Where is the exploration?
- Thread starter [ kraken ]
- Start date
This is what people thought before they made this version.
It used to be "Press button to explore system"
This is the vastly improved version.
Imagine what it used to be.
ahahah I'm getting the idea!
well, I don't know, I guess I'm just disappointed because I've grown hopes for a stellar sonar for two weeks before actually trying it out. Maybe it's not that bad thinking of it.
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Actually, it was "Press button to see a basic schematic of the system", then you'd go out and explore it.
"Play minigame to explore system", followed by "Play minigame to get POIs" isn't an improvement - unless you're a big Candy Crush fan.
And in a week we'll get the added "Push button to fly to planet" step between the two minigames, because actually navigating around systems is altogether too complex.
It can be boring, yes, but it's better than checking every single planet by flying to it.
Better is subjective, it is different. Fundamentally I play ED to fly the ships, gathering data is very much a secondary priority for me.
I think that Exploration in Elite is a 'Marmite' sandwich, you'll love it or hate it.
Player's ideas of how Exploring should be range anywhere from the early seafairing days of going out with a blank piece of paper filling it in as you went along, to wanting everything spoon fed to you on a plate.
Somewhere inbetween these limits is where Frontier pitched their mechanic.
Personally, I thought they had it just about right originally with the old Discovery method - though I still can't understand why players would buy an ADS & then complain when it showed them a completed System Map!
The only issue with the old system was then having to use MK1 eyeballs when locating something Planetside.
The new method goes too far IMO, it's too easy now compared with the old method, not even having to move your ship to scan objects 100'sK LS's away, though I can understand the logic of it's use of technology for a 34th century space game.
I'd have stuck with the old ADS method with the DSS 'planet golf' mini game added to it.
I don't see myself as an Explorer, more a System mapper. There is soo little to find in the game at present, that all I can do is map where I've been & what Planets I've come across.
Yes, I know 'things' have been added since Horizon's let us land on 'some' Planets, but the choice of what 'samey' things to find on these Planets is not good.
Some player's seem to believe that 2020 will bring us Atmospheric Planet landings. If/when it does come I really hope Frontier would have placed a hell of a lot more stuff out there for us to actually discover!
Player's ideas of how Exploring should be range anywhere from the early seafairing days of going out with a blank piece of paper filling it in as you went along, to wanting everything spoon fed to you on a plate.
Somewhere inbetween these limits is where Frontier pitched their mechanic.
Personally, I thought they had it just about right originally with the old Discovery method - though I still can't understand why players would buy an ADS & then complain when it showed them a completed System Map!
The only issue with the old system was then having to use MK1 eyeballs when locating something Planetside.
The new method goes too far IMO, it's too easy now compared with the old method, not even having to move your ship to scan objects 100'sK LS's away, though I can understand the logic of it's use of technology for a 34th century space game.
I'd have stuck with the old ADS method with the DSS 'planet golf' mini game added to it.
I don't see myself as an Explorer, more a System mapper. There is soo little to find in the game at present, that all I can do is map where I've been & what Planets I've come across.
Yes, I know 'things' have been added since Horizon's let us land on 'some' Planets, but the choice of what 'samey' things to find on these Planets is not good.
Some player's seem to believe that 2020 will bring us Atmospheric Planet landings. If/when it does come I really hope Frontier would have placed a hell of a lot more stuff out there for us to actually discover!
I would make exploration completely different... but it would be a new game, not the actual ED anymore because it would require a complete regeneration of the star systems.
The game is balanced to achieve a quick gameplay... as quick as possible. In fact we can scan and discover a lot of systems in very short time (I have an average of 20-25 full system scans/hour).
The natural consequnce of this rush is that the cool things that you can find are very (extremely) rare and that the exploration reward is low: if you don't find ELW, WW and Ammonia World the complete system scan value is always lower than 100k credits. So in this game loop you are forced to scan as many systems as possible to make a living out. The fun things is that now with exploration you can make or low rewards or extremely high... there's no in-between.
I would make the game completely opposite:
- The gameplay should be focused more on each star system, rather than jumping and scooping most of the time.
- We should spend more time in each system in order to complete several activities to perform a full scan of the system. It should be a dedicated work with a more various and complex gameplay, but no timesink and repetitive actions (like flying to each planet to scan the surface).
- This additional time is spent playing several activities, not just aiming a probe in the sky. The player should be involved in activities requiring basic scientific knowledge, game experience and personal skills.
