USS - no sense of achievement

[Rennard]

The current system of finding Unidentified Signal Sources is not very appealing to me. If you just sit in supercruise at minimal throttle one will appear right next to your ship in no time.
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In order to actually achieve "hunting"/"exploring"/"searching"/"salvaging" with any meaning this needs to be changed IMO..
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It would be far better if a number of USS were "spawned" in the system when one or more players arrive. These are then in a fixed location and must be found. They could dissipate over time and new ones can be placed.
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That way when you find one, you know you've actually found it, rather than it being placed there for you at random.
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Thoughts?

(sorry for the typo in the poll. dont think i can edit that.

 

[Vasea Azure]

The solution could be scannable USS sites - it would require more effort to find them.

 

[bassman]

The current system of finding Unidentified Signal Sources is not very appealing to me. If you just sit in supercruise at minimal throttle one will appear right next to your ship in no time.
.
In order to actually achieve "hunting"/"exploring"/"searching"/"salvaging" with an meaning this needs to be changed IMO..
.
It would be far better if a number of USS were "spawned" in the system when one or more players arrive. These are then in a fixed location and must be found. They could dissipate over time and new ones can be placed.
.
That way when you find one, you know you've actually found it, rather than it being placed there for you at random.
.
Thoughts?

Agreed, the current USS system is frankly pants, its like a D&D wandering monster dice role, persistent USS's and NPCs integrated with the background simulation would be a game changer for ED.

 

[stridecolossus]

Couldn't agree more, the current mechanic is random, boring and totally immersion breaking. I like the idea of investigating mysterious signals to find salvage, pirates, wedding barges, etc. but not in it's current incarnation.

 

[Neilos]

Out of the infinite options for the USS scenario we have the poll options:

1 - leave it as it is
2 to infinity - change it to one of these many options

This poll can in no way be representative of anything.

 

[MACMAN86]

USS ships make sense to me as you go to these for cargo and so do other ships. Some do it to spring traps whilst others are doing the same as a Clean. Nothing too wrong about it really. Plus those missions to go after targets gets easier if you got an interdictor.

 

[Rennard]

Out of the infinite options for the USS scenario we have the poll options:

1 - leave it as it is
2 to infinity - change it to one of these many options

This poll can in no way be representative of anything.

Then you've missed the point.....

The poll is whether you like the current implementation. I voted no and then gave a possible alternative. There is no way I can cover all of the possible ways of doing it differently so that is for you to suggest in a response.

Have some cheer, its xmas.

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

USS ships make sense to me as you go to these for cargo and so do other ships. Some do it to spring traps whilst others are doing the same as a Clean. Nothing too wrong about it really. Plus those missions to go after targets gets easier if you got an interdictor.

I think the ships/cargo etc "are" the signal source. They don't go there to see what it is. They are what is being detected by you in theory. Therefore to me it makes no sense that it should suddenly randomly appear (spawn) right in front of you.
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If its a ship, then how did it get there? I did't see it FSD to that location and the signl wasn't there for the last 5 mins. Immersion breaking.

 

[Julio Montega]

I do not like the current implementation of the U.S.S. sites,
mostly because they are not U.S.S.es at all, but basic ship encounters, which could be scanned
and analyzed to get an info on the encounter, and relabelling the contact to
"trader under fire" or other scenarios.

A real U.S.S. has to be an adventure,
it has to slowly unfold,
like "how did this ship get destroyed?"
grab the black box and analyze it, to start a story series or something.

I did even like the old, odd but very cool pirate vessel sitting next to toxic waste cans, while his buddies engaged you.
Encounters in U.S.S. are currently like real life weddings and funerals... boring!

 

[Veldryn]

Improvements can be done, of course, but I don't think they are "bad" as-is. So, if they change; fine, but they don't "need" to.

Voted 1 as this is the closest item, but... yeah, this Poll is a little bit extreme

 

[Seldarine]

I am hoping the current system is just a quick placeholder they put in for basic functionality, buying FD some time to work on and develop a proper way of doing this, along with the current reputation system, mission system, exploration system and mining system.

