What is your exploration routine
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Basically this.Jump, honk, scoop, FSS, jump, honk, scoop, FSS.... repeat as necessary.
I usually have some (arbitrary) target bookmarked. Sometimes I look if less common systems can be seen from GalMap along the way (hand-crafted, nebula/cluster views, non-sequence, giants, O-class, etc.).
Sometimes I map stuff, but that doesn't depend on the value of the bodies mapped. It is more like "map the lonely GG no-one ever visits", "make a guestbook entry by mapping a single planet", "finish the bodies so the entire system is mapped", "map that really oblate body"...
Mapping for value is usually only when I try for a max. payout from a single system, or grabbing a few credits along the way while going for something else.
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My routine:
1) Pick a destination goal (Right now I'm trying for the Formidine Rifter badge on EDSM).
2) Mute the in-game music.
3) Break out the iPod.
4)Honk and FSS. Then map any ELWs, WWs, AWs, terraformables, or objects with Codex entries I don't have for a region.
5) Move onto the next system and repeat from step four.
1) Pick a destination goal (Right now I'm trying for the Formidine Rifter badge on EDSM).
2) Mute the in-game music.
3) Break out the iPod.
4)Honk and FSS. Then map any ELWs, WWs, AWs, terraformables, or objects with Codex entries I don't have for a region.
5) Move onto the next system and repeat from step four.
Pretty much the same as @Orvidius 's Although, having looked for Guardian ruins in Graea Hypue and other stuff with full system scans, I realised that I can't stand to use the FSS for more than half an hour. Exploration had a better flow before it, and a simple change - displaying the FSS barcode in the cockpit - could restore much of that, but until Frontier would finally start improving exploration, well, it is what it is. So nowadays, I look for NSPs for which I don't need the FSS (and since the barcode doesn't show asteroid belt NSPs, the FSS is actually the worse tool) and cherry-pick body types.
I only do the latter to look into suspicions I have from researching the crowdsourced data though; I've already found at least one of almost everything I wanted, except impressive-looking GGGs, for which I've grudgingly accepted that I no longer have a realistic chance of finding, now with them being hidden. But trying to find out more about the galaxy is the best part for me.
Although, now that I think about it, finding stuff in and close to nebulae was fun too, what with the impressive backgrounds.
Although, having looked for Guardian ruins in Graea Hypue and other stuff with full system scans, I realised that I can't stand to use the FSS for more than half an hour. Exploration had a better flow before it, and a simple change - displaying the FSS barcode in the cockpit - could restore much of that, but until Frontier would finally start improving exploration, well, it is what it is. So nowadays, I look for NSPs for which I don't need the FSS (and since the barcode doesn't show asteroid belt NSPs, the FSS is actually the worse tool) and cherry-pick body types.I only do the latter to look into suspicions I have from researching the crowdsourced data though; I've already found at least one of almost everything I wanted, except impressive-looking GGGs, for which I've grudgingly accepted that I no longer have a realistic chance of finding, now with them being hidden. But trying to find out more about the galaxy is the best part for me.
Although, now that I think about it, finding stuff in and close to nebulae was fun too, what with the impressive backgrounds.
Pretty much the same as @Orvidius 's
I only do the latter to look into suspicions I have from researching the crowdsourced data though; I've already found at least one of almost everything I wanted, except impressive-looking GGGs, for which I've grudgingly accepted that I no longer have a realistic chance of finding, now with them being hidden. But trying to find out more about the galaxy is the best part for me.
Although, now that I think about it, finding stuff in and close to nebulae was fun too, what with the impressive backgrounds.
I was searching for GGG's for sometime as well, until someone told me, that they no longer exist... If I remember correctly...
And when you say you do not need FSS for NSP's... What do you mean by that? Do they show up on the left info screen in the cockpit without actually FSSing them? I find them so rarely, that I do not really remember... I think I always saw them in the FSS, but they were (I think) always already marked as "Concentrated signal source" if I remember correctly...
Basically this.
I usually have some (arbitrary) target bookmarked. Sometimes I look if less common systems can be seen from GalMap along the way (hand-crafted, nebula/cluster views, non-sequence, giants, O-class, etc.).
Sometimes I map stuff, but that doesn't depend on the value of the bodies mapped. It is more like "map the lonely GG no-one ever visits", "make a guestbook entry by mapping a single planet", "finish the bodies so the entire system is mapped", "map that really oblate body"...
Mapping for value is usually only when I try for a max. payout from a single system, or grabbing a few credits along the way while going for something else.
I just realised I also tend to have this arbitrary goal... It changed on my current trip already three times...
First I wanted to get 3000ly below the GP, then I changed it to find GGG, and now I'm headed to the Beagle Point... I hope to succeed at least in the last one, because I failed to get 3K ly below the GP and I also did not find any GGG... There is an in-game music? Sh.it, I did not notice...
That's not correct, they still exist. However, you can no longer spot them visually, and they don't have their own signature on the FSS barcode.
Yep. There's no need to even call up the FSS to see the NSPs listed.
My routine:
- Arrive. Ship is equipped with Supercruise Assist and Dethrottle on Arrival is set to "On", so I automatically come to a stop promptly.
