Questions about planetary exploration

I'd like some loot that'll either be plug and play for my ship/lander or allow for a research of a better equipment. Also, ancient ruins/deserted labs for lore and treasure maps is pretty exciting too.

I hope its not a Mass Effect styled exploration.....

OH DEAR GOD NO!  Planet exploration is something that is much more fun. 

That's kind of interesting since Mass Effect's planet exploration was pretty clearly inspired by Star Control 2. In many ways, the first Mass Effect (not its sequels) is the closest I've come to playing something that reminds me of Star Control, despite them appearing superficially very different.

ME1 planet exploration was atrocious and unrewarding.

I should clarify, the whole, scan planet and throw down a marker part was just very unsatisfying. 

Mass Effect's planet exploration was indeed unsatisfying, but it was still the only time I can remember an AAA game attempting to copy something from Star Control 2, and that was cool in itself.

The comment about "no resource management" seemed to be linked to the comment about avoiding making SC into a strategy game. I'm at least hoping that there is still some sort of "find valuable somethings" on a planet's surface. I may be weird, but I remember the excitement of stumbling onto a Treasure or Ruby world, and braving its surface for some shinies.

Though, to be fair, I immediately turned those into Shiva Furnaces, etc, so if RU's are out, actual items, tech, logs, interesting McGuffins, etc., would be good too.

Planetary resource harvesting was such an integral part of the game (and a complete mini-game in and of itself) it has to be close to the same level of depth as SC2 had.  To fall back on an ME level of harvesting would do a disservice to the original franchise, but I feel confident this is not the case because minerals in SC are far more valuable then they were in ME.  And the amount of time people spent harvesting in SC2, for me it was a good third of the game.   

I have no idea what they intend to do, but I hope to be vocal about this part more than the others, many many fond memories of planetary exploration.  But we don't even know if the game is 2D or 3D, so many factors up in the air.

edit: whoops double post

I think there must be more reasons to do planet exploration besides resources harvesting - like 20 logs of some forgotten space explorer that have to be gathered with interesting pieces of lore, ruins of lost civilizations (like Androsynth ruins), unique artifacts, monsters, Easter eggs, some pre-space flight civilizations that you can kill or save and etc, quest events (like you find an abandoned base of Grey aliens at Zeta Reticuli and find abducted humans in suspended animation that can join your crew or go berserk) and etc. I think people should have incentives to explore every planet in any given star system because it might  have a hidden gem and add extra flavor to the game. Some things can even be randomly placed.And if this part of the game is moddable, then players will add extra things to the plain vanilla game. Think Age of Wonders 3 customization.

I Like Planet Exploration but do agree it needs to be done "right" I didn't mind ME1 exploration for the first time around but on other play through? No Thanks

It also a good way to give users value for Money, wasting countless hours exploring unique worlds and finding its hidden secrets. (Gamers should be rewarded to explore properly but also encouraged to do so instead of rushing a to b then b to c finished game in 4 hours...

ME1 exploration still was a lot better than ME2 Probe "you shot my battleships!" (ME 4 looks to be reverting back to ME 1 exploration so hopefully it can be done right and we get glimpses of this over the next year. and maybe help guide star control in a direction satisfying to us all.) Not saying you guys wont ruin the game but games evolve upon other games so it couldn't hurt to help no?

I think logs and ruins are a great idea, anything that continues stkry or backstory. Especially with precursor artifacts, there's a treasure trove of possibility. I'll never forget that initial moment of intrigue in SC2 for discovering that signal on Pluto at the beginning, it was like an instant hook.

It's a minor thing, but one of the most memorable things about SC2 for me was the sound of the lander going down to the planet.  It made that "whooossshh" sound when you launched the lander.  If that is also a memory that sticks with others you might consider using a similar sound when the lander launches.

Agreed.  Finding the outpost was the start of intrigue of landing on planets after that.  You HOPED that you would find some odd, rare, unique and fascinating relic/ruin/creature/etc each time you landed on a planet.  The whole universe was a question mark on what you were going to find, or WHO you were going to find.

One of my fondest memories of SC2 planet exploration was the scanning and the anticipation of discovering anomalies, especially with the excellent music that just made experience so much more compelling and gave you the impression that you visiting a really strange place.  I agree that ME sucked in this regard but I feel it tried to streamline this aspect of the gameplay.  After perusing the early artists visions of planet types in the first vault I hope the final style is more real like ME and less cartoony like Spore.

Well I surely hope that you will decide on having resource management/strategy since this is what I actually liked on SC2!
I think it's important and interesting if you need to think of where to go and what to mine in order to advance to your direction in the game.
I think that the strategy/resource management part if crucial in order to have a good action/simulation/quest game

For one, I could enjoy a bit more interaction with locals, like in Starflight II.

I wouldn't want it to be as necessary as it was in SFII, but would enjoy a bit more depth.  In SCII, I often found that I had no choice but to do the diplomacy and trading was strictly restricted to the starbase or the Melnorme (the Druuge don't count).

OH my God -  remember the planets that would have 30 anomalies all over the surface? My brain went into overload with excitement! 

It would be nice to have to go back to the same planet or star system/constellation multiple times to "unlock" more secrets about its inhabitants, technology, story, etc.  The further the story progresses, maybe there's an entire civilization that's been wiped away and buried secrets only come out with further technology improvements.  Surely there are a lot of inhabited planets by the same race...

Anyone remember Starflight 1's enhanced scanner?   before hand there were minerals to mine, but you couldn't get to them until then enhanced scanner.  Maybe technology improvements like that can help you scan for buried secrets.  

One other thing...happening upon some stranger oddity that was a complete and total surprise made exploration awesomely worth it.

I distinctly remember having a friend over one day while I was playing UQM, and I started freaking out when I found a treasure world. "Dude, why are you hyperventilating?"

"YOU DON'T GET IT! It's beautiful...absolutely beautiful. *tear* Hold on. Gimme a minute. Okay, I'm good. This, my friend, is going to tide me over for the next 5 months of in-game time." 

"Huh. That fire looked dangerous."

"Shush, I have another lander. RIP, lander crew. Alright, hold onto your butts, it's yellow dot time!"

I'm getting a little carried away, but you get my point.

This will exist again. However Stardock will not be held liable for any heartattacks that occur when these discoveries are made. 

That's great to know.  Happening upon Treasure Worlds, Rainbow Planets, or taking the ultimate risks against fire, earthquakes, lightning strikes, etc on a resource-heavy world were great memories in the early part of the game.  Exploring the unknown galaxy and finding technology, ruins, resources and other discoveries that colors and deepens the game universe and lore is an invaluable part of the Star Control winning formula.  

Also, less hand-holding, more risk-taking makes a better game IMO.   A game should challenge you, and reward when high-stake risks are taken. Feeling the growth of going from nothing to something awesome, whether it be with a sword-wielding avatar to a massive mothership in star control, is a journey that should be felt at each stage of the game, not just the first part.

My oldest son turned 7 this year.  I've built a few vintage computers, and one of them I have an original copy of Star Control II (box and everything, including MAP!) that I'm going to introduce him to.  I want this game to be of the same calibre of excitement when playing.  

Parenting. You're doing it right. :)