The FSS - How the Right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing.

Only ever to appease the fss militants who keep tearing down suggestions for everyone to have nice things. Truly it’s only choice anyone had ever asked for. I’ve been following the feedback from the start and not one person has asked for the fss god mode in the ads.
Then you haven't be reading many of the posts. There are plenty that want both as an option. And to call the FSS god mode is beautifully ironic.
As to people tearing down suggestions, well aren't they allowed an opinion too. What's nice for you may not be nice for others.
 
Last edited:
I don't even mean mapped either. Getting a tag is not exploring. Actually visiting the places and exploring what there is there is exploring in my view.

Feedback, you have given. Continuously spamming the feedback looks like moaning. Do your feedback then stop. FDev would have seen it so there is no need to continue spamming the same thing again and again.

As to the ADS, I have said I am also open to a mutually exclusive ADS or an ADS that can work with the FSS. Of course, with a bit more effort you could bypass the FSS entirely, but that may require travelling. Also there would be a cost to it, the better the FSS the bigger, heavier and power hungry it is. That would be my preferred option as that is how I think the BDS/IDS/ADS should have been like in the beginning.

I don't understand why some people that want the full ADS back are so against it being mutually exclusive.

Exploration is the process of discovery in my view. There's an awful lot of nothing out there in the ED galaxy so potentially by your standards most of our traveling isn't exploring at all. Anyway, we visit a system to discover bodies, we visit the bodies to map them and potentially discover POI's, everyone's take and goals in exploration in this game is their own and perfectly valid, and that's why choices in the way players explore would be good.

I can assure you I'm not moaning. Just finished a second 'exploration' trip using the FSS. No idea how many systems scanned, 15 pages of data sold, another 250 million credits, countless first discoveries. If you don't want these conversations to continue, stop spamming the threads pedantically objecting to everything written.

"Either mutually exclusive, or can work with the FSS..." Both of these have been suggested. If I'm not mistaken Drew would be happy to never, ever see the FSS screen. For me a more inclusive way, and something that could add an extra layer to exploration would be for an optional module that works alongside the FSS, simply providing an alternative view of the initial low level system info. I've explained how I'd be likely to use it if it were introduced, and it wouldn't be often, to me the FSS is far quicker and more accurate in most instances. And of course, I think everyone accepts that an optional ADS would have costs... Taking up a slot, requiring power, having mass and needing to be purchased.

I don't understand why some people that don't want to use an ADS are so against others having that possibility when it wouldn't affect them at all and would provide no advantage other than perhaps being able to spot strangely colored gas giants without the need to scan them first. And one of the reasons I keep posting, is to counter the implications that an ADS is somehow overpowered when compared to the FSS because in my experience it simply isn't, not exclusively or in combination with the FSS.
 
There is much truth to this. I much preferred Elite under Michael Brooke’s as well, and was very happy when Sandro was finally moved on to other projects. But no matter what results-driven things Frontier adds, it’s on me as to whether I allow it to ruin my experience....

You're absolutely right.

The point, though, is that back in the "space opera" era, I could play ED with the expectation that there were "mysterious things" to be found, investigated and unravelled.
It was all a bit obscure and convoluted but it created a genuine feeling of intrigue.
I was probably exaggerating it in my head, and it wasn't as important as I gave it credit for, but it was something that gave ED an extra level of interest.
I felt like I was involved in a game where there were strange things going on, hidden from sight.

It's probably the same concept that was used in Elite 1984, where the mere mention of "Raxxla" was enough to inflame imaginations and grab players' interests even though there was absolutely nothing in the game to expand on the idea.

More recently, though, this is the main reason why I was so disappointed to find those "collect 70 doodads from 70 different USS" missions.
I thought those kind of spiteful, vindictive pranks at the expense of the player went out with the loach botherer.
 
You're absolutely right.

The point, though, is that back in the "space opera" era, I could play ED with the expectation that there were "mysterious things" to be found, investigated and unravelled.
It was all a bit obscure and convoluted but it created a genuine feeling of intrigue.
I was probably exaggerating it in my head, and it wasn't as important as I gave it credit for, but it was something that gave ED an extra level of interest.
I felt like I was involved in a game where there were strange things going on, hidden from sight.

It's probably the same concept that was used in Elite 1984, where the mere mention of "Raxxla" was enough to inflame imaginations and grab players' interests even though there was absolutely nothing in the game to expand on the idea.

