46 réponses à ce sujet

[Fullsizeluxury]

***EDIT*** How do you people not get this?  If you carefully read the solutions you'll see that I'm not DOING anything to make this "too easy" the color indicator only pops up AFTER you've scanned the planet once just to show if you've fully extracted all of the resources or not instead of having to zoom into the planet and start the scanner just to see the word "depleated" show up, the color coded density trail is exactly what it sounds like, A TRAIL, as in it doesn't show up until you've already scanned over an area.

If you all could read you'd notice that this post is a SUGGESTION post, if i gave a **** about how you scan a planet, it would say [HELP] or [HOW TO], but there are already 30 topics about that, this topic is for peoples thoughts on future changes/upgrades they could offer for the scanning system, not if you think they should take it out, or if you think its fine.

Lastly, all of these problems/solutions are not things that I don't know how to get around or think make scanning too hard, if you read the post you'd see that i enjoy scanning, HOWEVER, I realize that there are some people out there who don't enjoy it and there are some aspects of the scanning system that could be improved/changed to make scanning as efficient as possible without ruining it for those who enjoy it now, some people have a system for doing it that works for them, most people don't. **END OF EDIT**

I realize this is going to require a patch (which I'm sure there is already a long list of bugs to fix), but I think it would make the replay value of the game increase a lot, because as the boards have indicated, while some people think scanning is "relaxing" and a nice break, most of the people think its tedious and a pain but unfortunately, necessary.

The following is a list of problems (bold) i have with scanning. The solutions(bold) are simply ways to make the scanning process more efficient -- problem/solution #1, streamlined -- problem/solution #2/ 3, and comfortable problem/solution #4.

The solutions have all been designed to be believable(italics), and make the scanning process take less time. The amounts of deposits, concentration of resources, and the dispersion of the resources on each planet will all remain the same, the decrease in time will come from the scanning interface being less confusing.

Problems
1.Scanner radius -- why can't i scan a larger area after upgrading? and why doesn't the scanner size scale to planet size?
2. no "system view"resource level indicator -- sometimes after getting a new upgrade i immediately go to the closest "rich" planet and only send enough probes to get whatever i need for the upgrade, then tell myself "I'll come back to it later, after the next mission or two" only to forget which planet it was and have to physically zoom in and start the scanner on EVERYsingle planet.
3. no "scanned vs. unscanned"indicator -- as the system is now, there is no way to tell which areas of a planet i have already scanned unless there is a probe there, while i do usually try to scan in strips, I'll always think the planet is done and it will still have a "moderate"rating, and I'll find out that I've missed a few major deposits in areas that i had thought i scanned, conversely i find myself scanning the same area 2 or 3 times just to make sure I've scanned it, making each planet take much longer than it should to scan.
4. no scanner "toggle" button -- don't MAKE me hold down the left trigger for 10 minutes, i realize some people like the pulse method but that just ends up cramping up my finger even faster as i usually set aside an hour or so every few missions to build up resources from a few planets

Solutions
1. for visualization purposes, lets say the current scanner radius is the size of a can of soda, this is fine for the "non upgraded"scanner, but i think the scanner upgrade should increase the scanner size to roughly the size of a CD (appx 2x the size of a can of soda)
2. place a colored indicator next to the name of every discovered planet showing its resource density. [ex. rich (blue)--good (green)--moderate(yellow) -- poor (orange) -- depleted (red).] this is the equivalent of labeling folders so you don't have to open every folder you have in a file cabinet just to find out what is inside.
3. this is what i think would be the biggest improvement to the scanning system, if you ignore all my other suggestions but include this, i would be content.-- this would simply be an add-on to the scanner grid overlay that already exists, meaning you would only see it when the scanner is on, that leaves a behind the scanner that indicates two things: that the area has been scanned already, and the resource "density" of the previously scanned area. The type of resource will not be indicated by color (resource type would still be shown on the meter on the right side of the screen), but the density would be show in a way similar to that of a topographical map, green being no resource density, and red being very dense. The color trail would be able to be cleared by pressing the right bumper. EDI is a an AI, most of the themes related to AI in this game revolve around the importance of efficiency. There are times however when I've questioned EDI's usefulness if she can't even find a way to offer an upgrade to the scanning system that would reduce redundancies and increase efficiency in scanning by logging and displaying the locations of all areas of a planet that have been scanned.
4. this last one is probably the easiest fix of them all, a simple toggle switch would be added to the scanning interface which would make it so the user doesn't need to hold the left trigger in order to scan a planet, they can toggle the scanner on and off by pressing the left bumper, and while the toggle is active, pulling the left trigger will take you out of scan mode. this technology exists already in things as simple as blenders and gas pumps, if even in the future a resource scan can't be done manually (lol) I'm sure that a company wouldn't make its worker sit there and hold a scan button while manipulating the controls, there would be too much risk of a carpal tunnel lawsuit.

