Boni from Exploration

Lets make some more

from Sins Forums
I really like the Boni you can get by exploring a planet, but as of currently there is either none or the jackpot (a huge permanent planetary bonus)
Why can´t we expand the search function to the whole system and give some more different stuff and also some consolation prizes.

Lets collect our ideas for additional things to be found here

"Derelict Ship" Everything from a small frigate up to a whole capship, maybe even from another race in very bad condition (10% health or so), but if you fly it back to base and repair it you got yourself a new toy (Could also be a ship you can´t even build yet)

"Additional Ressource" A new metal or crystal Asteorid is found, wee

"Pirate stash" Like the permanent bounty, but only gives a one time money injection when you find it (1000 or 2000 creds maybe)

"Lost knowledge" You find an interesting part of technology, gives you one random research for free (maybe you already researched it, bad for you, maybe its something high tech ^^

Lets hear your ideas and the devs what they think about them
3,489 views 14 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
I like it

At the moment the bonus for exploring all your planets seldom is good enough to repay the money you lost, some extra (smaller) boni which could be more common would help with that.
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
At the moment the bonus for exploring all your planets seldom is good enough to repay the money you lost, some extra (smaller) boni which could be more common would help with that.


Imho they need to greatly lower the price for exploration. In multi player almost no one does exploration because of the cost (and the low amount of bonuses on some maps). The one that do explorations are either already winning and thus have resources to spare or will lose, because they wasted resources on exploration instead of ships and then were overrun by larger fleets.
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
I like all your ideas Pithlit! I don’t do any exploring until vary late in the game and by that time the artifacts that you find don’t really help you out. How ever if I was guaranteed to find something no mater what even if it was just a consolation prize I would be more inclined to do early game exploration.
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top
perhaps exploration should be free and automatically begin upon colonization but take a very very long time.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top

perhaps exploration should be free and automatically begin upon colonization but take a very very long time.


that sounds good. a variant: maybe upon colonisation exploration starts and after a while you get a probability of finding something and then you decide if you want to do it.

but yes, in early to mid game, ressources are needed more for ships and research than to get an arbitrary possible effect on a planet.

last thing: you could make an empire tree tech "exploration" once researched it does something, like giving probabilities like I said or increasing the odds of finding something.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
perhaps if exploration guaranteed finding Something... just a probabillity of how good the something was.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
All nifty ideas Also, if I recall right, the devs did state that they are looking into ways to improve the exploration aspect of Sins
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
I don´t think exploration should be free.
It has a price since its a tradeoff of some res for something nifty, sorta like roulette.
But now its kinda russian roulette, since the bonus you get from the exploration is not big enough.
Keep it at a price so it is a research you want to do, but still make it a gamble.
Reply #9 from Sins Forums Top
I agree with pithlit, but you sould really get something in return for your investement, otherwise it wouldn't be an investement.
Reply #10 from Sins Forums Top
when I first read about SINS I saw the "exploration" and what I thought was imediatly "thats cool so you can actualy have a ship explore the planets and nebulas" So why dont they have a ship or kind of like the scout ship.. go off and explore .. have it SIT at a planet or nebula doing scientific exploration for a set amount of time.. maybe it will find something and notify you. At that point you should have a salavage ship or maybe the same ship would Pick up the artifact and carry it to your Home world ( or any planet you wish it to take it to) .. that way people would try to way lay your convoy and give you a reason to protect it when it found something. This would be similiar I supose to Age of Empire. or maybe that artifact is a ship in a nebula or an alien virus that destroys your exploration ship.
Reply #11 from Sins Forums Top
could be something flag ships get as an abillity:

The cost is anit-matter and time...

Red-Shirt Landing Party; Land on the planet 20% chance of finding... well something

Improve the level of it can improve the probabillity...
Reply #12 from Sins Forums Top
well, I'd say, you could - just for lore and plausibility reasons - also go the way in saying that after a set amount of time of some other stuff you discover the unique effect, but you have to spend ressources to profit from it. for some things it wouldnt logically work, but you need installations to mine ressources, centres to accomodate tourists, zoos and hunters to profit from fauna, an organised mission to find and get a treasure.

in short: knowing its there and what it would do could be for (almost) free or only cost time, but taking advantage of it could cost ressources.

ah, also, a question that both I and my friend who played it wondered: what are arfifacts? never saw them in any game, is that an element from previous betas or what? there is after all a tab for artifact research, but there never are any items.
Reply #13 from Sins Forums Top
they used to be randomly and immediately present on planets, if you possessed one you could research it to gain their incredible abilities (for example I think the fully upgrades weapon artifact gave between 12-20% to ALL weapons)

You have a small chance of finding such powerful artifacts now, but i think they are in a map setting, some of the maps may be set to not have any.... the best IMO was the phase jump accelerator... practically halves the time for actual jumping! You can beat an escaping capital ship to its destination after it has left system!
Reply #14 from Sins Forums Top
Although as far as I know you don't have to research them anymore.. once you find one you get the bonus. At least the few times I found some they just showed up and clicking didn't do anything.

But yeah, they're found by doing the exploration upgrades on planets.