You may not like it, but this is what peak Exobiology performance looks like.

[DemiserofD]

Source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yXcFT-ug-Ek


Is this really what you want Exobiology to be, Fdev? 9/10ths of the player's time spent in their ship, only hopping out and walking 2 feet to scan the plant, before immediately getting right back in again and flying to the next spot?

There needs to be more content and gameplay based around exobiology. At minimum, a high-speed Speederbike SRV, that can go over 100m/s and doesn't require a black loading screen to get on or off, and allows us to use our exoscanner while driving, so we can actually use our Artemis suit, even if only a little. Even better, Exobiology should require actually LOOKING at the plants, and scanning one that has some particular unique trait, rather than just needing to wander around looking for the next one.

Oh, and give better grades of Artemis suits more capacity! It's super annoying needing to skip loads of plants! At LEAST one more at G5.

 

[Danieros]

Oh, that is an interesting approach. Never thought the situation I'd want a lot of shields would be for this, but it certainly cuts down the time moving around which tends to be a lot more than the exobiologying itself.

I'd compare this... to relog gameplay and vanilla exploration honking. So I'd say they've got a good start on exobiology. It could certainly get some improvements - proper artemis specialization and a SRV that incorporates exobiology utilities.

 

[ChipStar65]

Is this really what you want Exobiology to be, Fdev? 9/10ths of the player's time spent in their ship, only hopping out and walking 2 feet to scan the plant, before immediately getting right back in again and flying to the next spot?

I cannot see your video (I assume there is one), but your description seems very limited in scope. I spent a couple of months out in the black after Odyssey dropped doing naught but ExoBio and system mapping (they go hand in suit-glove) and encountered many circumstances that required hunting the samples across very difficult terrain both on foot and in the SRV. Landing sites in the high reaches of most planets are at premium, so your 2 feet becomes more like half a klick or more. Some species are grouped closely enough that gathering full samples of them all can be done on a long walkabout over both unremarkable and very challenging terrain, or in the pitch darkness of a planet's night side with no suit NV (back then -- now I got it!). I agree there are times where the land being flat and the samples being far apart can lead to some very tedious searching, but that is not by any means all there is to be done.

PS -- Interesting, I cannot see your vid in your post but can in the quote above. Yeah, sometimes that's all there is, but not always.

 

[DemiserofD]

I cannot see your video (I assume there is one), but your description seems very limited in scope. I spent a couple of months out in the black after Odyssey dropped doing naught but ExoBio and system mapping (they go hand in suit-glove) and encountered many circumstances that required hunting the samples across very difficult terrain both on foot and in the SRV. Landing sites in the high reaches of most planets are at premium, so your 2 feet becomes more like half a klick or more. Some species are grouped closely enough that gathering full samples of them all can be done on a long walkabout over both unremarkable and very challenging terrain, or in the pitch darkness of a planet's night side with no suit NV (back then -- now I got it!). I agree there are times where the land being flat and the samples being far apart can lead to some very tedious searching, but that is not by any means all there is to be done.

PS -- Interesting, I cannot see your vid in your post but can in the quote above. Yeah, sometimes that's all there is, but not always.

Sorry about the video, I'm not sure what's going on with that. I assumed it was a problem with my adblocker, but maybe it's more general? If anyone knows, let me know.

Larger ships can have a harder time landing on rough terrain, but small ships can land virtually anywhere. That's why I use a Dolphin. I've yet to need to walk more than about 50 meters to reach a target exobio, and that's including Fungoida on 45 degree mountain slopes. Small ships are also much more agile in general, so are easily the best option for exobiology.

The annoying thing is that even when there are large patches that I could theoretically walk across, it's still faster to fly my ship there, instead. The shortest walking distance is ~150m, which takes about 20 seconds, after which I would need to walk back to the ship, taking another 20 seconds. By contrast, I can fly that distance in about 20 seconds, including the ~6 seconds of black screen while loading my cockpit.

As it currently stands, the only reason I take my SRV is if the planet has geologicals and material types I don't have, and I can snag some materials along the way, but that's quite rare.

 

[ChipStar65]

Fungoida on a 45 degree slope -- that's a cakewalk. Frutexa just over the edge of a 70-80 degree slope, that was fun! Had to jetpack a little. Now and then my SRV would tumblebug down a slope rather than roll, glad I was not in VR at the time! The ridiculously extreme elevations of some terrain does make for occasional high drama .

My AspX is small enough to be versatile and extremely agile as well; my problem with the really rough terrain is finding places the ship can turn blue that are larger than a post-it note.

 

[CMDR The Riz]

Sorry about the video, I'm not sure what's going on with that. I assumed it was a problem with my adblocker, but maybe it's more general? If anyone knows, let me know.

This is an issue with the restricting the permissions / cookies for the forum website - inadvertently it also blocks YouTube videos. As a poster, the way around this is to paste the link to the video in the post itself; the video will appear in the post with a direct link below it that should be visible to everyone.

