Good method for finding Random Encounter ships in space?

[EmberStar]

In my single player game I have random encounters turned on. I also have the "Modular Encounters" mod, which apparently adds some additional types of ships. But I'm curious, is there a good way to find the encounter ships when many of them are deliberately set not to broadcast?

I'm just curious, because ship grids aren't visible from a long distance. I know this was an issue with the old, old version of Keen's encounters, simply because even large ships are almost invisible until you're right on top of them. Unpowered small grid ships are the next best thing to invisible.

It would be great if there was something that could also help with Search bounties, since I've tried and failed at four so far. I reach the location, and then can't find anything. Which makes me think that I'm probably looking for a small grid crate with no lights and no beacon. :(

[Dan2D3D]

Hi, I just have to go to space to find Uranium and Encounter ships will spawn in here and there but where I am playing.

BUT > you play with "Modular Encounters" Mod so you have to ask the Modder from his item page if he did not specified in the description, well that Mod may break the save files so the vanilla encounters don't spawn at all.

When I play with Mod = I rely on me :
I create a testing world and add ONE Mod at a time, load and test it to know how it works before adding it to my Fav save.

[EmberStar]

I'm sure the mod isn't breaking anything, and normal "Mayday" encounters are still spawning. But I just tripped over an abandoned but unpowered ship, and I'm wondering if there's any way to do that on purpose.

There used to be a mod from Midspace that allowed you to use the default antenna to scan for unpowered and unowned grids in range, and mark them with GPS so you could find them. But Midspace stopped updating it, and I'm pretty sure that *specific* mod really *IS* broken and unusable. The author is no longer interested in updating it either.

The pods from the Economy Update bounties *do* spawn in, I've checked using the cheat menu. But they're apparently tiny, and unmarked. So what I'm hoping for is a mod or script that will make it even a little bit easier to find them *without* using the Admin menu every time. As well as hopefully a way to ping for things like the semi-derelict Ambassador wreck, which IS a default Keen encounter.

There are a couple default Keen encounters that spawn a debris field of unpowered grids, and I'd like to be able to find all the pieces to salvage them. Preferably before the game gets bored and deletes them. (I've turned the auto-delete janitor function off, because it's *way* too agressive in a single player game. But I know the game is still deleting things sometimes.)

[Dan2D3D]

I don't have your problems finding encounters so I never thought of using a "detector Mod" for it, well I always play no Mods so that may be it!?

+ For the NPC contracts/missions where we I have to recover lost parts = I rely on my eyes so I have to search for it and always find = may need a bit of XP to become better.

[EmberStar]

As I said, Keen used to include unpowered ships in the default random encounters. They may have changed that. Some of the ships were massive, to the point of probably being overpowered in terms of the resources you could recover, and many of them were quite old designs. Huge numbers of ion engines, and the grids themselves weighed millions of kg in a few cases. Those were *default* encounters without mods, but they spawned unpowered. Which meant finding them was close to impossible unless by sheer chance you basically flew into one of them.

The Midspace scan would tag unpowered grids - stations often had solar panels, and space pirates are always powered and wouldn't be listed. This was *just* for finding the Keen derelicts that would spawn in without needing any other mods.

[Dan2D3D]

Still, I don't have this problem today so the best would be to report all you have found directly to the SE programmer if you think it needs a fix.

[Rox]

The simplest way to find them is the same as it always has been, fly out in suit in a random direction (not too close to a planet or moon) and wait. They will spawn close enough to your path to be seen. Patience is required, and these days probably an extra power cell or two.

[Dan2D3D]

I usually Jump between the Planet and its Moon = Drone spawner + encounters are spawning in.

[Kattla]

I used to love flying out in space to find the derelict ships. Both for materials to grind down and for the pure joy of finding ships i hadn't found before.

Then came the pirates, which also proved good resources and an easy enough fight. Still doable.
Then the pirate stations started spawning endless streams of drones, but still it was possible to find the "lost" goodie derelict ships.

Now however, the "MAYDAY" encounters are mostly battery powered crashsites with loaded guns. The none-MAYDAY encounters are more often then not just battery/hydrogen powered ships which either spits out endless drones or speed away.
Even if i capture said ships , there isn't much of value in their containers, and with battery/hydrogen on most of them, no big reactors, ion thrusters or jump drives to grind down.

My best catch was a mining carriage, 2 large ions + 8-10 small ones, plus ores and small a reactor.

Bottomline of that rant, most are not worth the effort to capture or grind down.

To answer the OP though, on how to find them?
I give myself a distant, non moving goal like a distant planet, and fly towards it. I might change direction to check out astroids , but general direction is always toward that distant goal (so i don't fly in circles). Apart from checking out the MAYDAY signals, i use the camera to look around a lot. Hard to explain, but with a bit of training it is easy enough to sort out ships from astroids, at least the large grid ones.
But yes, most intresting derelict stuff these days have MAYDAY blinking and loaded guns or traps
, no goodies and many of the old derelict ships are gone.
I also use alt-F10 now and then to just delete the grids i didn't like, and by doing that, i also learn about what i didn't find (which is very little).