PLAYER PLANETARY BUILDING. To save Elite. A game we all love.

[Quint87]

What could Elite Dangerous be...?

I have spent some time in the Elite public discord. We talk about random stuff as we fly around the void, killing thargoids/pirates, helping new players, talking lite politics even though its against the rules.. we talk about the worries & problems of the world and how to fix them.. we talk about discord drama, life-work, and of course the Development of Elite Dangerous.

One topic that always comes up.. is what could Elite Dangerous be. What untapped potential.. what future developments could there be..

Elite has a dedicated fan base that only a few of the best games share. Elite is unique in its scope and size. A 1:1 ratio of the galaxy.. just insane. You can get a feeling in elite that cannot be felt in other space sim games.. the feeling of being completely alone and out in the void. The real feeling of exploration and understanding of the absolute fantastic size of our galaxy. Combat, especially Player vs Player can be heart pounding intense.

Elite is a game that is already great.
But could be better.

Elite is missing something INGAME. Its missing the need for players to interact with each other on a physical scale.. that grind of pvp/community that drives other games and leads to their continued prosperity.
How could this be fixed? How can Elite be saved?

PLAYER PLANETARY BUILDING.
Hear me out.

Imagine an Elite Dangerous galaxy where you can build your own planetary/moon bases, walk around your lobby and interact with Squadron, align/alliance with other Squadrons, raid/attack the opposing player fraction bases. Take them over. Claim them.

This is not impossible. The 3D models are already there.
Create a UI platform where we could buy and place the 3d models. In this UI we could monitor our Base Defenses, Economic Zones, Electric grid/power, Upkeep, etc.. Make the items expensive enough that it would encourage players to squad up and work towards a common goal.

Base Upkeep. The players will need to support/maintain their bases. Example, If your station needs uranium for its nuclear reactors, you or other squad mates will need to travel out into the black to get materials, trade, mine them/etc.. and bring them back for fuel. Perhaps give Solar panels, but they are limited in their scope of power, encouraging base growth/development. Another reason to farm/engage w game.

There is also economic zones that could be built/established. Use the commodities market.

A SINGLE PERSISTANCE UNIVERSE. Single player is its own thing and does not impact multiplayer online play.

Base Defense. You will need both ground and air defenses. Allow these defenses to be hackable/taken out by other players. Only way to take out the air def is to get on foot. The only way to take out the ground def is by air. These types of scenarios would offer an immense of gameplay and development options. With base defense also comes actual base placement. Side of crater? In a trench? Open field? Player bases could be absolutely immense and beautiful. It would be cool to fly around and check out all the player bases that people have built.

Powerplay. This is beyond useless right now. Powerplay could be introduced as a real physical territory take over. When you build your base you can only build in non-claimed areas of your fraction, or a base that you physically take over its "Center Console, HUB, etc.." At the edges of the fraction cloud is where all the action would take place. Either on the void side where players would experience less pvp, or between two fractions where there is a constant conquest. The powerplay function would look like physical area taken over. If you control a certain number of moons/planets, then that system is your fractions. The deeper your base is into the fraction cloud, the more protected you will be. Players can only attack/take over player bases that are their fraction is at war with.

The opportunities & content with this kind of implemented player planetary building system is endless.

I know its a stretch to ask for this kind of content, but content is what keeps a game alive. Its what keeps players coming back.
What are your thoughts? What would you like to see implemented into Elite.

------------------------------

FOR THE DEV'S
..If any of you ever read this.

I understand that a development team needs money to function. This could be a solution to money problems with Elite not making enough. Make an expansion. Promote it. Sell it. Develop it after it comes out.
New and Old Elite players will come back to play an ever developing game. As you guys know.. with Realms being a flop.. that great games are not a dime a dozen.

This kind of content will also help merge the Odyssey game play. Right now Odyssey feels like playing a game within a game. It should feel "seem less."

Also. Offering individual ship interiors for a PRICE would boost your immediate sales and you would not need to develop them all at once. Offer each one as a optional expansion download in steam. Leave it up to the player which ships they would like the interior of. Release more over time for more cash flow.

Great games are great because of their players. People make games great. Community. PVP. Interaction.
Players need a reason to come back to a game to play. Give them a reason.

Cheers and good luck.

