Astrogeologist, I choose you!

[Reteo]

Most of the backgrounds include some free technology unlocks. Astrogeologist background includes the unlock for deep scanning. Unlike the other technological unlocks, however, deep scanning is not immediately usable; you have to go back and re-scan everywhere you already scanned using the less-deep scanning process before.

However, if you choose Astrogeologist as your initial background, you can get the deep scan of the map the first time, and not have to re-do it once the tech gets unlocked. Also, you will know ahead of time where all the deep deposits are, so they'll be clear (of, say, that inconvenient dome you placed there earlier) when you finally achieve the ability to exploit them.

 

[Rhaegor]

I like Astrogeologist or Doctor for longer colonist life span.

 

[zithedragon]

Only thing is it seems when you go through the scanning again with deap scan theres a chance to find more anomalies which would be the small downside for astrogeologist

 

[sterrius]

if im talking about use the 5 strongest are.

1-> Inventor -> Drone hub demand eletronics and 3 power. Now its free of charge, cost 120M but comes with 4 free droids. So in fact you are paying only 30M for each prefab.
Also its a beaktrough tech, so high chance of never getting it.

2-> Rocket Scientist -> Thats 3 Billion right there plus shuttles and long-range transportation. Its by far the best choice for money.

3-> Phsychologist -> +10 sanity per rest (5 + 5 from the commander) basically makes doctor clinics desired only if you want babies or do something to reduce health from colonists.
Also sanatorium is one of the best spires as it removes flaws.


Astrogeologist and hydroengineer would be super strong if the resources on the map where random. But unfortunaly with a fixed amount of maps and resources being locked on the map you can just cheat the game.


Get astrogeologist a rocket and fill with 30+ scanners.
load your map.
Scan everything.

Now go and load again with a normal setup .

 

[Kwami]

Are the resources fixed, though? The pre-release streams seemed to indicate that they were randomly generated.

 

[sterrius]

They are only fixed if you "restart the map" from the menu. If you were to play that same location again via a different game the resources would not be the same.

not getting this from my experience. If you choose the same coordinates you will find the same resources in the same spots.

But the map is acessible from multiple locations, those other locations do have different different resource spread.

So if you use 34E, 118N you always get the same results.
But 35E, 119N might give you something different. (but same map).

 

[Reteo]

So it works-ish.

 

[KDubya]

Does the Astrogeologist lose out on the anomalies that pop when you go back and deep scan?

I'm finding Ecologist to be really nice. It unlocks the Hanging Gardens which gets you +30 comfort for your lodging. Build that and apartments and you have 65 comfort. You just need to have enough water and an extra 10 polymer but it makes getting the founders to have babies really easy as houses + Hanging Garden gets you 80 comfort. Since it is unlocked at the start it'd help a Church start as they have zero research and with it your baby boom would start right away.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I am pretty sure you get the same amount of anomalies, regardless when you deep scan, so it shouldn't be any difference.

The bigger benefit from the Astrogeologist is actually that you get an exploitable Rare deposit from the get-go, which is pretty vital for higher difficulty sponsors that rely on a steady early income to get anywhere.

...and, yes, you can just save scum by exploring the map and then reload the same coordinates.

 

[Emre Yigit]

Most of the backgrounds include some free technology unlocks. Astrogeologist background includes the unlock for deep scanning. Unlike the other technological unlocks, however, deep scanning is not immediately usable; you have to go back and re-scan everywhere you already scanned using the less-deep scanning process before.

However, if you choose Astrogeologist as your initial background, you can get the deep scan of the map the first time, and not have to re-do it once the tech gets unlocked. Also, you will know ahead of time where all the deep deposits are, so they'll be clear (of, say, that inconvenient dome you placed there earlier) when you finally achieve the ability to exploit them.

I choose my custom commander, who enables the perfectly functioning cables and pipes breakthroughs.

 

[Reteo]

The bigger benefit from the Astrogeologist is actually that you get an exploitable Rare deposit from the get-go, which is pretty vital for higher difficulty sponsors that rely on a steady early income to get anywhere.

Actually, according to the sidebar to the deposit, it requires other technologies to make it exploitable ("The deposit is not exploitable with our current technology"). All you get at the beginning of the game is the knowledge that they're there. In my mind, this is valuable, as it helps you plan out your colony; you can place domes in such a way that they can be near deep deposits without covering them up, so that when the technology to exploit them becomes available, the only actual work you'll need to do is plop the extractor in the vicinity. In addition, you won't unknowingly cover up that deep rare metals deposit with your wind farm or Moxie Cluster.

If you wanted to both detect and exploit deep deposits at the beginning of the game, you'd need both the "Astrogeologist" profile and the "Blue Sun Corporation" sponsor ("Deep Scanning" and "Deep Metal Extraction" unlocks). This would likely be the "steady early income" combination (especially since Blue Sun also starts with a rare metal deposit revealed automatically).

Keep in mind, also, that anomalies aren't just discovered when scanning; they also appear during meteor strikes, so even after the entire field is scanned, you will likely still occasionally have anomalies to analyze.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

I am not talking about the deepscanned deposits - those are pretty useless, given that the techs to exploit them usually is only 2-4 techs away from the Mohole. The real boon from deepscanning early is the extra anomalies that it uncovers (at least I think it does).

The Astrogeologist starts with a regular Rare Metal deposit somewhere on the map. That's the big boon.

 

[Reteo]

I am not talking about the deepscanned deposits - those are pretty useless, given that the techs to exploit them usually is only 2-4 techs away from the Mohole. The real boon from deepscanning early is the extra anomalies that it uncovers (at least I think it does).

The Astrogeologist starts with a regular Rare Metal deposit somewhere on the map. That's the big boon.

Ah, I see. However, it might help to remember what I said about the Blue Sun corporation: If you start with Astrogeologist and Blue Sun Corporation, you will be able to scan for and exploit deep metals (and deep rare metals) from the beginning (or, at least, once you have the colonists to do the mining, but still...)

EDIT: Additionally, just to check the claim out, I did Astrogeologist with Blue Sun, and I discovered one thing: Even with "Deep Scanning" enabled, using orbital probes will not perform a deep scan, only the base scan. Deep scanning seems to be solely done by the "slow" method.

 

[GAGA Extrem]

Probes have a specific early game tech for deepscanning.

 

[Reteo]

In some cases, by the time you get that tech, it's probably better just to keep going and see where you can get.