Everyone asking for "more content"... but what is it?

[NeoTron]

Story.

Cheers,

Drew.

Content of post literally one word. I like that word. A story that we can take part of. I feel that there's some level of story going on but it's so slow that it feels nothing will happen for years. Also it's more like reading a book, one tweet at a time, than something you participate in.

Community goals are nice but from a story point of view, they only pretend to matter. For one, they almost never fail (since there's nothing counteracting them or there's too few active ones at a time so "everyone" flocks to the one or two active goals). Also the "story implications" seem to have little impact. For example, whatever happened to the assassination investigation? Emperor's Grace were implicated but then what? Nothing at all. In fact, where's the Emperor and how's his health? We don't know. It really feels like all the recent stuff has been a prelude to powerplay. The only impact of them is more credits.

Reading the proposed designs for Elite I can't help but be a bit sad. So little of what's in there is actually in the game, and mostly in a very simplified manner. NPC wingmen and NPC crews is something that I'd really like to see. Some real life in exploration would be awesome (structures? imprompto mini-missions?)

 

[Lupis]

For me content is ships, weapons, Community Goals and missions. Anything else is nice.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

I did not know about DDF forum until now. I spent quite a lot of time reading the threads in there in the last hours.
There is a LOT of good ideas and stuff in there, most of them is what I mean with "content".

Lots of good ideas in the DDF, but people need to learn to let go. It was a framework for getting the game started, and as the game developed, different things took priority. Plenty of stuff still in there worth implementing, and some of it might still come.

As for why only the sandbox part was released, well, i'd argue a bit there, but if are implying a lot more of the DDF should have been implemented, then i'd say, cool, and we can expect the game to be released some time after Star Citizen is finished

 

[Balfuset790]

For all the people talking about the 'crafting' and building stations and stuff I'm curious. How would that make Elote any different from the X series?

From my experience of playing X2 and X3 that seems to be exactly what those games did... and it was even more of a credit grind than ED is because all of these huge structures and the ships needed for them were hugely expensive. But you seemed to need to do that to get anywhere in that game. Almost feels like that would make the grind even worse...

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Lots of good ideas in the DDF, but people need to learn to let go. It was a framework for getting the game started, and as the game developed, different things took priority. Plenty of stuff still in there worth implementing, and some of it might still come.

As for why only the sandbox part was released, well, i'd argue a bit there, but if are implying a lot more of the DDF should have been implemented, then i'd say, cool, and we can expect the game to be released some time after Star Citizen is finished

I love what we have so far but I am not quite so prepared to scrap the ddf ideas and forget about it.

Yes I know some of it was never going to make it but I truly hope some still does. FD made a lot of sales off the back of the ddf and iirc even devs linked to it sometimes therefore I think it would be a little disingenuous to just cross out the ddf and pretend it never happened.

Even on launch the feeling was 1.0 was just the bare framework and that content would just keep on coming. Truth is I thought we would have had a little more by now. I am no computer artist so probably way off base but how long does it take to build 3D models like stations etc?

My worry is no one is really even working on stuff like that now

 

[NeilF]

What is your vision of "more content"?

LLAP and fly safe

My post from ages ago primarily aimed at making exploration/space more interesting - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=95448

I think missions need a good kick too IMHO ideally with more distinct NPC relationships. One I've suggested before is if you help out an important NPC (eg: go and fulfill a mission to refuel their stranded ship) later they may trust you enough to do escort missions for them or their family. Assuming they survive such missions, they may later ask you to do even bigger/more important protection missions.

It would also be nice to see some covert/stealth/spy type missions too using the silent running/cold running mechanic which seems to have been all but forgotten now.


I'd also like to see Time Trial race course for CMDRs - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=110009
...and some means of easily fighting other CMDRs (PvP) - https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=110531

 

[Lobstris]

Well, peeps, I must say thank you.
I did not know about DDF forum until now. I spent quite a lot of time reading the threads in there in the last hours.
There is a LOT of good ideas and stuff in there, most of them is what I mean with "content".
Question for the veteran commanders, what happened to most of the good ideas in there? Why only the "sandbox" part was released. Some of the ideas shouldn't even be that hard to implement ingame.