More recently, though, this is the main reason why I was so disappointed to find those "collect 70 doodads from 70 different USS" missions.
I thought those kind of spiteful, vindictive pranks at the expense of the player went out with the loach botherer.

I see what you mean. I'm a 4x / survivalist type of explorer myself, so searching for and collecting "doodads" don't bother me too much, as long as a) the process is at least tolerable, and b) alternatives exist for things I can't tolerate.

It's probably why I went on a Minecraft binge when I made the "mistake" of seeing what they'd added since I last played right before I started the Alpha of Elite Dangerous. That game makes it fun to find the things I need to survive and thrive, even though I play the game in hardcore mode with health regeneration turned off. The new things that were added didn't so much add new "doodads" to collect, but alternative sources for them... such as a new recipe for restoring health that didn't involve golden apples or healing potions, but still required either finding the right biomes or a bit of luck.

It's also why I didn't stick with No Man's Sky, even though it should, in theory at least, be style of game I enjoy. The early game was so tedious that it had no replay value to me.

The one thing I'm missing from exploration in Elite: Dangerous is the survival aspect of it. I'm following some home-brewed rules to simulate aspects of that (for example, I installed a first class passenger cabin because in my head-canon the crew quarters aren't designed for long duration flights) but its no substitute for the real thing.
 
I don't understand why some people that don't want to use an ADS are so against others having that possibility when it wouldn't affect them at all and would provide no advantage other than perhaps being able to spot strangely colored gas giants without the need to scan them first. And one of the reasons I keep posting, is to counter the implications that an ADS is somehow overpowered when compared to the FSS because in my experience it simply isn't, not exclusively or in combination with the FSS.

This is my experience as well. At first, I was more in Max's camp on this issue, then I tried it out on a few "spoiled" systems rather than simply jump out of them. FSS is IMO faster, does a better job at finding the things I'm interested in vs a filled out system map (most of which don't even show up on the system map at all), and I don't have to switch between the FSS, the system map, and the Commander's seat to resolve bodies.

The only thing the old ADS was really good at was quickly revealing interesting orbital hierarchies (which I'd much rather deduce on my own, and can be done very quickly using the FSS anyways) and as you say quickly spotting strangely colored gas giants.

Oh, and you can peruse the system map while moving and charging your FSD to make the next jump. Can't forget about that!!!
 
The one thing I'm missing from exploration in Elite: Dangerous is the survival aspect of it. I'm following some home-brewed rules to simulate aspects of that (for example, I installed a first class passenger cabin because in my head-canon the crew quarters aren't designed for long duration flights) but its no substitute for the real thing.

Uhuh.

Way off-topic now but I wish ED had more mundane aspects of ship-maintenance in it.

I wish that, for example, you could look at your left-HUD, look at the systems tab, scroll down to FSD, click on "details" and then see a screen that shows you how your FSD is functioning.
There'd be little graphs and dials and sliders and you'd be able to recalibrate your FSD to ensure you got optimal jump-range with minimal fuel use and reducing wear to a minimum.
As a side-effect of this, you might be able to tweak your FSD so that it could, perhaps, engage faster or give you greater jump-range at the expense of extra fuel usage or higher wear.

Same sort of thing could apply to a variety of systems such as shields, thrusters, PP and weapons too.

None of this stuff would happen suddenly but it'd all be stuff which gradually reduced the efficiency of your ship over a period of, say, 50 jumps so routine maintenance would become something explorers needed to do.

Added to which, there'd be a need to periodically replenish stocks of various mat's in order to keep a ship running.
After a few thousand Ly, for example, your FSD's efficiency would start to reduce noticeably and you'd need to keep a look out for a planet with a supply of, say, Polonium and you'd need to collect some and feed it to your FSD in order to restore it's efficiency to maximum.
Polonium wouldn't be the only material suitable for repairing your FSD though.
If you're in a tight spot, there'd be other materials which'd get your FSD working again but they wouldn't provide the same efficiency as Polonium.
Alternatively, you might find that feeding some other mat' to your FSD would give you a better jump-range but, again, at the expense of fuel-efficiency or causing damage.

This stuff would all give explorers things to keep them occupied.
You'd be doing your honk-jumping but you'd have to keep an eye on the status of systems such as your life-support, PP, PDist, FSD and keep them properly tuned.
Even so, after a few thousand Ly, eventually you'd have to start thinking about looking for planets that have the mat's you need to make repairs so that you can carry on with your journey.
Course, you could stock up on mat's before embarking on a journey but, depending on how long you're out there, you are, eventually, going to need to find stuff to repair your ship.

