I have seen late comments in other threads that imply the devs are going to modify the colonization range from 15ly to more or even remove it but I have not find the source of that information. Is that true? Where can I find it?
Is the range of colonization being increased?
- Thread starter Nightmasterxt
- Start date
No.
The range is determined by the BGS, until that changes its likely to stay at 15LY, i really don't see it changing.
O7
So far as I know Frontier have never stated why the range is 15 LY (up from the original plan of 10). "So we don't break the entire galaxy in Beta when we do something unexpected, like double the size of inhabited space in a week" is probably one of the key factors!
There are no BGS interactions - even defining BGS extremely broadly - that I'm aware of which have a range of exactly 15 LY.
What do you think would go wrong at a BGS level if a new colony was placed further than that from an existing system?
(And would that be fairly easily fixable if someone wanted to simply by colonising a second system next to it, since no-one as far as I know is suggesting a minimum separation between new colonies?)
I can think of at least one thing which would go very badly wrong with long-range colonies, which will already be starting to be somewhat noticeable with the existing 15LY chain the Mikunn-led colonies have got out to Pipe sector and most of the way to Snake - or the Canonn-led cluster around Polaris - but it's not a BGS thing even in a fairly broad definition and the connectivity chain back to the bubble or to other nearby systems in the clusters really won't make it any better.
Sorry my understanding was that it was the BGS system that was reducing the range.
If a system was created say 1k LYs from the bubble, on its own, yes theoretically (realistically) it could produce goods from its own stations but how would it interact with the systems closer to the bubble, do we imagine that ships (NPCs) would make long distance journeys?
Just thinking out loud, i have only a basic understanding of how the BGS works.
O7
Ok but lets analyse it from a historical comparision standpoint.
During the Age of Discolvery ships sailed to all possible corners of the world and many nations like spain stabilished colonies in very distant locations (South America west coast) in relation to spain that is, and the portuguese have gone even further (Macau in China's south coast). So the idea that in space exploration and colonization the focus would be into expanding only "close to home" dont add up.
Also the 15ly range limits the ability of players to choose a giving faction to their liking because while initially there where many systems close by unclaimed and you could choose freely, now these "lands" are no longer available and "overlaping" is a issue in which a given faction encroach on another thanks to the players choosing to colonize in a giving direction and now the same systen would be available to 2 or more factions thanks to the 15ly range in relation of the colonization contact where the player purchase the claim. A lomger range would allow a lot more freedom of choice and prevent such issue.
IMHO the range should be unlimited but if some sort of control on the part of devs is needed then a good range between 100-150ly would be reasonable.
I really hope they extend the range. The faction I'm playing at the moment is pretty much blocked from expanding via colonization and I'm surrounded by factions we have NAPs with. If we're to punch out we're going to have to force our faction into an expansion state and hope we expand in the right direction. At the moment there is a system I could colonize if we had an extra 2 Ly range and the edge of the bubble is just so damned close. 
You can certainly choose to imagine that.
Some of the old Colonia highway systems have NPC non-dockable megaships which make tens-of-thousands of LY jumps every couple of weeks to RP supply transfers. NPC trade is entirely an illusion - the Colonia Bridge megaships are largely Refinery economies with no other stations or inhabited systems within 400 LY, and they produce exactly the same. Stations just have an economy, a productivity level, and a little bit of skew so that they're not all identical clones.The key distances I can think of which require either system proximity or system chaining, and why they're largely I think not a problem
1) certain mission types: 10 LY
We can already exceed this and it's mainly only required for kicking Anarchy factions while they're down; the current colony setups make it easy to have Anarchy-free clusters anyway if you don't specifically try to stop it happening.
2) most short-range mission types: 20 LY
A system with no missions isn't great, but this would be fixable by colonising two adjacent systems; connectivity back to a wider set of systems is unnecessary
3) Powerplay expansion: 30 LY (though 20 LY is easier)
Powerplay has Acquired around 1500 net systems since its creation; Colonisation has added around 30,000 (about a third still subject to initial claim completion). The existing Polaris and Pipe clusters probably won't ever see an actual Power presence unless there are some significant balance changes
4) BGS expansion: 30-51 LY depending on direction
Most BGS expansion nowadays is taking place through the colonisation mechanism itself. If you look at the systems around Polaris chained out to by Canonn, most of them have the exact same four factions present in all of them so no expansion is possible anyway
5) Apex travel: 100 LY maximum range between stops (but requiring ~20 LY hops in terms of inter-system distance for the routing)
There are other ways to get between systems, though see below.
