maybe we could get tow-behind trailers for our cutters
Elite Dangerous | System Colonisation Beta Details & Feedback
- Thread starter Paul_Crowther
- Start date
Security installation done. Now wonder how long until that kicks in.
Apart from trawling this thread for nuggets, has anyone yet created a website/gsheet that has all the known facts about how the mechanics all work, all in one place? Ideally where you can plug in what you want to achieve and it will spit out optimal construction best practice/order to produce X outcomes in terms of economy, commodities traded, etc.? E.g. If I want to create a colony best designed to support a PP power - maybe get it to a stronghold one day? Or if I want to create a colony best designed to support daisy-chaining out into the black? Or if I want a colony best designed to produce a lot of commodities I am interested in trading? Or if I want to create a colony best designed for lots of conflict zones or other particular gameplay, etc?
This last couple of pages here has some good info but an all in one repository would be great... yes I know we should have better in-game documentation not obfuscation but here we are.
I've only just about finished constructing my initial station, but given the lack of cohesive details on what should best be done next with the system I am likely going to be filled with decision paralysis. This should not be the way it is. I know it is a beta release.
After the beta period, players should have clear info on how to proceed in order to get the outcomes wanted, at least to a large extent. There should be some randomness of course, but this gameplay is a significant time investment (as it should be) - and while the initial instructions to claim a system and shipping materials is fine, from that point on there is very little cohesive info.
This last couple of pages here has some good info but an all in one repository would be great... yes I know we should have better in-game documentation not obfuscation but here we are.
I've only just about finished constructing my initial station, but given the lack of cohesive details on what should best be done next with the system I am likely going to be filled with decision paralysis. This should not be the way it is. I know it is a beta release.
After the beta period, players should have clear info on how to proceed in order to get the outcomes wanted, at least to a large extent. There should be some randomness of course, but this gameplay is a significant time investment (as it should be) - and while the initial instructions to claim a system and shipping materials is fine, from that point on there is very little cohesive info.
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https://cmdr-nowski.github.io/syscol_helper/ not exactly what you asked for, but a good start
I've got 1 Science outpost, 1 Communication installation, 1 Farming installation, and and slowly grinding away on an asteroid station in an icy ring.
I am enjoying plotting out my construction sequence to raise my desired traits within the system.
I would like to have a gameplay mechanic besides grinding truck trips however.
If it would not be asking too much, perhaps diminishing the material needs by hitting optimization materials delivery benchmarks?
For example,
A 1% material discount if you can deliver materials X.Y, and Z by time boundary A.
A 1% material discount if you can wipe out X # of pirates in the system under construction by time boundary B.
A 1% material discount if you can complete X missions at your first outpost / station by time boundary C.
Something other than just trucking PLEASE.
I am enjoying plotting out my construction sequence to raise my desired traits within the system.
I would like to have a gameplay mechanic besides grinding truck trips however.
If it would not be asking too much, perhaps diminishing the material needs by hitting optimization materials delivery benchmarks?
For example,
A 1% material discount if you can deliver materials X.Y, and Z by time boundary A.
A 1% material discount if you can wipe out X # of pirates in the system under construction by time boundary B.
A 1% material discount if you can complete X missions at your first outpost / station by time boundary C.
Something other than just trucking PLEASE.
I guess fundamentally, the way it all works is just what the collective understanding of anyone who's tracked the BGS is, with some new "facts" that we've never been able to observe before.
I've been wracking my brains about how to put that together in a sane, digestable guide for people... but in summary, the easy stats:
Population change: Increases (or decreases!) the population by the amount shown [1]
Security level: Increases/decreases the security status of the system, through low/med and high (which is maximum), unless owned by an Anarchy faction (which makes it Anarchy). Has some effect on the shape of security sliders
Development level: Unsure what this is (nobody seems to have heard of it?).... at a punt, maybe it affects things like chance of tech brokers and other services etc?
Standard of Living: Unsure about this... has existed since the game started though.
Tech level: Affects what is on offer in shipyards/outfittings and the presence of these services (Shipyard doesn't seem to be available without at least 1 tech-related building)
Wealth: Nobody really understood this before, existed since the game started though, and don't really understand it now either. Has some effect on the shape of Economy sliders.
Standard ports (surface port/outpost, Orbital outpost/coriolis/asteroid/orbis) have no specific economies, and are influenced by the facilities (installations, hubs) you set up that feature a "System Economy" influence slider, which seems to control the predominant econom(ies) in the system... but perhaps doesn't explicitly override (Odyssey) settlements with specific economies.
That will (likely) control the distribution of economies across that system... offering up the expected commodities you'd expect from that sort of economy... importantly, if you have hybrid economies occurring, they're likely to self-consume items that are in-demand from the paired economy, so you'll get a mix, but also be missing some types of the lower-volume types.
Like... none of that is really anything new per-se as far as the BGS goes, except for the more dynamic effects as you build new facilities, which has been pretty unobservable to-date (and likely didn't exist before either, thus we have systems that don't match the patterns we can make... but that's true of everything in the game).