LLAP

I'm also in the 'add the DDF goshdarnit!' crowd. Personally I'd like to see the persistent NPCs, ship crews and AI get added, along with more nuanced and layered missions. What I think happened (warning: personal opinion approaching!) was that problems with the multiplayer framework for the game when it met the horror of t'Internet pushed a lot of other things to the back burner, leading to this 'release first to coincide with the 30th anniversary), put other stuff in later. Powerplay itself feels like a hastily tacked on board-game, with the implicit admission that the background sim doesn't really work. The change in emphasis from 'we're building a game for you, the backers, with loads of depth in a punishing universe' to 'we're trying to keep players, so we're going for simple, pretty things, where everyone isn't penalised and the universe is pretty safe' also doesn't help with 'depth' of content. However, the 'lack-of-content', 'too-big-for-its-own-good' and 'sterile universe' criticisms have been around since Frontier: Elite 2 - they are somewhat hand-in-hand with procedural generation (based on a small number of template archetypes).
.
Oh regarding mission types, at present we just have 'fetch' and 'kill' missions, or variants thereof. As NeilF says above me I'd also like to see more of the usual mission types (escort, stealth, patrol, scan, salvage, rescue etc.) cropping up, with NPCs that you are dealing with, or targets for those missions, stored and persistent in the world. Now whether that kills the servers if everything needs to be stored on a 'per pilot' basis is another matter, and how persistence is handled across instances (e.g. major NPC dead in my world, but not in yours)...well...thinking about that makes my head hurt!

 

[Araviel]

AFAIK the devs have always said we would not be " crafting" IF that is what u are getting at

lol no i was not talking about crafting, even if that could be nice.
i was more along the lines of fourty6to3's post,
like for example what he said about exploration, let us use the things we discover or put us in charge of colonization!
or give us tools to band together and form our own trade companies, its things like that im talking about.
for some time we did not even had a working chat system!
atm it feels like we are more spectators in the world of Elite than participants, and thats not what a sandbox should be about.

 

[Ralph Rodriguez]

For all the people talking about the 'crafting' and building stations and stuff I'm curious. How would that make Elote any different from the X series?

From my experience of playing X2 and X3 that seems to be exactly what those games did... and it was even more of a credit grind than ED is because all of these huge structures and the ships needed for them were hugely expensive. But you seemed to need to do that to get anywhere in that game. Almost feels like that would make the grind even worse...

But the grind would be a shared grind with others, this would lead to a sense of pride and accomplishment with others - basically teamwork. At the moment you can only grind for yourself, new ships and new modules. Yes people can help you out on missions, but the same level of pride and accomplishment are simply not there for the entire team unless you have a shared goal that everybody benefits from, which is currently missing from elite.
.
Once you give players the tools to do things on a large scale, the players themselves will generate their own content, stories and interactions, as I don't think CG do this at all, bring X to Y or kill lots of meaningless ships at a predetermined area, dull, dull, dull. I have yet to experience any decent interactions with other players at a crap goal.
.
Anyhow just my tuppence

 

[lysan]

Yes Indeed. Linkage

Yeah, that would do it.

EDIT:

I just trawled through the DDA and there is a lot of gold there.

Just to pick a few,

Player ID:

Players should not be identified different than the NPC. This will bring more interesting game play into the game.
Completely remove this knowledge, making player and AI indistinguishable.

Communication

Player to NPC

Talking to NPC would be handled entirely by the preset messages system.
Conversations happen either when the player hails an NPC and they respond and vice versa
Players will choose from a number of options and the NPC will automatically respond, they will take reputation into account when deciding their response.
Reputations can also affect the general tone of interaction with a particular type of NPC, a trader being hostile to a pirate for example.
New conversation options can become open to the player as their reputation values change, this could include options to bluff, bribe and haggle.
Choices made in these interactions will have real consequences for gameplay, each choice could have a different outcome in terms of gameplay.
Lack of response (usually 5 seconds) will also be considered a message by an NPC.


Visual Communication

Players can apply directive visual tags to ships they have targeted, that can then be seen by other players. These tags can convey the following messages
Attack this ship/station
Defend this ship/station
Scan this ship


Trading

Markets
Commodities
P2P Trades
Background Sim
Market Location

link

 

[X2Eliah]

More content.. Hrm. Werll, I wouldn't mind seeing more scouting/exploration content, in the following ways:

- Long-distance exploration change. Specifically, make detailed scanning more up-close and in-depth.

