Biome scanning should be available earlier

[GoSlash27]

 ... perhaps with the introduction of the HECS. Players should be able to map out the Munar (or Minmus) biomes when they've progressed to the point in the tech tree where they're ready to launch without resorting to outside sources for the info. As it stands now, players are forced to either land blind in their first few missions or refer to the wiki.

Best,
-Slashy

[Nathair]

16 hours ago, GoSlash27 said:

 ... perhaps with the introduction of the HECS. Players should be able to map out the Munar (or Minmus) biomes when they've progressed to the point in the tech tree where they're ready to launch without resorting to outside sources for the info. As it stands now, players are forced to either land blind in their first few missions or refer to the wiki.

Landings are very sloppy affairs in KSP, unlike real life.  Apollo 12 was specifically and intentionally a test of the ability to make precision landings. When 13 failed to land at Fra Mauro they bumped 14 off it's originally selected site and sent it to Fra Mauro because Fra Mauro was a more "geologically" interesting site. Kerbals, on the other hand, generally land somewhere near the equator, usually, if it works out. Likewise landing on returning home is a "Just park that thing anywhere" affair. Poles? Desert? Mid-ocean? Whatever!

It's too bad, it would be nice to have some stock tools to make the landing site locations and precision landings something to think about and shoot for.

[GoSlash27]

Nathanair,

 I do precision landings all the time in stock. It's just a matter of technique.

Best,
-Slashy

[Wjolcz]

6 hours ago, Nathair said:

Kerbals, on the other hand, generally land somewhere near the equator, usually, if it works out.

What?

[Hotaru]

2 hours ago, GoSlash27 said:

 I do precision landings all the time in stock.

Same here, landing within a few kilometers of a target is pretty easy, and landing within a few dozen meters is perfectly doable. In general even my first Mun landing tries to aim for someplace that looks flat, and every landing after that I'm aiming to hit a new biome or an anomaly.

Fortunately (and possibly intentionally) the Mun and Minmus do have some biomes that are plainly visible from orbit--the large craters and flats--but I still agree it would be nice to get biome scanning abilities earlier in career mode, especially for pinpointing landing sites in smaller biomes like Canyons or Midland Craters, and for telling Highlands, Midlands, and Lowlands apart.

[Nathair]

5 hours ago, Veeltch said:

What?

The only significant thing to consider in the earliest landings is that it's a bit easier to land and take-off again near the equator. I guess "On the lit side" is a consideration early on.

 

5 hours ago, GoSlash27 said:

 I do precision landings all the time in stock. It's just a matter of technique.

I do too. I did not say it can't be done, I said there's usually (especially early on) just no reason to bother worrying about it and that's too bad. Landing site location and timing was extremely significant to early Apollo missions.

[GoSlash27]

1 minute ago, Nathair said:

I do too. I did not say it can't be done, I said there's usually (especially early on) just no reason to bother worrying about it and that's too bad. Landing site location and timing was extremely significant to early Apollo missions.

Nathair,

 In my case, I do worry about it early on. I like to get through my biomes in an orderly and efficient manner. On the return trip, however... I don't really care where the capsule comes down.

Best,
-Slashy

 

[MinimalMinmus]

To me the most frustrating biomes are the mun's canyon and minmus' slopes: both are slender, so on a polar orbit you cross them in a handful of seconds, both are hard to land on becausr they are made of very sloped terrain, and worst of all the slopes are absolutely undistinguishable from nearby terrain.