- You would only need to discover the main planets. Once the main planets are discovered the moons can be quickly identified (to avoid repetitive actions). The scan of a single planet should take 1-2 minutes (which makes 10-20 minutes for a full system scan with 10 planets, moons included)
- The rare features should not be rare anymore and should be more varied since we would scan less systems: more Biological POI's, Lagrangian Clouds, Magnetic Thunderstorm, Colliding Planets, Ringed planets orbiting close to each other, Dangerous Black Holes, dangerous anomalies, evidences of old civilizations and so on...).
- The galaxy map should give clues where these features are so you know where to go instead of making random jumps here and there. In this way the explorer can enjoy the journey through the galaxy and spend valuable time in each system.
- The value of a full system scan should be increased accordingly to the additional time spent.
- A specific ID should be assigned to each CMDR. Everytime a full scan of an undiscovered system is performed the system will get the following name: Sector Name+Player ID+ 3 Running numbers+3 Letters. Example (player ID SEN981): PUEKEE-SEN981-001-AAA.
You need to probe the planet first.
I also play ED to fly my ship, but I much prefer to fly my ship for a purpose or a reason instead of pot luck and hope.
Nah, it's just mostly the same people saying the same stuff with maybe the odd one extra.
I have no desire to take that away from you Max. Play your own way. I used to be able to play my own way but then I took an arrow to the knee
The FSS does not stop you from flying your ship to every planet in a system.I have no desire to take that away from you Max. Play your own way. I used to be able to play my own way but then I took an arrow to the knee
Well you are technically correct (the best kind of correct), but that's not my point at all Max
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I mean its a better idea, kinda like the wave scanner on an SRV, but kinda like the wave scanner on an SRV once you learn the patterns you are back to the same place as the current method, it just takes a bit longer and can still become tedious looking for the right pattern to appear
This is how I would have done it.So, nobody is actually exploring in this galaxy? We all have an FSS that knows everything, you just have to aim it and it will tell POIs and even divide them into categories? Then we launch probes on a planet, and there's all exact locations... That it?!? If we have sensors that know everything, that's pretty advanced technology alright, so why don't they take care of the trivial business of aiming themselves and be done with it?
Sorry folks, when I first opened the FSS I thought that I had to fiddle with radiations and interpret waves, but tonight... truth stings.
I thought I could be done with posting on the first thread that mentioned FSS, but no.
FSS makes no sense
Tried exploration today and found it real tedious, fast and tedious. I imagine it could have been a more involved process and require at least some planning like the OP suggests but no. Even probes are infinite. Maybe FD just wants us to finish explore the galaxy real quick so it can pull out...forums.frontier.co.uk
Why not implement actual sensors? Do we really need to scoop through the galaxy doing mindless scans?
Have the FSS tell us there are biological or geological activity detected. It shouldn't tell you how many or what POIs, just the basic type. The FSS should also tell you what materials are there but not the percentages, that should be left to the probes, so it gives you a reason to probe planets that don't have POI's on them.
When you get there and probe, that will highlight search areas on the planet where you can find these POI's.
Then have a wave scanner type thing on your ship which you can follow to find the POI's or land and use your SRV wave scanner to find them. It would give a much better and fluid approach to finding POI's. Once the POI is scanned then you get the pin point co-ordinates on your nav panel.
As to the FSS I like it. I prefer to interact with the games I play. If you wanted realistic then realistically we wouldn't be flying these ships at all and they would all be drones while we sit at home watching netflix.
I much prefer exploration now, but in truth, exploration for me has never really been about the honking or the tuning. It's about going and looking at stuff, finding stuff, being places where nobody has been before and probably nobody will go again, the rare chance of pinning down something genuinely useful, or just those nights on remote planets with starless skies and a ringed moon creeping over the yardarm.
(Other opinions on exploration are available.)
As a step on the road towards the actual going places, I find the FSS more engaging than a quick blunt honk, but ultimately, it is just a step on the road, a part of the process.
(Other opinions on exploration are available.)
As a step on the road towards the actual going places, I find the FSS more engaging than a quick blunt honk, but ultimately, it is just a step on the road, a part of the process.
I have the same great enthusiasm for the FSS today that I originally did, with the exception of bugs / glitches in the UI. I find with threads like these, one new guy says, "I don't like it" and the same ten old guys who didn't like it from day one come in and sing their well-rehearsed chorus loud and proud.
Don't get me wrong, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I don't think the FSS is hated by the majority of players like is often implied.
Oddly enough that impression goes the other way too from posters making some sarcastic attempt to suppress or diminish reasoned discussions.
More like posters making some reasoned attempt to suppress or diminish sarcastic discussions.