Elite: Dangerous Game Improvement Ideas
STAR PORT UPGRADES:
- banking, small loans, with interest payable (I learned recently that loans do exist in the game already)
- factories. if the starport has a food processing factory, 50% of foods get converted into processed foods.
so if you have 1000 meat, 500 gets used for processed meat, leaving 500 source food left and 500 processed.
inventory of processed foods stops being increased when it is equal to the supply of the source food. same can
be done for other producable items such as new fuels, advanced medicines, etc.
- data service. like the world wide web, but on a star ship. access the space station computers and get all sorts
of information about the game, possibly contributed by players, but verified. you won't have to drop to windows
and launch a browser to search Google for info about how to mine or anything like that. play the game video
tutorials within the game. play animated sequences of game play to learn things like how to dock, how to mine, etc.
info about using wormholes, different type of stations, pictures of game content such as stations ships etc.
- police department. see list of most wanted criminals, and their last known location, and how long ago the
location was reported. and type of ship, and bounties. if they get scanned, and reported back to police, their
current location gets updated. show list of last 5 or 10 places scanned, nearest planet or station.
- abandoned property auctions. die due to failed life support? someone recovers your ship, and makes it for sale
in as-is condition at a ship auction. people have to be the highest bidder to buy the ship. your refundable bid
must be placed in escrow until the sale ends. all outfitted equipment could be auctioned separatly or at a
reduced price over new.
- sell unrefined rocks from asteroids to a refinery (which could be part of a station) for a fraction of the price.
- market indexes. see how the price of commodities have changed over time. see how the industrial sector is
doing, or the agricultural sector. a stock market with investing.
- get rid of the current news system. replace it with real experiences. it takes longer to load cargo because
of a worker strike. rioting at the station causes damage to your ship. you have to pay a bribe because of
corruption in order to launch. commodities market is closed due to a bomb threat. pirates create a blockade
around the station, so you can't dock. docking is delayed because the royal family has priority docking.
black market is raided by police while you are trading, so you have to pay a fine. a questionable commodity
goes off the market because of a new ordinance passed by the governing body.
- replace news system with real news. you have a fully laden Anaconda that gets blown up for accidentally firing
while docking, and lose all yor cargo. that makes a news story. report a summary of pirate activity in the area,
if any. a dock is so busy that 20 craft are waiting, that is a real news story. solar flare warnings.
someone discovers something like Voyager 2, it should be reported as a news story, allowing everyone else to go find it.
someone discovers a new asteroid belt, and the news story tells you which star system it is in and why it is unique.
someone sets a new record (longest hyperspace jump, fastest speed, most valuable cargo, largest stolen cargo found,
most kills by 1 pilot for 1 day), promotions (someone is the first to reach a new rank).
STAR PORTS:
- auto-tractor beam for large docks or busy docks. too many ships going in and out? reduce collissions by have the
space station use its tractor beam to dock and undock ships. pay a fee for using the tractor beam service at
any station that supports it (usually the larger and wealthier stations).
- some star ports could have an auto-tractor beam only for the time where you are in the entrance slot, or
perhaps only for large ships.
- markers to help identify where the port entrance is. such as lights blinking in the direction of the main entrance,
or a target outside the port that is aligned with the entrance. you head for the target (the entrance would be behind you),
turn around, enter the station.
- see commodity pricing without docking. wirelessly transmitted to your ship, for a small fee. reduces the number of
people who dock just to check out commodity pricing, couolkd be feature of stations with few docking bays.
- a docking bay has multiple decks, so many ships can dock in the same bay and be stored in the station on a separate deck.
bay 20 could have 5 decks, so it can hold up to 5 ships. only 1 ship can be transported at a time using the lift elevator.
- port fees on busy ports. if you are docked, and you are using the user interface on the station, you pay a fee
per second while you are actively using the interfaces. this encourages people to spend less time idling at ports.
I do not know if a person saving a game while docked blocks the docking bay or not, so there might be exceptions.
- force fields around some stations to defend against attacks
- some star ports require specific status for docking (faction allegience, no-bounties, mandatory cargo scans for
illegal cargo, detailed ship inspection for illegal devices like intradiction devices, etc).
- police patrol popular routes to see if pirates are using intradiction devices. so be careful, you might intradict a police
craft and pay the price. makes intradiction devices more risky.
THEMED SPACE STATIONS:
- orbiting colonies. billions of people live in an orbiting space station. they only import food, fuel, medicines, and
import/export people. a smaller station would be a mass-transit terminal, just for ferrying people and no foods or
other cargo.
- military outposts. only stocks military equipment, and only sells fighter ships. only imports military equipment
such as weapons. bulliten board missions are all military related. good hangout spot for people who want combat.
positioned at edge of faction's territory, or in dangerous star systems.
- a special space station where only highly wanted criminals may enter. you must have a criminal record to enter.
all commodities are contraband in most star systems, but cheaper pricing. buy cheap contraband and try to smuggle it
into another place where it is illegal. shoul dbe the most profitable trading in the game, and the highest risk.
sells ship upgrades that would be considered illegal, you would have it confiscated if you got caught during a
random ship inspection after docking at a faction-controlled station. you can buy intradiction devices, scanners,
stolen id, cloaking devices, tracking devices, and performance-modified ships.