Keep the current zoom-and-boom thing, but to do a detailed scan, you have to drop into *normal space* within very close proximity to the planet (much more visually interesting!). You have to deploy a scanner module, and *shut down your ship's systems to eliminate ship noise*. Then, direct scanner to the planet. After about 2 seconds of general scanning, points of interest are identified via the holo-interface; you need to focus your scanner on those points to explore the planet fully. Then, when planet is 100% scanned, boot the ship's systems back up, and fly onward. Full process, between 30sec and a minute, visually interesting and requires player activity. Obviously, more financial reward due to more time taken, but would be much more fun, and you'd get a sense of "Oh! I am actually exploring this planet with these clouds, and investigating that coastline and that cloud formation and that ocean, not just pointing at a supercruise icon".


- Short-distance scouting change. Or rather, adding short-distance scouting content.

1) Allow players to *actively* scan for signal sources (signal sources do not automagically pop up, but rather you get potential areas, and need to triangulate the position to find them, by locating a potential signal source area (shows up by itself), and then focusing it by moving laterally along it, to get a fix from 3 different angles.)

2) Please, please, please, introduce discoverable wormholes with unknown endpoints (from tens to thousands of lightyears apart) that we need to fly through / find / map. Then, ability to sell the location and routing data to Galnet. Yes, very much like Star Citizen, but that would make exploration so much more unpredictable and exhilarating. Make these reasonably frequent, but mappable by *small ships*. Not entirely persistent, with a lifespan anywhere between a day and a month. After mapping, useable by trade ships too (allows for impromptu trade routes constantly popping up).

3) Spying / scanning / investigation missions. Require a silent ship with scanning arrays, have it fly up to and "scan" a station, or a convoy (track it across systems?), or capital ship, gather "data" on it, and report back to mission-giver faction. Challenge lying in keeping the ship low-heat, silent and out of detection threshold.

- Exploration dangers.
Have solar winds, stellar radiation, moving asteroid fields, magnetic influence from gas giants, solar flares - all that affect the ship in supercruise, changing the heat levels, speed, module efficiency, in rare cases even hull deterioration. Make the environment risky and varied.

 

[Captain N]

I wouldn't say I have much of a vision really - content is a pretty simple and straightforward term to me. I would describe it pretty much as art assets really - though flavour text is a type of content as well and so is audio and level design.

Content is a way to alleviate people's boredom, which is what games are all about, after all, so you could say content is pretty important to a game.

Producing content, however, tends to be expensive in relation to the amount of time it keeps people entertained - a level designer might spend months polishing a level a player runs through in five minutes. An artist might be working a pretty long time on a new ship in Elite, but once a player has test flown it and encountered it a few times in a combat zone it ceases to be a new thing, leaving the player to crave for more. It always takes developers more time to produce content than it takes players to consume it, so in an MMO-like, continuously running game it's a pretty poor way to keep players engaged.

What the OP describes as "chaos" is what I would call emergent gameplay, assuming I understood him correctly. This is another way to alleviate boredom, which relies less on new art assets and more on designing the systems in the game to be clever and interactive in such a way that a player's actions in the game cause unpredictable and interesting results. As games like Dwarf Fortress prove, you can do lots of things with emergent gameplay design alone without much content, though of course it demands more from game designers and programmers than simply pushing new content into an existing framework.

 

[kapparomeo]

• add "chaos" in every aspect of the game that puts you in situations you must overcome (some sort of "forced missions"): while exploring/trading your FSD fails and you drop out near some special object. There may be pirates, radiation slowly breaking your ship... I don't know, but "chaos" says it all.

This is an incredibly bad idea. The second it's implemented, the forums are going to be outright drowned in endless (and not entirely unreasonable) complaining about the "unfairness" and "arbitrariness" of random encounters. And if ships get destroyed as part of these encounters and insurance claims have to be made or lost...? Hoo boy, hope you brought an umbrella.

 

[Ekar]

I usually think of content as primarily art assets. So new station interiors would be welcome and cool content, planetary landings and their associated environments, new planet types, new ships, even new advertisements.

But content could also be new features, gameplay effects, weapon types, story developments, new concepts such as Powerplay, etc. So it's a pretty broad term I think and no two people will agree where the definition begins and ends.

 

[Razor Romero]

For me it would have to be venturing out into the great unknown. Four hundred billion systems, yet they're pretty much all the same. If you set out on an exploration trip, no matter how far or how random your course is, you already know what you're going to find.
Lots of stars and planets. No surprises. The Galaxy is so enormous they could put tons of cool stuff to find in it.
Exploring is actually just "travelling a long way" at the moment. The great unknown just isn't in the game and it needs to be.

 

[Olrik]

Alien empires.

