SRV Wave Scanner for Biologicals

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Unless I'm somehow completely missing this, it'd be really handy to use the "switch mode" button (no,, we don't need more binds!) so switch the wave scanner to pick up biological signs, allowing you to find those harder to find biologicals.
Some planets have very small biological points on the heat map, and landing on them, considering they're probably just a few 100 meters square, is very difficult.

Being able to use the SRV to hone in on those elusive plants would be very helpful.
I often get bored and leave a planet with 7/8 found. Lol
 

nanite2000

nanite2000
Agreed OP! Either implement a switch to detect different types of biological sources, or widen the existing scanner waveform types to include different types of biological signals among the existing signals.

Also, while we're at it, include the Genetic Sampler's pulse function in analysis mode so you don't have to leave the SRV every time you want to check this.
 

67Mistakenot

67Mistakenot
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead said:
Unless I'm somehow completely missing this, it'd be really handy to use the "switch mode" button (no,, we don't need more binds!) so switch the wave scanner to pick up biological signs, allowing you to find those harder to find biologicals.
Some planets have very small biological points on the heat map, and landing on them, considering they're probably just a few 100 meters square, is very difficult.

Being able to use the SRV to hone in on those elusive plants would be very helpful.
I often get bored and leave a planet with 7/8 found. Lol
Click to expand...
Agreed, you can spend hours flying over the surface looking for something - sometimes I give up on the last biological too.
 

rchiokis

rchiokis
Here's what I find odd. It's the 34th Century. From the arrival point, our detail scanner can detect bodies no matter how far away they are. Then, our full spectrum scanner can tell us what those bodies are and that they do or do not have biologicals on them, even if the body is 400,000 LS away! Once we're close to the body, our surface mapping can tell us the exact species and the general area to look for them. But once we're down near the surface, our sensors become totally blind to biologicals and we have to use the Mk 1 Eyeball? That doesn't make sense.

I'm currently spending several hours flying low and slow over a planet trying to find bacterium. According to the surface scan, 100% of the surface could have bacterium. I have yet to find one. The problem is compounded by it being a dark planet orbiting a T Tauri so even on the day side, the only way to see anything is to use the landing lights. Which reminds me; biologicals do not show up on night vision. So I think it would be reasonable for the ship to also have a scanner which would tell you "there is a biological that-away!". Not what species or how far away, just over in that direction. At least then I would know I was going in the right direction.
 

CMDR Rusty Dog

CMDR Rusty Dog
For me, I don't think this is necessary at all. All this is, is people looking for a quality of life timesaver.

The tools you need find bio's are already there. The planet map after probing and scouting when close to the ground before landing.
You can't just have everything handed to you on a plate, you have to do some work.

You have an SRV to scout around and search too.

Putting a bio scanner on the SRV would be a mistake imo. Not needed. I want to have to find them. That's kinda the point when 'exploring'. You explore.
 

rchiokis

rchiokis
I will agree with, but only 90%. Yes, the existing tools are sufficient -- in most cases, but not all. Take the moon I mentioned in my earlier post as an example. The heat map indicates 100% of the surface may contain bacterium. With a radius of 5,452 km, this moon has a total surface area of 373,526,620 sq km. I'm looking for a patch of bacterium which, on average, is maybe 3 metres in diameter. Care to calculate the odds of finding something 3 m wide in 373 million sq km?

Also, I don't want it handed to me. When in the SRV using the wave scanner to locate minerals it only indicates the direction you should look in; not the range, not the type of mineral. You still have to drive in that direction and look for it. With a similar tool on the ship and/or SRV for biologicals, it would point the direction. You would still have to fly, drive or walk (if you really want to) in that general direction and look for it. Then it might not even be the one you're looking for if there are two or more biologicals on the surface. That's not handing it to me. That's providing sufficient data to make the search feasible. Telling me to look over 373 million sq km is not sufficient data for a feasible search.

In situations where the surface map is sufficient info, you wouldn't need the bio locater. In most cases, I can drop into a random blue patch and immediately spot the bio. Piece of cake. But when the map covers 100% of the surface, well, that isn't very good odds.
 

