The option "use as target" would be useful, but it does only work if the selected object is within the range of the standard "short range scanner". The object "place ship near object" feels like cheating, it doesn't even take time, you get "teleported" there instanteously.
So, what I would like to have would be a Long Range Scanner (LRS) that feels more realistic, and which also has some cost and requires some skill to use. So here is what I imagine:
01. The Long Range Scanner doesn't stop game time / pause the game. When you use it, the game continues, so using it in combat or while flying through an asteroid field would not be wise
02. The Long Range Scanner needs energy to operate. The energy usage depends on the scan intensity and size of the area that is being scanned, and should of course be balanced for gameplay. So for example intense scans could use so much energy that they are only feasible when the ship is equipped with an extra energy unit, and even then the energy should drop, allowing only a few minutes of scanning.
03. The Long Range Scanner is not perfect. It may give false results, probably showing false positives or not detecting something that is actually there. The more energy is used on the scanned area, the more information will be shown, and the probabilty for scanning errors is reduced.
04. Stealth Ships / Ships equipped with Cloaking Devices should be (much) much harder to detect.
05. As mentioned before, the area that is scanned should be adjustable. That is, both the size and the region. Or, to be more realistic, perhaps the scanned region should always be relative to the players ship, e.g. "scan the region in front of the ship up to a distance of 100.000 km". The bigger the selected region, the more energy is needed. Maximum size: whole system.
06. It would be nice if the scanner would display it's results in a way similar to the standard "short range scanner" (SRS). Clicking on a contact with the mouse could somehow show all available info about the selected object, e.g. in another window.
Examples on how I think the visual representation might look like can be found here:
06.01. http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/1994 ... ale3d1.png
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/9491/h ... ale3d2.png
(from: http://www.scifi-meshes.com/forums/show ... p%29/page5 )
06.02. http://www.planetaryvisions.com/Project.php?pid=2229
06.03. http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0303c/
06.04. http://www.shatters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=15637
06.05. an animated example (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPwDyUp0YAc
06.06. another video with animations: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XCqrUdAzJw
07. Since scanning is done in real time and uses energy, there should also be a some memory / scan log that stores a certain amount of scans (or a certain time / duration) for later analysis, so one can examine it without having the energy-expensive scanner run.
08. Perhaps it would be cool if there where "active" and "passive" scans: passive scans giving much less information (since they only read what is emitted by the objects themselves) and active scans giving more information (depending on the energy used), but being detectable by other ships that are within the scanned area, thus revealing to them the position of the player's ship and probably attracting them when scanning actively (or, if they are fugitives and you have to hunt them, making them run away).
10. Scanning should not work instantly, but take some time, at least for active scans, since the scanning signal sent needs to travel the way to the scanned objects and back to the ship.
11. Scanners could have different scanning modes, which can also be combined (energy use adds up then, of course). Information that can be obtained by the long range scanner could for example be something like this:
11.01. Mass Detection: Detects objects based on their mass. Sun, Gas Giants, Planets, Moons are detected even by passive scanning, large objects (asteroids, big ships, star bases) with lower probability and based on their distance. Active Scanning makes detection of lower masses possible. Since it's only mass that is detected, the type of object cannot be determined by this kind of scan alone.
11.02. Energy Detection: Detects objects by their emitted energy. Different kinds of energy can help in identifying the object:
11.02.01. Suns can easily be detected (identified and localized) by their radiation even through passive scanning
11.02.02. Planets and moons also often have some kind of radiation that makes it pretty easy (even through passive scanning) to determine the kind of object (compare to: Star Trek Planetary Classes, like class M)
11.02.03. Machines (Ships, star bases, escape capsules, some containers) emit different kinds of energy; depending on distance and kind of energy and the emitting devices' size (e.g. bigger ships / mightier / dirtier engines are easier to detect), even a passive scan can give valuable information:
11.02.03.01. Engines (different kinds: Normal, Jump Drive, Hyperdrive charging up, Afterburner, Q-Boosters, ...): Passive scans can perhaps determine kind of propulsion being used, active scans might be able to determine manufacturer of the engine by comparing the signature with a database...?
11.02.03.02. Weapons: Lasers and Plasma balls emit pretty large amounts of energy and are widely visible even through passive scans, making detection of fights rather easy? Active scans help distinguish the kind of weapon used (military laser / mining laser / pulse laser / beam laser / plasma cannon ...). Missiles emit engine radiation and perhaps some radiation from their targetting system (like active radar)... but missiles should be treated rather as ships than as weapons with regard to the Long Range Scanner.
11.02.03.04. Scanners: If a ship has Long Range Scanners active (active scanning), every ship within the scanned area has a chance to detect the emitted radiation / the scanning ship.
11.02.03.05. Signals / Communication: Some ships might send signals (like communication signals, distress signals, ...) which can be detected. E.g. some containers might constantly send some signal with their position and probably info on their content?
11.02.03.06. Shields: Shields emit energy, but they also prevent sensors to penetrate them and thus they make it hard to scan what is inside the shield / the content of the shielded ship. Active scanning might be able to determine the manufacturer of the shield, thus giving information about the ship.
11.02.04. Explosions are widely detectable, but have a short duration. A long range scanner might be set to automatically inform the pilot if an explosion is detected within the system (?).
11.03. Material: Through active scanning, the long range scanner can determine the materials of which an object consists. Simple examples: asteroids -> rocks / ice / minerals; ships: metal...
11.04. Visual analysis: some kind of super-telescope allows to inspect the objects visuals from a distance. A "overview mode" tries to get a snapshot of every object that has been detected by the other components of the LRS (e.g. through Mass Detection) and attaches / includes the image to the object's information.
11.05. Wormholes: I think that a wormhole emits large amounts of energy in an unique mix, thus making it possible to detect them with passive scanners within the whole system. If the ship is equipped with a wormhole scanner, an active scan can give the information of the wormhole scanner even over long ranges.
12. Database comparison: Perhaps, one could purchase databases against which scans can be compared in order to determine which objects match such a scan signature. The ships' database automatically get's updated when targets detected by long range scanners get identified by the standard (short range) scanner.
13. The player can set any object detected by the long range scanner as a target or compass destination. As long as the long range scanner is actively tracking the target, the compass / target will be updated, too. If not, the target might no longer be there when the player arrives.
14. The long range scanner can be reached over the map (first press F5 then some other key combination (shift-n?)).
Well, these are my thoughts on the LRS so far. I already thought about implementing it myself as an oxp. But since I've got almost no experience in programming OXP's (but I've got programming experience, although not much yet in JavaScript), I'd really appreciate some comments and tips on whether and how the above points could be implemented, and how difficult this would be. Also, comments about the concept and suggestions on how LRS should work are welcome! Oh, and if someone else would like to implement that, that would be perfectly fine with me, too
)EDIT: added another animated example for visualization
Well, It's a completely different kind of gameplay, much more arcade-like. (At least the way I used it). Everything works much faster with it. You can get to the action instantly, and the menu is quite comfortable. I hunted down some fugitives (until I met one which had really bad-ass turrets and ripped me apart), and explored the Level 15-system in Galaxy 1, using the "Thargoid Hyperdrive". I discovered some Jump Gates there and used them, it was a little bit like a spoiler, so I forced myself to quit 
I think that would be funny! 
![[EliteWiki]](/images/elitewikismall.png){kind=small}
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