I originally posted this in on the Beta forum, but I've been asked to repost it, so I hope you all will forgive me.
I'm going to start out by saying two things:
1) I really hope Frontier gets around to fixing the remaining VR issues in the FSS. Several VR bugs are still present in the release. It's frustrating having to choose between playing in VR, and being able to see orbit lines and the blue blobs and the additional information they can provide.
2) I still wish we could use it on the move. If I find something interesting, I'd like to be able to start moving towards it, and search a system while on the move. Not to mention I'd also like to be able to use the FSS to take closer look at a destination, so I can plan my braking maneuver.
And now, on with the show!
The Initial Insertion - When entering a new system, I prefer to park myself right beside the star, honking on the way. While that big sphere of fusing hydrogen can block out part of the sky, it makes catching potential eclipses much easier. I see that this star has an asteroid belt relatively close to my location, plus I automatically discover the closest planet to the star, since I'm so close to it.
The Honk's Results - The results of the honk tells me two things about the system. One is that it has 17 bodies, which makes it a small system, so this guide won't be too long.
The other is I don't immediately see the orbital plane of the system, so I'm probably near one of the star's poles. I'll need to look up to find the orbital plane.
First Look at the System - Ah, the waveform guide. At a glance, it tells me three things. One is that there are at least two gas giants in the system. With so few bodies, I'll be surprised if there's two. The second is that there are there are rocky bodies and icy bodies in the system. Finally, one of those icy bodies has rings. May be worth a closer look if there's nothing else interesting in the system.
The Gas Giants - A quick adjustment of the tuner tells me that there's a typical gas giant without rings, and a helium heavy gas giant with rings in the system. More evidence that there's probably only two gas giants in the system.
The First Gas Giant - I set my tuner between the two gas giant signals so that I'll be able to see the arrows for both, and pan towards the star and upwards to acquire the orbital plane. At this stage, I'm not interested in taking a closer look at the gas giants, but finding out where they are. I can take a closer look later. I find the ringed gas giant right away, just above the star's horizon.
Searching for the Smaller Worlds- Having found the one right away, I set my tuner into the smaller worlds of the system. If I see a blob without arrows, I'll know its the second gas giant. I find an icy body right away. When I put the targeting reticle over it, I see there's more than one body there. Could it be a binary planet? Or is it just a planet/moon combination?
Curse you Muscle Memory - When I next spot the icy world with rings, I forget I'm supposed to be taking screen shots, and let instinct take over.
Found the other Gas Giant - I complete my pan through the system by finding the second gas giant. There's a total of five bodies, so the rest are probably moons. Might as well start resolving resolving them. I also notice that the orbit lines of the system follow closely with the orbital plane. If there was a high degree of inclination, I'd know to look for a highly inclined body opposite the orbital lines.
Probably Only Two Moons - Which means that the rest of them are around the first gas giant I found. There's always a chance of a binary moon, though.
The First Gas Giant - My hypothesis is that this giant has eight moons. I see only five other blobs. Since the system's orbit lines aren't highly inclined, it isn't likely there's a rogue planet in the system. Here's hoping there's some binary moons here. Time to find out what's here!
That's a lot of Rocky bodies - It looks like there may be eight here after all. Right away, I see there's two moons very close together. Could it be a binary moon?
Another pair of close moons - Given that this pair of moons is farther out, I have much higher hopes that they're a binary pair.
Looking at the Complete System Map - Having resolved the last of the moons, I look at the system map. While there, I realized I never actually looked at the planet the FSS detected automatically. Good thing I did, because it also had geological sites.
I spend the rest of this play session exploring the rest of the system, probing worlds and landing on them. This is why I enjoy the FSS so much. Not only am I discovering a system, as opposed to being handed a completed system map, but I discover other things along the way.
