Frontier Exploration and Trade

- Exploration Guide -




Equipping Your Ship

Unless you are exploring a completely new area of the Peripheries you are unlikely to require system probes. It is, however, a good idea to take along a dozen or so planet probes to obtain the latest available maps for any worlds that you intend to explore. Your manifest should look something like this:

12 Planet Probes (in Funtional)
1 Physics Lab (in Functional)
1 Biolab (in Functional)
1 GPI (in Functional)
1 Space Fighter (in Functional)
1 Repairbot (in Cargo)
1 Ground Fighter (in Cargo)
1 Biochemist (in Cargo)
(Be aware that the FET class 7 ship, the Deep Explorer, has both kinds of labs - Bio and Phyisics - automatically installed.)


Optional Equipment:

20 or so Structural Units (for shoring purposes)
Additional Crew (to allow for any unforseen fatalities)
A few troops (to allow you to cope with "local difficulties")
Additional Life Supports (to allow you to recover lifeforms)

You can assume that your ships holds basic tools to fashion nets, traps, pits, etc. It will also hold vac suits (for exploring worlds with a unbreathable atmosphere), basic stun weaponry, limited first aid, personal communicators, etc. You can also assume that your ship´s computer has limited translation facilities.


Before You Go

If you are likely to be exploring for any length of time it can be a good idea to check where the nearest maintenance, repair and recreation facilities are situated. Obviously, it makes sense to take an early maintenance visit at a major colony if your maintenance is just 6 or 7 weeks away. In addition, you might want to boost your moral at a recreation complex prior to leaving the more densely colonized areas of the Peripheries.


The Ship now Arriving at ...

If you do not already possess a copy of a map of the world which you plan to explore then your first task is to fire off a planet probe.


Pick Your Terrain

Lifeforms and various finds tend to be terrain specific. Lifeforms, say, discoverd in a swamp terrain, could also be discovered (most likely) in any other swamp terrain of the same world. But be aware that special findings, like unique relicts/lifeforms/etc could be found in only one or a few sectors. For example, you could find such a relict/lifeform/etc in one grassland sector, while the next grassland sector will be empty.


Exploring Worlds

The most interesting worlds as far as explortion goes are those which planet probes report as containing life. This, however, means not that lifeless planets/moons are uninteresting. It is usually a good idea to attempt a surface exploration of a random sector on even the most unpromising lifeless dustbowl.

For worlds which contain life the suggested modus operandi is to land at a random "sea" sector and at a random "land" sector and conduct a Suface Exploration in each sector (following up with an Investigation of each lifeform/mineral/etc discovered using biolab or phyiscs lab facilities.

In order to discover other terrain types to explore get your ship back into orbit and map a few more sectors. While a Sector mapping will not provide a great deal of information it will reveal three things:
I) the prevailing terrain in the sector
II) wether any other position are present in the sector, and
III) wether any outposts exist in the sector.


Investigations/Special Actions

Conducting investigations of flora and fauna on a world is largely a matter of common sense. If you want to examine a plant you take samples. If you want to investigate an animal you may have to capture it. For example: The crew will be instructed to fashion some nets in an attempt to trap a few of the birds in order that you may subject them to analysis using the facilities of our biolabs.
Obviously, you need to tailor your plans to suit the particular lifeform in which you are interested but it is not too difficult to come up with a workable plan of action.
Every now and then you will be faced with a find and/or lifeform for which "defeats" simple investigation via biolab of physics lab. By all means ask your science officer for his/her advice, consult your ship´s computer for comperable data, etc but in this situation it´s a case of assembling the pieces of the puzzle and arriving at the final picture.
Rely on your wit and intelligence and you will generally solve most problems.


Final Points

FET has made tremendous gains form surface exploration purely because a higher proportion of our members have devoted a considerable amount of time to this aspect. Many of our members have been prepared to work at a problem until they have solved it and, as a result, there is a considerable pool of exploration talent on which you can call.



Slightly modified version of the original manuscript by Ahab Jones (Alan Crump).


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Latest Update: 199.32

swohlert@facstaff.wisc.edu.