 

[HappyMoonMonkey]

Base building is one thing but I've no idea how you think it will lead to PvP. It strikes me that the amount of PvP action you'll get would only be similar to now. ie key systems where BGS or powerplay groups are conflicting. Except with base building you're increasing the number of possible locations for interaction, thereby reducing organic PvP.

 

[Quint87]

Base building is one thing but I've no idea how you think it will lead to PvP. It strikes me that the amount of PvP action you'll get would only be similar to now. ie key systems where BGS or powerplay groups are conflicting. Except with base building you're increasing the number of possible locations for interaction, thereby reducing organic PvP.

If you attack another's base, that is pvp. If someone attacks you, that is pvp. NPC's from the opposing fraction could be sent to attack as well.
Pvp in elite is very sparse and location specific. If you have a base location that is in contested territory, odds are that another might attack you at some point.

Drama is what makes pvp.

 

[Dillon Fallon]

Nah, they'd never have bases being involved in any sort of PvP. People didn't even want it to be possible to attack a carrier to force a retreat to another system (even if doing so guaranteed several rebuys for the attacker(s)). Wrong game, wrong playerbase for that sort of stuff.

This would go doubly so for something that would need real time and effort to build and repair. Some would like it sure, after all you suggested it and to won't be the only one who would be up for that kind of gameplay. You'll find a lot of people against the idea though.

 

[Quint87]

Nah, they'd never have bases being involved in any sort of PvP. People didn't even want it to be possible to attack a carrier to force a retreat to another system (even if doing so guaranteed several rebuys for the attacker(s)). Wrong game, wrong playerbase for that sort of stuff.

This would go doubly so for something that would need real time and effort to build and repair. Some would like it sure, after all you suggested it and to won't be the only one who would be up for that kind of gameplay. You'll find a lot of people against the idea though.

Then take the ability to attack out in certain fractions. Let people who do not want pvp to join these. Like the Federation.
If you want pvp join a contested at war fraction.

 

[Nadreck]

If you attack another's base, that is pvp. If someone attacks you, that is pvp.

If you log in to find that your base was taken while your squad were asleep / working / on holiday, was that PvP?

 

[Quint87]

If you log in to find that your base was taken while your squad were asleep / working / on holiday, was that PvP?

If you are in a contested area yes.
Build defenses.

The game would need to be balanced so that the attack vs the defense is hard but doable.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

If you have a base location that is in contested territory

Why would the territory be contested?

There are well over 50,000 landable planets just within the bubble. Even limiting strictly to one base per planet, the only reason to attack most of them will be because you want to attack a base, because there'll be no shortage of space to put your own. And obviously that's a fair motivation - people are really enjoying the combined arms activity at the less comprehensively-defended Thargoid Spires, etc. so a tougher version of that's all good - but where's the incentive to be the person building the targets?

The big thing I think the proposal is missing is what the benefit of building a base actually is:
- it can be attacked, and then you have to rebuild it / recapture it / give in
- you need to do regular upkeep runs to keep it running even if that doesn't happen
- in exchange you get ... what? (and especially, what that you can't get elsewhere?)

 

[tafkabb]

Great games are great because of their players. People make games great. Community. PVP. Interaction

The console community - which Frontier calls casual with breathtaking effrontery - says hello, and good luck.

 

[RolloTreadway]

Mate. I know you think you've come up with some incisive, brilliant new idea. But this has been kicking around throughout the game's history, and especially since Horizons. It's not new. And it's no more likely to happen now than it was years ago. A big reason why it's never happened, and probably never will, is that it's not clear what content it could meaningfully add to the game, beyond cosmetics. I doubt 'spend all your time collecting uranium' is going to make a difference somehow.

And also:

Single player is its own thing and does not impact multiplayer online play

This goes back to before the game was even released. Heaven's sake. There is no offline single player. This has been argued to death. The game is almost a decade old, nobody's going to change one of its most fundamental principles now.

 

[Disemboweled Ego]

There's okay solutions for asymmetric offline PVP/PVE stuff like MGSV where it's just a base an enemy can attack for some resources, but that's not really PVP in the sense that players are fighting each other directly usually and not really in the sense that PvP players would really be interested in. It'd lead to the usual complaints of "I don't want to mess with base building to get PvP encounters/I don't want to have to PvP to build a base" from two groups where neither would be happy about it.