- secret pirate bases. somewhere in the middle of nowhere is a secret pirate base. only 1 or 2 docks. allows anyone
to store their stolen items, has a black market, not on any map. players spread the location by word of mouth.
accepts stolen goods for sale without penalty. have your ship modified, but illegal ship upgrades. fighters steal
goods and sell them at the secret pirate base. pirate freighters transport those goods to nearby star systems (as
stolen). any cargo bought at a pirate base is untraceable and therefor stolen.
- partially built space stations. you get to see a space station under construction, perhaps 5, 10, 20 or more
completion stages. you get to use the space station while it is under construction, although all services
might not be available, and docking pads might be limited. players help build the space station by delivering
construction materials (manufactured elsewhere).
- 'death star' type of station, large moon-sized station that can host hundreds or thousands of ships. multiple
entrance slots. sells all commodities. has all station features, including black markets.
- miniature station, 1 docking platform, no lower deck or lift elevator, just for repairs and refueling. more expensive,
perhaps 5x the price to repair or refuel. expensive docking fees. orbiting large stars. uses star to produce fuel.
- factories. supply them with raw materials, and they produce things such as weapons, scanners, hyper drivers, etc.
they also need food for workers, and fuel. buy produced goods and resell them at various stations. perhaps a player
can buy the factory, it is the most expensive item in the game, and takes a long time to break even. prices are
set by computer algorithm to keep pricing fair.
- alien space stations. they look a little weird. nothing is in a known human language. your ship is not compatible
with their communications system, you have no idea what the laws are. they have strange looking space craft.
you are not permitted entry to their space stations. the police may detain you. they are in isolated, distant galaxies.
their ships may be much smaller or much larger than human ships.
DEEP SPACE TRAVEL:
- fast jump drive. short distance (inner stellar). range is limited, such as 250L, but travel is faster than
the current drive, and more expensive per jump. ideal for people who do a lot of missions that need to be completed quickly.
- long distance travel, cryogenic sleeping. need to travel further than your hyperspace drive can support,
perhaps make 5 to 10 jumps or more? use cryogenic sleeping, let the game guide you to your destination, but you won't be able
to play during the journey. get an estimated time of arrival and start playing the game again after you arrive, which
could be 30 minutes, 60 minutes later in real time
- sub-light speed long distance travel drive. slower, but allows you to go a bit further, such as 50% further.
- sling drive, planetary assist drive. use nearby planets to increase your travel speed or distance by another
25% or so.
- interstellar gateways. some large, wealthy star systems have a gateway that transports you to another paired star system,
somewhere else in the galaxy. requires an enhanced hyperspace drive. go back and forth. some may have 2 gateways located
next to each other, so you have 2 places you can go to (double linked list arrangement), or just back and forth between
2 points. allows you to travel extremely long distances, the furthest you can travel in the game with 1 jump. perhaps
they will need special placements, and might become inoperable temporarily if not aligned, or if objects are
blockign the path. pirates can block the path, disabling it. must pay per use. expensive. might be owned by factions, so
you can only jump to their controlled space. may prohibit people with criminal records.
SPACE PHENOMENA:
- worm holes. go in, end up somewhere far distant in the galaxy
- asteroids have names, like OBJECT-152. so when you are mining, it is easier to locate an asteroid that you were just
working on, in case you got lost while chasing a fragment for scooping.
- solar flares. can damage your equipment, spoil your cargo, or knock you out temporarily. may cause unstable
materials to explode.
- polluted space or radiation, radiation belts. near the sun too long because you are mining? you get increased
exposure to unhealthy radiation. floating cargo can emit radiation, and damage a ship if taken on board.
SHIP UPGRADES - STANDARD:
- cloaking device. makes you invisible or more difficult to detect on scanners, visually, reduces wake, etc.
reduces interdictions if active during hyperspace travel.
- tractor beam. makes it easier to grab cargo floating in space, or mind materials. able to move small ships.
send cargo between 2 objects.
- scan blocking
- anti-interdiction device
- ship scanner. scan a ship to determine: hull integrity, fuel remaining, cargo, tech levels, how it is equippped, etc.
- autopilot. allows the ship to jump from point A to point B with greater accuracy than a human might do on his own.
keeps locked on target, avoids large objects such as stars and planets that are in the path
- auto-fuel scoop. turn it on, and your ship heads for the nearest star and refuels. computer controlled version
of the current manual fuel scoop. you just turn it on and it does the work, even if you are far from a star, it finds the closest
one available.
- scoop fuel into cargo hold. allows players to earn money buy scooping fuel and reselling it. cargo bays hold a lot of fuel.
another way to earn money in the game.
- SOS function. hit the SOS and the communications networks sends out a message. police respond automatically, players can
decide on their own if they want to respond.
