Suggestion] Please Add More Aliens And Other Technologies! (I mean only 3 intelligent species in this VAST universe???)

Here are some facts of the game's current state: HUMANS and, for a while now, Thargoids (and Guardians) are the only known species to have conquered space so far.

HOW To Add New Alien Civilisations
At a certain distance far, far away from known human space, players should encounter new friendly semi-hostile space-faring beings! That our trusty on-board computer can assist in translating their language! (Yes, using AI-technology for voices)
These newly-discovered aliens have alien-shaped space ships and space stations that look like insects, or fishes or semi-organic or...like Flying Saucers! .
And their "docking" systems could be different and the numbers are translated by our computer as the aliens greet us..if they are friendly! Oh, and fourse, the alien alphabet (stations' names written on their surface) are translated on our HUD via our on-board computer as well!
Maybe players will have to prove they are not hostile by performing some tasks first? (something like proving your allegiance with human factions)
Players "pay" for goods and ships and weapons, ammunition and upgrades by performing tasks (as mentioned above; there's "no credit" UNLEss one of the Alien races use tons of GOLD/tritium/as a way to "barter"!) In general, Player perform tasks such as escort ships (miners, cargoships), sell exploration data, not for Cr. but for Ships and Oufitting, etc.
They use a different econmomic system than the known "credit system"! Example: to buy an alien ship: we need to perform a number of tasks and in any order we desire to perform them! Example for a small Alien fighter: Pilot has to transport let's say 5.000 tons of seaweed and/or explore 3 star systems that are over 50Ly away from the station from where you want to buy the alien fighter.

There could be a war going on between 2 alien species or factions! Ands the human explorers find themselves caught in the middle And will have to make choices!
Our weapons (even engineered) have less effect on their shields (IF they even have shields!) and ship's hull
But their weapons also cause less damage becuase our tech is unknown to them! But in this sector, we are HEAVILY outnumbered! At outposts, stations and near planets
One alien species could have a cloaking technology that renders their ship (temporarily) invisible but become visible when they have to shoot! Players should be able to purchase that technology apply it only to their alien ships!

Another alien race has ships that have self-regenerating technology - Broken/damaged guns and thrusters? They will repair themselves gradually, if not attacked for a few seconds! The higher the upgrades used are installed, the faster the ship's "self-healing" will kick in!
When you have the alien ship, we intergrate our trusty talking computer and the HUD looks familiar but the controls look totally alien!
The alien ship can't refuel at KGB-FOAM stars but (perhaps!) only at Neutron stars! Or even at Brown Dwarves! (For another alien race!)
These Alien ships has an incredible maximum jump range of over 300x as far as the maxed out engineered/guardian-engineered human ships! So, increasing the player's exploration range very extensively!
When the player activates the Super/Ludicrous/HyperLightspeed, a totally NEW Traveling Animation kicks in and it's as if we see the space litterally fold itself and unfold as the player hops thousands of lightyears distance in mere seconds!

Maybe someday, in the future, some of these aliens could explore the bubble "out of curiosity" and some players mght be lucky to even see these aliens from far, far away!
I had to add this because I can already hear players complain that bringing commodities from star systems from a system far, far away could ruin the economy in the Bubble - The Majority of the alien ships are 'locked" from getting too close to the bubble because there are not enough fuel stars...? And in order to return to The Bubble, the player must retrieve his Human ship, which he bought from within known Human space!
Or the Alien authorities simply do not allow their technologies to get known outside of THEIR alien Bubble!
If veterans even get a hint that something NEW (and less grindy) is coming, they should return! ;)

  • Discovering these different alien species, flying their ships and using their weapons will definately add more value to Elite Dangerous and motivate players (those who are willing to put the effort) to go and find them!
 
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I don't think any of this fits into the game's lore or balance personally, but I guess we can just ask the Mudlarks what they think about introducing humans to anybody else 😏
 
Three intelligent species, one of which has been extinct for ages, one of which is even more ancient though still around and us.

That’s not bad considering we haven’t even visited a statistically significant number of systems in the galaxy and have only been in a position to have been aware of aliens as such if they came visiting our system for less than fifteen hundred years.
 
Here are some facts of the game's current state: HUMANS and, for a while now, Thargoids (and Guardians) are the only known species to have conquered space so far.

3 known species?
That's 2 more than in the generic Asimovian human centric SF universe

I'd say we're good.
 
3 known species?
That's 2 more than in the generic Asimovian human centric SF universe

I'd say we're good.

Yeah, in fact he explicitly invented the humancentric universe to avoid problem with his then publisher Campell, there was never any suggestion however that Asimov felt there would not be any aliens out there, but it was far easier to avoid writing about them to get his work published by Campbell due to their differing views on how aliens in sci-fi should be treated. I think we would all like more aliens, and there are of course the permit locked regions far distant in the galaxy that might contain alien life and pilots federation may possibly not want to start a war with them as well, they know what us independent pilots are like, there are two types, "make friends with aliens" and "kill on sight." Maybe the aliens are better off not meeting us!
 
We are all for new content BUT the shoot to kill brigade would just start another war with them wherever they are encountered, doesn't paint a good picture for real life going to space exploring if in a game we can only wear with anything we encounter.
 
and there are of course the permit locked regions far distant in the galaxy that might contain alien life
This is my headcanon for seemingly random permit locked systems in the galaxy and also for why we can't land on Earth-likes. The only way with the Pilots Federation folks to enforce the "prime directive" and avoid genociding every non-human is to keep the independent pilots far, far away from any aliens, just like you keep children away from matches and dangerous household chemicals.
 
