Elite Dangerous - The Future of Exploration?

In this video I imagine some possibilities for the future of exploration in Elite Dangerous.

[ZeroMat]

I am a simple man, i see an Obsidian Ant vidéo, i Like, keep it up, can't wait to see Elite Dangerous finalized with all the stuff they promised !

[sgetchius]

I like the convenience of honking and seeing everything, mainly because of time issues. I've already been in the black for over 8 months without seeing a single commander or space station. They should add to exploration, but if it becomes much more time consuming, it might discourage deep space exploration.

[xman]

I think a small but unique addition supplementary to your suggestions would be the ability to deploy buoys with player-created messages like breadcrumbs left behind. You can even upvote them to make them last longer or downvote them for not being helpful/interesting. The buoys can be automatically bookmarked in your galmap and could take up cargo space, but be weightless and valueless so that explorers can bring them around.

[intelrecon]

Hi Obsidian ! Really good points you made there, but I am more an Explorer who wants to find something. An abandoned alien ship or an space station. Where you can find stuff and which gives you a bit of creeps.

[Renovatio]

One thing I'd love to see is a phone app which communicates with the main game to display system or exploration data (or other info) on the fly. You enter a system in the main game, the phone app updates to display the system. So many of us have smartphones or tablets these days I think it could be a nice addition and I'd gladly pay for something like this if FD made it.

[Zedonhia]

I Would really like to see some on foot exploration, just imagine being able to land you ship on the surface of a planet, drop down your SRV and cruise until you find a crashed ship or an abandoned settlement, then step out of your SRV and explore the inside of said ship or settlement on foot!

[dwsnz]

I'd like ship-launched probes to collect additional valuable science data including from currently unlandable planets, and science missions and community goals on the boards. Perhaps new science-class ships with unique attributes, e.g. outfittable with deployable science labs to leave on the surface that could continuously operate generating income/ranking (and would be discoverable by other players). etc etc. would be great to go out on a mini "five year mission" to genuinely explore (and not just map and claim bragging rights).
I normally get bored with just exploring with current mechanics after a few days to a week... this would make it more compelling as a longer term 'career'.

[CharlieVane]

Exploration is the future of the game. The sheer scale lends itself towards that direction. The possibilities are endless.

[bungholio]

Well said Mr Ant. Its time to add some depth to this enormous puddle!

[KirstenBayes]

I'm happy that the ADS gives outline/blurry information, on a par with modern telescopes. But is definitely scope for more detailed work with probes, robots, orbiters and scientific ship scans (noting that the planet scans in Mass Effect 2 are perhaps not a brilliant model!). Exploration should be the main end game activity, as the stars don't care how much money you have or how many folk you have blown up. For me, making the galaxy as realistic as possible, including real world nebulae, (and one day, the Kepler planets, Roche-limits...) is a great selling feature: I am trying to get my godson into engineering/space, and being able to say "let's go and take a look" is amazing.

[hillkillr]

I've only lightly dabbled in exploration myself, but all of these ideas seem fantastic. That new system map concept is amazing and I especially like the idea of having a long range scanner that pics up more data the longer you're in system and using it.

[jaybird]

ObsidianAnt I love your videos. They're very detailed, easy to understand, fun to listen to, and provide a wealth of ideas, knowledge, foresight, etc. I always look forward to watching your content. Keep up the good work!

[Yeager]

Scientific modules that net bountiful scans would be awesome. Build a science ship that can make exploration financially worth doing.

[Spatula]

i'd really like to see:
- exploration missions (ie. fully explore 15 systems in the sector)
- cosmic exploration events (ie. 5% chance a scan "discovers" a meteor shower, a supernova, an elusive space whale, etc.)
- Find stranded NPC explorers out in space by searching/scanning several possible systems, and then ferry them home in time (bonus if they are named Matt Damon)
- Find NPC explorers who share hot tips on nearby high value scans, or follow you around for a bit, to stave off loneliness and then they won't stop talking or leave
- Landmark badges for visiting some key locations (like a Sag A decal for your hull)
- An in-game "Explorer's Guide" which lists key locations to visit and could tie into the community - so i could plot a route in the route planner or upload a cool spot with screenshots and then share it - and other explorers could vote on routes/locations ... and im sure none of the routes will all be shaped like penises....
- Entertainment modules for the deep space explorers containing 100 mini-games you can play on your windshield
- Ship AI modules / NPC pilots who can take over flying a route as you walk about your ship!
- Wormholes because I like to get around
- A "Space Madness" meter which slowly fills up as you get further from the bubble and starts causing strange things to appear in witchspace....

[MacrosBlack]

Linking exploration to missions is a very good idea. It could provide purpose and longer term goals for CMDR's, e.g. "Explore all bodies in system x", "We need 10 neutron stars located less than 1KLy from system x", "We need Platinum, locate a mining candidate planet no less than 50Ly from system x, construct a drilling station and then transport 100t back to us.", "Explore 500 systems in the Eagle nebula", so on and so forth. With the outposts placed along the route to Colonia, these kind of missions would be ideal for CMDR's. Mini-Singular-CG's so to speak.

[TruthAwakened]

Some of the things I'd love to see add for exploration would be for real deep exploration we can get the ability to have small "Player bases" so there can be some basic maintenance or even to use as a place of rest while mapping out a larger area of unexplored space. Then for a scanner on ships to actually scan planets on a "high depth analysis" meaning any points of interest on a planet can be lit up to be explored if someone chooses too. These points of interest can range from alien plants, geological activity, and on very rare occasions something related to intelligent alien artifacts or ruins. Elite is such a vast place, it would be great if we got some of those hints that can increase with rank to show players what's hidden away in the depths of the galaxy. Wandering around solar systems will never get old, but for those rare places that should be appreciated by the community it would be great for Frontier to leave clues for people to find that can lead to these natural wonders.

[Ebalosus]

Totally agree with all your points. Exploration is my favoured thing to do in the game, yet it is so shallow at the moment. The mechanics you suggested they add would help a lot, but until we can visit interesting planets (I.e. The Star Citizen homestead demo), it won't really feel worth it IMHO.

Also, I'm in the camp that thinks that the discovery scanner should be a module akin to the planetary vehicle hanger in that you plug in sub-modules like a detailed surface scanner, atmosphere scanner, resource scanner et cetera.

[PanzerMecha]

Can't agree more with what you have said. I would love to use probes and advanced scanners, with more complex gameplay to operate them, to scan down space locations, asteroids to mine, and on planetary surfaces. To deal with the challenges of hostile environments (heat, lack of heat, radiation, visually impairing things, gravitational forces, strong magnetic fields etc) on planets. More complex and interesting mining gameplay is needed too, such as having to scan asteroids to find the optimal place to drill into them. Perhaps introduce mining situations where there is danger, such as detonating gas pockets or something like that. It could all be so much more fun than it is!

[Jesses]

I really love some of these ideas. The concept of having to go into orbit around a planet and actually map the surface seems great. I will not hold my breath though as it is going to take a long time till Frontier is ready for that level of update. They would have to change how the economy of scanning works, the scanners, and more.

[dontpnic]

There are some very good points. Hopefully some Frontier Devs are watching the video to get some inspiration. :)