4Game

As it stands, exobiology is just collect 3 different specimens of the same species that are X metres away from each other. With the minigame removed it's more like an Ubisoft fetch quest than exobiology.

I propose a readjustment; rather than being told what the species is on first sample, we have to figure that out for ourselves.

When the stellar forge creates the new life, it must pick from a list of premade plant parts, and mix them together (I'm sure with more rules in the process). There are also species specimens at different life stages.

2 levels of exobiology: on foot, and on ship.

On foot you need to only collect one sample to start, but if you can find the same species in a different life stage, it will help for the in-ship part. You can also collect multiple species at once, no need to go for one at a time.

The on ship part is where things get tricky in terms of development and UI.

When on board your ship, you can open up a menu to start attempting to classify/name the plant species you have discovered. You can do this in supercruise, or even in multicrew.

You will be shown a 3d rendering of the specimen/s you have collected, and then compare it to known structures (is it a tubus, or a concha, or a fungoida, etc). Then has it got leaves/fronds/spines, etc. As you piece together the classification of your specimen, your cash when you hand it into Vista Genomics goes up, with a big bonus if you correctly classify the organism.

You can be given 'hints' by the computer if you collect specimens at different life stages.

You aren't told if you're wrong while determining plant species, until you hand it in to Vista Genomics. If you hand in a Concha to Vista Genomics and call it a Tubus, they will only give you the base level cash for your specimen, and tell you what the real species name is.

I believe this rework will accomplish a few things;

1. It gives explorers something to do on long supercruise trips
2. Incentivizes exploration multicrew
3. Players who grow skilled will be able to identify organisms more quickly and earn rank/cash faster, but players who want to just hand in plants will still get something for their effort.

What are your thoughts on this?