- solar flare protection
- peer to peer communication system. if equipped, info is relayed between all ships, stations in the area that have the same
equipment. so if a nearby ship sends an SOS, you may get a message relayed to you via another nearby ship (who also has to have
the same peer to peer relay device). if someone scans craft and finds out there is a bounty, the notice gets sent to all ships
in the area who have the peer to peer comm device. if someone violates a law (such as loitering), it also gets relayed. also alerts
everyone about specific pirate activity. purpose is for emergency use. receive solar flare warnings. info about average waiting
time at a docking station, or how many bays are available or in use. police alerts. EMP bomb warning.
- encrypted communications and eavesdropping. send encrypted messages across the galaxy or star system, but be careful, if the
authorities eavesdrop on your communication and you are wanted, they will know exactly where you are. your bounty can be seent via
a peer to peer system for all ships in your area.
- scan misc objects such as asteroids, stars, cargo, etc. get notices such as mass, volume, acceleration, velocity, radiation
emissions, whether floating cargo may be illegal in most jurisdictions, etc.
- 'GPS' system. cheaper than autopilot. set a marker (like your favorite asteroid), and the GPS system will display arrows showing you
which direction to head to your marker. or be able to turn around and follow a path from where you came from. game coordinates. now you
get an XYZ location, so you can tell others exactly where you are, or where you are hiding stolen cargo, or where your secret base is.
- black box. if your ship is blown up, and your black box is recovered, whoever finds it gets to keep some or all of your credits,
or perhaps just what you earned and have leftover for the day.
- evasive maneuver. just before impact, detects incoming missiles, overrides the controls, and evades them
- nuclear engine or other engine that rarely or 'never' needs refueling.
- 'high octane', enriched fuels for added speed. but a lot more expensive, and gets depleted quickly.
- auto-trade function. when you dock, all of your cargo is sold if there is a minimum 10% profit.
- equipment becomes faulty over time (from use). not so much that you are constantly upgrading, but enough that used items on the
market are not necessarily in 100% condition, leading to increase failure or lower performance. over age, they cannot be restored to
full health.
- a scanner that can search for intelligent life. point it at a star system, run the scan, and it will tell you which types of
waves are detected, and whether they may be artificial or natural.
- a guidance system to automatically avoid pirates. you are being chased, engage the system and your ship automatically optimizes to
try and get away (increase speed and power to engines, tries to hyperjump, weaves around laser weapons and missiles)
- a battle computer. assists you in engaging in dogfights against other opponents, or perhaps assist in dogfights. evasive maneuvers,
weapons operation, missile defense, putting you in firing position. making it easier to lock onto targets.
SHIP UPGRADES: POSSIBLY UNLAWFUL
- cargo consist block, sends fake info about what cargo you have, when scanned
- space station scanner. see defenses, how many police ships are on duty, what type of guns the station has, etc.
- illegal cloaking device. hide all aspects of your ship so you are invisible. your wake has misleading signature. when scanned, it says you
are harmless, if detected, with no bounties. always says you have no cargo. expensive and rare.
- id theft device. allows you to appear to be a non-existent player or another player, if you have successfully stolen his id.
set your own faction, experience level, etc.
- hacking computer. allows you to hack into a ship or space station to steal information or disable their systems. deny all docking
requests (temporarily). disable launch requests (temporarily). create fake SOS signal to send police cruisers away from station.
post 'you've been hacked' news items. create fake missions, which makes innocent users pick up contraband unknowingly for delivery
through difficult areas. clear your wanted record, last known locations, etc. temporarily shut off power to station, making all
functions unavailable until restored (user gets message stating there is a temporary service interruption). steal credits. make
fake market pricing (artifically lower the price of a good so you can buy it cheap). disable space station weapons. put
fake bounties on people. see who is docked at the station, how much money they have, etc.
- radar and laser absorbing paint, more difficult to scan you, doesn't use a hardpoint.
- unlawful devices, such as intradiction devices, shoul dnot be for sale in law-abiding jurisdictions.
WEAPONS
- weapon that can destroy cargo, damage equipment such as your hyperdrive, etc.
- ability to destroy or severly damage a space station by smuggling a bomb aboard in a cargo hold
- laser that can blind a pilot. when fired successfully into cockpit, the pilot cannot see where he is flying, presumably
because his eyes need to re-adjust to normal conditions.
- EMP bombs. varying strength/power. large ones can knock out a station, if placed properly. small ones only knock out ships
in a general area, or knock out a beacon. each ship loses electrical power (or not) and requires a different amount of time before it comes
back online, making you a sitting duck for pirates. buy ship upgrades to protect against EMP devices and solar flares. being
chased? release a directed EMP bomb behind you, small enough to knock out a small area for anyone following you (but the blast is directed
away from you), and just for a few seconds. might have no effect.
- magnetic drill, launched at your craft. if it engages, it attaches to your hull and starts drilling. requires station visit for
removal. reduces effectiveness of life support, drains fuel, could make hyperdrive inoperable. does not function when in
hyperdrive, so you have time to get to the nearest port before serious damage can be done.
- tracking device. launch it at a ship that has a bounty but outguns you. device attaches to ship. wherever he goes, he is being tracked,
and missions start appearing in nearby space stations identifying his location. scanners help locate tracked ship when within range.
requires space station visit in anarchy port or pirate station for detection and removal. can be destroyed by ally, with shields down
and very precise aim, or by space walk.