As a reader, you can permit all the things the cookie popup asks for and this should no longer be an issue. You may need to clear your browser's cache to get the popup to appear again.

 

[Gordon Freeman IV]

Source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yXcFT-ug-Ek


Is this really what you want Exobiology to be, Fdev? 9/10ths of the player's time spent in their ship, only hopping out and walking 2 feet to scan the plant, before immediately getting right back in again and flying to the next spot?

There needs to be more content and gameplay based around exobiology. At minimum, a high-speed Speederbike SRV, that can go over 100m/s and doesn't require a black loading screen to get on or off, and allows us to use our exoscanner while driving, so we can actually use our Artemis suit, even if only a little. Even better, Exobiology should require actually LOOKING at the plants, and scanning one that has some particular unique trait, rather than just needing to wander around looking for the next one.

Oh, and give better grades of Artemis suits more capacity! It's super annoying needing to skip loads of plants! At LEAST one more at G5.

So u want ship interiors to the cargo scoop (elevators and corridors) so do I. Black screen cringe.

 

[HRDiagram]

Source: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yXcFT-ug-Ek


Is this really what you want Exobiology to be, Fdev? 9/10ths of the player's time spent in their ship, only hopping out and walking 2 feet to scan the plant, before immediately getting right back in again and flying to the next spot?

There needs to be more content and gameplay based around exobiology. At minimum, a high-speed Speederbike SRV, that can go over 100m/s and doesn't require a black loading screen to get on or off, and allows us to use our exoscanner while driving, so we can actually use our Artemis suit, even if only a little. Even better, Exobiology should require actually LOOKING at the plants, and scanning one that has some particular unique trait, rather than just needing to wander around looking for the next one.

Oh, and give better grades of Artemis suits more capacity! It's super annoying needing to skip loads of plants! At LEAST one more at G5.

I agree on everything.
That is exactly how I have done Exobiology, with the only difference that I have used a Hauler.

The SRV was useless to me, the limitation to one canister is a bit silly, and there are a number of changes and improvements that can be done to the Artemis suit (like the pulse-scan integration with the radar).

On the plus side, looking for Fungoida and some cheeky Frutexa made me discover how much I love hiking in Odyssey!
And the Hauler! She lands absolutely everywhere with her small footprint, even on mountain peaks!

(Yes, the Sidewinder is smaller, but I wanted those size 3 modules)

 

[danteuk]

Just remember for how many years exploration of planets consisted of just: fly to planet, press scanner button, wait, fly to next planet.

Elite Dangerous release was December 16, 2014
Elite Dangerous: Beyond Chapter 3.3 was December 11, 2018

So we had to wait 4 years for exploration to change from the placeholder, minimal viable product to something with at least some depth and gameplay.

So don't hold your breath for anything in Odyssey to get fleshed out.

 

[BDelacroix]

I'd like to see a mission type that pays to go scan some stuff. Integrating the activity into the main game.

 

[Erei]

I like exobio, but I understand it's not for everyone. Also, it tend to get boring after a while so I do it in small doses.

My biggest issues with it :
-need to pay MUCH better. It's ridiculously time consuming for very little
-less range on the scan limit for the 3 plant. Some have a stupid big range (600m for some plant)
-a fast unarmed/unshielded speederbike SRV (hovering above the ground would be best) would be an AMAZING addition for explorers. Accessing mountain range can be a PITA, and it would be a nice solution for it. But considering it took them YEARS to add a second SRV, I'm not holding my breath

 

[Riverside]

I enjoy the challenge of trying to land on uneven terrain, and salad hunting gives me that excuse to do it. A lot more could be done with the pulse scan mechanism, I'd like that on my ship & maybe on the SRVs too but actually taking a sample requiring landing & getting out is okay (otherwise I'd just not land at all, as with scanning Geo stuff).

The issues I have with the search is that instead of trying to spot something in the distance I am just waiting for the LoDs to load, which is only a source of constant mild frustration.

In general I agree an option to shorten the search distance by finding a different variant (a young one, a mature one etc) would add an element of skill, I think the idea of a 100m/s 'speederbike' is reasonable but probably not something I'd use for salad hunting, in a small ship I use the ship itself, in a large ship the SRVs are fine for me.

 

[Erei]

The issues I have with the search is that instead of trying to spot something in the distance I am just waiting for the LoDs to load, which is only a source of constant mild frustration.

Oh yeah. Lod issues are real. Flying the super fast courrier can lead to comedic situation where I need to wait a solid 20-30s to see the terrain load. I had a situation where the plant all loaded hovering above ground, then the rocks, then finally the hill all that was sitting upon.

 

[ChipStar65]

-less range on the scan limit for the 3 plant. Some have a stupid big range (600m for some plant)

800m for Bacterium and Osseus, a couple others as well (Tubus?), but that's not a problem for a ship or SRV, or even on foot if the terrain allows. I usually fly even when on foot, as much as the jet pack allows.