Bump this if you like it, if you don't, tell me what YOU think would be a good set of changes for scanning

Modifié par Fullsizeluxury, 29 janvier 2010 - 01:48 .

[Fullsizeluxury]

i thought of one last thing... if all of those things are too much to ask, at least add an option in the options section that makes it so we can set left thumb stick to move the scanner ONLY vertically, the right thumb stick to move it ONLY horizontally, and the D-Pad to turn the planet. The main reason i miss areas is because I'll accidentally move diagonally instead of in a straight line horizontally or vertically.



This control scheme would obviously only be enabled while the scanner is on

[Fandarkk]

Sounds good to me. I'd be happy with just a larger scanning radius and the system view indicator telling me whether a planet is rich, moderate, etc. after previously scanning.

[gorezeelar]

it's not that bad actually

there can be so much resources on a single planet, which can includes two or three resource sites very close to each other, a large scanning reticle would easily miss two of them.

what could appeal to ME3 is that the player can choose the scanning reticle's radius, and add more type of resource, and NOT indicate how many types or which type there will be, it will keep things interesting as player can suddenly bump into wierd and mysterious resources

and don't hold down the left trigger to scan, i recommend only moving the reticle vertically, while rotating the planet around, and tapping the left trigger to a faster effect

[Awesome Helmet]

....or get rid of the whole thing entirely. i bought this game for the 3rd person shooting interactive story biotic flinging badassery, not to scan planets.



what the hell were they thinking? maybe itll be funner when im on drugs.

[Nigawatts]

It's optional, you can find resources on missions if you prefer?



Honestly the only thing I don't like about the scanner now is like the OP said, holding down the button to scan.



Also freezing the scan to launch a probe.

[darthdrake201]

I havent had a problem with scanning, usually put on scanner on the edge of a planet then rotate along tow horizontal rows, then move up. It only takes about a min to get a rich planet done. What would be nice is if there wasnt a cooldown time after firing a probe.

[Promethean 47]

Better Solution: After beating the game once, all the upgrades you had from that playthrough carry over into future new games (whether based on same pc as first time through, new pc's, or other imported pcs). I.e. you unlock something for one career, you unlock it forever for all.

[Lukedude08]

honestly the only thing i would agree with would be the size increase or maybe speed increase while scanning.........everything else is your problem with the game.  You scan a planet for just enough to get an upgrade then cant remember what planet to come back to finish it off........thats your fault not bioware's.  Everything else you talked about changing would make the subject of "scanning" redundant.  You SCAN the planet for resources.  IRL would you have indicators saying " okay here's where everything is and how much of it there is" .  Thats just dumb.  Your ideas are good but its these kinds of ideas that ruin great games with LOTS of content and time consuming chores that make the game longer and better.

[Lukedude08]

darthdrake201 wrote...

I havent had a problem with scanning, usually put on scanner on the edge of a planet then rotate along tow horizontal rows, then move up. It only takes about a min to get a rich planet done. What would be nice is if there wasnt a cooldown time after firing a probe.

BTW this is exactly what i do also.....use the grid geometry and rotate-scan the planet till u cover all the ground u can......it doesnt take that long and on rich planets the pay out is immense......plus if u just take the time to scan the whole planet, you get more resources in less time in the long run.

