When are geological/biological sites etc going to be back in Odyssey?

[Riverside]

That makes sense for the Bacterial Colonies, but not for Fumeroles, Vents & Geysers. Any way you cut it, Odyssey's exploration game-play is pretty rubbish IMHO. A serious backwards step, which saddens me deeply.

With the Geo stuff you have the SRV's wave scanner though, works from much greater range & you don't even need to get out, blip the scanner & get back into the SRV if it's a negative.

I like it. Playing today I started wondering why the SRV's wave scanner doesn't pick up bio-signs like it does in Horizons.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

With the Geo stuff you have the SRV's wave scanner though, works from much greater range & you don't even need to get out, blip the scanner & get back into the SRV if it's a negative.

I like it.

Except I haven't found any Geo stuff using my SRV wave scanner. Can't be too great.

 

[Frankymole]

That's right, one filter per signal bio and geo, the darker colour the higher density of that particular signal, so no colour blindness consideration.

Blue and green, "the greener the better" apparently - so I've been told.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Blue and green, "the greener the better" apparently - so I've been told.

Nope, that is incorrect. Its all a single shade of blue.

 

[Riverside]

Except I haven't found any Geo stuff using my SRV wave scanner. Can't be too great.

Well keep trying, hopefully you'll find something soon

 

[varonica]

Blue and green, "the greener the better" apparently - so I've been told.

They changed it, it's hard to believe I know and I didn't believe it at first, it's so counter-intuitive to change it now.

Except I haven't found any Geo stuff using my SRV wave scanner. Can't be too great.

And that's why I wonder if they are actually spawning for you, I did another random drop in one that same body I was on and found lots more. One other thing to try though, don't hop in the SRV and go rushing off, because sometimes it takes a while for features to load in and you drive right past them before they appear, that's been common since the SRV radar was introduced, you can drive along at full speed and find nothing, turn around and go back following the same tracks and see stuff that wasn't there previously. Hop in the SRV and just drive around the ship for a few minutes before heading off, it may simply be you have a slower loading of geo features than me and are outdriving them before the SRV radar spots them.

 

[StarTux]

They changed it, it's hard to believe I know and I didn't believe it at first, it's so counter-intuitive to change it now.



And that's why I wonder if they are actually spawning for you, I did another random drop in one that same body I was on and found lots more. One other thing to try though, don't hop in the SRV and go rushing off, because sometimes it takes a while for features to load in and you drive right past them before they appear, that's been common since the SRV radar was introduced, you can drive along at full speed and find nothing, turn around and go back following the same tracks and see stuff that wasn't there previously. Hop in the SRV and just drive around the ship for a few minutes before heading off, it may simply be you have a slower loading of geo features than me and are outdriving them before the SRV radar spots them.

I can attest to the load thing, I actually ran over a bacteria colony which was hidden under incorrectly loaded terrain. Only found it because I was checking another bio and noticed an area right behind my SRV was green after sending out the bio wave on foot. I sampled it find and later on it had loaded correctly.

Loving Odyssey so far, despite the issues and the need for improvements (I still don't like the overlay, its basically pointless). I wish it would heatmap for different bio types with different color scales, but here we are.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

I can attest to the load thing, I actually ran over a bacteria colony which was hidden under incorrectly loaded terrain. Only found it because I was checking another bio and noticed an area right behind my SRV was green after sending out the bio wave on foot. I sampled it find and later on it had loaded correctly.

Loving Odyssey so far, despite the issues and the need for improvements (I still don't like the overlay, its basically pointless). I wish it would heatmap for different bio types with different color scales, but here we are.

I'm really not loving it. My interest in playing has flagged greatly over the last 5 days, & I can't see it gaining again unless I see them start to put as much effort into exploration game-play as they put into on-foot Conflict Zones and on-foot Missions. Restoring the original Heat Map would be a great start. I have now raised 3 tickets regarding this issue.

 

[StarTux]

I'm really not loving it. My interest in playing has flagged greatly over the last 5 days, & I can't see it gaining again unless I see them start to put as much effort into exploration game-play as they put into on-foot Conflict Zones and on-foot Missions. Restoring the original Heat Map would be a great start. I have now raised 3 tickets regarding this issue.

Me too, I want it back .

 

[Erei]

I'm really not loving it. My interest in playing has flagged greatly over the last 5 days, & I can't see it gaining again unless I see them start to put as much effort into exploration game-play as they put into on-foot Conflict Zones and on-foot Missions. Restoring the original Heat Map would be a great start. I have now raised 3 tickets regarding this issue.

As most as I'm quite disappointed overall by the DLC, I had fun scanning the plants the other day. I found it better than the old system where I just dropped in SRV next to a hotspot and scan a plant.

It could certainly use some improvement and be better overall, but I feel it is an improvement over Odyssey.

Is your problem related to finding stuff or something else ?

 

[Frankymole]

I can attest to the load thing, I actually ran over a bacteria colony which was hidden under incorrectly loaded terrain. Only found it because I was checking another bio and noticed an area right behind my SRV was green after sending out the bio wave on foot. I sampled it find and later on it had loaded correctly.

I was on the bright day-side of a sandy desert world, it had cactoid and fungus type life but also a weird black "puddle" here and there. I thought perhaps it was faultily-loaded shadows but was pitch black and had a sharper edge than usual shadows. Could this be bacteria?

 

[Vardaugas]

I was on the bright day-side of a sandy desert world, it had cactoid and fungus type life but also a weird black "puddle" here and there. I thought perhaps it was faultily-loaded shadows but was pitch black and had a sharper edge than usual shadows. Could this be bacteria?