 

[Nagual]

I was going to make a post about this but think I'll put it here, as it's relevant. These are a few of the DDF articles, some of which have had many of the items included in the game at this point however there is a lot that has fallen by the wayside. Some may not make it into the game due to redesigns of the game or other reasons. The DDF is currently known as "The Big List of Things We'd Like To Do At Some Point".

Mining:

Spoiler

"It hit with the force of 10,000 nuclear weapons" Revised Mining in Elite Dangerous
Mining is split into three distinct stages:


Detection


There are two stages to detection:
Initial find – commanders must utilise scanning systems to locate a resource areas such as an asteroid belts, comets, and dust/ gas clouds within a system
This initial detection can involve the use of “far scanning”: micro drones or extended sensor scans
Once areas have been located they will be visible on the commanders system map
Once a suitable area has been successfully located the commander can attempt to use further scans to determine the best candidate areas
Commanders can skip this step and attempt to extract resources in effect “blind”
Information from detailed scans can reveal precise resource types as well as provide feedback to improve the moment to moment harvesting
Scans will display a ‘heat map’ of the mineral make-up of a body, showing areas especially rich in particular resources.
Minable bodies/areas can range in size from tiny to huge:
Bodies of all sizes and masses will be spread around in a realistic gravitational manner, in a belt for example.
In the case of gas/dust clouds it is described by the size and density of the cloud
Each resource area will be composed of different sets of elements. These elements make up the composition of the bodies found within the area
Each body will have a different composition but it will contain many of the same elements as the rest of the resource area
The precise makeup is actually determined by the system itself and its makeup




Extraction


Players need empty cargo canisters loaded onto their ship before they can begin extraction
The method of extraction depends upon the resource type
Mineral Bodies (Asteroids)
Once a player has located a suitable body to mine they then equip their mining lasers and begin the mining process
Different areas of the surface will have different areas with different densities of certain minerals.
When the player fires at a particular area with their mining laser for the required amount of time, chunks break off and they can then be collected with a scoop
Each unit of resource collected fills an empty cargo canister, either as pure resource or as a mixed dust
Each unit of dust that is collected retains the elemental composition of the asteroid it was mined from
Frozen Liquid Bodies(Comets)
These work in a similar way to other bodies, but different equipment is required for extraction
Lower powered mining lasers are used extract chunks without melting them, these can then be collected in the same way as mineral bodies
Players can travel behind a comet and scoop their trails
Gas/Dust Clouds
Gas/dust clouds must be flown through with an appropriate scoop
Certain areas will be more dense and give a richer yield, the player should aim to fly though these areas as much as possible
Some gas/dust clouds require specific types and grades of scoop
Some gas/dust clouds may suffer reactions based on vessel temperature and speed of travel
Incorrect management of speed and temperature can cause damage to your ship, potentially dangerous reactions as well as a decrease in the purity of resources collected
After the required amount of time travelling through a resource area, an empty cargo canister is filled
In all cases, there are other potential effects from harvesting:
Contamination - this can occur during the extraction process, by collecting and storing the resource or simply by being within the vicinity
Specialised scanners and ship monitoring systems can alert the commander to contamination
Certain resources that are mined can have potentially damaging attributes, radioactivity for example
Void creatures - space contains a number of base intelligence critters that can be disturbed whilst detecting and extracting resources
Most are hostile, a few can become valuable resources themselves
Drones - commanders may equip and employ drones to collect solid resources in the same way that they can collect floating canisters (this is an alternative method of collection for vessels without an operational cargo scoop
Auto miners - potentially not for release one: these are large deployed devices that can mine a location over time, allowing the player to collect them at a later date
They cannot be found by other human commanders unless the commander is also present at the location, though on return commanders may find that they have suffered malfunctions or been contaminated
More expensive auto miners are more resilient to adverse effects and can offer greater yields


Refining
A refinery module is available to the player and when equipped it is accessed through a cockpit interface
Players put the units of unrefined asteroid dust they have collected into this interface
Units are split into their component parts
Refineries have a set of “hoppers” which fill up with the different elements produced by the process
Once a hopper contains an element it can only continue to take that element until it is full
Once a hopper is full it becomes a unit of refined resource
Refined units are worth slightly less than pure units
Waste can be combined into units of generic alloys
Both Refined and pure units of resources collected and refined whilst out mining can be sold up the players return to the station
Units refined this way can then be sold on the “Resource Market” (separate from the commodity market) at the station
Almost the entire periodic table of elements can be acquired in this manner




Claims


Some resources may be subject to an NPC claim:
Such claims are normally broadcast via beacons placed at the resource location
The beacons transmit details of the claim
Some beacons can detect extraction and transmit alerts to the claim’s owner
Some beacons are mobile
Sometimes this functionality is carried out by a vessel (which may or may not be a mining vessel)
Claims create additional gameplay potential by weaving events and missions into the mining process
Players mining in claimed areas can be at risk of a fine or being attacked by the owners
NPCs can be found patrolling claimed resource collection areas such as asteroid fields

Crime

Spoiler

Elite: Dangerous - Criminality
Hello Backers!