- Honk the Disco Scanner.
- Watch the number of objects detected. If it equals the number of stars, I know not to bother opening the FSS.
- If planets are detected, open the FSS and scan every planet.
- Open system map and decide if anything is worth investigating closer. My threshold of fascination is set quite high, so there usually isn't. I will have EDO running so my science officer will tell me if there's anything noteworthy.
- Back to main screen, point away from the star's exclusion zone and throttle up.
- Fly around the star, fuel-scooping as I go.
- Jump to next system.
My routine is:
1) Always scan each body (unless I find one already scanned, the I jump out).
2) Map water, Earthlikes, Ammonia worlds or planets with biology to land on. (Sometimes Terraformable HMCW if they are close.) Always screenshot EW and AW.
3) look for moons exceptionally close to rings or planets close to stars.
4) Other interesting orbits like moons between rings, trojans, etc.
I have found more life before mapping was implemented. Had found 3 by flyiing and hunting. Have found no biology sites while scanning.
This may be due to me not bothering within nebulas since sooo many have already been scanned.
1) Always scan each body (unless I find one already scanned, the I jump out).
2) Map water, Earthlikes, Ammonia worlds or planets with biology to land on. (Sometimes Terraformable HMCW if they are close.) Always screenshot EW and AW.
3) look for moons exceptionally close to rings or planets close to stars.
4) Other interesting orbits like moons between rings, trojans, etc.
I have found more life before mapping was implemented. Had found 3 by flyiing and hunting. Have found no biology sites while scanning.
This may be due to me not bothering within nebulas since sooo many have already been scanned.
Since I got a fleet carrier my routine has changed somewhat. I'm skimming the very-low-density areas, so the sequence is generally:
1. Jump in on the carrier.
2. Scan the system, mapping any terraformables, water worlds, Earth-like worlds, ammonia worlds I come across.
3. Jump to a nearby system and repeat.
4. Once I've scanned the nearby systems, it's back to the carrier to go another 500 LY further out.
Repeat as desired.
1. Jump in on the carrier.
2. Scan the system, mapping any terraformables, water worlds, Earth-like worlds, ammonia worlds I come across.
3. Jump to a nearby system and repeat.
4. Once I've scanned the nearby systems, it's back to the carrier to go another 500 LY further out.
Repeat as desired.
Exploration by feel.
Left the Bubble in September, currently in the Abyss. If the system is undiscovered, I'll FSS the whole joint. If there are terraformables, and the Worlds, I'll DSS those. If I'm in an area where stuff is already dicovered, I'll do Honk-n-goes to get to pristine systems, so I can put my stink on them.
But sometimes, I might just park in a sector, and pursue completing site acquisitions. Water geysers, magma whatevers, get bored and move on.
1) Hop into system and FSS
2) If the system is undiscovered, check for terraformables and the usual suspects (AW, WW, ELW)
3) Run the DSS on the terraformables and usual suspects
4) Move on.
Changing a play at the line of scrimmage:
If there is a bio site, I'll drop in for a closer look.
Once in a while I'll zoom in on a landable, if there is a recent crater, with ejecta spokes, I'll drop in there as well.
Left the Bubble in September, currently in the Abyss. If the system is undiscovered, I'll FSS the whole joint. If there are terraformables, and the Worlds, I'll DSS those. If I'm in an area where stuff is already dicovered, I'll do Honk-n-goes to get to pristine systems, so I can put my stink on them.
But sometimes, I might just park in a sector, and pursue completing site acquisitions. Water geysers, magma whatevers, get bored and move on.
1) Hop into system and FSS
2) If the system is undiscovered, check for terraformables and the usual suspects (AW, WW, ELW)
3) Run the DSS on the terraformables and usual suspects
4) Move on.
Changing a play at the line of scrimmage:
If there is a bio site, I'll drop in for a closer look.
Once in a while I'll zoom in on a landable, if there is a recent crater, with ejecta spokes, I'll drop in there as well.
- Only class L brown dwarfs with some specific exceptions
- Scan a ~1000 eco-jump area for low-mass red dwarf stars which exist beside a class L brown dwarf primary. Mark them. Reason: I've refused to scoop outside of systems with a brown dwarf primary for a year or so, so that's my only source of fuel. By choice.
- Look for class O stars along the route to them, looking for high-mass landables. And for some variety. No scooping.
- Look for stellar remnant & planetary nebulae along the route, mark any found, no more than a few hundred Ly up/down from the layer.
- Do the same for Carbon giants and Wolf Rayets, but at just ±200Ly up/down from the layer. Still worth a visit.
- Be happy about accidentially hitting a Neutron star or black hole along the way. 'cause like I'm flying, those are actually rare sights.
- No fine girls other than class O, unless required to reach nebulae, carbon stars or something.
- Eco-jump & honk. Lots. Like LOTS. Because brown dwarf sytems tend to be really boring. Even class L ones.
- Look for specific targets (hot class III & IV "Jupiters", ELWs, AMs, WWs, etc.)