- experimental weapons. one of a kind, hard to find. they are like regular weapons but have strange and unique abilities, such as the ability to
suddenly engage hyperspace for another ship against his will, or the ability to turn off enemy shields. not documented officially.
only 1 of each type of weapon exists in the universe, so only 1 person can have each weapon. will be in highly-militaristic solar systems.
make another ship spin out of control. suddenly drain its fuel. eject enemy hard points. the sky is the limit to what they are capable of.
might become widely available in the game, in future releases.
- smoke screen device, while being chased. can't get a visual lock on you. chase player sees a large cloud on their screen.
- deflector shield that causes weapons to bounce back. fire at the ship's deflector shield, and your laser blast will bounce back at you and
damage part of your ship, especially if you are moving slowly. single use, long recharge time.
MISSIONS:
- "SAVE THE UNIVERSE" missions
- large missile / rocket (like ICBM) headed towards a planet. help identify and shoot it down. requires either
advanced weaponry or teamwork.
- equipment procurement. player wants a mining laser, but it isn't in stock. mission appears in another station where part exists.
other player has to buy the equipment, then transfer it to the station where it was requested. money is held in escrow. you get
and ETA for when it might arrive. part is waiting for you when you return, already paid for. you pay for the equipment and
a delivery fee. you get a message when mission is accepted, so you can wait at the station when you think the equipment
might arrive. becomes abandoned property after 30 real-time days if unclaimed, made available on open market.
- save a dieing planet. deliver foods, fuel, crop harvestors, key medicines. large quantities need to be delivered by
many players to save the planet.
- remove debris that is on a crash course with a station, or destroy a comet on a collision course.
- race through an asteroid belt. fastest time for the day gets the cash prize.
- race from point A to point B. fastest time, or shortest route, for the day gets prize.
WAYS TO MAKE MONEY:
- earn money by using tractor beam technology to help assemble space stations. the star system has the parts, when you select the
part, the game shows you where it must be placed. use the tractor beam to position the space station module into place. earn money
for each successful placement.
- rent a ship. rent an expensive ship for a specified amount of time, and when your time is up, make sure it is returned, or
the ship automatically returns to the nearest rental location. you pay for the fuel and repairs. rental costs are low but
not a good deal. even rent armed ships.
- police duty. buy your own police ship. comes equipped with a police scanner to receive reports about bounties, and the locations, and
follow police protocol and locate the offenders. you should have a constant stream of police reports to respond to. scan for
illegal cargo. earn cash by locating ships with illegal cargo, killing pirates, and enforcing other laws.
- buy a sports model ship and participate in competitions. fastest through the asteroid field. first person to get to a mystery location.
play hide and seek. obstacle course (always changing). figure 8 (in 3d of course) race track. demolition derby. the game of
"TAG". treasure hunts (first person to acquire a list of obscure items and deliver them to finishing point).
- geologist. analyze asteroids. creates a report that is offered for sale.
- rare commodities. agricultural planets have exotic foods. mining planets have heavy metals. tech planets have patents. limited
supplies.
- casino, where players can earn money by playing casino style games such as Keno (I mention it because I
once saw it in another game).
NEW SHIPS:
- classic ships like NASA's space shuttle Challenger, soviet union's Buran space shuttle. unarmed, for cargo only.
- drone transports. carry necessities such as grain, fuel, and water from space station to space station. operated by game,
not by players. but players get to see them fly around, have to take their turns docking just like other crafts, etc.
can be poached by pirates for their cargo. unarmed, carries more cargo than other ships. cannot be purchased.
- large ships that are for cargo, but are too big to dock. so they have their own docking bay, and ships have to
dock on the larger ship to load or unload cargo for another destination. very slow moving ship but moves tons of
cargo.
- tow service for stranded vehicles. if stranded, call for help, pay a fee, wait for assistance. or log out and the game
will have it ready when you return later. ship gets towed docking bay at nearest star port. some stations may not
have a tow service.
- giant tractor-beam ship. this is a giant tractor beam that can be piloted. one of the slowest ships in the game. tractor beam
strong enought o move most objects and many of these can move space stations.
- giant gun, giant cannon. can be piloted. no cargo, just the giant gun and ammo. can destroy any ship with 1 shot. good for
use against space stations. very difficult and slow to aim.
- sidewinder 2. looks the same, but has 1 extra slot for outfitting, or some other additional feature not in the regular sidewinder.
perhaps it has docking computers built in. a little bit faster than regular sidewinder. in a chase, the sidewinder 2 goes enough
faster to outrun a regular sidewinder. other improvements not disclosed to players. perhaps uses less fuel, faster recharging, etc.
easier to find for sale in star systems that are technology focused.
- drone assist, unpiloted. buy a drone, and it follows you everywhere. when you dock, the drone waits outside the station for you to be ready to fly
again. when in a dogfight, the drone helps you as a wingman. when you mine, it helps you pick up mining fragments that are floating around lost
somewhere, or by mining asteroids. send it to map out the area. it can carry cargo, refine minerals, etc. you can order it to dock and
sell its inventory just like any other ship you own.