What I would like to see is being able to deploy beacons to mark sample patches, in case you have to land a ways off and the target is no longer visible from the ground. Some locations I had to land over a kilometer away because the terrain offered no landing spots even in what looked like ideal spots, so finding the patch again was occasionally tricky.

 

[Ereshkigal]

Fungoida on a 45 degree slope -- that's a cakewalk. Frutexa just over the edge of a 70-80 degree slope, that was fun! Had to jetpack a little. Now and then my SRV would tumblebug down a slope rather than roll, glad I was not in VR at the time! The ridiculously extreme elevations of some terrain does make for occasional high drama .

My AspX is small enough to be versatile and extremely agile as well; my problem with the really rough terrain is finding places the ship can turn blue that are larger than a post-it note.

Yep, rolling down the mountainside and flipping the SRV upside down is very disconcerting in VR…. Frutexa have been a challenge for me lately…

 

[Riverside]

Oh yeah. Lod issues are real. Flying the super fast courrier can lead to comedic situation where I need to wait a solid 20-30s to see the terrain load. I had a situation where the plant all loaded hovering above ground, then the rocks, then finally the hill all that was sitting upon.

You might have more than one problem. I can empathise, but I don't think a 20-30 sec delay is normal:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZZqfWuYHwQ


Even the 2-3 secs it takes on my PC (i7 7700, 32Gb ram, NVMe, GTX1080ti) isn't normal.

 

[Erei]

You might have more than one problem. I can empathise, but I don't think a 20-30 sec delay is normal:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZZqfWuYHwQ


Even the 2-3 secs it takes on my PC (i7 7700, 32Gb ram, NVMe, GTX1080ti) isn't normal.

Happened once, and the courrier go at ~700-800m/s. Which is double than the video. Note that I didn't have any FPS drop.

Usually, rock loads first, then plant. Since recently, they both load "black" then the rock get their textures. Plant never had any texture unless I'm stupid close in ship, they stay black. Somehow, they work when I'm on spaceleg mode.

This is particularly noticeable after dropping from supercruise. The terrain need to load the asset in the area. Then it's not as much of a problem, unless I go stupid fast (like in the courrier^^).

 

[Riverside]

Happened once, and the courrier go at ~700-800m/s. Which is double than the video. Note that I didn't have any FPS drop.

Usually, rock loads first, then plant. Since recently, they both load "black" then the rock get their textures. Plant never had any texture unless I'm stupid close in ship, they stay black. Somehow, they work when I'm on spaceleg mode.

This is particularly noticeable after dropping from supercruise. The terrain need to load the asset in the area. Then it's not as much of a problem, unless I go stupid fast (like in the courrier^^).

The Cobra in that video tops out at 607 m/s, the behaviour is no different in my 720m/s iEagle or a 370 m/s Corvette.

Perhaps you should check how long it actually takes in case you are accidentally overstating the scale of the issue.

What you see in that vid is not a universal problem all players see.

 

[lefty1117]

Yeah I think they ought to take the composition scanner out of ships and put a bio signal detector in a new type of exploration srv. It can work like the current mineral detector - point us to the next bio sample, then you have to get out to do the actual genetic scan. Let us store the samples in the srv so that we can have more efficient runs instead of having to leave a mixed bio area because we have to collect samples of the same type all at once.

 

[Erei]

The Cobra in that video tops out at 607 m/s, the behaviour is no different in my 720m/s iEagle or a 370 m/s Corvette.

Perhaps you should check how long it actually takes in case you are accidentally overstating the scale of the issue.

What you see in that vid is not a universal problem all players see.

That specific issue only happened once. I laughed a bit and moved on, I don't consider it a major problem or anything. Whatever happened may never happened again. Now, if it was to become a regular occurrence, then yes, I'll talk about it.

I do have other LOD (and long range/close range transition) issues. Some common, some all the time, some less so.
-blurry planet/low resolution when in orbit

Spoiler

-loading of higher quality model during the supercruise down being either done in visible square, or with a circle of blurriness that goes away (centered on me). This is the circle of blurriness (edge of the planet, mostly visible on the left)

Spoiler

-Plants are all black in ship, and very low poly model unless I'm literally on them
-after gliding, it takes a few seconds for the assets to load in (plants+rocks). This happens to if I go fast and move "outside" of the cell I'm in (or whatever it's called for Fdev).

I also have other kind of issues, mainly some degree of pattern and repetitions at times (reported and acknowledge), a weird "square/checkboard" issue with ground textures (if I look close).

Spoiler

And at times, some really bad textures, traditionally digital camo looking or carpet looking. Texture look normal when I'm landed and on the ground though:

Spoiler

And finally, one I was not able to catch properly on screenshot, a "stairs" terrain effect, where the terrain look like there is a step (with appropriate textures stretching) until I get close enough and the step is "merged" with the ground. Usually happen on the side of the screen and not center. Which is why I didn't capture a big one on screen, because I tried to rotate to get a picture.
I had a small one, but I don't remember where it is and it's kinda hard to see on the screenshot.