Mapping Celestal Bodies (aka The 3 Scanners)

[Red E]

Hello

Very new to KSP and have a few questions about the 3 stock scanners (orbital, Narrow-Band and Ground Based) and their mapping potential.

Full Disclosure : I have not used any of them yet.

I was hoping the forumites could answer the following for me.

1. Does the Narrow-Band scanner eventiually resolve a map of the planet which is saved and accessible from Kerbol ? (in other words does it only display the area under the ship whilst you are using it, and that data is never collated).

2. What exactly does the ground-based scanner do ? Is it just ore related ?

3. I am interested in creating maps of the celestial bodeis, from which I can choose landing sites, identify/map biomes and landmarks etc (without using a wiki or 3rd party resource). Does KSP as it currently stands, allow me to do this or will I need to use mods ? (I am aware of things like scansat etc).

4. Can someone list the details each of the 3 scanners resolve, and if they a permanently available (ie via a map) or not ? (ie Which ones give ore, terrain-height, biome identification, landmarks, etc).

Thankyou in advance to anyone who can provide me some assistance.

[Lollo]

the scanners tell you if there's ore to harverst.

the maps:
http://www.kerbalmaps.com/

[Red E]

Originally posted by Lollo:

the scanners tell you if there's ore to harverst.

the maps:
http://www.kerbalmaps.com/

Thanks for the link but I don't want to use inetrnet-maps, I kinda want to generate them myself (if that makes sense).

From reading the wiki and google it seemed like they did more then just ore. As I have not used them I can only go by the internet.

So does that mean from your experience that the scanners only show ore locations and nothing else (no terrain, altitude, biome, etc) ??????

Thanks for the reply BTW.

[Zorlond]

Normally I'd recommend a mod called SCANSat, but unfortunately it's in a dev build phase (basically mod beta) at the moment. You can get it here if you want to risk it:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/80369

[Catminz]

I'd recommend SCANSAT as well mainly because it scans for anomalies to.

[Gahooligan]

Unfortunately the built-in scanning mechanic for the game is a little underwhelming. Just get a craft in a polar orbit, then scan. It does the whole planet at once. And its entirely for ore/resource collection. No topographic maps or anything. The smaller scanning devices are for pinpointing good ore spots for drilling once you get a craft on the ground.

[Gul Dukat]

Originally posted by Gahooligan:

Unfortunately the built-in scanning mechanic for the game is a little underwhelming. Just get a craft in a polar orbit, then scan. It does the whole planet at once. And its entirely for ore/resource collection. No topographic maps or anything. The smaller scanning devices are for pinpointing good ore spots for drilling once you get a craft on the ground.

Actually, no. The narrow-band scanner gives you a topographic map of the area you're currently above, complete with beind able to hover over specific parts of the map and look for certain coordinates (for example if you're searching for an anomaly)

[Gahooligan]

Originally posted by Jeb Kerman:

Originally posted by Gahooligan:

Unfortunately the built-in scanning mechanic for the game is a little underwhelming. Just get a craft in a polar orbit, then scan. It does the whole planet at once. And its entirely for ore/resource collection. No topographic maps or anything. The smaller scanning devices are for pinpointing good ore spots for drilling once you get a craft on the ground.

Actually, no. The narrow-band scanner gives you a topographic map of the area you're currently above, complete with beind able to hover over specific parts of the map and look for certain coordinates (for example if you're searching for an anomaly)

Oh ♥♥♥♥, seriously? Big oversight on my end. Good catch.

[Gul Dukat]

Originally posted by Gahooligan:

Originally posted by Jeb Kerman:

Actually, no. The narrow-band scanner gives you a topographic map of the area you're currently above, complete with beind able to hover over specific parts of the map and look for certain coordinates (for example if you're searching for an anomaly)

Oh ♥♥♥♥, seriously? Big oversight on my end. Good catch.

Unfortunately, it doesn't show any terrain features such as mountains on the narrow-band overlay, but doing a few sweeps with your mouse would probably show some iffy coordinates.

[Gul Dukat]

A plus of the Narrow-Band Scanner is that it doesn't have a constant refresh rate, so you can keep it on one spot for as long as you like, or you can click the "refresh" button every now and then to keep the map updated.

[Red E]

Originally posted by Jeb Kerman:

Originally posted by Gahooligan:

Unfortunately the built-in scanning mechanic for the game is a little underwhelming. Just get a craft in a polar orbit, then scan. It does the whole planet at once. And its entirely for ore/resource collection. No topographic maps or anything. The smaller scanning devices are for pinpointing good ore spots for drilling once you get a craft on the ground.

Actually, no. The narrow-band scanner gives you a topographic map of the area you're currently above, complete with beind able to hover over specific parts of the map and look for certain coordinates (for example if you're searching for an anomaly)

Thanks for this. Thats is pretty much what the wki said.

Can this info be saved at all, for later perusal, or is it only ever just what is under your ship ?

Thankyou for you help

BTW

[Red E]

Originally posted by Zorlond:

Normally I'd recommend a mod called SCANSat, but unfortunately it's in a dev build phase (basically mod beta) at the moment. You can get it here if you want to risk it:

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/80369

Thanks. I am aware of Scansat, but wanted to find out exactly what the stock parts did first.

Thanks again

[Gul Dukat]

Originally posted by Dichotomy:

Originally posted by Jeb Kerman:

Actually, no. The narrow-band scanner gives you a topographic map of the area you're currently above, complete with beind able to hover over specific parts of the map and look for certain coordinates (for example if you're searching for an anomaly)

Thanks for this. Thats is pretty much what the wki said.

Can this info be saved at all, for later perusal, or is it only ever just what is under your ship ?

Thankyou for you help

BTW

Unfortunately, only ever what's under your ship. (Or what was under your ship a while ago if you don't choose to hit "refresh")

[Red E]

Originally posted by Jeb Kerman:

Originally posted by Dichotomy:

Thanks for this. Thats is pretty much what the wki said.

Can this info be saved at all, for later perusal, or is it only ever just what is under your ship ?

Thankyou for you help

BTW

Unfortunately, only ever what's under your ship. (Or what was under your ship a while ago if you don't choose to hit "refresh")

Thanks Jeb, think I have a good handle on what stock offers right now.

A little disappointed but not really surprised.

I appreciate your responses.

[JUSTIFICATIONPLZ]

Definetly scansat,btw im pretty sure it's also updated now....it's also the coolest mod you will love it...oh and make sure you have blizzy's toolbar aswell otherwise it will only semi-work

[Red E]

Originally posted by MINODOG101:

Definetly scansat,btw im pretty sure it's also updated now....it's also the coolest mod you will love it...oh and make sure you have blizzy's toolbar aswell otherwise it will only semi-work

Oh OK. I was not aware it was updated. That gets my hopes up :) I remember looking at the screenshots for it a while back and having to forcefully restrain my inner-nerd :) I have been waiting till the first few updates to KSP (1x) before playing KSP (just wanted to experience all it had to offer at the same time). Needless to say it has been a long wait.

Do you know if the MOD will integrate well with the game as it is now , ie RE - Contracts, Science Unlocking etc ?

Thanks for your reply

BTW I will look into the toolbar you mentioned too, I vaguely remeber mention of thisin my past googling. Thanks.