STAR PORT UPGRADES:
- banking, small loans, with interest payable (I learned recently that loans do exist in the game already)
- factories. if the starport has a food processing factory, 50% of foods get converted into processed foods.
so if you have 1000 meat, 500 gets used for processed meat, leaving 500 source food left and 500 processed.
inventory of processed foods stops being increased when it is equal to the supply of the source food. same can
be done for other producable items such as new fuels, advanced medicines, etc.
- data service. like the world wide web, but on a star ship. access the space station computers and get all sorts
of information about the game, possibly contributed by players, but verified. you won't have to drop to windows
and launch a browser to search Google for info about how to mine or anything like that. play the game video
tutorials within the game. play animated sequences of game play to learn things like how to dock, how to mine, etc.
info about using wormholes, different type of stations, pictures of game content such as stations ships etc.
- police department. see list of most wanted criminals, and their last known location, and how long ago the
location was reported. and type of ship, and bounties. if they get scanned, and reported back to police, their
current location gets updated. show list of last 5 or 10 places scanned, nearest planet or station.
- abandoned property auctions. die due to failed life support? someone recovers your ship, and makes it for sale
in as-is condition at a ship auction. people have to be the highest bidder to buy the ship. your refundable bid
must be placed in escrow until the sale ends. all outfitted equipment could be auctioned separatly or at a
reduced price over new.
- sell unrefined rocks from asteroids to a refinery (which could be part of a station) for a fraction of the price.
- market indexes. see how the price of commodities have changed over time. see how the industrial sector is
doing, or the agricultural sector. a stock market with investing.
- get rid of the current news system. replace it with real experiences. it takes longer to load cargo because
of a worker strike. rioting at the station causes damage to your ship. you have to pay a bribe because of
corruption in order to launch. commodities market is closed due to a bomb threat. pirates create a blockade
around the station, so you can't dock. docking is delayed because the royal family has priority docking.
black market is raided by police while you are trading, so you have to pay a fine. a questionable commodity
goes off the market because of a new ordinance passed by the governing body.
- replace news system with real news. you have a fully laden Anaconda that gets blown up for accidentally firing
while docking, and lose all yor cargo. that makes a news story. report a summary of pirate activity in the area,
if any. a dock is so busy that 20 craft are waiting, that is a real news story. solar flare warnings.
someone discovers something like Voyager 2, it should be reported as a news story, allowing everyone else to go find it.
someone discovers a new asteroid belt, and the news story tells you which star system it is in and why it is unique.
someone sets a new record (longest hyperspace jump, fastest speed, most valuable cargo, largest stolen cargo found,
most kills by 1 pilot for 1 day), promotions (someone is the first to reach a new rank).
STAR PORTS:
- auto-tractor beam for large docks or busy docks. too many ships going in and out? reduce collissions by have the
space station use its tractor beam to dock and undock ships. pay a fee for using the tractor beam service at
any station that supports it (usually the larger and wealthier stations).
- some star ports could have an auto-tractor beam only for the time where you are in the entrance slot, or
perhaps only for large ships.
- markers to help identify where the port entrance is. such as lights blinking in the direction of the main entrance,
or a target outside the port that is aligned with the entrance. you head for the target (the entrance would be behind you),
turn around, enter the station.
- see commodity pricing without docking. wirelessly transmitted to your ship, for a small fee. reduces the number of
people who dock just to check out commodity pricing, couolkd be feature of stations with few docking bays.
- a docking bay has multiple decks, so many ships can dock in the same bay and be stored in the station on a separate deck.
bay 20 could have 5 decks, so it can hold up to 5 ships. only 1 ship can be transported at a time using the lift elevator.
- port fees on busy ports. if you are docked, and you are using the user interface on the station, you pay a fee
per second while you are actively using the interfaces. this encourages people to spend less time idling at ports.
I do not know if a person saving a game while docked blocks the docking bay or not, so there might be exceptions.
- force fields around some stations to defend against attacks
- some star ports require specific status for docking (faction allegience, no-bounties, mandatory cargo scans for
illegal cargo, detailed ship inspection for illegal devices like intradiction devices, etc).
- police patrol popular routes to see if pirates are using intradiction devices. so be careful, you might intradict a police
craft and pay the price. makes intradiction devices more risky.
THEMED SPACE STATIONS:
- orbiting colonies. billions of people live in an orbiting space station. they only import food, fuel, medicines, and
import/export people. a smaller station would be a mass-transit terminal, just for ferrying people and no foods or
other cargo.
- military outposts. only stocks military equipment, and only sells fighter ships. only imports military equipment
such as weapons. bulliten board missions are all military related. good hangout spot for people who want combat.
positioned at edge of faction's territory, or in dangerous star systems.
- a special space station where only highly wanted criminals may enter. you must have a criminal record to enter.
all commodities are contraband in most star systems, but cheaper pricing. buy cheap contraband and try to smuggle it
into another place where it is illegal. shoul dbe the most profitable trading in the game, and the highest risk.
sells ship upgrades that would be considered illegal, you would have it confiscated if you got caught during a
random ship inspection after docking at a faction-controlled station. you can buy intradiction devices, scanners,
stolen id, cloaking devices, tracking devices, and performance-modified ships.
