Exploration Exploration Guide (What we know so far)

Adiran said:

Actually they changed it to just 2. Look on the 2nd post on the main page.

At one point it was 3 but latest word is only 2 now.

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Ahhh, I see it. Here's the summary from INN:

– There are 3 types of fuel. You need to use two types. Basic maneuvering, without boost, that’s basically free. Can’t run out if you’re flying normally. Boost though, which will have a lot more use in the multicrew stuff, it’s a resource that you use. You’d either have to replenish it or buy it at stations. There’s equipment you can get to refine it too. It’s similar to Nitrous in a car.

– More flight modes are being added. ‘Precision’ is the lowest speed, landing, maneuvering. ‘SCM’ Space Combat Maneuvering, which is what’s right now. ‘Cruise’ Faster than SCM, but not as fast turning.

– Beyond Cruise is Quantum Drive. Quantum Drive is the second type of fuel. It uses Quantum fuel. And Jump Drive – the fiction with the first Jump drive, there was a reactor leak in a Quantum drive. Jump drive is a bit bigger a Quantum fuel, but it uses a lot to go to Jump.

– Quantum’s something you can harvest, like Boost fuel, but it’s more rare a resource. This will be a good role for Starfarer captains.

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Here is what I picked through last night. I think Rolokipp may be right in Q-Fuel being in Moles. The spreadsheet below is ships I have access to, and a couple Rolo helped me with, buyable items on on Olisar, and number of units QFuel per aUEC. I'll hit up other ships tonight and make the fuel run on those. with all distances shorthanding to %, the size of the tank does not matter. Baior also has a spreadsheet of replenishment.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxTP2mHydHePbjBjN0d4RjBrTVk/view?usp=sharing

I think for Exploration a completely different aspect could be very important :

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13288-Multiple-Package-Clarification

You Can set with an additional package one NPC as a "successor". Example: If you received a artifact on hades III ... you are Walking to your ship. then pirates are coming, kill you and steal everything you had with you. Normally everything is lost.

BUT: if you have one NPC set as successor you activate it with all the assets your died char have had...including the hades Artifact.

thats an important part in gameplay which Can cause very much Frustration and can be avoid :slight_smile:

Another idea/point: the smallest Jumppoints can be used by ships max. size like a freelancer Chris Roberts said. That´s size 3 (shipsize is form 1-10) in official database.
so with a carrack you can never fly into this specific Systems with this small jumppoints.
For this i would recommend a Redeemer. It´s the strongest ship when size 3 is max. So you can defend the best and one turret can easily be changed into an antenna or something else.

Only my thoughts and ideas :slight_smile:

chendal220 said:

For this i would recommend a Redeemer. It´s the strongest ship when size 3 is max.

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The Freelancer is the largest ship that can pass through a small size jump-point. It can be set up with extended range scan and long range fuel tanks, which could easily be much more important in exploration than martial survivability, especially if the Lancer captain is willing to run away.

Shadow Reaper said:

The Freelancer is the largest ship that can pass through a small size jump-point. It can be set up with extended range can and long range fuel tanks, which could easily be much more important in exploration than martial survivability, especially if the Lancer captain is willing to run away.

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I'd definitely agree that the Freelancer DUR is going to trump the redeemer in terms of exploration viability - and i'd hope so too, with all that cargo space. Redeemers are going to very much be aimed towards combat focused missions. And I'd be really mad if they are good at exploration, because my Aquila would end up getting dusty :P

I would be thrilled if the Redeemer has slots for good scan, but don't bet on it. Even less I strongly doubt it will have the extended range of Lancer DUR or even the Hoplite. CIG is totally committed to avoiding ships that can be used as good general purpose, because most players would buy such a ship rather than several other ships.

Yeah, you can set up the Connie many different ways, but it will never be stealthy, never be fast, never be a true warship, etc. It is a transport that offers significant customization, but it is not as good at what it does than any of the various ships that would replace it. It will never scan like the Carrack, nor transport like the Hull C, nor board ships like the Tally, nor fight like the Redeemer. If it could do these things, people would not buy these other ships. One of the reasons I am not interested in the Caterpillar, is it hauls about the same as the Conny, so I would be hard pressed to purchase the slower one with smaller shields and no turrets. The Conny is the only true multi-purpose ship in he game, and it is no match for any of its competition when looking at what is available as a mission specific ride. Even something much smaller like a Redeemer can so easily kick its ass in a fight.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/15765-Anvil-Hurricane-Q-A
"By 30th century standards, the ship is understocked in its power plant (remember, its original design is from another time in history), which means you’ll need to make frequent choices in power management between supplying power to thrusters, shields, or weapons, moreso than with “contemporary” fighter designs that inherently have a better balance in terms of pilot workload."