Since I've turned to brown dwarfs (mostly), even finding something like a water world is like "oh my gawd, super rare stuff!!!11".. All depends on perspective. When you start considering finding class III gas giants being a really awesome thing you just know you're doing things... that are probably a bit strange...
Why did I even start doing this? I have no idea. I remember having set out purely to look for high-mass landable worlds around class O stars. Guess I stumbled over [Klepto's doings] and stuff went downhill from there...
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I will add your last point to my routine... Can you show me how a recent crater with ejecta spokes looks like?
Thank you!
After a while of doing "normal" exploration, I found that ocean worlds, ELWs and the like continued to be more and more boring for me. Sure there were exceptions, like a single ringed ELW around a neutron star, but generally, you find just so many of them out there, it became less and less interesting.
- Only class L brown dwarfs with some specific exceptions
- Scan a ~1000 eco-jump area for low-mass red dwarf stars which exist beside a class L brown dwarf primary. Mark them. Reason: I've refused to scoop outside of systems with a brown dwarf primary for a year or so, so that's my only source of fuel. By choice.
- Look for class O stars along the route to them, looking for high-mass landables. And for some variety. No scooping.
- Look for stellar remnant & planetary nebulae along the route, mark any found, no more than a few hundred Ly up/down from the layer.
- Do the same for Carbon giants and Wolf Rayets, but at just ±200Ly up/down from the layer. Still worth a visit.
- Be happy about accidentially hitting a Neutron star or black hole along the way. 'cause like I'm flying, those are actually rare sights.
- No fine girls other than class O, unless required to reach nebulae, carbon stars or something.
- Eco-jump & honk. Lots. Like LOTS. Because brown dwarf sytems tend to be really boring. Even class L ones.
- Look for specific targets (hot class III & IV "Jupiters", ELWs, AMs, WWs, etc.)
Since I've turned to brown dwarfs (mostly), even finding something like a water world is like "oh my gawd, super rare stuff!!!11".. All depends on perspective. When you start considering finding class III gas giants being a really awesome thing you just know you're doing things... that are probably a bit strange...
Why did I even start doing this? I have no idea. I remember having set out purely to look for high-mass landable worlds around class O stars. Guess I stumbled over [Klepto's doings] and stuff went downhill from there...
Cool!
Regarding your point "Look for stellar remnant & planetary nebulae along the route" - how is that done? What do these remnants look like? Maybe dumb questions, after months out in the void, but I genuinely do not know...
Black Hole, Neutron Star, White Dwarf...
Sometimes, while looking around on the galaxy map a bit zoomed out you can spot very small nebulae pop up. So far I've only encountered Neutron Stars and Black Holes in stellar remnant nebulae. They can have different shapes and colorations. Planetary nebulae look similar, but have no stellar remnant inside, so no dead stars. An example for a planetary nebula would be [IC2149].
Edit: Here's an image of a planetary nebula, this is quite close to the system on the map:
Often stellar remnant nebula will have an elongated shape and come in blueish colors. I think the shape is supposed to be like this because of the high energy jets emitted by the Neutron stars inside (or by the black holes inside, even if their jets are not rendered ingame).
However, they may also look like this, on the galaxy map, too, this is just one jump away from the stellar remnant whose supernova formed this nebula:
Edit: Here's an image of a planetary nebula, this is quite close to the system on the map:
Often stellar remnant nebula will have an elongated shape and come in blueish colors. I think the shape is supposed to be like this because of the high energy jets emitted by the Neutron stars inside (or by the black holes inside, even if their jets are not rendered ingame).
However, they may also look like this, on the galaxy map, too, this is just one jump away from the stellar remnant whose supernova formed this nebula:
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My routine:
1. Look for tritium
2. Jump carrier to where the tritium is
3. Fill carrier with tritium
4. Repeat
1. Look for tritium
2. Jump carrier to where the tritium is
3. Fill carrier with tritium
4. Repeat
I have evidently buried it in some folder on imgur, and can't locate it. I'll see if I can find it once I get home, because it's a bear looking for it on a phone.
I was thrilled to finally find something, that for sure looked like a planetary nebulae or something else, worth investigating, never seen before, when I visited this system:
See that white thing in the upper right quarter of the screen? It was beyond the limit of the system map, so I could not see it close enough and for a while, I thought it is just some distant galaxy on the background, but it was too bright and when I zoomed in to the max, it turned out to be something live, something that began changing shape... here is couple of pictures as it was changing:
I was so excited, i started looking around and tried to locate it i the system, I traveled couple of hundred light seconds around, but nothing to be seen, nothing in the system looked like this strange phenomenon...
So I posted in my exploration thread, and another fellow Commander thinks, that it is just a glitch in VR... And it probably is, because it certainly looks like a solar flare, just misplaced in the empty space...
I already experienced similar glitch before, when one of the planets had this strange "mountains" when seen in system map... Turned out to be a glitch in the VR...
So no, I have not discovered a planetary nebulae...
I have evidently buried it in some folder on imgur, and can't locate it. I'll see if I can find it once I get home, because it's a bear looking for it on a phone
See if this link works. One Drive is fighting me, so it's not a great screenshot. Source: http://imgur.com/gallery/U5cJgit