- secret pirate bases. somewhere in the middle of nowhere is a secret pirate base. only 1 or 2 docks. allows anyone
to store their stolen items, has a black market, not on any map. players spread the location by word of mouth.
accepts stolen goods for sale without penalty. have your ship modified, but illegal ship upgrades. fighters steal
goods and sell them at the secret pirate base. pirate freighters transport those goods to nearby star systems (as
stolen). any cargo bought at a pirate base is untraceable and therefor stolen.
- partially built space stations. you get to see a space station under construction, perhaps 5, 10, 20 or more
completion stages. you get to use the space station while it is under construction, although all services
might not be available, and docking pads might be limited. players help build the space station by delivering
construction materials (manufactured elsewhere).
- 'death star' type of station, large moon-sized station that can host hundreds or thousands of ships. multiple
entrance slots. sells all commodities. has all station features, including black markets.
- miniature station, 1 docking platform, no lower deck or lift elevator, just for repairs and refueling. more expensive,
perhaps 5x the price to repair or refuel. expensive docking fees. orbiting large stars. uses star to produce fuel.
- factories. supply them with raw materials, and they produce things such as weapons, scanners, hyper drivers, etc.
they also need food for workers, and fuel. buy produced goods and resell them at various stations. perhaps a player
can buy the factory, it is the most expensive item in the game, and takes a long time to break even. prices are
set by computer algorithm to keep pricing fair.
- alien space stations. they look a little weird. nothing is in a known human language. your ship is not compatible
with their communications system, you have no idea what the laws are. they have strange looking space craft.
you are not permitted entry to their space stations. the police may detain you. they are in isolated, distant galaxies.
their ships may be much smaller or much larger than human ships.
DEEP SPACE TRAVEL:
- fast jump drive. short distance (inner stellar). range is limited, such as 250L, but travel is faster than
the current drive, and more expensive per jump. ideal for people who do a lot of missions that need to be completed quickly.
- long distance travel, cryogenic sleeping. need to travel further than your hyperspace drive can support,
perhaps make 5 to 10 jumps or more? use cryogenic sleeping, let the game guide you to your destination, but you won't be able
to play during the journey. get an estimated time of arrival and start playing the game again after you arrive, which
could be 30 minutes, 60 minutes later in real time
- sub-light speed long distance travel drive. slower, but allows you to go a bit further, such as 50% further.
- sling drive, planetary assist drive. use nearby planets to increase your travel speed or distance by another
25% or so.
- interstellar gateways. some large, wealthy star systems have a gateway that transports you to another paired star system,
somewhere else in the galaxy. requires an enhanced hyperspace drive. go back and forth. some may have 2 gateways located
next to each other, so you have 2 places you can go to (double linked list arrangement), or just back and forth between
2 points. allows you to travel extremely long distances, the furthest you can travel in the game with 1 jump. perhaps
they will need special placements, and might become inoperable temporarily if not aligned, or if objects are
blockign the path. pirates can block the path, disabling it. must pay per use. expensive. might be owned by factions, so
you can only jump to their controlled space. may prohibit people with criminal records.
SPACE PHENOMENA:
- worm holes. go in, end up somewhere far distant in the galaxy
- asteroids have names, like OBJECT-152. so when you are mining, it is easier to locate an asteroid that you were just
working on, in case you got lost while chasing a fragment for scooping.
- solar flares. can damage your equipment, spoil your cargo, or knock you out temporarily. may cause unstable
materials to explode.
- polluted space or radiation, radiation belts. near the sun too long because you are mining? you get increased
exposure to unhealthy radiation. floating cargo can emit radiation, and damage a ship if taken on board.
SHIP UPGRADES - STANDARD:
- cloaking device. makes you invisible or more difficult to detect on scanners, visually, reduces wake, etc.
reduces interdictions if active during hyperspace travel.
- tractor beam. makes it easier to grab cargo floating in space, or mind materials. able to move small ships.
send cargo between 2 objects.
- scan blocking
- anti-interdiction device
- ship scanner. scan a ship to determine: hull integrity, fuel remaining, cargo, tech levels, how it is equippped, etc.
- autopilot. allows the ship to jump from point A to point B with greater accuracy than a human might do on his own.
keeps locked on target, avoids large objects such as stars and planets that are in the path
- auto-fuel scoop. turn it on, and your ship heads for the nearest star and refuels. computer controlled version
of the current manual fuel scoop. you just turn it on and it does the work, even if you are far from a star, it finds the closest
one available.
- scoop fuel into cargo hold. allows players to earn money buy scooping fuel and reselling it. cargo bays hold a lot of fuel.
another way to earn money in the game.
- SOS function. hit the SOS and the communications networks sends out a message. police respond automatically, players can
decide on their own if they want to respond.