I'm going to start out by saying two things:
1) I really hope Frontier gets around to fixing the remaining VR issues in the FSS. Several VR bugs are still present in the release. It's frustrating having to choose between playing in VR, and being able to see orbit lines and the blue blobs and the additional information they can provide.
2) I still wish we could use it on the move. If I find something interesting, I'd like to be able to start moving towards it, and search a system while on the move. Not to mention I'd also like to be able to use the FSS to take closer look at a destination, so I can plan my braking maneuver.
And now, on with the show!
The Initial Insertion - When entering a new system, I prefer to park myself right beside the star, honking on the way. While that big sphere of fusing hydrogen can block out part of the sky, it makes catching potential eclipses much easier. I see that this star has an asteroid belt relatively close to my location, plus I automatically discover the closest planet to the star, since I'm so close to it.
The Honk's Results - The results of the honk tells me two things about the system. One is that it has 17 bodies, which makes it a small system, so this guide won't be too long.
The other is I don't immediately see the orbital plane of the system, so I'm probably near one of the star's poles. I'll need to look up to find the orbital plane.
First Look at the System - Ah, the waveform guide. At a glance, it tells me three things. One is that there are at least two gas giants in the system. With so few bodies, I'll be surprised if there's two. The second is that there are there are rocky bodies and icy bodies in the system. Finally, one of those icy bodies has rings. May be worth a closer look if there's nothing else interesting in the system.
The Gas Giants - A quick adjustment of the tuner tells me that there's a typical gas giant without rings, and a helium heavy gas giant with rings in the system. More evidence that there's probably only two gas giants in the system.
The First Gas Giant - I set my tuner between the two gas giant signals so that I'll be able to see the arrows for both, and pan towards the star and upwards to acquire the orbital plane. At this stage, I'm not interested in taking a closer look at the gas giants, but finding out where they are. I can take a closer look later. I find the ringed gas giant right away, just above the star's horizon.
Searching for the Smaller Worlds- Having found the one right away, I set my tuner into the smaller worlds of the system. If I see a blob without arrows, I'll know its the second gas giant. I find an icy body right away. When I put the targeting reticle over it, I see there's more than one body there. Could it be a binary planet? Or is it just a planet/moon combination?
Nope. Just a moon.
Curse you Muscle Memory - When I next spot the icy world with rings, I forget I'm supposed to be taking screen shots, and let instinct take over.
Found the other Gas Giant - I complete my pan through the system by finding the second gas giant. There's a total of five bodies, so the rest are probably moons. Might as well start resolving resolving them. I also notice that the orbit lines of the system follow closely with the orbital plane. If there was a high degree of inclination, I'd know to look for a highly inclined body opposite the orbital lines.
Probably Only Two Moons - Which means that the rest of them are around the first gas giant I found. There's always a chance of a binary moon, though.
Definitely Two Moons - That means that the first gas giant should have eight moons.
The First Gas Giant - My hypothesis is that this giant has eight moons. I see only five other blobs. Since the system's orbit lines aren't highly inclined, it isn't likely there's a rogue planet in the system. Here's hoping there's some binary moons here. Time to find out what's here!
That's a lot of Rocky bodies - It looks like there may be eight here after all. Right away, I see there's two moons very close together. Could it be a binary moon?
Nope. But two of those moons have geological sites, so I'll be heading this way. I select the first one I find instinctively. I love how this planetary system is almost completely perpendicular to me.
Another pair of close moons - Given that this pair of moons is farther out, I have much higher hopes that they're a binary pair.
It is. I can tell because the orbital lines for this moon is around a mutual barycenter which is not the gas giant.
Looking at the Complete System Map - Having resolved the last of the moons, I look at the system map. While there, I realized I never actually looked at the planet the FSS detected automatically. Good thing I did, because it also had geological sites.
I spend the rest of this play session exploring the rest of the system, probing worlds and landing on them. This is why I enjoy the FSS so much. Not only am I discovering a system, as opposed to being handed a completed system map, but I discover other things along the way.
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