Scanning stations?

[Falcrack]

Just saw the last part of the twitch. Looks like X4 will have station scanning. I hate to say it, but that was a feature of Rebirth that I most definitely did not enjoy, I'm not too thrilled to see it coming back!

Why do we need to do this little game of flying close to stations to scan the different modules? The first mod I hope to see in X4 will be to automatically scan stations from a substantial distance!

Maybe I just don't understand the point of it. Why is station scanning necessary? What benefit does it provide? Whenever I started up Rebirth, I would scan stations without knowing why, and never saw any benefit to it, so I grew tired and annoyed with this particular game feature. Also annoyed that I had to get so incredibly close to the station to do it. Felt like so much pointless busywork.

[UniTrader]

benefits of station scanning were:

=> ocassionally unlocking Discounts/Special Offers
=> making Trade Offers known to you
=> Unlocking certain Info for remote Access (like Cargo Bay info)
=> driving OCD persons crazy because the info percantage slowly decays over time

[radcapricorn]

It's not necessary at all in Rebirth. You can play absolutely fine without ever intentionally scanning anything. However, spending time to do it yields:

- (mission contract) reward
- timed discounts/commissions
- exact amounts of products/resources in storage
- production timers
- product manufacturing breakdown for the encyclopedia

I believe last three require not just to scan, but to physically open the Info screen for the module in view.

So you don't have to do it at all if you're not planning on pirating or, say, spoon-feeding NPCs.

EDIT: UniTrader was faster

[Grobiland]

I haven't seen last stream yet, so I'm sorry if I missed something important.

Is there still the need to scan the entire station?
No, there isn't and the whole the scan gameplay has changed. It's not 100% decided yet, but we do not have this whole gameplay with flying from info point to info point to collect information for a station. There is still information collection and you will have to fly or you have an opportunity to fly over the surface of a station sometimes, but it is not necessary to do that all the time. It's a special thing usually done in missions only and it works differently, but more on that later.

I think Bernd mentioned in an older livestream that scanning station modules first time unlocks them for building yourself.
EDIT: in X4

[TrashAngelMP]

benefits of station scanning were:
=> driving OCD persons crazy because the info percantage slowly decays over time

I knew it! But you forgot to mention that not all stations could be scanned to 100% to begin with, bugs or whatnots. Flying for hours around station looking for that missed segment (at worst cases you could see that segment but you couldn't find right angle/distance from which "i" can appear) because you are sitting at 97% mark. It was infuriating.

[Skeeter]

Yeah I noticed it was in yesterday's stream too, I thought it wasn't a fun mechanic and took too much effort and time and hoped it was scrapped so more time and resources could be used on more vital things. If that's still in from rebirth what else is returning in x4 that I didn't like in rebirth I wonder.

Bernd said once they changed the highways gfx of the tunnels to be better but from last night's stream all I see is they darkened it to dark brown, which is better than green but still looks naff like a stretched texture.

[radcapricorn]

But you forgot to mention that not all stations could be scanned to 100% to begin with, bugs or whatnots...

...because some stations (i.e. shipyards) needed to be scanned with a (illegal) drone.

[CBJ]

Station scanning is quite different in X4. I won't go into details, but there are different types of "scanning" to obtain different levels of information, the game mechanics of them are a little different to XR, and they are applied more logically.

To get the basic information you need to interact with the station, you won't have to actively do anything. Only if you want information that requires more "intimate" knowledge would you need to actively scan parts of a station. Information that the owner of the station probably doesn't want you to know, or at least doesn't want to give you for free, might come at a risk.

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

If they are keeping scanning, then they really should make easier to see what types of scan are available on a complex. A list of the rewards for doing it and then highlight where on a station to perform the scan.

A sort of scanning section in the station description.

1) Scan production modules to identify cycles and timings.

2) Scan to identify modules for station building

3) Scan to find ....

4) Scanning for discounts.

5) Illegal scanning options.....

[monster.zero]

I want to scan asteroids/planets/anomalies not stations!

Don't mind if we have to 'interface' or 'hack' a station's data feed.....but scanning seems odd.

[CBJ]

Don't get too hung up on the name. Some of the things you'll be doing will indeed be more like that.

[Axeface]

I enjoyed station scanning in Rebirth a lot once I installed the mod 'butter ranges'. At default/vanilla values it was a terrible chore, with increased values it became a pretty enjoyable and chilled sightseeing tour, highly suggest X4's values match those mods.

[A5PECT]

If research is going to be in the game, researching upgrades to scanning range and speed would be nice to see.

[sd_jasper]

From what I could tell in the feed, the basic scanning not longe requires you to find and point your ship at the info icon [ i ]. It looked like just being near a station's section "scanned" it. Later he went into "scanning mode" where the station modules changed colors based on if they were scanned yet or not.

With the fact that stations can destroyed, new ones built, and I assume existing ones added to... the idea of scanning 100% might not even be possible anymore. So, I think we are going to have to wait till we have more information to really know what this means.

Personally, I like flying close to stations and checking things out... and if that has an added bonus of some "scanning" reward, then cool.

[UniTrader]

the idea of scanning 100% might not even be possible anymore.

i asume it also wasnt intended to be needed in XR, too... basically you could acess all important Info at 60-80% (depending on what info you needed), and all Info was available at 90%+ - the remaining 10% were basically a buffer for the Info Decay

[Falcrack]

I enjoyed station scanning in Rebirth a lot once I installed the mod 'butter ranges'. At default/vanilla values it was a terrible chore, with increased values it became a pretty enjoyable and chilled sightseeing tour, highly suggest X4's values match those mods.

Yeah I did that too, it was a great improvement, hope they have longer ranges than the default Rebirth ranges for station scanning.

[Falcrack]

If research is going to be in the game, researching upgrades to scanning range and speed would be nice to see.

Or pricier modules installed on ships that those with a little extra cash could afford.

[ajime]

scanning prod modules are usually enough or do 2 step minigame and get roughly 60 percent module opened with 5 bars

[sd_jasper]

the idea of scanning 100% might not even be possible anymore.

i asume it also wasnt intended to be needed in XR, too... basically you could acess all important Info at 60-80% (depending on what info you needed), and all Info was available at 90%+ - the remaining 10% were basically a buffer for the Info Decay

True... I just sometimes liked seeing 100% on the zones

[Vandragorax]

I personally went one step further than "butter ranges" and use the "fly-by" mod series:

- https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... =640489299
- https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... =635986498
- https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... =638227415
- https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/ ... =639263736

All you then have to do is fly past a station roughly aiming at it, and it will automatically 'scan' 100% of the station, unlocking everything it has to offer. The other mods aid in the same time-saving way but with those other relevant tasks. I just got sick of not being able to trade effectively with my trade fleet without first "unlocking" all those trade deals.

The scanning "mini game" is such a chore to me personally that I went this far to get around it One of those things that was fun the first time, then when you realise you have to do it for every station in every sector it gets ridiculous.


Now if in X4 I can buy a Scout ship, equip it with some software and tell it to go scan every station for me automatically in its own time.... I'd be absolutely fine with that right out of the box!