Scanner room questions

[StarBucK]

I would like to understand things about scanner room.

First question that has been asked a lot but I have seen confusing answers :
Why is the list of materials to scan never the same ? Is it a bug ? If it is not is there a way to understand how a new list will replace a previous one or it is somehow random ?

Second question :
Is it usefull to make more camera drone for scanning purpose ? Or those camera drone are only of use for the player to see with the drone eyes what there is around. Does more camera induce faster scan for example ?

Thanks

[Pantherr]

As to the first, I dunno.. It seems you have to find things yourself first for them to appear on the scanner list. However if you quit the game when you load it up again its back to it's default list which really sux..

As to the second I never use the cameras, I have never really found a use for them to be honest..

With the scanner tho it is a good idea to add 4 range upgrades to it to cover a greater distance.

[BDK]

Yes the scanner room is bugged. Usually what you need to do is to use a drone and take it some 300m out. Whenever the scanner room decides to bug out (usually after a game load) just switch to the drone, swim around a bit, then exit. The list should update after that.

I have 4 drones, all 300m out. Each one is located north, south, east and west of the scanner room.

[KromeHWI]

contrary to what you would think (and what would be useful) the scanner room does not scan where you have not already been. which is to say that it can only scan for mats in map cells you have already loaded by going into them. so the list of mats it can scan for is limited to what you have already "found." not super useful but it was due to massive memory issues apparently.

this is actaully where the cameras come in most helpful. moving a camera into a new part of the map (ie a part that you have not already entered THIS PLAY SESSION) loads the new mats into the menu to scan for them. you can totally build more cameras. i do this often to scout out new areas for mats, and then, when i find a bunch, i leave the cameras there. this gives you a waypoint to go to. also, if you leave them between game sessions, when you load the game again, go to your scanner room and cycle through you cameras for a while and it will reload/scan all the stuff you found last time. (at the speed of your scanning module)

the scanner room is neet, but limited in its usefullness sometimes, and can really clutter your screen with prompts. and i think it also can really hurt your memory performance too if you are not careful.

the biggest danger with the cameras is that stalkers LOVE the things, and will come from far and wide to steal them and take them away. they wl even come right up to your base and steal them from the scanner room charge sockets. they will even come from adjacent bioms to take your cameras, from much farther away than they would normally go, or even be aware of.


hope that helps.

[StarBucK]

Thanks for all your answers.

So if I summarize : I have to have discovered in the current game session (it means since the last time I loaded the game, and not on a given save) a zone to have the scanner room scanning in it.

The drones can be used to do this discover part.

But a little question : Why would you discover with the drones and not directly with the seamot for example ? Is there really a practical advantage to do it with drones (ok it's less risky but apart from that ?).

Also : so there is no really interest to have more than 1 drone if you use drones for this purpose right ?

Thanks

[KromeHWI]

you are spot on in your summery.

the only real advantage to cameras over in person is that you never have to leave your base to find the stuff and load the mats into the scanning menu. (only to actaully go get it)

so for example, you need copper, but have already cleared your inital base area of all of it. this will make it so that copper will not even show up in the menu of things to scan for. you can pilot a camera to a "new zone" and swim around for a bit. then exit the camera and you should see copper listed in the updated menu (assuming the "new zone" you went to has any of course).

so you select it from the menu, and go back into the your camera if you want to actaully find it, or you can just go in person at this point to pick it up (which you will have to do anyway), using the camera's location waypoint to find it easily.

and this way you can also stock up on supplies before you leave the base (food water etc).

[KromeHWI]

another nice perk is that you can leave cameras and scanner rooms all over the map and when you enter range of them it will show you what you have scanned for in your hud (if you got the upgrade). this is of course also only if you have loaded this part of the map this game.

i will often build mini bases with scanner rooms and maybe chargers and water machines all over the place. so when i need to find something, there is always a scanner room nearby to help make the task easier.

or, if im going into a new area and want to build a base, i will often bring my scanner room with me when i go to make finding the mats needed for construction faster and easier.

[NowtButGaming]

Unless you've built the HUD chip and are wearing it, you can't see what the scanner has discovered in first person
But if you send out a camera you can see these discoveries as you pilot it, so you send the camera out to the location, leave it there then swim out to it and pick up your resource
It can be useful to have multiple cameras e.g. you can use them to explore a wreck without worrying about O2 supply. Say you find something useful and so you decide to leave your camera pointing at this. To be efficient you send out more cameras to do more exploration there and so leave several of them there pointing at items you want to pick up when you arrive as I did in this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLqwsa1dPQE

[KromeHWI]

you can also have fun with camera drone placement ;)
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1303930745