And on the other side, the big issue I can think of with allowing people to colonise beyond the approximate bubble (well, too late, they already have): Detention Centres
- anyone committing a crime in the Polaris cluster gets teleported to the detention centre for the appropriate superpower back in the bubble if they get caught
- so you go up there, you do one of the many Odyssey missions the connectivity guarantees are possible, you mess it up, and now you're 700 LY away from your ship
- there are a few independent DCs in deep space, but there aren't any superpower ones, so that gets even more severe
- the Witch Head / Pleiades DC jump gets a lot of complaints already and that's shorter than the ones colonisation has already created
Given how much of Elite Dangerous we absolutely do not want to be realistic (e.g. personal ownership of powerful armed starships) I don't think it ends up being a helpful case for anything. ED has been ignoring the consequences of the entire galaxy in terms of travel time being smaller than 20th/21st Century Earth for the entire decade and isn't going to stop now. Sure, Frontier could selectively start paying attention to that and extend claim range if they wanted to, but realism won't be why.
Why not use the squadron link to do it?
- find a system on the edge of the bubble to head outwards from
- colonise from that, your squadron allegiance brings your faction in to 3rd place (usually)
- quick BGS conflict once you've got your first station up to establish control of your new system
- now you have a colonisation contact on the edge of the bubble and can go where you like
I have a major concern with removing or greatly increasing colonization distance.
So the galaxy is really big right? But there are a handful of special locations that explorers like to visit. Here's an example of the kinds of locations I'm talking about:
https://edastro.com/exploration/#places (under the "Scenic places to visit" section)
If any of these locations are within reach they will be quickly colonized. And once they're colonized: that's it, there's no going back. Over time it'll be difficult to find a nebula that doesn't have a colony.
Maybe it's just me but that would be a big loss for current and future explorers.
So the galaxy is really big right? But there are a handful of special locations that explorers like to visit. Here's an example of the kinds of locations I'm talking about:
https://edastro.com/exploration/#places (under the "Scenic places to visit" section)
If any of these locations are within reach they will be quickly colonized. And once they're colonized: that's it, there's no going back. Over time it'll be difficult to find a nebula that doesn't have a colony.
Maybe it's just me but that would be a big loss for current and future explorers.
Unfortunately that's how it is in real life, the cats out of the bag now and there is no stopping it.
As someone who has visited every beacon in the game (currently) yes it may be a loss in some cases, however the galaxy is huge and i have found hundreds of places just as good.
400 Billion - we will be fine, at least in my lifetime
O7
I was more referring to places like large nebulae and planetary nebulae. There are few large nebulae at most a couple thousand planetary nebulae.
There are also "named" locations like Betelgeuse that'll definitely get colonized.
So it's less about the billions of procedurally generated stars and more about the commonly visited POIs.
A lot of the named locations specifically are probably somewhat safe. You can't colonise a system which has any pre-existing human presence, and tourist beacons count, so Betelgeuse has the little red X on it in colonisation view.
Obviously building up settlements around it is possible, and given how close it is to the bubble, fairly likely to happen fairly soon.
If you go to those POIs they are always swarming with the top 1% of all liners anyway, not sure it would change the feel that much.
O7
I'm okay with a limitation in range, I just think it should be a little further.
From the point of view of unlimited range though, I'd love to see a Manufactory and Refinery module for the Fleet Carriers. Going out into the black, finding that perfect system and just starting to build what you need. Mining the raw resources, refining them into useful materials, crafting the minimal bits you need for an outpost, creating an industrial outpost to craft more complex items. It could give more use to the various installations and outposts. Being able to add modules to your stations so they effectively become specialized would also be useful.
You could align a squadron with that faction then they would be inserted in any colony you formed then as I understand it you would just need to BGS them into the top slot.I really hope they extend the range. The faction I'm playing at the moment is pretty much blocked from expanding via colonization and I'm surrounded by factions we have NAPs with. If we're to punch out we're going to have to force our faction into an expansion state and hope we expand in the right direction. At the moment there is a system I could colonize if we had an extra 2 Ly range and the edge of the bubble is just so damned close.
I was unaware that this was a thing. My squadron is already aligned with the minor faction I'm working on so that's ticked off.
I'll do a little digging into this and try it with the next outpost.
07
Considering I burnt myself out of colonizing in the first two weeks? I don't mind one way or another. I don't want to do that level of hauling ever again. It's a winged activity at its core. I couldn't imagine even jumping 5K LY out and back for a second and third carrier full of mats, especially at the jump range and fuel consumption you'll experience and the fact you'd need to carry a decent amount of tritium. Close range colonization is probably smarter and more manageable.
At any rate? I think I'm good now. One system with 4 surface sites, 3 space installations and a main port.
At any rate? I think I'm good now. One system with 4 surface sites, 3 space installations and a main port.