FSS Clicks Collection

What is this repository?

This repository is a community-driven data collection project around the mysterious FSS clicks heard in Elite Dangerous.

The goal is to collect clean, comparable data so hypotheses can be tested on real evidence rather than impressions.

Each contribution consists of:

• a short audio recording (≤ 60 seconds)
• an optional (but very needed) FSS setting screenshot at the time of recording
• an automatically generated metadata file describing the system and context

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What are we trying to observe?

At this stage, two main observable are of interest:

1. Click intensity (how strongly the clicks stand out from background noise)
2. FSS frequency setting (where the cursor was when the clicks were heard)

This observable may later be compared against system properties such as:

• number of stars
• number of planets
• system layout
• presence of biological or codex signals
• environmental subjects

No assumption is made about the cause of the clicks.

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Repository structure

fss-clicks-collection/
├─ audio/                  # Final, renamed FLAC files
├─ FSS_Screens/            # Optional FSS screenshots, renamed to match their audio file
├─ metadata/               # Auto-generated JSON metadata (from cmdr log files)
├─ incoming/               # Place ONE raw FLAC (+ optional screenshot) here before running the script
├─ systems/non_click       # Extracted systems from cmdr log where the clicks were not present
├─ tools/                  # Python scripts
│  └─ ingest.py            # Add audio, screenshot and system metadata to this repository
│  └─ analyze_clicks.py    # Performs the clicks analysis for each audio file of this repository
│  └─ WIP_fit_source.py    # Try to find a source using the found clicking systems
│  └─ click_route_plan.py  # Establishes optimized paths to maximize the clicking systems collection
├─ README.md
└─ .gitignore

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Contribution workflow

1. Record audio

• Record up to 60 seconds of audio while using the FSS (containing the clicks...)
• The file can be named anything
• Export as FLAC as described below:

Place the file into:

incoming/

⚠️ There must be ONLY one FLAC file in this folder.

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2. (Optional but really needed) Add a screenshot

You may also place a single FSS screenshot into incoming/ alongside the FLAC file.

Accepted formats: .png, .jpg, .jpeg

The screenshot will be renamed using the same base name as the audio file and moved into FSS_Screens/. If no screenshot is present, the script continues normally.

⚠️ There must be at most one screenshot in this folder.

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3. Run the ingestion script

Before running this script, make sure all bodies of the concerned system were scanned. From the repo root:

python tools/ingest.py "System Name Here"

The script will:

• verify the audio duration
• compute a short SHA-256 hash of the FLAC file
• rename and move the audio into audio/
• rename and move the screenshot (if present) into FSS_Screens/, using the same base name as the audio
• extract all available system metadata from Elite Dangerous logs
• generate a matching JSON file in metadata/

Example output files:

audio/Praea_Eurl_RY-H_d10-0__a3f92c1d.flac
FSS_Screens/Praea_Eurl_RY-H_d10-0__a3f92c1d.png
metadata/Praea_Eurl_RY-H_d10-0__a3f92c1d.json

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4. Commit and open a PR

git add audio/ FSS_Screens/ metadata/
git commit -m "Add FSS recording for Praea Eurl RY-H d10-0"
git push

Open a Pull Request.

Multiple recordings from the same system are expected and welcome.

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Naming and collision handling

File names always include a short hash derived from the audio content:

<SystemName>__<hash>.flac
<SystemName>__<hash>.png   ← same base name as the audio
<SystemName>__<hash>.json

This avoids conflicts when multiple CMDRs record the same system independently.

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About metadata

• Metadata is generated automatically from Elite Dangerous journal logs
• Fields that cannot be determined are set to null
• null means not available in the logs, not does not exist

Audio contains the signal itself. Screenshots provide visual context of the FSS state at the time of recording. Metadata provides the system context.

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What this is NOT

• This is not a proof of a hidden signal
• This is not a claim that the clicks mean anything

It is a data collection effort, nothing more, nothing less. Any future trilateration would depend entirely on what the data actually shows.

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Requirements

• Python 3.9+
• Elite Dangerous journal logs available locally
• FLAC recording (≤ 60s)
• mutagen — pip install mutagen

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Final note

If the clicks turn out to be simple FSS ambience, this repository will help show it. If they are not, this repository will help show that too.

Either outcome is a valid result.

Thanks for contributing.