-V C2-16) seems to have a lot of POIs which I want to explore further.

Are we saying that, even though I've scanned the Nav Buoy, I might get extra info' by using the FSS?
I guess I should have just checked it anyway but, at the time, I was focusing on finding the crashed ship and checking out the other POIs on the same planet.
That was my lot for last night and the intention was/is to snoop around more tonight.

Yes, the FSS will detect and scan every body within a approx 30 ls radius.

The old Discovery Scanners also had passive scans (roughly 0.5ls, 6ls and 36 ls for the BDS, IDS, and ADS respectively), but generally it wasn't very noticeable unless you were looking specifically for it.

AFAIK, the old DSS never had a passive scan. It only ever worked by targetting a body, and pointing towards it while being in range (with the range varying massively depending on the body - from 1,000s of ls down to less than 10 ls.

Just to be clear, you don't need to target anything for the FSS passive scan, it just detects and scans every body within range without anything needing to be actively done.

You can however, still target and point towards a body to scan it. For small bodies you'll be within the FSS passive scan range before you're in range for the old style target and point scan.


Anyway, to answer the question about the NB vs the FSS, yes you will get extra info by using the FSS (just not for every body or every system - sometimes there's not going to be anything extra beyond the L3 info).


In a run out to the Pleiades the other day I found something on the way using the FSS and Probes. I'd been there in my main account, as part of a big group thing, with the right planet identified already, and spent hours and hours eyeball searching, and to be honest probably would not have found it on my own.

Don't know if you'd have seen any of that particular stuff, but it's a good illustration of the value of using the FSS and Probes.

Give using the FSS for a system a try at HIP 15329 when you're back in that direction.

(It's not the system I was talking about above, just somewhere good to check out with the FSS. If you've been to what's there before, then it's just a good example, and if you haven't then that's even better )