[Fullsizeluxury]

gorezeelar wrote...

it's not that bad actually
there can be so much resources on a single planet, which can includes two or three resource sites very close to each other, a large scanning reticle would easily miss two of them. what could appeal to ME3 is that the player can choose the scanning reticle's radius, and add more type of resource, and NOT indicate how many types or which type there will be, it will keep things interesting as player can suddenly bump into wierd and mysterious resources and don't hold down the left trigger to scan, i recommend only moving the reticle vertically, while rotating the planet around, and tapping the left trigger to a faster effect

well yeah, its not THAT bad, right now i'm on my first PT at level 23 and have most of the upgrades and am already starting to get a little annoyed with scanning, and i've tried just about every method of scanning i can think of:
pulsing in zig zags down the visible face, then fully rotating, and doing it again (thats been the fastest so far, but i miss a lot doing it)

doing horizonal circles around the entire planet by using only the right thumbstick and leaving the scanner in one place to avoid vertical movement, moving down 1 grid square and doing it again (that’s the one that takes the longest but ensures coverage of every inch of the planet)

the vertical method you suggested (i find myself going diagonally way too often to feel like I am covering everything)

overall I find that if I want to relax and scan, I have to hold down the left bumper (I have a rubber band doing that job right now) and kinda zone out until I feel a vibration, cuz pulsing and scanning just ends up making me feel like I’m doing a LOT more work, and I KNOW that I have to be a lot more attentive cuz i have to watch the grid in order to see if the scanner detected anything, which just ends up making me angry and felling like it’s a COMPLETE waste of time as opposed to just a minor inconvenience

[Alodar]

Even better solution:

Replace the entire scanning mini-game with a button that says scan planet.

Honestly, it is seriously the most un-fun part of Mass Effect 2 for me.

I really liked the old Galaxy Map better.


Alodar

[Wintermist]

I think they should add a second upgrade, that you get later in the game which scans the whole planet immediately. You would still have to travel through all planets, but save yourself hours of micromanaging the scanner on everyone of them.

Modifié par Wintermist, 29 janvier 2010 - 12:46 .

[Lukedude08]

I dont know if anyone has said this but u can speed up the rotation by rotating the planet and moving the scanning target in the same direction simultaneously.

[Lukedude08]

Wintermist wrote...

I think they should add a second upgrade, that you get later in the game which scans the whole planet immediately. You would still have to travel through all planets, but save yourself hours of micromanaging the scanner on everyone of them.

lol and why dont we just put all the missions on one planet as well.  Like i said, all these are good ideas.......if you want to take an already vast and LONG game and turn it into a "play and quit" game.

[Eradyn]

I must be one of the few who enjoyed it. Some things to help ease the scanning pains:



*Only bother with planets with scanning results that are "Good" or "Rich." When results fall below that, abandon scanning that planet.

*Only go for medium to large spikes.



If I could change anything with the galaxy map: Allow us a zoom out function to view the whole star-system without having to move the ship.

[Promethean 47]

Even better solution:



Replace the entire scanning mini-game with a button that says scan planet.



Honestly, it is seriously the most un-fun part of Mass Effect 2 for me.



I really liked the old Galaxy Map better.





Alodar

Agreed. My suggestion is withdrawn.

[Fullsizeluxury]

Lukedude08 wrote...

honestly the only thing i would agree with would be the size increase or maybe speed increase while scanning.........everything else is your problem with the game.  You scan a planet for just enough to get an upgrade then cant remember what planet to come back to finish it off........thats your fault not bioware's.  Everything else you talked about changing would make the subject of "scanning" redundant.  You SCAN the planet for resources.  IRL would you have indicators saying " okay here's where everything is and how much of it there is" .  Thats just dumb.  Your ideas are good but its these kinds of ideas that ruin great games with LOTS of content and time consuming chores that make the game longer and better.

if you read it more carefully i usually set aside time to fully scan a few planets, but every now and then I'll just do the bare minimum, and I'm sure that's not just MY problem, and if you read the full explanations for everything, you'd see that i included in the solutions a reason why i think my "upgrades" are more believable that then current system

either way I'm not dumbing down the system, like it said, the distribution, concentrations, and total amounts of each resource on the planet would be the same, the only difference being is you can see where the places are which you've already found NOTHING, or detected SOMETHING

no matter what the user still has to actively do all of the scanning and probing they just don't have to accidentally do it twice or three times out of uncertainty

[Invalidcode]

Alodar wrote...

