The Noctis Exploration Guide ---------------------------- --Introduction-- Welcome to the unofficial Noctis Exploration Guide. This Guide will guide you through finding whatever you want. It's subdivided into a few chapters. The first one will explain to you the characteristics of various planets, and the next few chapters go on about a specific part of exploration, depending on your goals (such as photography, extreme sports, etc). This guide will assume that you are using the extended features Noctis IV CE gives you. --Characteristics of Planet types found in the Noctis Galaxy-- Each and every planet in the Noctis Galaxy has it's own characteristic. Many of them are different in a lot of ways. Some are flat and bright. Some are dark yet varied. First, let's take a look at the different types of planets you can find in the Noctis galaxy.. Medium size, internally hot, unstable surface, no atmosphere. Small, solid, dusty, craterized, no atmosphere. Medium size, solid, thick atmosphere, fully covered by clouds. Medium size, felisian, breathable atmosphere, suitable for life. Medium size, rocky, creased, no atmosphere. Small, solid, thin atmosphere. Large, not consistent, covered with dense clouds. Small, solid, icy surface, no atmosphere. Medium size, surface is mainly native quartz, oxygen atmosphere. Very large, substellar object, not consistent. Companion star - not a planet. Let's take a closer look at each planettype. --Medium size, internally hot, unstable surface, no atmosphere. These planets are very unstable, and therefore, you can't land on them. They've got a lot of volcanic activity, which gives them the orange-ish look as seen from space. Usually, these planets can be found orbiting a very large, substellar object. However, they're not really worth your attention, unless you want to make some images from space. They do look really great, though. --Small, solid, dusty, craterized, no atmosphere. These planets are dusty, small, got a lot of craters (some which are huge!), but they don't have any atmosphere. Their surface is pretty flat, apart from the occasional crater and bump. Their gravity is very low, though, which makes these planets great for practicing your Jetpack skills with. If you want to find these, look for them close to stars (like S00's), or close to bigger planets. From space, they can sometimes look really great, yet usually they look like each and every one of them: the same as any other. Not often worth the time. --Medium size, solid, thick atmosphere, fully covered by clouds. These planets are often dark. They're also often really hard to navigate on from the surface, due to the very thick atmosphere. If you're looking for glassified planets, or for planets with only lava, look for these! The thick atmosphere traps heat, which often makes these planets really hot. Their surface has a lot of variation in height, but that variation in height isn't sudden: it's very smooth. That makes them pretty boring, but sometimes the pits in these planets can be really neat. The atmosphere DOES give these planets a really nice touch, though. From space, they don't really look all that great. Think a thick layer of clouds, without much variation. Sometimes, these planets have "layers" of dark or light clouds on them. --Medium size, felisian, breathable atmosphere, suitable for life. Well, what more to say about these than that they've often got life. That is what makes them the most favored planet of any Stardrifter. The surface of these planets are littered with trees, and various animals walk on them. Also, these planets have oceans, pools, and ice caps of enormous size. About 75% of Felisian planets have tall grass on them, which makes them look a bit odd, though. However, a good thing about these planets is that they've got different types of surface. They've got ice caps, forests, shrublands, deserts, plains, and different types of Taiga. If you're looking for mountains, look in oceans for islands, or look at the taiga/ice caps. Probably the neatest surfacetype of these planets are the Forests, which have gazillions of large trees, and a few ENORMOUS trees on them, or the "very dense taiga", which have icy lakes, an extremely varied surface, and plenty of small shrubs. Make sure you've got a camera with you, though! From space, they don't really look all that great, though. They've got storms, yes. But that's it, really. Always worth the visit! --Medium size, rocky, creased, no atmosphere. Very underestimated type of planet. These are like the small and dusty craterized planets, but these have more rocks, and more interesting mountains, alongside with a higher gravity. Unfortunately, these planets also have a lot in common with small, solid, dusty planets. They're often flat. Very flat. With a few exceptions of a mountain or two, or a few humps... Note