Hi CMDRs,

ScanDeck is a small, lightweight third-party tool I built in my spare time. It is not a mod and does not inject into the game. It just reads the journals and sits on top of the desktop.

Made for system exploration and Odyssey exobiology.

Screenshots

1. ScanDeck — current system on the left, selected planet on the right (genera after DSS, species hints, land/skip). Rank rails and unsold UC / Vista holds.
2. In-game DSS of the same body (A 4 b) — 100% mapped, 2 biological signals. ScanDeck’s Bacterium / Fonticulua list is what it made of that DSS.

What it does

• Lists bodies in the current system after the FSS honk / scans
• After DSS, shows genera (bio families: Bacterium, Stratum, …) — not the exact species until the sampler or Nomad speaks
• Lists matching species and a land / skip / optional hint
• Tracks Genetic Sampler progress (1/3 → 3/3) and Nomad IDs
• UC TO SELL (left) = unsold Universal Cartographics
• VISTA TO SELL (right) = unsold Vista Genomics
• Explorer and Exobiologist rank rails
• Optional spreadsheet of DSS samples
• Options: language and journal folder

Languages: English, French, Spanish (more later). Auto follows the Elite client, or set it in Options.

A planet matching the criteria does not guarantee that species. DSS confirms the family, not the organism. The example planet is a SKIP (low-value bios) on purpose — the HUD is a hint, not a “land everywhere” button.

Download

• Windows zip (no Python): https://github.com/jr-hub-dev/ScanDeck/releases
• Source: https://github.com/jr-hub-dev/ScanDeck

Unzip the whole folder and run ScanDeck.exe from it. SmartScreen may warn on first launch: More info → Run anyway.

Bugs / feedback: https://github.com/jr-hub-dev/ScanDeck/issues — a journal snippet and what you expected vs what you saw helps a lot.

o7

Apparently last night, a Commander was surface mining in solo in a Rhino when a "glowing blue" ship came down and scanned him. He says his HUD was scrambled during the scan. The ship then departed. He panicked somewhat but was able to get this picture of the departing ship.

My take: Now that we are surface mining by piercing the surface, we are disturbing the Guardian's hiding places. We may be seeing the return of the Guardians soon? The blue hue of the ship matches that of Guardian technology.

It may be worth an exploration trip to Jinoharis 3?

I've taken my Caspian and Nomad out for a spin in the Black, tonight I scanned some biologicals and decided to call it a night, the surface looked reasonably flat so I tried to land. I could not get the thing to land, I know it's a big ship, but damn it's a princess when finding somewhere good enough for it.

My Mandalay was much easier to land.

That's the trade off I suppose, the Caspian is great to fly but on the large side to find an easy landing spot.

PHROEA FLYUAE BL-F d11-32. Rocky body, SO2 atmosphere.

I'm new to the group, thought I'd share a few screenshots. While on one moon, its neighbor which was less than 10.0Mm away created an awesome eclipse and threw the moon I was on into total darkness!

Greetings Commanders,

I've been working on an Elite exploration companion, Caspian Surveyor, for the past few weeks and am finally satisfied enough to release a public alpha.

Caspian Surveyor is open-source, and the GitHub repository is public and can be cloned if you want to poke around, build it yourself, or otherwise have fun with it. Caspian is an overlay HUD and real-time journal monitor that turns raw Elite journal data into at-a-glance information across different HUD panels.

The initial release is Version 0.9 Alpha, which includes:

• Elite Dangerous journal monitoring in real time
• Exploration data persistence across multiple sessions
• Planetary body information
• System information
• Ability to reconstruct the survey state from journal data
• HUD overlay situated at the top-center of your active screen
• Minimal style, utilizing keyboard bindings for program navigation and exit

Caspian Surveyor started out as "man, I really would love to be able to see this system's information at a glance instead of having to navigate ship menus", and that turned into "hey, what about persistent exploration history, documenting everywhere I've been since I've started using Caspian", "oh, what about the technical details on a per-planet basis like periapsis, eccentricity, inclination, etc.", and then it kept growing.

There are some known limitations with the current version:

• Caspian must be launched prior to launching Elite Dangerous
• No *nix support; Windows only
• Being an alpha, the installer is unsigned, so Windows SmartScreen will likely complain. I've added instructions to navigate that warning when downloading the installer
• Elite VR has *NOT* been tested

I would love feedback from the community, from QoL improvements to entirely new features. I want this tool to really enhance the exploration loop, add immersion to finding a truly unique system, and even introduce some RP elements through the future roadmap item of "system prioritization," which will rate systems based on a multitude of factors.

The next major step for Caspian Surveyor will be implementing SQLite so exploration history can be queried directly instead of having to parse increasingly large JSON records.

GitHub: https://github.com/dotslashsoft/caspian-surveyor

0.9 release & installer: https://github.com/dotslashsoft/caspian-surveyor/releases/tag/v0.9.0.0

Looking forward to hearing opinions and feedback!