Even better solution:

Replace the entire scanning mini-game with a button that says scan planet.

Honestly, it is seriously the most un-fun part of Mass Effect 2 for me.

Pretty much.

[darthdrake201]

Get rid of cooldown time after firing a probe and Ill be happy.

[Lukedude08]

Eradyn wrote...

I must be one of the few who enjoyed it. Some things to help ease the scanning pains:

*Only bother with planets with scanning results that are "Good" or "Rich." When results fall below that, abandon scanning that planet.
*Only go for medium to large spikes.

If I could change anything with the galaxy map: Allow us a zoom out function to view the whole star-system without having to move the ship.

The zoom out galaxy map would actually be pretty cool.........but they shouldnt take out the ship movement function.  I felt that all these little quirks that took up a bit of time added to the gameplay time needed to complete it.  It gives that sense of "travel and investigation" rather than just point-click-teleport to location.

[Wintermist]

Lukedude08 wrote...

Wintermist wrote...

I think they should add a second upgrade, that you get later in the game which scans the whole planet immediately. You would still have to travel through all planets, but save yourself hours of micromanaging the scanner on everyone of them.

lol and why dont we just put all the missions on one planet as well.  Like i said, all these are good ideas.......if you want to take an already vast and LONG game and turn it into a "play and quit" game.

Well, you wouldn't have to get the upgrade if you rather enjoy the tedious repetetive work fo scanning them, I can tell you now, I DO NOT ENJOY IT THAT MUCH. I was fun for 2 planets, then it turned into a chore. A very boring chore.

[Rylor Tormtor]

I have a ship of trained terrorist waiting to do my bidding, can't one of them do that? I don't remember Kirk ever wasting time scanning a goddamned planet.

[gorezeelar]

Fullsizeluxury wrote...

gorezeelar wrote...

it's not that bad actually
there can be so much resources on a single planet, which can includes two or three resource sites very close to each other, a large scanning reticle would easily miss two of them. what could appeal to ME3 is that the player can choose the scanning reticle's radius, and add more type of resource, and NOT indicate how many types or which type there will be, it will keep things interesting as player can suddenly bump into wierd and mysterious resources and don't hold down the left trigger to scan, i recommend only moving the reticle vertically, while rotating the planet around, and tapping the left trigger to a faster effect

well yeah, its not THAT bad, right now i'm on my first PT at level 23 and have most of the upgrades and am already starting to get a little annoyed with scanning, and i've tried just about every method of scanning i can think of:
pulsing in zig zags down the visible face, then fully rotating, and doing it again (thats been the fastest so far, but i miss a lot doing it)

doing horizonal circles around the entire planet by using only the right thumbstick and leaving the scanner in one place to avoid vertical movement, moving down 1 grid square and doing it again (that’s the one that takes the longest but ensures coverage of every inch of the planet)

the vertical method you suggested (i find myself going diagonally way too often to feel like I am covering everything)

overall I find that if I want to relax and scan, I have to hold down the left bumper (I have a rubber band doing that job right now) and kinda zone out until I feel a vibration, cuz pulsing and scanning just ends up making me feel like I’m doing a LOT more work, and I KNOW that I have to be a lot more attentive cuz i have to watch the grid in order to see if the scanner detected anything, which just ends up making me angry and felling like it’s a COMPLETE waste of time as opposed to just a minor inconvenience

ol rubber band really?[smilie]../../../images/forum/emoticons/w00t.png[/smilie]
you must be really taking this too hard aren't you
would
you prefer launching yourself down to a planet and drive the marko
trying to climb mountains after mountains after thresher maws just to
get some mineral rocks?
holding the left trigger take an enormous amount of time to scan, so tapping it while moving would help a lot
then use that stuff to build yourself a spartan laser[smilie]../../../images/forum/emoticons/andy.png[/smilie]

[AlphaJarmel]

Fullsizeluxury wrote...