Not only the "role" of a ship is essential...they differ between NEW and OLD ship Layouts..e.g. Hurricane, Retaliator, Terrapin (250 year old design) etc...are "old" Layouts.
This ships need more micromanagement to handle or additional modules e.g. to route energy to a turret.

For Exploration: If you take a size 4 turret of the redeemer and put in an antenna you should have Exploration effiency. And of Course the "size 6" antenna of the aquila should perform very well.
I don´t think that it can be compared with the two little antennas in front of a freelancer dur.

And when you read the Manual of the redeemer..it´s described as the most advanced layout...e.g. when you sleep you have 20% more sleeping cycles...so you get some boni. And i´m very sure that powerplant, Computer core, etc.. and whatever is more efficient too then in "older" designed ships (perhaps a 20% bonus too). Doesn´t matter in this case which "role" a ship has.

and there are alrady lot of Information we know...below i added two links between 2.6 and 2.6.1.

Component Data 2.6
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11B81QpGLgc2GeFsfLnVQLxGrqIfhKDKW1BiZ44E2HV8/edit#gid=1910313379


Component Data 2.6.1
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1k66yHsb2-bPn6kFrzeG4o_E7U9eMbXST1rhoUUl-xaE/edit#gid=1733128333

You can see that "cheap" and "old" design ships like drake caterpillar e.g. need much more fuel then newer ship designs. And thats already implemented ingame and important for exploring/salvaging/Transport...whatever.

@Shadow Reaper: So i recommend to buy a ship like redeemer or Genesis which are modern designes and e.g. a Genesis (with its most advanced NeoG engines.) which is completely modular and should be able to support different roles 80-90% as good as the specialized ships (which has some real disadvantages on the other Hand). I do not Need 100%.

But of course it´s all about Money. ...with 120 Dollar i would buy a freelancer too....with 220 a Conny, etc...

chendal220 said:

If you take a size 4 turret off the Redeemer and put in an antenna you should have exploration efficiency.

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That would be wonderful, but the only ships we know can swap guns for scanners are the Tracker Hornet and Aquila. I surely hope the Hurricane can do likewise, but we don't know this yet, and we have even less detail on the Redeemer. Even the Sentinel does not swap the turret for the EM Warfare package--that sits inside the ship like the Lancer DURs scanner. However we should have some detail on this soon, since CIG has said they intend to update the ships components on the standard ships page, I think in 2.6.

The Connie has changed so much in the past few months that many don't recognize it. Space superiority ship...not anymore. It's face it, it's a decent all-rounder and it MAY have some advantages we have yet to see, but until the gameplay features are added to support that, we just won't know.

Honestly, Freelancer DUR, Connie Aquila, and Carrack are going to be the workhorse explorers and what you use will depend on the mission, and the number of people you can scrounge up for the time frame involved. DUR for the solo-duo team, Aquila for the solo-quad team, and Carrack for crews 4 and up that can commit to several hours of playtime. Now, if you can replace some of the crew with decent NPCs that won't cost you both arms and a leg, then maybe that will come down some.

As for jump points....I think sending through an explorer first would be best. I suspect most jump points that are not known/in regular use would not have an armed group of warships that just happen to be waiting on the other side. After all, if they know about it, they would probably be using it. Send a ship through, create the maps, and get the info back so that others can navigate it safely. THEN you might want to send your explorer and support ships (escorts, etc) through to help determine what is on the other side away from the jump point.

Jokyr said:

I'd think the exploration would be more for finding resources for reclamation by Test , and the profits that they would reap.

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Yup, why I've have exploration ships. Got to find those resources then come back with the prospector to do core samples to see if its worth bringing in the Orion.

Can people quantum travel in a pinch, whether they have a destination locked into the computer or not? I am wondering what will stop players from using that drive to escape any conflict that isn't going their way, as this would remove the interest to own fast ships that can chase down or escape others.

Decouple maintains your speed, but point is, they do have a commitment to make it so ships are vulnerable to attack and boarding. If you could jump whenever oyu like that would not be so, and not nearly as interesting a universe.