Although the overview in my ship gives me half an idea of what's on a planet, I'd like my ship to be able to tell me more about what I'm going to hop down onto. I once played an old game called Starflight, and one of my favorite things about it was that your science officer could scan a planet from orbit, tell you its mineral, atmospheric, and oceanic composition, what kinds of minerals and chemicals you could expect to find on it, give you an idea of the number of life forms (flora and fauna) were on the planet, tell you what kind of weather you might experience, tell you the planets mass and gravity rating, and probably one or two other things that escape me at the moment. I would like to see something not unlike this in Starbound. I really liked the fact that you could make a M2 Starmap Upgrade after you beat the UFO boss; maybe there could be upgrades like this that you could make, which equip/enhance your ship's scanners and sensors? I'd also like a handheld scanner that shows me the location of items of note, such as coal, ores, supply pods, chests, and monsters. It's silly for me to hover my Matter Manipulator square over dark areas in search of resources to exploit. Whether this is implemented as a piece of equipment that you hold and it illuminates the loot/creatures, or if it's done via disposable items that you use like "potions" for lack of a better term, it would truly make me a happy spacefarer. Finally, I would like, at some point, a minimap, but I don't want it for free! I think this is a feature that you should only get if you equip a certain item, such as a tech or a nice helmet.