I realize this is going to require a patch (which I'm sure there is already a long list of bugs to fix), but I think it would make the replay value of the game increase a lot, because as the boards have indicated, while some people think scanning is "relaxing" and a nice break, most of the people think its tedious and a pain but unfortunately, necessary.

The following is a list of problems (bold) i have with scanning. The solutions(bold) are simply ways to make the scanning process more efficient -- problem/solution #1, streamlined -- problem/solution #2/ 3, and comfortable problem/solution #4.

The solutions have all been designed to be believable(italics), and make the scanning process take less time. The amounts of deposits, concentration of resources, and the dispersion of the resources on each planet will all remain the same, the decrease in time will come from the scanning interface being less confusing.

Problems
1.Scanner radius -- why can't i scan a larger area after upgrading? and why doesn't the scanner size scale to planet size?
2. no "system view"resource level indicator -- sometimes after getting a new upgrade i immediately go to the closest "rich" planet and only send enough probes to get whatever i need for the upgrade, then tell myself "I'll come back to it later, after the next mission or two" only to forget which planet it was and have to physically zoom in and start the scanner on EVERYsingle planet.
3. no "scanned vs. unscanned"indicator -- as the system is now, there is no way to tell which areas of a planet i have already scanned unless there is a probe there, while i do usually try to scan in strips, I'll always think the planet is done and it will still have a "moderate"rating, and I'll find out that I've missed a few major deposits in areas that i had thought i scanned, conversely i find myself scanning the same area 2 or 3 times just to make sure I've scanned it, making each planet take much longer than it should to scan.
4. no scanner "toggle" button -- don't MAKE me hold down the left trigger for 10 minutes, i realize some people like the pulse method but that just ends up cramping up my finger even faster as i usually set aside an hour or so every few missions to build up resources

Solutions
1. for visualization purposes, lets say the current scanner radius is the size of a can of soda, this is fine for the "non upgraded"scanner, but i think the scanner upgrade should increase the scanner size to roughly the size of a CD (appx 2x the size of a can of soda)
2. place a colored indicator next to the name of every discovered planet showing its resource density. [ex. rich (blue)--good (green)--moderate(yellow) -- poor (orange) -- depleted (red).] this is the equivalent of labeling folders so you don't have to open every folder you have in a file cabinet just to find out what is inside.
3. this is what i think would be the biggest improvement to the scanning system, if you ignore all my other suggestions but include this, i would be content.-- this would simply be an add-on to the scanner grid overlay that already exists, meaning you would only see it when the scanner is on, that leaves a behind the scanner that indicates two things: that the area has been scanned already, and the resource "density" of the previously scanned area. The type of resource will not be indicated by color (resource type would still be shown on the meter on the right side of the screen), but the density would be show in a way similar to that of a topographical map, green being no resource density, and red being very dense. The color trail would be able to be cleared by pressing the right bumper. EDI is a an AI, most of the themes related to AI in this game revolve around the importance of efficiency. There are times however when I've questioned EDI's usefulness if she can't even find a way to offer an upgrade to the scanning system that would reduce redundancies and increase efficiency in scanning by logging and displaying the locations of all areas of a planet that have been scanned.
4. this last one is probably the easiest fix of them all, a simple toggle switch would be added to the scanning interface which would make it so the user doesn't need to hold the left trigger in order to scan a planet, they can toggle the scanner on and off by pressing the left bumper, and while the toggle is active, pulling the left trigger will take you out of scan mode. this technology exists already in things as simple as blenders and gas pumps, if even in the future a resource scan can't be done manually (lol) I'm sure that a company wouldn't make its worker sit there and hold a scan button while manipulating the controls, there would be too much risk of a carpal tunnel lawsuit.

Bump this if you like it, if you don't, tell me what YOU think would be a good set of changes for scanning

I commend you and congrats on this great post.