There's probably better ways to put it (and not intended to be criticism), but I think a lot of the issues people are hitting, are simply part of learning about how the BGS works... any impacts it's had to-date have been less, say "learn how to find good LTD prices" and more "Go here coz old mate/inara said it looks good right now"... so the understanding has never grown. That's because BGS mechanics are meant to be opaque, where colonisation is a stark contrast to that.
[1] What that specifically means? Unsure, and this is also the only stat that applies a delta, rather than seems to sum to "set" a level.
So...
I'd like to have escort missions of say 1-4 t9's that i have to defend as they approach the colonization ship.
these would be hauling a 1:1 quantity of commodities needed for the construction ship you took the mission from... the more t9's, the more aggressive the (and higher quantity of) pirates that try attacking the convoy.
this should be balanced so it's hard. failing to protect all the ships reduces the spawning of additional missions of the quantity taken in the failed or partially successful mission. this will slowly be counteracted by successful missions or 24 hours of real time.
the t9's are not shieldless, but they are setup for max cargo and min shields.
since the game never seemed to be able to implement multi system escorts, this would take place at varying distances from the construction ship (like 200 or 300km or more out) and pirates will jump in along the way once contact is made by the player and the journey begins.
these would be hauling a 1:1 quantity of commodities needed for the construction ship you took the mission from... the more t9's, the more aggressive the (and higher quantity of) pirates that try attacking the convoy.
this should be balanced so it's hard. failing to protect all the ships reduces the spawning of additional missions of the quantity taken in the failed or partially successful mission. this will slowly be counteracted by successful missions or 24 hours of real time.
the t9's are not shieldless, but they are setup for max cargo and min shields.
since the game never seemed to be able to implement multi system escorts, this would take place at varying distances from the construction ship (like 200 or 300km or more out) and pirates will jump in along the way once contact is made by the player and the journey begins.
We are still in the discovery phase of what makes a system tick. While there is slow progress, there are few documenting it.
Things we have not confirmed yet to the full extent:
- We are unsure what type of structures do exactly what.
- If the above is affected by a different layout selection vs others.
- What Tech Level, Security, Wealth, Standard of Living, Development Level, Initial Population, and Max Population Increase each does in effect to the system.
- If having one of each type of outpost would give different ranges of missions corresponding to the facility economy.
- If planet/ring types have an effect on what is extracted from on hubs, outposts, station or settlements.
- If the above has an effect on the refinery products too.
- How far away, or close, Stations/Ports have to be from surrounding economy influences to get desired results.
- What causes specific ships in Shipyards.
- Does the above require a certain Tech Level or Development Level.
- Can the same be said about services like Universal Cartographies.
This is just the list i have of what I'm trying to get answers on because I have not seen them in the forums or discussed elsewhere with a large pool to confirm. At the moment we have the spreadsheet by @DaftMav which is a great tool that after every update they do i change it only a little for my use.
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Reading your post, I've decided to finish my medium sized agricultural settlement first ahead of the second outpost in my system and see what the effect is if any. That's a +6 to the standard of living though how it will stack with the first (science) outpost remains to be seen.
I have a strong suspicion, and a small amount of evidence, this affects the weekly income too. After last Thursday someone posted they had started with a small outpost, received a population of about 4.5k and a weekly income of 9k. I also started with a small outpost, had a population of about 4.5k, added a mining installation for +3 wealth, and received 30k in weekly income. As best I can tell the only difference was that I had a mining installation in addition before the Thursday tick.
As we hear from more people hopefully we can start to piece together other impacts of these sliders and confirm or discard suspicions like the one I have.
Yeah sorry, I kinda overlooked that. I suspect weekly income is some combination of wealth and happiness, and happiness is probably determined by standard of living at least... whether or not security, development level etc come into it remains to be seen.
For those of us who were a little late to the party, ploughing back from the Black in time to colonise, but missing it before the pause.
Do we have any timeline indication at this stage from FDev as to when Colonisation will be un-paused, so we can join in the fun with other Cmdrs?
Thank you
Do we have any timeline indication at this stage from FDev as to when Colonisation will be un-paused, so we can join in the fun with other Cmdrs?
Thank you
The Orbital Construction Site has bad autodock pathing. If the landing pad is on the opposite side of the central spine from where you're approaching, autodock would happily belly flop into the central spine with no attempt at slowing down or avoidance. I'm certain many has reported the issue above, but just putting it here in case.
This issue above is something that impacts a lot of players and definitely need changing. The rest of this post is... more of a personal suggestion from me.
Some commodities makes no sense. Fruit and Vegetables for the primary port for example, if Food Cartridge is canonically known to provide all nutrients for survival, why do we need Fruit and Vegetables? If it's there to introduce variety into colonist's diet, then why only Fruit and Vegetables? Why not also Algae, Fish, Synthetic Meat, and Coffee? And most importantly, why isn't TEA required for Colonization? To be quite frankly honest, I feel like it might be illegal to colonize without Tea, especially when playing a game made by British Developers. There's also issue like tourist installations requiring no Consumer Technology and Domestic Appliances, Planetary constructions not requiring Skimmer Components, and worst of all -- Come on guys, it's 3311, and we're still using Steel as our primary construction material? When the internals of our stations are pressurized and oxygenated? Not mentioning, some planetary installations might be constructed on planets with Oxygen atmosphere!? Yeah these are gonna rust in no time at all.