Also, if you're flying around the bubble, when you click on "repair all" at a station all this stuff would be taken care of so it'd never become a faff for players doing day-to-day stuff.
It'd only be a concern for explorers... which is kind of handy since they've got little else to keep their attention.
 
Uhuh.

Way off-topic now but I wish ED had more mundane aspects of ship-maintenance in it.

I wish that, for example, you could look at your left-HUD, look at the systems tab, scroll down to FSD, click on "details" and then see a screen that shows you how your FSD is functioning.
There'd be little graphs and dials and sliders and you'd be able to recalibrate your FSD to ensure you got optimal jump-range with minimal fuel use and reducing wear to a minimum.
As a side-effect of this, you might be able to tweak your FSD so that it could, perhaps, engage faster or give you greater jump-range at the expense of extra fuel usage or higher wear.

Same sort of thing could apply to a variety of systems such as shields, thrusters, PP and weapons too.

None of this stuff would happen suddenly but it'd all be stuff which gradually reduced the efficiency of your ship over a period of, say, 50 jumps so routine maintenance would become something explorers needed to do.

Added to which, there'd be a need to periodically replenish stocks of various mat's in order to keep a ship running.
After a few thousand Ly, for example, your FSD's efficiency would start to reduce noticeably and you'd need to keep a look out for a planet with a supply of, say, Polonium and you'd need to collect some and feed it to your FSD in order to restore it's efficiency to maximum.
Polonium wouldn't be the only material suitable for repairing your FSD though.
If you're in a tight spot, there'd be other materials which'd get your FSD working again but they wouldn't provide the same efficiency as Polonium.
Alternatively, you might find that feeding some other mat' to your FSD would give you a better jump-range but, again, at the expense of fuel-efficiency or causing damage.

This stuff would all give explorers things to keep them occupied.
You'd be doing your honk-jumping but you'd have to keep an eye on the status of systems such as your life-support, PP, PDist, FSD and keep them properly tuned.
Even so, after a few thousand Ly, eventually you'd have to start thinking about looking for planets that have the mat's you need to make repairs so that you can carry on with your journey.
Course, you could stock up on mat's before embarking on a journey but, depending on how long you're out there, you are, eventually, going to need to find stuff to repair your ship.

Also, if you're flying around the bubble, when you click on "repair all" at a station all this stuff would be taken care of so it'd never become a faff for players doing day-to-day stuff.
It'd only be a concern for explorers... which is kind of handy since they've got little else to keep their attention.

I would absolutely 100% love this.
 
Uhuh.

Way off-topic now but I wish ED had more mundane aspects of ship-maintenance in it.

I wish that, for example, you could look at your left-HUD, look at the systems tab, scroll down to FSD, click on "details" and then see a screen that shows you how your FSD is functioning.
There'd be little graphs and dials and sliders and you'd be able to recalibrate your FSD to ensure you got optimal jump-range with minimal fuel use and reducing wear to a minimum.
As a side-effect of this, you might be able to tweak your FSD so that it could, perhaps, engage faster or give you greater jump-range at the expense of extra fuel usage or higher wear.

Same sort of thing could apply to a variety of systems such as shields, thrusters, PP and weapons too.

None of this stuff would happen suddenly but it'd all be stuff which gradually reduced the efficiency of your ship over a period of, say, 50 jumps so routine maintenance would become something explorers needed to do.

Added to which, there'd be a need to periodically replenish stocks of various mat's in order to keep a ship running.
After a few thousand Ly, for example, your FSD's efficiency would start to reduce noticeably and you'd need to keep a look out for a planet with a supply of, say, Polonium and you'd need to collect some and feed it to your FSD in order to restore it's efficiency to maximum.
Polonium wouldn't be the only material suitable for repairing your FSD though.
If you're in a tight spot, there'd be other materials which'd get your FSD working again but they wouldn't provide the same efficiency as Polonium.
Alternatively, you might find that feeding some other mat' to your FSD would give you a better jump-range but, again, at the expense of fuel-efficiency or causing damage.