Here is the Criminality rules set that we've agreed on, following another set of extensive debate, both in the team and on the forum. We'd like to thank everyone for their involvement! As with other topics like this it will stay here for a few days, then be moved to the archives section.


Cheers,
-Mike


Crime List
There are a set number of recognised crimes; they come in two severities:
Minor Crime – Punishable by fine
Unlawful Discharge - Unauthorized firing of weapons near a structure or ship controlled by the factional authority in the system
Collisions – Colliding with a ship or owned structure enough to cause damage
Shields soak up most collisions
Damage is caused when two ships collide with a certain force
A ship is exempt from this crime if docked or “dropped anchor”
“dropped anchor” is a player initiated act that takes a small amount of time and protects against the exploit of quickly coming to a stop in front of a moving ship
Stolen Goods – Being detected carrying stolen goods
Illegal Goods (Minor)– Being detected carrying goods that are classified as illegal in the current system according to the factional authority
Illegal goods includes passenger transporting of persons with reported crimes in the system
Illegal dumping – Being detected jettisoning toxic cargo
Jettisoning any cargo within a set distance from a dock is counted as illegal dumping
Obstructing Justice – ignoring a request from factional authority vessels and structures (such as fleeing instead of stopping to allow a scan or trespassing in restricted space)
Major Crime – Punishable by attack (via Pilot’s Federation bounty/faction bounty)
Attack on a ship or structure– firing on and hitting an owned structure or locking on and firing at a ship
Murder/Ship Destruction – causing death/destruction of an owned structure
This includes destruction through collision
Illegal Goods (Major)– Being detected carrying goods that are classified as highly illegal in the current system according to the factional authority
Public Enemy – Failure to pay a fine for a set number of times


Jurisdiction
With the exception of Pilot’s Federation Bounties, a crime is only ever committed within a jurisdiction; in unregulated space such as dark systems and anarchies crimes are ignored
A jurisdiction always belongs to a faction
The defining nature of a jurisdiction is that it contains facilities to receive information transmitted by ships
These facilities range from space stations and inhabited planets to automated defence stations and satellites
Large vessels owned by the faction also provide this functionality, effectively generating a jurisdiction in the area they occupy


Witnesses and Reporting
Even within a jurisdiction, crimes must be witnessed in order to count as a crime
All NPCs can act as witnesses to all crimes that don’t need special equipment to detect
The chance they will report it depends on
Their archetype (ie a pirate is unlikely to report piracy or whether they are an archetype with local law enforcement powers)
Whether they saw it clearly enough to be able to identify the ship (ie on distance) and they will have to perform an active scan to do so
The reputation of the perpetrator (communicated via a simple dialogue)
Players can purchase cargo scanners, and for players that have achieved a high enough local status these can be equipped with secure law enforcement software that can also be used to report smuggling, for which in most jurisdictions there is a reward based on the value of contraband apprehended.
Police patrols and occasional NPC vigilantes will also be equipped with cargo scanners, and may also do spot searches.
Players may turn off their ‘squawk’ such that even if attacked the crime is not automatically reported.


Pilot Federation Bounties
When a member of the Pilot’s Federation is attacked, they have the option of setting a Pilot’s Federation Bounty on their assailant, within a preset min and max credits for this
This action is time limited – they forfeit the ability to set a bounty after a set time elapses once they have entered a different session (eg through death or hyperspace)
Should their ship be destroyed by the assailant they have a limited amount of time from when their escape pod arrives at a dock to set the bounty
Launching from a dock forfeits this ability if not already set
The credit value of a bounty must be available in the player’s account, and is immediately deducted.
A Pilot’s Federation Bounty can only be claimed by any member of the Pilot’s Federation
The Pilot’s Federation Bounty system does not bypass local laws such as “Unlawful Discharge” that may be active so players need to bear this in mind
A Pilot’s Federation Bounty is only removed if claimed by a bounty hunter or redeemed by the perpetrator
Redemption can only occur after a set significant time period has elapsed (eg 1 calendar week) and the perpetrator makes financial restitution of a significant multiplier of the bounty (eg 10x) to the Pilot’s Federation


