Does anbody use the Explorer for anything?

[GAMING_Alligator]

I tried building one since the description said it could drive up near vertical cliffs.

Turns out it can't even drive over a small rock without getting stuck.

What's the point of this?

[jdrake5839]

It goes faster than the truck / tractor. On my main save where I don't use ags, I use the explorer to get around areas that aren't connected in my tube network.

[TyCobb]

I use it before I build a full rail network. Much faster than anything else and for whatever reason, I'm just not a hypertube person.

Explorer physics are wonky, but it's fine if you already know your path by heart. I would never use it for actual exploring.

[ShelLuser]

I use it, not so much for exploration but to get me from A to B; another nice bonus is that it provides its own crafting workbench which can come in handy at times.

[Captain Oveur]

I used it once back in update 6 or 7 but I wasn’t very fond of it. If I recall, handling was terrible (or maybe it was more that I kept flipping it or getting it stuck?). I prefer train and truck

[Acecool]

If you have a jetpack, you can make a simple hypertube launcher with biofuel blueprint that you can plop down and get across the map much faster than anything else.

[pizzabandit]

In 1.0 I restarted up in the northern territory and the mountains make using something like the explorer useless for me. I just took my time on foot until I got jetpack, and of now I just spam power poles everywhere and use the hover pack to the places I don't have tubes. I am working on making a rail system, but it's slow going up and down all the mountains.

[Lawn-Mower]

No. It can be a fun toy, but it's generally fairly useless. A bit like launch pads and jelly.

Arguably the parachute is far superior. Then parachute + hypercannon combo. Then jetpack + hypercannon combo.

Really, not much exploring can be done with the explorer, except in fairly open spaces. It's like everything else though: you'll get all your items back when dismantling. So when you get stuck you can dismantle and rebuild elsewhere.

Originally posted by ShelLuser:

I use it, not so much for exploration but to get me from A to B; another nice bonus is that it provides its own crafting workbench which can come in handy at times.

However, you can also build and dismantle a craft bench (plus an equipment workshop and a MAM) anywhere at anytime, including areas the explorer can't access.

[GAMING_Alligator]

Originally posted by Lawn-Mower:

However, you can also build and dismantle a craft bench (plus an equipment workshop and a MAM) anywhere at anytime, including areas the explorer can't access.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to think of doing this . Before I was constantly hiking half way across the map because I hadn't brought enough portable miners to build my mines. Absolute game changer.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

I will use the jetpack because there is no way to harm the planet.

[Lawn-Mower]

Originally posted by GAMING_Alligator:

Originally posted by Lawn-Mower:

However, you can also build and dismantle a craft bench (plus an equipment workshop and a MAM) anywhere at anytime, including areas the explorer can't access.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to think of doing this . Before I was constantly hiking half way across the map because I hadn't brought enough portable miners to build my mines. Absolute game changer.

You can 'sail' up steep incline slopes far easier and smoother with a parachute than an explorer.

[The Big Brzezinski]

It's decent for exploring. Main advantage over a parachute is that it protects you from hazards. The map has driveable trails running all over it, so the explorer has pretty good reach.

[deltahazer]

Originally posted by GAMING_Alligator:

Originally posted by Lawn-Mower:

However, you can also build and dismantle a craft bench (plus an equipment workshop and a MAM) anywhere at anytime, including areas the explorer can't access.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to think of doing this . Before I was constantly hiking half way across the map because I hadn't brought enough portable miners to build my mines. Absolute game changer.

Even more so with Dimensional Depots unlocked :)

[Bedna]

I have multiple of them standing in different directions around my megafactory ready for me to grab and go somewhere. Car=+100km/h vs human legs with blade runners (50km/h, if it's even that fast). And you will never go faster than the initial speed (run speed) with either parashute or rocket pack. And they nerfed the ♥♥♥♥ out of bunny hopping, otherwise that was an argument to actually move faster using that method and rocket pack. Sadly no longer... :( (maybe this is the reason they nerfed it)
After the improvements of car-ragdoll stuff in 1.0 it is now even better as a means of transport, I just love them.
And they cost almost nothing to build or fuel, just throw a stack of solid biofuel and forget about it for the next 30 mins of driving...

And when exploring, drive to a new location and venture out around and explore, when done return to the car and drive home. When you have the rocket pack this becomes so easy.
Even if you end up at a high peak where you can parashute half way home, again, parchute only goes half speed as a car...
And remember, you don't have to care about big drops, as long as those drops does not lead to the void. The car with you inside can fall from any height, you never take fall damage inside the car, so when going home, just use shortcuts and drive off cliffs like Mad Max... xD

Edit.
In 1.0 they also added so smaller trees does not stop you, only big ones.

[Aranador]

I just enjoy driving around in one. I have done a circuit of the whole map just because it was fun to do so, racing through tunnels and weaving around rocks. And occasionally running over a hog or flipping 1080 after a surprise rock.

(And one time, flipping 1080 after a surprise rock only to land on a hog - 2 for 1 deal!)

[Lawn-Mower]

Originally posted by Bedna:

I have multiple of them standing in different directions around my megafactory ready .... And you will never go faster than the initial speed (run speed) with either parashute or rocket pack.

For large factory movement jetpack and some strategically placed MKVI belts (imbeded in foundations like those moving walkway conveyors at airports) go far faster.. I hide my cables, so zipline doesn't help me there, but if not that too would likely be faster.

I'm gonna call it - you use them because you like them, not because they're faster. Nothing wrong with that..