Base Building Ideas for Features
- Thread starter Cosmo
- Start date
Looking at FDev's catalogue, they have precisely the skills to create such a game. About the money to develop it... that's a different thing, though
I'm out exploring near the Magellan's Star cardinal point, 43,000ly from sol, at the moment specifically looking for systems in which I could establish a base.
I fully expect that base-building will be the new feature we get at the end of the year for two reasons. The first being that Frontier canned player groups earlier in the year, and the second being that this type of game dynamic is Frontier's forte anyway. I would expect, given the first thing I cited, that PowerPlay v2 will feed into this in some way, and some mechanic they'll add there will replace the player group functionality, and allow player groups and factions to establish bases and control systems.
If you go back to the early stages of Fleet Carrier development, Frontier said that each carrier would have a support ship, and this ship would be different depending on the role that carrier would undertake. This was quickly dropped when, presumably anyway, Frontier realised carriers can be anywhere in the galaxy, and performing a multitude of different roles in a short space of time.
Bases aren't like this though, they'll likely be single role. A tourist base out near Beagle Point, or a military base to support a player faction as they attempt to expand their influence. Mining would certainly be one of these roles. I'm really hoping, really hoping that Frontier will allow bases to undertake planetary tritium mining (tritium is a real thing that's found on Earth after all so it's not a stretch) and so have been looking for appropriate systems and planets as a result. I've already found a few candidates, one of which is just amazing.
If mining is allowed though it will be interesting to see how it works. Frontier have made it very clear with fleet carriers that they're no fans of passive gaming, the player has to be directly involved in whatever, such as refuelling a carrier. The obvious exception to this being markets, but even then the player has to actively stock the market in the first place, so that's not passive either.
I think that if we get mining there will have to be some on-foot gameplay to actually run the mine and make it work. I would also hope that the mine could run autonomously but at a considerably higher running cost, though this is probably unlikely given what Frontier have done in the past.
Two other things I'd like to see with base-building are being able to expand the size and facilities of the base through a combination of credits and on-foot materials. It would also be good to be able to use on-foot material engineering (we've got building schematics and other similar materials like crop yield analysis after all) to improve certain aspects of the base, such as the power of its weapons, the efficiency of the mining equipment, or the effectiveness of crop growth and harvesting apparatus.
I think from all this you can guess I'm extremely excited about the prospects base-building could bring to the game
This is where I'm hoping to build my own base.
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When FCs were only going to be owned by Squadrons and would function as a clubhouse for them.
It was dropped when Frontier realised there were more players interested in owning a carrier of their own to do with what and when they wanted than were interested in a share of the squadrons carrier that would be subject to a consensus or the whims of the boss.
Re: Ugly constructions/genital-shaped layouts - I doubt very much that base building in Elite would come with the type and/or degree of customisation that would allow for such shenanigans. Most likely we'd get a fixed set of choices with no chance of tomfoolery, I reckon probably based on the primary economy type.
I think it would be really cool if "player bubbles" such as the Azura Initiative and Alazia could finally be able to have a proper presence on planetary surfaces, rather than just being a bunch of carriers semi-permanently parked in otherwise empty star systems. If I could place a base/settlement anywhere, then it would be some place like that.
Being able to establish bases out in the black that can buy, manufacture and otherwise make use of commodities would finally give a purpose to mining anything other than tritium while out there.
If there had been any player-placed settlements back when I visited Beagle Point, I would have definitely landed and taken some pictures.
I think it would be really cool if "player bubbles" such as the Azura Initiative and Alazia could finally be able to have a proper presence on planetary surfaces, rather than just being a bunch of carriers semi-permanently parked in otherwise empty star systems. If I could place a base/settlement anywhere, then it would be some place like that.
Being able to establish bases out in the black that can buy, manufacture and otherwise make use of commodities would finally give a purpose to mining anything other than tritium while out there.
If there had been any player-placed settlements back when I visited Beagle Point, I would have definitely landed and taken some pictures.
For your first point, this is only a reason why base building should exist in the game, as they would be highly useful to squadrons if they're done right.
For your second point, I don't see how the dropping of the support ship would be related to players owning carriers instead of squadrons.
Frontier would certainly boost, and possibly quite dramatically boost the number of active players in the game if player factions could be tied to base-building, and doubly so if this was hooked into the new PowerPlay system. I fully expect all of this to actually happen this year, it'll be quite exciting.
Base building means nothing in isolation and is meaningless except a few personal achievement feels for a few players. It works well in survival situations or dynamic markets. Neither of that is in ED. Erecting walls and putting a potted plant feng-shui conforming into a room isn't gameplay, but when I envision what FD would put out it's exactly just that.
It isn't - the concept of support ships was first mentioned in the August 2019 preview, which was also the one which announced the change from Squadron Carriers to Fleet Carriers.
As you say, they seem to have quietly disappeared somewhere along the way when they moved from having preset loadouts to a FE2-style "build your own up to the mass limit" system sometime in 2020.
It's the "and then what?" that I'm less certain about.
Sure, you can put a base down in some uninhabited system and say you own it now. But then what? There's certainly enough systems for everyone to own a few nice ones each, but the bubble already has thousands of systems which maybe get a player a day visiting them. The people who wanted "BGS" so that they could have their own little empire and didn't want to worry about other groups deciding to take over "their" systems might like it just for that, sure.
An alternative Tritium mining route, sure, that works - though functionally it's either:
- at most not significantly more convenient than the existing ways of getting Tritium in deep space (Frontier can always double efficiency a third time if they feel the gathering/using balance is still too much towards gathering)
or:
- it is significantly more convenient, lots of people put Tritium miners down everywhere across the galaxy, and Tritium stops being a limiting factor on FC travel at all, which raises the question of why bother having it in the first place (to justify base-building, I guess?)