Focusing on PvP also kinda hides the fact that any other connection to the main gameplay of Elite sounds like it would be some sort of hauling grind to build/supply the base while most modern base building games are all about automating logistics for basically infinite resources exactly so you don't have to deliver them by hand.

One concern that's usually never addressed in those suggestions is how do you keep the base building seperate enough so it doesn't take over the game while still being significant and impactful? If bases are actually worthwhile to build why should I fly a spaceship in the spaceship game instead of letting my base farm all the credits/materials etc for me?

Also what often keeps singleplayer base building games fresh and engaging for a long time is being able to keep building and grow basically forever - in a shared online game it'd have to be limited somehow to prevent players with more capital just running away with it. Having limits that reasonably address both those issues would probably only let you build smaller bases and that would also limit the fun of base building because it'd mean you can max out a base and be done with it.

 

[Darrack]

Single player is its own thing and does not impact multiplayer online play.

Its been a while

O7

 

[metatheurgist]

That wouldn't fix the game for me. In fact, for me, it's the focus on making ED a guild game instead of a commander game that has broken it.

 

[Darrack]

What could Elite Dangerous be...?

I have spent some time in the Elite public discord. We talk about random stuff as we fly around the void, killing thargoids/pirates, helping new players, talking lite politics even though its against the rules.. we talk about the worries & problems of the world and how to fix them.. we talk about discord drama, life-work, and of course the Development of Elite Dangerous.

One topic that always comes up.. is what could Elite Dangerous be. What untapped potential.. what future developments could there be..

Elite has a dedicated fan base that only a few of the best games share. Elite is unique in its scope and size. A 1:1 ratio of the galaxy.. just insane. You can get a feeling in elite that cannot be felt in other space sim games.. the feeling of being completely alone and out in the void. The real feeling of exploration and understanding of the absolute fantastic size of our galaxy. Combat, especially Player vs Player can be heart pounding intense.

Elite is a game that is already great.
But could be better.

Elite is missing something INGAME. Its missing the need for players to interact with each other on a physical scale.. that grind of pvp/community that drives other games and leads to their continued prosperity.
How could this be fixed? How can Elite be saved?

PLAYER PLANETARY BUILDING.
Hear me out.

Imagine an Elite Dangerous galaxy where you can build your own planetary/moon bases, walk around your lobby and interact with Squadron, align/alliance with other Squadrons, raid/attack the opposing player fraction bases. Take them over. Claim them.

This is not impossible. The 3D models are already there.
Create a UI platform where we could buy and place the 3d models. In this UI we could monitor our Base Defenses, Economic Zones, Electric grid/power, Upkeep, etc.. Make the items expensive enough that it would encourage players to squad up and work towards a common goal.

Base Upkeep. The players will need to support/maintain their bases. Example, If your station needs uranium for its nuclear reactors, you or other squad mates will need to travel out into the black to get materials, trade, mine them/etc.. and bring them back for fuel. Perhaps give Solar panels, but they are limited in their scope of power, encouraging base growth/development. Another reason to farm/engage w game.

There is also economic zones that could be built/established. Use the commodities market.

A SINGLE PERSISTANCE UNIVERSE. Single player is its own thing and does not impact multiplayer online play.

Base Defense. You will need both ground and air defenses. Allow these defenses to be hackable/taken out by other players. Only way to take out the air def is to get on foot. The only way to take out the ground def is by air. These types of scenarios would offer an immense of gameplay and development options. With base defense also comes actual base placement. Side of crater? In a trench? Open field? Player bases could be absolutely immense and beautiful. It would be cool to fly around and check out all the player bases that people have built.

Powerplay. This is beyond useless right now. Powerplay could be introduced as a real physical territory take over. When you build your base you can only build in non-claimed areas of your fraction, or a base that you physically take over its "Center Console, HUB, etc.." At the edges of the fraction cloud is where all the action would take place. Either on the void side where players would experience less pvp, or between two fractions where there is a constant conquest. The powerplay function would look like physical area taken over. If you control a certain number of moons/planets, then that system is your fractions. The deeper your base is into the fraction cloud, the more protected you will be. Players can only attack/take over player bases that are their fraction is at war with.

The opportunities & content with this kind of implemented player planetary building system is endless.

I know its a stretch to ask for this kind of content, but content is what keeps a game alive. Its what keeps players coming back.
What are your thoughts? What would you like to see implemented into Elite.

------------------------------

FOR THE DEV'S
..If any of you ever read this.