We are all for new content BUT the shoot to kill brigade would just start another war with them wherever they are encountered, doesn't paint a good picture for real life going to space exploring if in a game we can only wear with anything we encounter.
Well, when the only tool you have is a hammer.... ;)
 
3 known species?
That's 2 more than in the generic Asimovian human centric SF universe

I'd say we're good.
I always can recommend Lem for reading. There is even been a visual novel been recently published, inspired by "The Invincible". Worth a look. Lem is generic human centric enthusiastic scientists meet something alien they have no concept for and try to wrap their head around it. That counts for the novels mostly - the short stories are more light-hearted.
 
3 known species?
That's 2 more than in the generic Asimovian human centric SF universe

I'd say we're good.

Yeah, in fact he explicitly invented the humancentric universe to avoid problem with his then publisher Campell, there was never any suggestion however that Asimov felt there would not be any aliens out there, but it was far easier to avoid writing about them to get his work published by Campbell due to their differing views on how aliens in sci-fi should be treated. I think we would all like more aliens, and there are of course the permit locked regions far distant in the galaxy that might contain alien life and pilots federation may possibly not want to start a war with them as well, they know what us independent pilots are like, there are two types, "make friends with aliens" and "kill on sight." Maybe the aliens are better off not meeting us!
Asimov did do alien stories occasionally in the short stories he sold to other magazines and in a later novel/triptych which doesn’t really apply here as the aliens were in another universe/dimension.
 
These newly-discovered aliens have alien-shaped space ships and space stations that look like insects, or fishes or semi-organic or...like Flying Saucers! .
And their "docking" systems could be different and the numbers are translated by our computer as the aliens greet us..if they are friendly! Oh, and fourse, the alien alphabet (stations' names written on their surface) are translated on our HUD via our on-board computer as well!
What's alien-shaped? :alien:

Insects and fishes aren't alien, they're just slightly different organisms that evolved in the same conditions on the same planet as humans and other mammals (who are also fish).

They use a different econmomic system than the known "credit system"! Example: to buy an alien ship: we need to perform a number of tasks and in any order we desire to perform them! Example for a small Alien fighter: Pilot has to transport let's say 5.000 tons of seaweed and/or explore 3 star systems that are over 50Ly away from the station from where you want to buy the alien fighter.
This runs into the double coincidence of wants stuff - why barter economies never existed on earth. Also why would the aliens want to barter with us on a small scale and spend the effort to integrate their cargo bays/cartographics systems with ours. The only explanation I can think of is some sort of post-apocalyptic society that's run entirely as a gig-economy, but that's a better fit for a satirical comedy game really.

It's also plain inconvenient for the player and runs into the same problem many other elite activities have - I want a fighter presumably for combat so I got to explore and haul cargo activities I might hate and that don't scale up well for bigger purchases.

It's not that credits have to be universal but unquantifiable social concepts around property won't translate well into a computer game.

The alien ship can't refuel at KGB-FOAM stars but (perhaps!) only at Neutron stars! Or even at Brown Dwarves! (For another alien race!)
What are they scooping from those stars and why can't other aliens adhere to the same basic chemistry and physics of the sorta hard-sci-fi universe that Elite has?

There's some interesting stuff to be had imo if you make each new aliens break an established rule (Thargoids: Hyperspace, Guardians: AI) in either the physics or lore of the game, but the differences here are too trivial to be interesting
 
Asimov did do alien stories occasionally in the short stories he sold to other magazines and in a later novel/triptych which doesn’t really apply here as the aliens were in another universe/dimension.

Only The Gods Themselves comes to mind - while it was rather unique for Asimov, is was also really really good imo
 
I just finished reading the entire Foundation saga including the prequel by Benford, Bear, and Brin.

Not sure at what point it became apparent, maybe in the above mentioned prequel (but I also still have to reread the robot novellas). It was the robots that wiped out all alien lifeforms they came across, while terraforming the galaxy for use by humans.
 
Not sure at what point it became apparent, maybe in the above mentioned prequel (but I also still have to reread the robot novellas). It was the robots that wiped out all alien lifeforms they came across, while terraforming the galaxy for use by humans.

Well, i really cant remember this theory, but i do remember that in The End of Eternity it was determined that them Eternals were the reason the earthlings went to be confined on Earth and by the time we were ready to leave the Earth (in that timeline, millions of years in the future) the Galaxy was already occupied by other civilizations. So ending the Eternity was the logical solution to make sure the Galaxy belongs to the humans.

Bit of a letdown if you ask me - the galaxy is already billions of years old - so some millions of years is like a speck of dust in the timeline.

Nevertheless, i never let such analysis to diminish my enjoyment of his entire universe which i really love
 
I just finished reading the entire Foundation saga including the prequel by Benford, Bear, and Brin.

Not sure at what point it became apparent, maybe in the above mentioned prequel (but I also still have to reread the robot novellas). It was the robots that wiped out all alien lifeforms they came across, while terraforming the galaxy for use by humans.


Asimov's short story "The Last Question." It summarizes his entire vision of the universe. That story is a work of art.
 
So far, we have the convenience, in most stories, of every being average height to humans. Easier to make costumes/models etc. But it'd be fun in this game, or another, to be up against huge or tiny beings. We may have been rodents to dinosaurs but not insects. It's highly unlikely we'd be the same size as aliens from worlds of different gravities. Along the lines of even the Zentradi...humanoids, but big. Also, how wild it is playing things like Agar or Slither . io and how things change with size. ED does have a bit of that with how ships are. Just one pilot, but from a Sidey to T-9...awesome.

p.s. starting to watch Foundation, but have yet to read any of that.
 
The characters in Nightfall are explicitly stated to be aliens on a non-earth planet but written about in a human way so as to help the reader to understand the story.
 
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