Detection and Rap Sheet
When a crime has been witnessed and reported it is logged to the perpetrator’s rap sheet, but this rap sheet is not visible to other ships by default unless they were direct witnesses – ships must scan the perpetrator and even then, they will only receive details out outstanding bounties applicable for the current jurisdiction(the scan automatically cross-references local authority reports) and active Pilot’s Federation bounties
Players may have positive reputations with certain law enforcement agencies, then the scanner will be able to look up details of crimes committed in other jurisdictions
A ship will detect and inform its commander when it is being scanned
Some advanced scanners can scan without being detected
Once a ship has been scanned, its commander’s outstanding bounties for the current jurisdiction are known to the scanning commander until the two commanders are not in the same session (discounting the ‘hot pursuit’ effect if you follow them through hyperspace)
A commander can view their full rap sheet at any time
A rap sheet contains the precise breakdown of crimes that the commander has been detected committing
Each crime has a fine or bounty value attached to it


Right to Retaliate
When a commander is the victim of a major crime within a jurisdiction they automatically receive the right to retaliate:
Their ship automatically scans the perpetrator, giving them knowledge of the outstanding bounties in the current jurisdiction
They count as a witness and automatically transmit the crime to the factional authority controlling the jurisdiction
They are allowed to attack the perpetrator with impunity in any jurisdiction controlled by the same factional authority as where the crime was witnessed and reported
The right to retaliate does not grant immunity from prosecution in jurisdictions controlled by different factional authorities
Note: If the commander is attacked in a jurisdiction that does not recognize the crime, the commander does not gain the right to retaliate!
In unregulated space no crime is ever committed and any form of retaliation is acceptable


Authority Response
Once a major crime has been reported to the factional authority that controls the jurisdiction a response is dispatched to the location – and that dispatch will be rapid – usually they would arrive by hyperspace within a minute if they respond at all.
The size of the response is related to the severity of the crime, modified by the total amount of crimes logged for the location and the background simulation for the system
If the victim is present at a location when authority ships arrive the crime is instantly detected by the authority ships and they gain knowledge of the perpetrator’s rap sheet
If the victim is not present the authority ships will be required to scan the perpetrator to detect the crime and gain knowledge of the perpetrator’s rap sheet
Their behaviour will in general lean towards scanning all vessels once they arrive but may be influenced by reputations and ship appearance to the point that a scan is guaranteed or never initiated
The standard response for a major crime will be to attack directly once a faction bounty has been detected though we may have archetype variations for law enforcement where they give a warning – giving the option of a bribe or of buying off the bounty at 10x (or more) there and then.
Once a crime has been detected by a factional authority vessel/structure whilst an authority ship remains in direct contact all associated ships and structures of the faction also have knowledge of the perpetrator’s rap sheet. Otherwise they have to choose to look it up as normal.
This knowledge persists according to rules described earlier in the Detection section
Multiplayer - crimes against human commanders that cause a bounty to exist make the criminal able to be matched with any other human commander present in the “all players” group
This punishment lasts for a set amount of game time


Consequences
Fines
When the player is witnessed committing a crime punishable by fine, they immediately accrue the fine and have a set period of time in which to visit a representative of the appropriate faction/Pilot’s Federation and pay it
Failure to pay within the time allotted increases the fine
Once a commander has failed to pay within the allotted time a set amount of times they commit the public enemy crime for the faction/Pilot’s Federation
A commander always has access to his crime sheet to view fines


Faction Bounties
A faction bounty can be claimed by anyone that destroys the perpetrator whilst having knowledge of their rap sheet
Knowledge of the rap sheet can be obtained via a scan of the perpetrator or from an event or mission (which acts the same as if the perpetrator had been scanned)
The destroyed husk of a perpetrator can be scanned to obtain its ID and then look up its rap sheet – though attacking a ship without having knowledge of its rap sheet would itself be a crime, so it is safer to “scan first, shoot second”
The commander that delivered the killing blow on a perpetrator obtains a bounty data item ‘voucher’ if they have knowledge of the perpetrator’s rap sheet
This voucher can be traded in at a dock that contains a representative of the appropriate factional authority to claim the bounty
The voucher can also be traded between players (presumably at a discount) to cover players that might be unable to cash in the voucher due to crimes of their own.
When a commander with a rap sheet gets their ship destroyed, any faction bounties are immediately turned into fines via a conversion factor
The commander’s “failure to pay fine count” is also reset
This does not prevent a commander that destroyed the perpetrator’s ship whilst having knowledge of their rap sheet from claiming the bounty
Bounty vouchers once created will have to be cashed in within a particular time, or they will expire.