that these mountains are probably the highest and biggest you'll ever seen. They're often extremely big, with about 3 peaks or so... From space, they can either look brilliant, or boring. Lucky for us, you can actually see the "worth-it-ness" from space! If it looks as if it's got a whole lot of mountains, go land here! If it looks flat, leave it as it is, you've got better stuff to spend your time at. When you've found one of these planets with a good quality, land at either the really dark, or really bright spots. They've got the best mountains. If you're looking for big mountains, these are your thing! Power up that jetpack, too! --Small, solid, thin atmosphere. These planets are often dark. But the colorschemese of these planets are probably the best you'll ever find. Red with Blue, green with purple, orange with blue, they're all there.. Some even have a grey atmosphere! The surface of these planets is completely flat at the dark parts (avoid those!), and pretty much always extremely varied at the other parts. Mountains are often really high at these planets (unfortunately, they're also somewhat sparse), and can often be really big, too. Sometimes, they even have little pits near the sides of them, which makes them great for climbing on and jumping off again. For the rest, the surfaces of Thin Atmosphere planets are very spiky and rough. They somewhat look like the "very dense taiga" zones you can find on Felysian planets. Thin atmospheres are also the only planets with bright poles. Some believe that auroras cause these. Another characteristic of these planets is that they have some sort of clouds, which often look like craters as seen from space (they're ring-shaped). Below these clouds, everything looks pretty damn bright, too. From space, these planets don't look really great, though, apart from the aforementioned bright poles and ring-shaped clouds. From my own experience, I somewhat know that the grey planets have the most varied and rough surface, and that the green ones can be most surprising. Don't ever try to land on the dark spots, though... If you're looking for some fun, and have a lot of energy to burn, go explore the surface of these planets! Don't try to land on these when they're too far away from their parent star, either... They can be extremely dark when you do that.. Pay them a visit and enjoy! --Large, not consistent, covered with dense clouds. "Gas Giants". Not much to say about these, apart from the fact that they have a lot of (often small) moons, and that they can look pretty neat from space. Too bad you can't land on these, though. Explore the moons of these planets instead! --Small, solid, icy surface, no atmosphere. Maybe the most boring planet of them all. They're extremely flat, even more flat than the dusty planets. They're also dark, and often extremely far away from their parent star. From space, they can look pretty neat, though. There are cracks running all over them! However, that's probably the most exciting thing about these planets. Don't bother visiting these. Just ignore them like everyone else. --Medium size, surface is mainly native quartz, oxygen atmosphere. These planets are a synonym for brightness. Their skies are often extremely white, and their surfaces can be pretty much any color. They're hilly, their mountains are neat, and their surfaces are just extremely neat. Unfortunately, their hills and mountains are often very roundish, which makes them a bit dull. That's why pits are better on these planets. If you're not bothering with the spiky, dark Thin Atmosphere planets, but still want something neat and extreme to see, visit these! A common "tactic" with these planets, is to land at the extremely dark or extremely bright parts, as seem from space. The dark parts have dark surfaces, yet they also have a lot of extremely high "plateus". Great for jumping off from. Just remember to land safely with the jetpack, or you might red out. :) From space, they look stupid, though. Very grainy. Their nice surfaces make up for that, though. Highly recommended! --Very large, substellar object, not consistent. These extremely large "planets" are almost stars. They're bright, and always have a lot of planets orbiting them. However, you can't land on them. From space, they don't really look all that neat. One bright side, one dark side, and a gradient inbetween. However, sometimes they have neat colors, like bright red. Not often worth the visit, unless you're visiting one of it's moons. --Companion star - not a planet. Not much to say about these, apart from the fact that they only exist around S08's.. They're just stars.... From space, they look like a star.. and that's it.. The only extremely neat thing about these, is that you can also see it when you're standing on one of it's moons! Two stars in the sky are neat, trust me...