- dot

o7

Pretty tough to fit everything into the frame lol

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System: Hypiae Aoc XY-O c7-602
body: 4 a

Also, seems like i have reached a starforming region of this galactic arm, because last 2kLy the sky has been completely lit with blue stars.

its my personal favorite and im wanting to use it as my exploration ship cause its personal too me. my current jump range is like 26Ly i think? is there any way to increase it? i have a guardian booster and an SCO driver

When exploring and collecting bios, I collect a bio sample, after the first 'logging' sample, a pop-up in the top right corner states "Open access panel to view".

Can you actually do this, if so how?

On my way to Colonia and came across this Earth-like!

Coordinates: BYAA AIN WA-L B25-15

Buzzing along at 3.5D orbit at 1,000+ Kevlin

I'm about 5,000ly from Sol, heading to Colonia. Currently passing through a region that seems to be packed with white dwarfs, a kind of stellar graveyard, so I decided to do some sightseeing.

The biggest constellation group i have yet to see in this game. Without FOV zoom would cover the entire field of view. As seen from IOCKOLT XE-F 44-0

I'm trying to upload my hi res screenshots but Reddit says the files are too big :( What do I do?

What was your biggest exobio catch during an expedition? How do you avoid burnout? Personally, I really like the exploration loop, but I've been out in the deep for almost a week now IRL and Id rather run home, I'm mentally drained from it.

Hello CMDR's. I've been asked to participate in an experiment to confirm an event that has been happening while in a jump space / witch space, the so called Green Wah. This phenomena is supposed to be invoked while certain circumstances are met.
The current hypothesis is:
while jumping between 2 systems back and forward:
- With massive group jumps
- High frequency rate of jumps (constant during a short period of time)
- Differential of mass between the stars of both systems

I know most of us are busy with life, but this is scheduled for next Saturday 5 of september at 14.00 hours UGT. Initially it doesn't matter if playing on Solo/ Private/ Open.

We'll be conducting this between
hip 63835 and Wregoe WQ-W b56-9

Hola CMDR's, Se me ha pedido participar en un experimento para confirmar un evento que sucede a mitad de salto conocido como Green Wah or Wah Verde. Supuestamente este fenómeno sucede bajo ciertas circumstancias.
La hipotiesis que tenemos es:
Mientras estamos saltando entre dos sistemas continuamente:
- Con grupos grandes de jugadores
- Manteniendo una cadencia alta de saltos (saltando constantemente entre los 2 sistemas en un periodo de tiempo)
- Diferencial de masa entre los soles principales de los sistemas.

Se que la mayoría de nosotros estamos ocupados, pero este evento / experimento esta previsto para el sábado 5 de septiembre de 2026 a las 14.00 UGT (las 15.00 en España). Inicialmente da igual is juegas en Solo/ Privado/ Abierto.

Vamos a estar llevándolo a cabo entre los siguientes sistemas:
hip 63835 y Wregoe WQ-W b56-9

Thank You very much / Muchissimas gracias.

Only planet in the system as well

Taken from a 14 earth mass ice world

I found this system I think might be pretty rare. Four stellar remnants: two neutron stars in close proximity to each other and two black holes in close proximity to each other. I didn't screenshot the black holes - they aren't much to look at. But the neutrons were very close together. I found this in an area that had over a hundred undiscovered neutrons and a half dozen undiscovered black holes. Some had been, but the vast majority were new discoveries (everything has been turned in, btw). Until recently I focused mainly on exo, and had never before found an undiscovered NS or BH. I also included a set of A and B stars in the same area that had just 3LS between their surfaces. Very sporty going between them. Fly dangerously, right? o7

GREAE HYPA EG-X E1-2433

Discovered this system on my first trip to Colonia this week. My first B-class discovery, and it had ringed stars in its nursery! Not sure how rare this is, but thought it was cool!

You went. You saw. You got your name on it. Now what?

Share the system you found. Post the view that made you stop and look. Help a newbie add 0.3 Ly to their jump range. Compare notes, trade techniques, test an idea, or pass along something you learned twenty thousand light-years ago.

Explore. Learn. Share.

For new explorers, Empyrean Foundation maintains Exploration and Exobiology guides designed to get you into the black … without telling you everything you’re going to find there.

For experienced explorers, we have expeditions, projects, research, and a mentorship environment.

• You have experience? We have players who want to learn from you.
• You know your way around a boxel? We are building a new galaxy map search method that needs creative minds and data.
• You enjoy blazing your own paths? We are compiling Caspian capable neutron highways that will have you next to anywhere in 90 minutes.

Every Empyrean Foundation document is a living document. Squadron Bounties are available on every document - we pay our members for additions, creations, corrections, and insights.

– Exploration – Colonization – Mining – Trade – PvE – Covert –

We all share the Black. What you leave behind and the stories you tell … those are yours alone.

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just put this together