Crimes and Docking
When a commander with a rap sheet arrives at a dock via escape pod they are automatically scanned and knowledge of their rap sheet for the current jurisdiction is given to the faction that controls the dock
When a commander with a rap sheet arrives at a dock in their ship, they may be scanned:
The chance of being scanned is modified by reputation and ship appearance
If there is ‘hot pursuit’ by the same factional authority as that owning the dock, then the dock also has knowledge of the commander.
No action is taken against a commander for crimes on the rap sheet that occurred in jurisdictions not under the control of the factional authority that owns the dock
If a commander has crimes on their rap sheet that occurred within a jurisdiction controlled by the factional authority that owns the dock the following event automatically occurs:
The commander must pay off all fines before they can leave in addition to any payments required to obtain a ship
The commander must use a creditor if they lack the funds to pay off the fines
Based on chance and reputations, a commander may be able to bribe the dock authorities into “looking the other way”, allowing the commander to launch without paying off fines, or even to mark them as ‘cancelled’


Missions/Events and Exemptions
Based on reputations, game logic and contacts, missions and events can be generated that affect a commander’s rap sheet
Rap sheets can be used to generate bounty missions awarded via bulletin boards and contacts
Based on reputation, events that allow commanders to hail authority vessels and bribe them to let the player escape (or even in extreme circumstances turn bounties into fines or clear rap sheets) can be generated
Contacts may be able to alter, reduce or clear rap sheets
Such services are rare and will always entail a cost of some kind
Commanders with sufficiently high reputations can petition for Letters of Marque from the Empire or Warrants from the Federation
Letters of Marque and Warrants authorise attack and plunder of vessels openly allied to the specific opposition faction, but only in independent space (jurisdictions not controlled by the either opposing faction)
Letters of Marque or Warrants mean that certain actions are no longer crimes for that player.
Letters of Marque and Warrants can effectively give the player law enforcement powers in that area, and corresponding greatly reduced chance of scan/search.

Exploring

Spoiler

"Space is disease & danger wrapped in darkness" Exploring in Elite Dangerous
In Elite: Dangerous explorers are players who travel out into undiscovered areas of the galaxy, hoping to find previously undiscovered systems and locations. Explorers scan and record data wherever they go, and can sell that data on to various interested authorities. Explorers can also sell on data they have discovered to other players, allowing them to sell the co-ordinates of a valuable find to the highest bidder, or keep their discoveries to exploit for themselves.
Explorer players must discover different points of interest using different methods
Explorer players’ main method of making money is through selling details of points of interest they discover
Points of interest players can discover include:
Star Systems
Dark Systems (systems without a star, but other features)
Stars
Planets
Asteroids, comets
Moons
Structures
Other Phenomena
These Discovered locations may include:
Secret Locations
Resources
Events/Missions (time limited and permenant)
Beauty spots (usually attached to other entities)
Messages/Beacons
Players explore to build up the details on their galaxy map
When starting a new commander the player will have some details on their galaxy map
This will allow the player to travel to any locations they have map data to, without having to explore
Players can buy map data from authorities to expand their ships computers library of maps
New map data will allow the player to travel to new locations without needing to explore
Map data that is bought from authorities is not to the highest level of detail and can be improved with player gathered data
Map data includes hyperspace routes to systems and major points of interest in that system


Players can use scanning equipment and probes to detect systems and record new hyperspace routes
Scanners are used to detect any nearby systems that are within the players jump range
Scanners will give the player a vague indication of the direction of a system
High end scanners can give the player a better details of the system they have detected (is it a star, an asteroid field etc.)
Players can then launch hyperspace probes that will give the player more information on the part of space they are looking at
Probes will give the player heat-map style data to help guide the player to the correct co-ordinates for a jump
Different probe ammo can provide different information, or react based on objects in the target system
Using the data they have gathered the player must align their ship as best they can with the target system and activate the hyperdrive to jump to the system
The player’s ship records data of any successful jumps the player makes
The pilots federation will always pay players for the first successful jump they make using the exploration method (If the player bought the map data for the jump they cannot sell the data), even if the player is not the first person ever to make the jump (the pilots federation use the data to improve their telemetry and keep maps up to date)
If the player is the first person to ever make the journey they receive a bonus for discovering the hyperspace route
The closer the player lines up their jump to the target system, the higher quality the data the players ship will gather on the jump. Higher quality data is worth more money when sold to authorities
If a player’s jump is not accurate enough they may suffer a miss jump
Longer distance jumps require a higher level of accuracy
A systems contents may also affect how accurate a players jump must be to avoid mis-jumping