- solar flare protection
- peer to peer communication system. if equipped, info is relayed between all ships, stations in the area that have the same
equipment. so if a nearby ship sends an SOS, you may get a message relayed to you via another nearby ship (who also has to have
the same peer to peer relay device). if someone scans craft and finds out there is a bounty, the notice gets sent to all ships
in the area who have the peer to peer comm device. if someone violates a law (such as loitering), it also gets relayed. also alerts
everyone about specific pirate activity. purpose is for emergency use. receive solar flare warnings. info about average waiting
time at a docking station, or how many bays are available or in use. police alerts. EMP bomb warning.
- encrypted communications and eavesdropping. send encrypted messages across the galaxy or star system, but be careful, if the
authorities eavesdrop on your communication and you are wanted, they will know exactly where you are. your bounty can be seent via
a peer to peer system for all ships in your area.
- scan misc objects such as asteroids, stars, cargo, etc. get notices such as mass, volume, acceleration, velocity, radiation
emissions, whether floating cargo may be illegal in most jurisdictions, etc.
- 'GPS' system. cheaper than autopilot. set a marker (like your favorite asteroid), and the GPS system will display arrows showing you
which direction to head to your marker. or be able to turn around and follow a path from where you came from. game coordinates. now you
get an XYZ location, so you can tell others exactly where you are, or where you are hiding stolen cargo, or where your secret base is.
- black box. if your ship is blown up, and your black box is recovered, whoever finds it gets to keep some or all of your credits,
or perhaps just what you earned and have leftover for the day.
- evasive maneuver. just before impact, detects incoming missiles, overrides the controls, and evades them
- nuclear engine or other engine that rarely or 'never' needs refueling.
- 'high octane', enriched fuels for added speed. but a lot more expensive, and gets depleted quickly.
- auto-trade function. when you dock, all of your cargo is sold if there is a minimum 10% profit.
- equipment becomes faulty over time (from use). not so much that you are constantly upgrading, but enough that used items on the
market are not necessarily in 100% condition, leading to increase failure or lower performance. over age, they cannot be restored to
full health.
- a scanner that can search for intelligent life. point it at a star system, run the scan, and it will tell you which types of
waves are detected, and whether they may be artificial or natural.
- a guidance system to automatically avoid pirates. you are being chased, engage the system and your ship automatically optimizes to
try and get away (increase speed and power to engines, tries to hyperjump, weaves around laser weapons and missiles)
- a battle computer. assists you in engaging in dogfights against other opponents, or perhaps assist in dogfights. evasive maneuvers,
weapons operation, missile defense, putting you in firing position. making it easier to lock onto targets.
SHIP UPGRADES: POSSIBLY UNLAWFUL
- cargo consist block, sends fake info about what cargo you have, when scanned
- space station scanner. see defenses, how many police ships are on duty, what type of guns the station has, etc.
- illegal cloaking device. hide all aspects of your ship so you are invisible. your wake has misleading signature. when scanned, it says you
are harmless, if detected, with no bounties. always says you have no cargo. expensive and rare.
- id theft device. allows you to appear to be a non-existent player or another player, if you have successfully stolen his id.
set your own faction, experience level, etc.
- hacking computer. allows you to hack into a ship or space station to steal information or disable their systems. deny all docking
requests (temporarily). disable launch requests (temporarily). create fake SOS signal to send police cruisers away from station.
post 'you've been hacked' news items. create fake missions, which makes innocent users pick up contraband unknowingly for delivery
through difficult areas. clear your wanted record, last known locations, etc. temporarily shut off power to station, making all
functions unavailable until restored (user gets message stating there is a temporary service interruption). steal credits. make
fake market pricing (artifically lower the price of a good so you can buy it cheap). disable space station weapons. put
fake bounties on people. see who is docked at the station, how much money they have, etc.
- radar and laser absorbing paint, more difficult to scan you, doesn't use a hardpoint.
- unlawful devices, such as intradiction devices, shoul dnot be for sale in law-abiding jurisdictions.
WEAPONS
- weapon that can destroy cargo, damage equipment such as your hyperdrive, etc.
- ability to destroy or severly damage a space station by smuggling a bomb aboard in a cargo hold
- laser that can blind a pilot. when fired successfully into cockpit, the pilot cannot see where he is flying, presumably
because his eyes need to re-adjust to normal conditions.
- EMP bombs. varying strength/power. large ones can knock out a station, if placed properly. small ones only knock out ships
in a general area, or knock out a beacon. each ship loses electrical power (or not) and requires a different amount of time before it comes
back online, making you a sitting duck for pirates. buy ship upgrades to protect against EMP devices and solar flares. being
chased? release a directed EMP bomb behind you, small enough to knock out a small area for anyone following you (but the blast is directed
away from you), and just for a few seconds. might have no effect.
- magnetic drill, launched at your craft. if it engages, it attaches to your hull and starts drilling. requires station visit for
removal. reduces effectiveness of life support, drains fuel, could make hyperdrive inoperable. does not function when in
hyperdrive, so you have time to get to the nearest port before serious damage can be done.
- tracking device. launch it at a ship that has a bounty but outguns you. device attaches to ship. wherever he goes, he is being tracked,
and missions start appearing in nearby space stations identifying his location. scanners help locate tracked ship when within range.
requires space station visit in anarchy port or pirate station for detection and removal. can be destroyed by ally, with shields down
and very precise aim, or by space walk.