Kissamies

Kissamies
At the very least, it should help locate the biological I already have partial sample of. That's where it can get very frustrating.Especially on bodies with a lot of biological signals and one kind of flora gets choked out by the others.
 

Phoenix_Dfire

Phoenix_Dfire
For most of the plants, I don't think its necessary EXCEPT for Bacterium! For Fudge's Sake, how are we supposed find a white / cream bacteria on an ice world without some help. I originally thought they'd done something clever, like have those wind eddies above the bacteria to show they're processing the air but nope, those are just random. Don't get me wrong, I find exploring for plants one of the highlights in Odyssey, in a relaxing going fishing type way.

EXCEPT FOR TRYING TO FIND F🤬ING BACTERIUM!!!!!

.
 

Ursus Void

Ursus Void
On the ground, we only have a small handheld scanner. Why the Scarab cannot be equipped with a bigger, more powerful scanner..
My eyes need some rest..
 

OmegaPaladin

O
CMDR Rusty Dog said:
For me, I don't think this is necessary at all. All this is, is people looking for a quality of life timesaver.

The tools you need find bio's are already there. The planet map after probing and scouting when close to the ground before landing.
You can't just have everything handed to you on a plate, you have to do some work.

You have an SRV to scout around and search too.

Putting a bio scanner on the SRV would be a mistake imo. Not needed. I want to have to find them. That's kinda the point when 'exploring'. You explore.
Click to expand...

What, precisely, is wrong with a Quality of Life upgrade? Did you never upgrade your jump range or DSS coverage? Do you manually visit ever planet as opposed to using the FSS?

The problem is that you can't just wander around collecting useful stuff like a geological site with an SRV. You need to find three of the exact same plant, often quite a ways apart. This can often be on dimly lit planets, where the plants are not visible in night vision and often blend into the background.

Have you ever tried looking for items using the SRV scanner? It still involves exploration, and it is not trivial. I did a number of hours of guardian artifact hunting in an SRV for the last CG, so I speak from experience.
 

Insanerobert

Insanerobert
nanite2000 said:
Agreed OP! Either implement a switch to detect different types of biological sources, or widen the existing scanner waveform types to include different types of biological signals among the existing signals.

Also, while we're at it, include the Genetic Sampler's pulse function in analysis mode so you don't have to leave the SRV every time you want to check this.
Click to expand...

To be honest, Scarab should definitely get the Sampler's analysis mode since it's a Research SRV (compared to Scorpion). Also, they could introduce an upgrade for exploration ships as well and add an additional thermal scanner to help you detect biological signs easier in the cockpit of your ship.

CMDR Rusty Dog said:
For me, I don't think this is necessary at all. All this is, is people looking for a quality of life timesaver.

The tools you need find bio's are already there. The planet map after probing and scouting when close to the ground before landing.
You can't just have everything handed to you on a plate, you have to do some work.

You have an SRV to scout around and search too.

Putting a bio scanner on the SRV would be a mistake imo. Not needed. I want to have to find them. That's kinda the point when 'exploring'. You explore.
Click to expand...

Perhaps you need to explore some more to feel our frustrations. I aggree with the others, I was in the same situation where I was on certain planets with several biological signs, found 3/4 or 6/7 etc (you get the idea), I am thoroughly searching in the area indicated in the Deep Surface Scanner on the surface on the planet for that last biological sign and ..... nothing. I either end up finding more plants/bacteria I already scanned, OR it's empty (with lots of rocks that could be mistaken as plants in a dark environment from long range). It's especially harder on rocky surfaces with lots and lots of rocks.
On lush planets with a lot of FSD cover, this is mostly not an issue. You can find all the bio signs if you look hard enough and cover a fair bit of surface in a smart way. The problem rises on those narrow areas for specific species spawned on the planet, you go there, you search the entire indicated area and all you find is either the same species you already scanned, lots of rocks or nothing. Also, planets with more difficult terrain can increase the difficulty of discovering them, like the one in the image below:
 

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