Suggestion: Orbiting

floWraider · Jan 15, 2015

Hi there Elitians, I have a very special suggestion to make. Since I'm a big fan of Sci-Fi, I like space itself with all it's objects. The one thing I'm really really missing in Elite: Dangerous is the possibility to orbit one of those beauties. As a plus, it would be so nice and just plausible for the Detailed Surface Scanner to work only if you are in orbit. Depending on the planet's (moon's, sun's etc.) size - it takes time to fully orbit it and so successfully scan it's surface.

Imagine you come across a planet inside a sun's habitable zone which is able to hold lifeforms, you decide to access it's orbit, look through your side windows and watch the continents-weather-whatever there is go by slowly... scan it properly and then sell the data to whomever is interested (since it takes more time it should then be more valuable).

The only thing that appears to be a problem to me would be: if it's a calculated standard orbit - the same to everyone, how do you manage more ships orbiting the same planet/object so they don't collide with different speeds they use?

I'm looking forward to your answers and hope it's a good suggestion - so it will make it into the game someday

DaggerSnake · Jan 15, 2015

I really like this idea. Some kind of auto orbit mechanic would be very nice and immersive and allow a great way to just loose yourself in the thought of being up there for a spell.
The scanning mechanic is a nice touch too. I kind of liked scanning planets in Mass Effect 2, though some people thought it was boring. I'm just an old sim lover.

Have a rep good sir!

Rhonda · Jan 15, 2015

I like the idea. Most of the scanning is done long before a planet is in visual range. Lvl2/3 scans (if/when implemented) should require you to close in more. A standard orbit and additional scan routines would be much appreciated.

Skanvak · Jan 15, 2015

I don't thing you can acheive orbit in SC as you break gravity and orbiting is keeping with gravity. I don't really understand the need either. But if you got out of SC near a planet you could have the possibility to acheived standard orbit.

I wonder if you are in orbit when you get out of SC near a planet?

floWraider · Jan 16, 2015

Skanvak said:
I don't thing you can acheive orbit in SC as you break gravity and orbiting is keeping with gravity. I don't really understand the need either. But if you got out of SC near a planet you could have the possibility to acheived standard orbit.

I wonder if you are in orbit when you get out of SC near a planet?

Oh I didn't mean to orbit in SC

norcus · Jan 16, 2015

If you stop your ship near a planet and don't fall into it, you are in fact in orbit.

floWraider · Jan 16, 2015

Come on...you know exactly what kind of orbit I refer to (^_^)

DaggerSnake · Jan 16, 2015

Wouldn't it take a while to orbit if sublight? I think the ISS takes about 90 mins to orbit the Earth, just as a reference. Something like a gas giant would have you there all day. Maybe a little speed boost would be needed.

floWraider · Jan 16, 2015

DaggerSnake said:
Wouldn't it take a while to orbit if sublight? I think the ISS takes about 90 mins to orbit the Earth, just as a reference. Something like a gas giant would have you there all day. Maybe a little speed boost would be needed.

I'd suggest a Gas Giant being that huge should take 20mins (as a reference), what do you say? Another thought in this scenario... should there be the possibility to orbit against the planet's rotation or with it's rotation or both IF any rotation is present??

norcus · Jan 16, 2015

floWraider said:
I'd suggest a Gas Giant being that huge should take 20mins (as a reference), what do you say? Another thought in this scenario... should there be the possibility to orbit against the planet's rotation or with it's rotation or both IF any rotation is present??

The elevation (distance from surface) and orbiting velocity are both completely dependent on the mass and size of the planet/star. In any case you would have to be well above any kind of atmosphere. Escape velocity is the speed at which you break free of orbit. If you maintain speed slightly lower than the escape velocity you can achieve maximum orbiting velocity. On the surface of the earth it is around 11km/s, but since earth has an atmosphere that causes drag you need to be well above the surface to orbit, so maximum orbital speed would be a good deal slower than 11km/s (ie. significantly slower than SC, but much much faster than "normal" mode). However, around stellar objects with extremely high mass and density you could conceivably achieve orbit with sub lightspeed SC velocities (black holes are good examples).

Major Lag · Jan 16, 2015

I distinctly remember placing myself into orbit manually in FFE and thought it was very satisfying, you could also just slingshot using the gravity well, good stuff. Also fun in Kerbal space program.

FFE had true space flight though, so you could simply get to the altitude you wanted and direction you wanted get the speed right and you were in orbit. ED would have to be more instanced based, drop into orbit, not sure if it would be as satisfying. I mean dropping into station is basically putting you into the stations orbit.

Tinman · Jan 16, 2015

Timelapse.

Rhaedas · Jan 16, 2015

Perhaps there's another way to achieve what the OP wants. They want more realistic effort into a detailed scan, something that obviously would need a close examination. Waiting for a complete orbit would take a long time, and why do it, when we have the tech to go where the next scan is needed.

So my proposal:

Distance - a detailed scan needs to be X kms from the surface. Dont know a good value, and would probably change based on the planet, but basically pretty close, NEO.

Time - needs to take some time to pull in data.

Lastly, and getting to the OP's point I think - A complete scan would need to be done. This would mean you'd need to see some sort of progress on the target of where has been scanned and where has not, and then you'd SC over to the next point to continue where you didn't get. Simplest way using the GUI we have is the globe in the targeting area, have it show area scanned and not scanned in different colors, and it's up to the pilot to fly to where the next orbital area is and scan more.

Some places would be more challenging, if they have a higher rotation, or are large. A gas giant should take a lot longer to scan than a small moon.

floWraider · Jan 20, 2015

Rhaedas said:
Perhaps there's another way to achieve what the OP wants. They want more realistic effort into a detailed scan, something that obviously would need a close examination. Waiting for a complete orbit would take a long time, and why do it, when we have the tech to go where the next scan is needed.

So my proposal:

Distance - a detailed scan needs to be X kms from the surface. Dont know a good value, and would probably change based on the planet, but basically pretty close, NEO.

Time - needs to take some time to pull in data.

Lastly, and getting to the OP's point I think - A complete scan would need to be done. This would mean you'd need to see some sort of progress on the target of where has been scanned and where has not, and then you'd SC over to the next point to continue where you didn't get. Simplest way using the GUI we have is the globe in the targeting area, have it show area scanned and not scanned in different colors, and it's up to the pilot to fly to where the next orbital area is and scan more.

Some places would be more challenging, if they have a higher rotation, or are large. A gas giant should take a lot longer to scan than a small moon.

I could become friends with that, but I think that would be too much programming need. I wanted to keep it a little more simple.