- experimental weapons. one of a kind, hard to find. they are like regular weapons but have strange and unique abilities, such as the ability to
suddenly engage hyperspace for another ship against his will, or the ability to turn off enemy shields. not documented officially.
only 1 of each type of weapon exists in the universe, so only 1 person can have each weapon. will be in highly-militaristic solar systems.
make another ship spin out of control. suddenly drain its fuel. eject enemy hard points. the sky is the limit to what they are capable of.
might become widely available in the game, in future releases.
- smoke screen device, while being chased. can't get a visual lock on you. chase player sees a large cloud on their screen.
- deflector shield that causes weapons to bounce back. fire at the ship's deflector shield, and your laser blast will bounce back at you and
damage part of your ship, especially if you are moving slowly. single use, long recharge time.
MISSIONS:
- "SAVE THE UNIVERSE" missions
- large missile / rocket (like ICBM) headed towards a planet. help identify and shoot it down. requires either
advanced weaponry or teamwork.
- equipment procurement. player wants a mining laser, but it isn't in stock. mission appears in another station where part exists.
other player has to buy the equipment, then transfer it to the station where it was requested. money is held in escrow. you get
and ETA for when it might arrive. part is waiting for you when you return, already paid for. you pay for the equipment and
a delivery fee. you get a message when mission is accepted, so you can wait at the station when you think the equipment
might arrive. becomes abandoned property after 30 real-time days if unclaimed, made available on open market.
- save a dieing planet. deliver foods, fuel, crop harvestors, key medicines. large quantities need to be delivered by
many players to save the planet.
- remove debris that is on a crash course with a station, or destroy a comet on a collision course.
- race through an asteroid belt. fastest time for the day gets the cash prize.
- race from point A to point B. fastest time, or shortest route, for the day gets prize.
WAYS TO MAKE MONEY:
- earn money by using tractor beam technology to help assemble space stations. the star system has the parts, when you select the
part, the game shows you where it must be placed. use the tractor beam to position the space station module into place. earn money
for each successful placement.
- rent a ship. rent an expensive ship for a specified amount of time, and when your time is up, make sure it is returned, or
the ship automatically returns to the nearest rental location. you pay for the fuel and repairs. rental costs are low but
not a good deal. even rent armed ships.
- police duty. buy your own police ship. comes equipped with a police scanner to receive reports about bounties, and the locations, and
follow police protocol and locate the offenders. you should have a constant stream of police reports to respond to. scan for
illegal cargo. earn cash by locating ships with illegal cargo, killing pirates, and enforcing other laws.
- buy a sports model ship and participate in competitions. fastest through the asteroid field. first person to get to a mystery location.
play hide and seek. obstacle course (always changing). figure 8 (in 3d of course) race track. demolition derby. the game of
"TAG". treasure hunts (first person to acquire a list of obscure items and deliver them to finishing point).
- geologist. analyze asteroids. creates a report that is offered for sale.
- rare commodities. agricultural planets have exotic foods. mining planets have heavy metals. tech planets have patents. limited
supplies.
- casino, where players can earn money by playing casino style games such as Keno (I mention it because I
once saw it in another game).
NEW SHIPS:
- classic ships like NASA's space shuttle Challenger, soviet union's Buran space shuttle. unarmed, for cargo only.
- drone transports. carry necessities such as grain, fuel, and water from space station to space station. operated by game,
not by players. but players get to see them fly around, have to take their turns docking just like other crafts, etc.
can be poached by pirates for their cargo. unarmed, carries more cargo than other ships. cannot be purchased.
- large ships that are for cargo, but are too big to dock. so they have their own docking bay, and ships have to
dock on the larger ship to load or unload cargo for another destination. very slow moving ship but moves tons of
cargo.
- tow service for stranded vehicles. if stranded, call for help, pay a fee, wait for assistance. or log out and the game
will have it ready when you return later. ship gets towed docking bay at nearest star port. some stations may not
have a tow service.
- giant tractor-beam ship. this is a giant tractor beam that can be piloted. one of the slowest ships in the game. tractor beam
strong enought o move most objects and many of these can move space stations.
- giant gun, giant cannon. can be piloted. no cargo, just the giant gun and ammo. can destroy any ship with 1 shot. good for
use against space stations. very difficult and slow to aim.
- sidewinder 2. looks the same, but has 1 extra slot for outfitting, or some other additional feature not in the regular sidewinder.
perhaps it has docking computers built in. a little bit faster than regular sidewinder. in a chase, the sidewinder 2 goes enough
faster to outrun a regular sidewinder. other improvements not disclosed to players. perhaps uses less fuel, faster recharging, etc.
easier to find for sale in star systems that are technology focused.
- drone assist, unpiloted. buy a drone, and it follows you everywhere. when you dock, the drone waits outside the station for you to be ready to fly
again. when in a dogfight, the drone helps you as a wingman. when you mine, it helps you pick up mining fragments that are floating around lost
somewhere, or by mining asteroids. send it to map out the area. it can carry cargo, refine minerals, etc. you can order it to dock and
sell its inventory just like any other ship you own.