I understand that a development team needs money to function. This could be a solution to money problems with Elite not making enough. Make an expansion. Promote it. Sell it. Develop it after it comes out.
New and Old Elite players will come back to play an ever developing game. As you guys know.. with Realms being a flop.. that great games are not a dime a dozen.

This kind of content will also help merge the Odyssey game play. Right now Odyssey feels like playing a game within a game. It should feel "seem less."

Also. Offering individual ship interiors for a PRICE would boost your immediate sales and you would not need to develop them all at once. Offer each one as a optional expansion download in steam. Leave it up to the player which ships they would like the interior of. Release more over time for more cash flow.

Great games are great because of their players. People make games great. Community. PVP. Interaction.
Players need a reason to come back to a game to play. Give them a reason.

Cheers and good luck.

Many of us have no interest in any form of PvP, this is basically PvP by the back door, front door and its own driveway.

No thanks

O7

 

[Ca$hback]

At this point you either like what they've done with the game or you're deluding yourself and should have quit playing back in 2017. There's enough people who enjoy this... to support business as usual. They didn't feel a painful twinge of lost potential at every single update. Reset everything back to the Horizons release and start over. Buncha frogs let themselves get boiled and the new people don't know what they missed.

 

[Kansrado]

Been thinking the same thing. Okay so you want your own personal ground base. If you want something like the old abandoned outpost you'll need at least. 1) 200 Building schematics. 2) 200 Surface Stabilizers. 3) 300 Building Fabricators 4) 100ea Power Convertor, Power Generator and Power Transfer Bus. The bigger the base the more supplies required to build it. And don't forget you have to find a suitable planet and then transport all required matériel. That's not including anything else FDev wants to charge you... ie hiring employees (like FCs). And this is for a small Outpost. No landing pads, guards or other amenities. Yeah I would go through the grind, but I would build a small Industrial outpost on a metal rich planet with an atmosphere 500 to 1000ly from the bubble. Specializing in building materials for other ground bases, helpfully making enough to cover weekly cost (like FCs). (^__^)

 

[varonica]

Been thinking the same thing. Okay so you want your own personal ground base. If you want something like the old abandoned outpost you'll need... 1) 200 Building schematics. 2) 200 Surface Stabilizers. 3) 300 Building Fabricators 4) 100ea Power Convertor, Power Generator and Power Transfer Bus. That's not including anything else FDev wants to charge you. And this is for a small Outpost. No landing pads, guards or other amenities. Yeah I would go through the grind, but I would build a small Industrial outpost on a metal rich planet with an atmosphere. (^__^)

Or you could just buy a FC and put it in orbit. Arguably a FC is just a mobile base, it has all the functions of a ground base but you can move it from place to place. Small specific purpose ground structures rather than full bases would seem a better fit, mining structures and etc, these could be attackable, but I don't see ground bases being attackable as at all practical, been discusses so many times already.

 

[Kansrado]

Or you could just by a FC and put it in orbit. Arguably a FC is just a mobile base, it has all the functions of a ground base but you can move it from place to place. Small specific purpose ground structures rather than full bases would seem a better fit, mining structures and etc, these could be attackable, but I don't see ground bases being attackable as at all practical, been discusses so many times already.

I agree with you and I love my FC. But I've been on planets that I would love to set up a small outpost on and explore all around it. And if someone finds it, loots it and kills everyone it'll be just like every other outpost in the game. Either I'll have to repair it or the next good Samaritan that drops by can put the fires out. I don't understand the mechanics of how outpost work, that's why I would like to have FDev sometime in the future run a Beta on them. Just like they did with Fleet Carriers.

 

[varonica]

I don't understand the mechanics of how outpost work, that's why I would like to have FDev sometime in the future run a Beta on them. Just like they did with Fleet Carriers.

There is no mechanic for how outposts work, they are fixed assets that are placed as a unit. Not sure what they expect FDEV to run a Beta on but putting base construction in the game would be almost like building an entirely new game.

 

[aRJay]

The thing I loved about Elite is that we were just insignificant working pilots trying to get by, the equivalent of “white van man”, now the ability to own fleets and later a mobile base has diminished that somewhat.

But the ability to build, own and run a fixed station as well feels to me like a step too far. Perhaps if you could only have one fixed base or Fleet Carrier at a time and starting the process to buy or construct a new one shut down the existing base/carrier.