This stuff would all give explorers things to keep them occupied.
You'd be doing your honk-jumping but you'd have to keep an eye on the status of systems such as your life-support, PP, PDist, FSD and keep them properly tuned.
Even so, after a few thousand Ly, eventually you'd have to start thinking about looking for planets that have the mat's you need to make repairs so that you can carry on with your journey.
Course, you could stock up on mat's before embarking on a journey but, depending on how long you're out there, you are, eventually, going to need to find stuff to repair your ship.

Also, if you're flying around the bubble, when you click on "repair all" at a station all this stuff would be taken care of so it'd never become a faff for players doing day-to-day stuff.
It'd only be a concern for explorers... which is kind of handy since they've got little else to keep their attention.

I like the idea, but FDev would implement it via some stupid minigame in another screen and you'd have to change to 'Maintenance Mode' to use it.
 
The one thing I'm missing from exploration in Elite: Dangerous is the survival aspect of it.
I have been fantasizing about atmospheric planets with this in mind. Storms, thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frighting. I want to hang in orbit over a planet making the decision, am I going to risk trying to land there? Closest thing to this right now in the game is landing on the world of death. And that's more of a Stellar Forge hiccup than an intentional exploration hazard.

But ... if they ever get around to implementing these kind of planets, I will still need to grind the FSS finding them. Which makes me a sad panda. There could be all sorts of lovely content hiding behind the mundane blobfest mini game, and I'd have to really think hard whether to buy the atmospheric update if that remains in place as is.
 
I did a fair amount of exploring in ED. I found it to be an incredibly immersive, relaxing, one-of-a-kind endeavor in gaming. The fact that it was tedious and boring most of the time made it more real. The feeling of being at the far side of the virtual galaxy and looking back at the bubble will never be matched...as close to true exploring as you can get in a video game.

And then the FSS came along. I tried to adjust, but exploration as I knew it was ruined. Endless blob hunting just doesn't cut it.

Acknowledging that others think differently and enjoy the FSS, I quit. I do miss the game and hope that it keeps evolving...
 
I have been fantasizing about atmospheric planets with this in mind. Storms, thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frighting. I want to hang in orbit over a planet making the decision, am I going to risk trying to land there? Closest thing to this right now in the game is landing on the world of death. And that's more of a Stellar Forge hiccup than an intentional exploration hazard.

Oooh, yeah.

Which reminds me of something I mentioned in a thread about SRVs the other day.

When we scoop fuel, our ships overheat.
When we fly into icy roid debris our ships freeze.

Lets have some of that - with consequences - happen to our ship and SRV during planetary landings.
On hot planets, you'd need to be careful about working your thrusters too hard or you'll overheat.
On cold planets, your ship/SRV might start to freeze-up, you'll get reduced thrust and reduced agility (cos I struggle to spell manoeuvrability).
Also, just cos a planet doesn't have an atmosphere, that doesn't mean it doesn't have dust which could clog up plasma injectors and cause problems, or how about corrosive environments or environments that cause electromagnetic interference and cause our HUDs to go all wonky?

Add in atmospheres and that could be superb, with lightning screwing up your ship's systems, heavy rain obscuring your view (both regular and NV), volcanic activity obscuring the surface completely and corroding your hull while it also clogs up your ion manifolds.

And then, of course, you bung a lot of the good stuff (whatever that may be) on the surfaces of those planets.

You land at a Guardian site to collect all the latest doodads but there an ominous brown fuzz on the horizon.
Looks like a dust storm is heading toward you!
 
<snip> ...environments that cause electromagnetic interference and cause our HUDs to go all wonky?
I once envisioned similar thing in some thread, with random solar flares as an added hazard for explorers. Depending on the size of the flare and your proximity to it, it could just cause the HUD go wonky for a while or completely fry and shut down your systems requiring repairs and a reboot.
 
I once envisioned similar thing in some thread, with random solar flares as an added hazard for explorers. Depending on the size of the flare and your proximity to it, it could just cause the HUD go wonky for a while or completely fry and shut down your systems requiring repairs and a reboot.

Yeah.

A while back, the orbit of Marco Qwent's base-planet took it really close to the jet-cones of Sirius B.

Stuff like that would be pretty cool too.
You find a planet where the orbit takes it somewhere that makes it completely inaccessible for weeks/months at a time and you actually have to make the effort to keep monitoring it to establish it's orbit and then you can go back and explore it when it's safe.

And, hopefully, there'd be something worthwhile there.
 
Back
Top Bottom