I think there's a big split around the question of "can bases be attacked and disabled/destroyed/captured by other players?"
- if the base gives some direct BGS or Powerplay bonus to its creator and/or an assigned faction/Power (as opposed to a more indirect carrier-like "convenient spot to rearm" advantage) then it makes sense for it to be attackable so that the way to stop the bonus isn't just "everyone builds a base in every contested system so that they cancel out"
- conversely, non-attackable bases are going to be much preferred by the colonisation/deep space Tritium mining/space to store my stuff/screenshots crowds
and it's probably not possible for one implementation to work for both groups.
A low impact version:
forums.frontier.co.uk
DuhdahduDAHDAHDAHDUdadudaDUHH Thunderbird 2 like modular pod / deployable base / in flight interior
Although there is nothing wrong with posting some gratuitous vehicle shots (hnggg) I just wondered if FD could scratch multiple itches with this idea: First, for anyone who is unfamiliar, this is Thunderbird 2: Glorious 🥲 Now, imagine ships could be equipped with a similar drop pod, a bit...
I have one idea of how it could work (though I am almost always wrong about everything when it comes to Elite Dangerous) let's say the new PowerPlay system allows either your squadron to be represented, or for new player factions to be creatable that people can ally themselves to, say a Mobius faction, or a faction that allies itself with the Thargoids.
The gameplay then comes in with settlement raids from other player groups against these settlements which need to be defended against, and that faction then raiding other settlements (player and non-player) to try and expand their influence in the system and in neighbouring systems. Think of the faction base as being "headquarters".
People seem to very much enjoy settlement raids in Odyssey, this could only expand that and also add a whole new dynamic of having to defend settlements too, which isn't a current gameplay dynamic in Elite.
Bearing in mind that caveat that I'm almost always completely wrong about everything, I think this could be quite exciting
I should add that people don't do PowerPlay currently because they don't care about the major powers, they're all just some BGS macguffin. Players do care about player groups though, they can get invested in that. If Frontier want more people doing PowerPlay then it makes sense they'd make player groups a part of that.
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Yeah, the base (settlement) could be owned by 1 commander or a player faction.
This should be flexible: single role (specialized) or a mixed base.
The dev team changed since 2014 so passive income could be allowed and it makes sense for a base manager. The base owner could hire NPCs to live and work there. Passive income could go towards upkeep, upgrade and expansion. A lot of players don't have time to be hands-on with their base every week. If they go explore the galaxy then there should be remote base management.
Seconded, do mining yourself (low cost) or hire NPCs to do it (high cost, because they have salaries and live at the base).
Seconded.
Planet Zoo and Planet Coaster also use the Cobra engine so such customization should be possible in ED. Players need enough customization options such as layout and shape, height, style. Otherwise the bases will look too similar. If there's only 20 base variations then it'll get boring to visit other bases due to a lack of variety.
Yeah, because creating and managing your own player faction means more on a personal level than an NPC Power.
Building, customizing and managing a base is fun by itself. To build up a tiny base into a city would be really cool. The city would be mostly inhabited by NPCs.
Another option is if the base allies with a Power or a player faction then they compete to control the base which in turn grants control over a planet and a star system. If there are multiple bases in the same star system then all would need to be conquered to gain the star system. The background sim would assign the star system to that faction.
99% of the galaxy is uninhabited so faction clashes would be neigh non-existent in deep space. This leaves building up a base into a private home or a sustainable, expansive city as sufficient reasons to keep players engaged with ED for many months.
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A low impact version:
DuhdahduDAHDAHDAHDUdadudaDUHH Thunderbird 2 like modular pod / deployable base / in flight interior
Although there is nothing wrong with posting some gratuitous vehicle shots (hnggg) I just wondered if FD could scratch multiple itches with this idea: First, for anyone who is unfamiliar, this is Thunderbird 2: Glorious 🥲 Now, imagine ships could be equipped with a similar drop pod, a bit...
Good idea. Use credits to purchase a base asset, then drop it at a custom location. Alternatively, mine materials and / or hire employees to build parts of the base.
Seconded. This module could act as a ship interior while its carried onboard.
Inside you could have supply lockers, recharge points, be an oxygen tent, useful meeting place for activities etc. You could use them in inhospitable worlds, be a place to dump salvage, respawn point too. When it comes time to pack up you fly over the base and use a reverse landing UI to show you are lined up to suck it back into the hold.
Structurally they'd not be complicated, and be like a single room (maybe with split levels depending on size). And although its not base building, groups of players could build towns of them (instancing permitting) perhaps and do other community based things. Or just live like a hobo
Well once the base module is dropped and integrated into the base then it should not be reversible. Maybe you can disassemble it for materials.
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But not the same Cobra engine version as used by Elite according to various sources on the forum.
To be honest this all sounds like a stand alone game spin-off to me rather than something that fits in with the rest of Elite.
If you try to run it on one of those potatoes, sure
I also support a stand alone game. It could be built an a newer engine and not carry the unused bulk with it. It also may be more interesting for those who aren't interested in flying a ship. Maybe add some small vehicles to it which can be used around the station perimeter?
It is a pity that FDev never made anything more out of the whole Elite franchise and lore (e.g. a space station simulator, base building, trade simulator) which runs fully embedded in the BGS.
Sounds like a hardware or graphical settings issue on your end. The game for me does just fine drawing an entire surface settlement with NPCs wandering around (or in a ground CZ, running around and shooting each other), never mind a few plants.
not into base building but a mining module you could place on the planet surface,returning after a while to see what it had collected,if memory serves me right there was a similar thing in the old elite frontier game back in the day.