These commodities are not just numbers on a list, they all have lore implications. I want to see the devs put more thought into what commodities and in what quantities each port is going to require, not just a simple shopping list that is only gameplay driven and serves no lore purposes. For example, the starport constructions sometimes calls for only Food Cartridges, and other times calls for no Food Cartridges, but a mixture of Fruit and Vegetables, Algae, Fish, Grain, and Synthetic Meat, to provide a much better diet for the colonists. Some construction calls for more Aluminum, while some others calls for more Titanium. Randomize some commodities, not in quantity but in type, as some colonies use the standard Copper for their wiring but some more wealthy and more high tech focused ports use Silver instead, and some just ask for more Aluminum as they use Aluminum wires. If a system list Battle Weapons as illegal, then their construction do not call for Battle Weapons, but require an increased amount of Non-Lethal Weapons. If controlling faction is Imperial, then have them ask for Imperial Slaves in certain constructions, and so on. There's so much potential here, all can be procedurally generated, and these changes not only make the shopping list feel unique and fresh every time, but also serves as lore pieces that combine to tell a better story.
This issue above is something that impacts a lot of players and definitely need changing. The rest of this post is... more of a personal suggestion from me.
Some commodities makes no sense. Fruit and Vegetables for the primary port for example, if Food Cartridge is canonically known to provide all nutrients for survival, why do we need Fruit and Vegetables? If it's there to introduce variety into colonist's diet, then why only Fruit and Vegetables? Why not also Algae, Fish, Synthetic Meat, and Coffee? And most importantly, why isn't TEA required for Colonization? To be quite frankly honest, I feel like it might be illegal to colonize without Tea, especially when playing a game made by British Developers. There's also issue like tourist installations requiring no Consumer Technology and Domestic Appliances, Planetary constructions not requiring Skimmer Components, and worst of all -- Come on guys, it's 3311, and we're still using Steel as our primary construction material? When the internals of our stations are pressurized and oxygenated? Not mentioning, some planetary installations might be constructed on planets with Oxygen atmosphere!? Yeah these are gonna rust in no time at all.
These commodities are not just numbers on a list, they all have lore implications. I want to see the devs put more thought into what commodities and in what quantities each port is going to require, not just a simple shopping list that is only gameplay driven and serves no lore purposes. For example, the starport constructions sometimes calls for only Food Cartridges, and other times calls for no Food Cartridges, but a mixture of Fruit and Vegetables, Algae, Fish, Grain, and Synthetic Meat, to provide a much better diet for the colonists. Some construction calls for more Aluminum, while some others calls for more Titanium. Randomize some commodities, not in quantity but in type, as some colonies use the standard Copper for their wiring but some more wealthy and more high tech focused ports use Silver instead, and some just ask for more Aluminum as they use Aluminum wires. If a system list Battle Weapons as illegal, then their construction do not call for Battle Weapons, but require an increased amount of Non-Lethal Weapons. If controlling faction is Imperial, then have them ask for Imperial Slaves in certain constructions, and so on. There's so much potential here, all can be procedurally generated, and these changes not only make the shopping list feel unique and fresh every time, but also serves as lore pieces that combine to tell a better story.
Megaships have the same autodocking issue. If you're on the wrong side it will slam you into the hull, which is fantastic if you're in a Beluga full of rich, whingeing passengers on the way to Colonia.
Here's a workaround: Move into a position where you are in line with, and at least 5km off, the docking end of the structure before requesting clearance.
It's deployed. When building the Coriolis, I don't recall being able to specify a "tech level" - It seems to have inherited the tech level of the faction I used, and they are "colony" - so there is a station where I can't do anything and only buy Biowaste and Hydrogen. So disappointed.
Interesting... so that is the secret/link... how do us players know this or are people finding it out as they go??
It's some guesswork and trying/failing. People with Orbis/Ocellus get active shipyards, but those also have a higher innate tech level than the Coriolis, which has a built-in tech level of 1.
Yeah, looked at the Orbis build specs and 'noped' out of that quickly. A Coriolis almost broke me. An Obris would have sent me to a loony farm!
Howdy I did ask on X and got told " Nothing to announce right now we'll let you know as soon as we can share more " . Which basically means their unwilling or unable to answer or they don't want the burning torches and pitch forks to be brandished, was starting to get frustrated with the lack of any reply on here when anybody asked including myself. One thing I have learnt over my time playing ED is that when Fdev are not forthcoming with answers even though a fair amount of people are asking, it generally means they don't want to say anything which makes me think it ain't gonna be anytime soon. But hey you never know it might be sometime in March lol
if they don't concentrate on all the other stuff they have to sort with Colonization lol ish 