finally found some geysers and a few small volcano's my question is if your detailed planetary scanner can pick up active volcanic activity why cant it so you a good general area to look for them? Ive also noticed some of these sites do not show up on the radar as the blue circle POI as they should. i realize some of these poi's are random and will vanish from radar ship and srv if you log out and back in. but for the static POIS way cant the scanner pick these up and give you a general area so your only scouring a few hundred miles instead of thousands. I mean hell guys come on its 3303 right? in 2017 they can read the head of a dime in orbit.[big grin]
Refine planetary scanners
- Thread starter Buckshotbill
- Start date
I was hunting for ancient ruins at the beggining before they popup in the 1000ls rsnge.
I got a detailed surface scanner hoping it would highlight areas of interest on a planet. I wasn't expecting an exact target, but was expecting a blob or area to search within.
Even colour code the planet map to show areas of high content.. we dont want it easy would like a clue in some form of 100km range for examplle.
At the moment the detail scanner does seem a little pointless, it has much potential.
I got a detailed surface scanner hoping it would highlight areas of interest on a planet. I wasn't expecting an exact target, but was expecting a blob or area to search within.
Even colour code the planet map to show areas of high content.. we dont want it easy would like a clue in some form of 100km range for examplle.
At the moment the detail scanner does seem a little pointless, it has much potential.
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Yes, but randomly flying over 1:1 scale planets at 300-500m/second using the Eyeball MkI™ is truly mind numbingly dull gameplay. A DSS heat map would add some much needed "fun".
Z...
Lestat
Banned
Well at least they can make it a modules.
I totally agree.
This type enhancement is often requested and overdue. Hope for the post-2.4 stuff...
In addition to being mind-numbing and the antithesis of fun, I don't have 100 hours a week to use Eyeball MkI looking for a needle in a haystack that might not even be there. My play-time is more valuable than that. FD needs to make graphically and data rich, fun mechanics and make things actually findable. Shareable bookmarks, better surface navigation tools, better scanning modules, etc.
Active volcanoes and geysers would light up IR sensors like a bullseye saying "here I am". OP is spot on, scanners can detect volcanic activity but can't give any indication where it is, that is simply not believable. Hopefully because FD just have such a long to-do list they haven't gotten to that yet.
I think it's a balancing act. I don't want "X marks the spot", but I also don't want fruitless searching of every inch of the planet-that is opposite ends of the "just not fun" scale.
Instead, I want our scanners, when used actively (not passively), to narrow down our searches to fairly strictly delineated Zones-most likely colour coded on our planetary maps, & with the centre of the zone clearly indicated on the planet's surface whilst we're flying towards it.
Instead, I want our scanners, when used actively (not passively), to narrow down our searches to fairly strictly delineated Zones-most likely colour coded on our planetary maps, & with the centre of the zone clearly indicated on the planet's surface whilst we're flying towards it.
For many findable things I agree a Search Zone might be acceptable.
But better to have a variety of scanning modules available, that if stacked properly in an exploration ship would allow one to start with a broad search and quickly narrow it down. Each of these would, of course, have nice audio and visual effects.
Thinking about large settlements on airless worlds, they are bookmarked for us but they could just as easily show up as massive IR and EM signatures on an otherwise blank sphere. Easy to spot from orbit, no messy searching needed, the sensors would show exactly where it is.
Similarly, if we think immersion, realism (consistent game logic), we have Nav Beacons and Wing Beacons. Once a player finds something like the first Barnacles on Merope 5 C, they should be able to put a beacon on it that will show up on sensors once in orbit. It is really dumb to be searching for random forum and internet posts of LAT/LONG coordinates to find sites like that and then to have to fly in circles to get the general direction just so, etc.
Once we have planets with atmospheres that can play havoc on sensors, and Earth-likes where the EM radiation would just be a blanket, the ability to find specific POI via other means like a beacon could become even more important.
Downed ships should have flight recorders that are sending out beacon signals that make their general proximity relatively easy to find once in Orbital Cruise, lets say.
I spend so much time just going from A to B in ED, to think players should fly over planets searching for stuff that can barely be seen at 1-2 km distances is insane.
I am really surprised players have found any of the special POI sites in the game through anything but sheer luck or coincidence. Kudos to those that found these when they were actually dedicated to looking.
I don't like the current POI "follow the spinning circles" game. Although better than nothing, it seems like totally random behavior and to me when looking for things like downed pilots and data recorders, just makes little sense. Fusion engines if that is what ED is based upon, would also become highly radioactive and so crashed ships would have a chance to become beacons if their containment systems are breached.
Lots of ways to play it. Of course, some things may just be hard to find and that is what it is for a Simulation-lite game like ED. Barnacles first discovery, sorry, just gonna be that eyeball MkI work. But for a game, it does seem a bit daft to me unless the stuff is as an Easter Egg.
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As I see it, just sticking within the modules we currently have, a basic stellar scanner would tell you roughly how many PoI's are within a 1000km diameter search zone. An intermediate will give a more accurate number, within a 100km diameter zone, & advanced scanner will tell you the precise number, within a 10km zone, & might even tell you if a zone contains natural and/or man-made PoI's.
The detailed scanner will tell you precisely how many PoI's there are within the search zone, & how many are organic, geological, man made or anomolous.