 

[Neilos]

Then you've missed the point.....

The poll is whether you like the current implementation. I voted no and then gave a possible alternative. There is no way I can cover all of the possible ways of doing it differently so that is for you to suggest in a response.

Have some cheer, its xmas.

That was not my point. But you're right I should be more cheerful, I'm a bit grumpy today... not sure why, sry

I have a whole wishlist of features that I'd like to see the USS be used for (who's to say if I'm right though)...

1 - when a player or NPC drops from SC into sub-light then they produce a USS (that starts after the wake dissapears and remains as long as they are there). We can drop in on players sitting in sub-light.

1a - when in sub-light I can send a signal out to allies in SC (Identified Signal Source???) so they can drop in to my instance (if I'm fighting an anaconda I can't handle I call backup).

2 - USS is created when an instance is created and don't just randomly pop-up around you as you fly (it's annoying watching these things I care not for fly past me as I'm going); as previously suggested having a scanner that finds signals within a range of the player would be cool.

2a - USS (in fact all sub-light) should be tied to the SC instance so that all NPCs going to and from a USS (or station, or extraction site, or random location) will end up in the same instance in SC (But this is unlikely to happen)

3 - USS in anarchy systems should be things like drug deals that I can bust... then scoop up the cargo and sell it myself, of course.

4 - USS amounts should vary depending on the population of the system.

4a - anarchy systems USS should be very lucrative (but deadly) especially if there is a low population (back ally deals and such forth).

But realistically I'm not too fussed about changing them as they are. They are there and they serve a purpose to make the system seem more active... It's like with most of ED, I love what they have done but I can see lots of room for improvement. This in no way ruins my enjoyment of the game however, anything they add from now on will be a bonus for me.

 

[HappyMonday]

Discussing this here too - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=88024

 

[Neilos]

A real U.S.S. has to be an adventure,
it has to slowly unfold,
like "how did this ship get destroyed?"
grab the black box and analyze it, to start a story series or something.

A great idea.

 

[Vagabond]

I have to admit that USS are probably my least enjoyed game mechanic.

From slowing to a crawl in SC to close in on them, to the pretty random content they offer, they make for pretty uninspiring stuff. Maybe if they were flagged with some kind of marker; distress, high mass, zero life form, etc...? Anything.

I dunno but any improvement in this field would be gladly welcomed.

I imagine FD are working on all manner of improvements to the encounters system. They have the bare bones of the game out now. Time for fleshing it out.

 

[RyanBurnsRed]

I hate how I spend 2 minutes looking for one, then when one finally shows up another is right next it. But I have to choose one or the other because the moment I jump back into supercruise if the one I chose turned out to be a dud I have to spend another 2 minutes looking for another..rinse and repeat.

They seem to be a gamble more than anything.

 

[Neilos]

I hate how I spend 2 minutes looking for one, then when one finally shows up another is right next it. But I have to choose one or the other because the moment I jump back into supercruise if the one I chose turned out to be a dud I have to spend another 2 minutes looking for another..rinse and repeat.

They seem to be a gamble more than anything.

We should be able to scan them from SC at least.

 

[Rennard]

I like the suggestion that ships (player and AI) sitting in normal space give off a signal that produces a USS for other ships. The mechanic is already there to determine their "visibility", this is their heat signature.
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if someone wants to hide they can reduce their sig by silent running or manually taking modules offline, otherwise they might get visitors!
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I also agree that once a source has been approached in FSD we should be able to get equipment to do a deep scan and get an idea of what is there (1 ship, many ships, cargo) before we drop in.
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I'm sure that FD are working on improving USS' but it can't hurt to throw handfuls of ideas at them. Maybe they will take some inspiration from the community.

 

[MACMAN86]

It's only that boring part of having to slow down to a crawl to access these. You can not scan these properly in SC and to find ships at these is totally fine as you can not fight in SC. They are hanging around mid-space because they're either gonna trap you or give you info whilst you are searching cargo at these locations. It all works fine but is tedious! Hows about drop out within 1ls? (it works better with stations due to the planets mass slowing you down)