The basic idea is this: A machine you craft that, when used, consumes a small amount of pixels and allows the user to see a 'ping' of ore in the area. Upgrades in tech tree could provide a more detailed picture, more ore types, live readout, etc. I personally think this item should be unlocked later in the game so as to not make progression too easy. So, what do you guys think? Suggestions? Comments? Thanks!
Sorry, I guess I should have gone into a little more detail. For crafting I think this item should be in one of the later tiers, much like the 'Robotic Crafting Table'. I think there should be an initial decent cost in Pixels to craft, and also a cost per use, seeing as this will literally tell you where to mine.
Love this idea, though calling it ground penetrating radar would make more sense, and it should probably be really far up the tech tree, a couple of sectors beyond where the Robotic Crafting Table is now. The sonar version could be a lower tech alternative that can only scan the cave or chasm you're currently in and perhaps a depth of 5 blocks surrounding it (a little more than you can see with a Flashlight).
had been suggested be4 the alpha time. we call it radar for first tech for radios then sonar after tech, which we want a pet to do sonar wave to seek out ores. So its a robot pet pose to we have...they never finish the drones. never yet....
I would much rather see this in terms of asteroids .....having to use it from your ship and proceed to spacewalking unto the asteroid. That may be a totally different suggestion in general.
should be a ship scanner that scans the percentage of the planet that is made up of ores... that way we can tell if the planet if worth staying at to find X minerals?
Thanks for the feedback guys. Overall I think that would be considered a different suggestion, but it's along the same lines. Obviously that would be a good suggestion for when they go to roll out the upcoming 'Ship Upgrades' system, whenever that is.
I too would like to see something like this implemented. Here is a post that I saw much earlier that was along the same lines with some interesting ideas: http://community.playstarbound.com/index.php?threads/geological-analyzer.6854/
Nice! Thank you for linking. I went ahead and liked that one as well. I was pretty sure someone had already thought of it, as that's usually what happens with most of my ideas, lol.
Well, ground penetrating radars are used in real life already - been for quite a while actually. They're not super-precise instruments in determining what exactly is down there, but give a basic idea - left for the operator to interpret. edit: oh, and just now noticed the link posted a bit above...
Which is what I'd like to see in game. Have the basic tech be super primitive, and give a general picture like 'Oh hey there's something here. Might be copper, but then again it might just be water' then later if you invest in more advanced/expensive tech have it cost more per 'ping' and have it give a more advanced picture maybe still not stating what it is exactly that's down there, but stating something like 'Super dense mineral detected here' or 'Soft ore detected here' That way it's still not telling you exactly what's. Once again I'd like to point out my idea more goes for something planet side that gives you a specific picture of what's under you. Someone else stated something ship based. While it's a good idea, that's not what I was stating in my thread here.
Yup, but that's why I suggested the two types. Sonar tends not to work at all once it hits solid matter, hence why it would only really work in the particular chasm the player is in, but radar would be able to penetrate the ground to give you a pulsing glow at on-screen locations of ore. Nothing too accurate, and nothing at all unless there's a high concentration.
Could have both: ship and ground based. Ship based gives you a very rough idea of whether the place is piss-poor for resources in the first hand or whether there's lotsa stuff down there. You'd need a ground based one, however, to actually snoop out anything in detail. Asteroid fields are a bit different issue tho... but then again, those are chock-full of resources anyway - don't need a scanner there at all
@NightCat - I just used the term 'Sonar' loosely. I don't know what the technical name for it would be, but the general idea is imaging for ore that's around you that stretches further than what you can see. Maybe sonar could be one of the earlier techs, then upgrade to radar later since you stated it's better? Either way, appreciate your input/information!
Yes that's what I was thinking too. Could even have a third level that uses a millimetre wave scanning tech