Point the composition scanner of your ship at it and when it blips, you have found something. Personally I found it easiest to fly low and slow with my courier across the surface and eyeball for plants and vents. I also found out that when you go too fast, the details don't load in and you will discover nothing. Wish they would put a heat map back in Star Flight back then had heat maps and those weren't confusing anyone.

 

[Riverside]

I was on the bright day-side of a sandy desert world, it had cactoid and fungus type life but also a weird black "puddle" here and there. I thought perhaps it was faultily-loaded shadows but was pitch black and had a sharper edge than usual shadows. Could this be bacteria?

Could be, I saw the same thing on planets I was unable to find bacteria on. Later in yesterday's session I had no trouble finding them (on different planets) so it may have been a glitch as you describe.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Well I finally found a Geological site on a planet....though it wasn't much to write home about. A mere handful of inactive vents, all of which yielded nothing but Iron when I shot at them. I thought they'd fixed the problem with the Mats?
Again, though, this is why we need a proper Heat Map, to help us differentiate between low density sites like the one I found, and the high density ones we used to run into after the release of the Beyond Update.

 

[Queex]

I thought they'd fixed the problem with the Mats?

They fixed one of the 3 problems with mats, the one where turning in a mission for a mat rewards removed all of your existing mats of that type.
Geo sites only yielding iron and nasty crashes when you hit the 300 cap are still waiting to be fixed.

 

[Codger]

Well I finally found a Geological site on a planet....though it wasn't much to write home about. A mere handful of inactive vents, all of which yielded nothing but Iron when I shot at them.

Me too. It was a bit underwhelming.

This is a fumerole, apparently -- that slight indent in the ground. The large blob next to it is Piceous Cobble, which contained Iron.

Not only are the new geologicals harder to find, they don't drop useful mats. Great change!

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Me too. It was a bit underwhelming.

This is a fumerole, apparently -- that slight indent in the ground. The large blob next to it is Piceous Cobble, which contained Iron.

View attachment 230622

Not only are the new geologicals harder to find, they don't drop useful mats. Great change!

Yep. They've really dropped the ball, massively, with respect to the whole of Exploration Game-play. As far as I am concerned, its a significant downgrade from Season 4 of Beyond. The "heat map that had all the heat taken out of it because apparently some people can't tell what red and blue mean" is almost completely useless at revealing meaningful geological sites.....when it works at all. The mats delivered by geological sites makes visiting them almost pointless anyway. The game-play associated with biologicals is horribly boring-especially on foot-and not even very financially rewarding. You can tell that exploration game-play was not a priority for the team. Heck, 2 out of the 3 tools on your Artemis Suit are completely useless to an explorer. How hard would it have been to have 3 seperate Exploration based tools?

 

[Riverside]

Exploration & discovery gameplay has had loads of new stuff with Odyssey, new planets to land on, new things to find & new ways to find them that are more involved than simply telling you it's exact location. It has become a skill/experience based playstyle once again, where the player can feel some sense of achievement from getting better at searching for patterns (likely looking terrain in this case).

The 'heatmap could be improved & bugs aside had more useful functionality (for bio signs at least) in the Alpha. To say that explorers have been ignored because of shortfalls or bugs in the heatmap, and because mats can no longer be so easily farmed seems churlish under the circumstances. The primary activities of exploring (looking for interesting things) and discovery (being able to actually find those things) is in a much better, more challenging place than it has been for the past couple of years (since the 3.3 update).

There is a lot to like here, more than just the codex box ticking, and much more than just a place to farm mats. It is possible to fail once more.

I'm sure some new, even faster way to farm mats will be discovered eventually

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Exploration & discovery gameplay has had loads of new stuff with Odyssey, new planets to land on, new things to find & new ways to find them that are more involved than simply telling you it's exact location. It has become a skill/experience based playstyle once again, where the player can feel some sense of achievement from getting better at searching for patterns (likely looking terrain in this case).

The 'heatmap could be improved & bugs aside had more useful functionality (for bio signs at least) in the Alpha. To say that explorers have been ignored because of shortfalls or bugs in the heatmap, and because mats can no longer be so easily farmed seems churlish under the circumstances. The primary activities of exploring (looking for interesting things) and discovery (being able to actually find those things) is in a much better, more challenging place than it has been for the past couple of years (since the 3.3 update).

There is a lot to like here, more than just the codex box ticking, and much more than just a place to farm mats. It is possible to fail once more.

I'm sure some new, even faster way to farm mats will be discovered eventually

Sorry, Riverside, but I just cannot agree with your optimistic appraisal of the situation. Pre-Odyssey (post-Beyond) I found exploration to be hugely fun-traveling all the way beyond the Formadine Rift, and to the very edge of the Galaxy. Now I am finding the exploration to be nothing but a chore, even within the small area I have limited myself to for the time being. The Artemis Suit, the Genetic Sampler and the Heat Map all represent massively missed opportunities for enhancing exploration game-play. Volcanic Sites seem dull and lifeless, and there is no danger or engagement game-play associated with exploration (the genetic sampler is just point and click, as is SRV based exploration). Sure, having extra planets to land on is cool.....but that is simply insufficient to hold my interest.

 

[keas66]

Literally the first thing I was doing on release was scanning geo's . While its ceratinly a little vague using the heat map currently - when you actually descend down and surface skim over a planet you can't help but spot the geo outcrops . I mean I was stumbling into them almost by accident when not looking for them . I have no problems finding geo's - My problem is they need to fix the bug which only allows you to collect nickel or iron and nothing else .