Players use scanners to detect points of interest within systems
The player’s scanners detect various points of interest around the player
It takes time for players scanners to detect points of interest
Player’s proximity to a point of interest can affect the time it takes to detect
Players ship facing can affect the time it takes to detect a point of interest (e.g. pointing my ship at a undiscovered point of interest will allow me to scan it faster)
Different types of points of interest can require different player actions to detect
For example to detect a mineral rich formation of asteroids the player must launch probes around an asteroid field
The probes provide a cross section from their perspective of the asteroid field they’re launched at
Each additional probe the player uses provides more details on the target asteroid field
The player uses their scanner to view the data from the probes, and must tag the areas with the highest concentration of minerals in the field
Once this process is complete the point of interest is completed
The quality of the players scan of the area affects the value of the data
The quality of the player’s scan can affect the amount and type of materials found in the asteroids




Players can sell information they have gathered to other players as well as authorities. This is done through a trade interface similar to the trade goods trading interface. Players can sell hyperspace routes from their location to any single system they have explored to. The purchasing player then offers a price (this can be 0 if it is a gift), and if both players are satisfied they agree to the trade. Players can also trade in system data including locations of points of interest using the same method.
I’d like to gauge player interest in a community driven photography contest, which would be another way of explorers earning money.
Players can take photographs (essentially screenshots) from their view ports (with and without cockpit and GUI etc)
Player photographs can be submitted to a regular photography contest
Players can only submit one photograph each
Players can vote on a selection of the best photographs
The player(s) who get the most votes wins the competition
The winner gets a (in game) cash prize (plus prizes for 2nd 3rd most weird etc.)
The photograph (and other user submissions) will be used in appropriate places in the game (billboards, news papers, etc.)




Players who decide to go exploring are jumping into the unknown, and without high end kit, often with little to no knowledge of the dangers they are jumping in to. Alongside the risk of encountering hostility when jumping to an unknown system, explorers scanners attract a lot of attention, generating lots of heat. Explorer ships will need to be prepared to face hostile activity when exploring, and players need to be ready to fight for their claims or run for their lives.


Issues
Will exploration remain interesting and profitable long term?
What other things can players discover in a system that have value to sell?
What could the scanning process be for those discoverables?
Will players risk scanning for hyperspace routes or just buy data?

News Feeds

Spoiler

Elite: Dangerous - Newsfeeds
Hello!


Another finalised topic for you to look at before we archive it away in a few days. Thanks for all the feedback on the previous proposals.


Cheers,
-Mike


GOALS
Provide the player with useful and relevant information about the game world
Present that information in a varied and interesting fashion
Immerse the player in the game world
Be extensible to allow for extra content/features as the game develops


BASIC SYSTEM
Newsfeeds in Elite: Dangerous display the latest in-game events to the player
The newsfeeds system revolves around two core elements:
Events
Events are things that happen in the game world.
These can come from:
Direct player action
Galaxy Simulation
The Event Injection System
Channels
Channels are the presentation layer for the event.
Channels determine what news items are displayed and how the news item is reported.


EVENTS
Events are the data for the newsfeeds
Events are scored based on the relevance to the player
Events affecting them or people on their friends list, or relating to a nearby location, will be scored more highly
The player is able to adjust the threshold at which events are shown per category (probably as ‘low’, ‘medium’ and ‘high’).
Events are organised into types, a summary of types is provided below:
Player Driven
Mission completion – this would be filtered by some value so only significant missions are reported
Major kills – destroying a highly ranked opponent (human or NPC) would be a newsworthy event
Player death – the death of highly ranked players would be a news item
Career events – for example collecting bounties, major trades or exploring a new system
Ranking – major ranking increases, prioritising players known to our player
Opening/discovery of a new dark system enabling a new trade route
Player Indirect
Traffic – unusually high or low numbers of visitors
Piracy – piracy and anti-piracy stats for region
Economy – Prices up/down, surpluses and shortages
Stability – function of crime and clean up rates
Political – changes to laws in a system (can be as a result of a civil war etc)
Injected
Background Simulation
Major events- these may have their own templates
Famine
Civil war (What’s so civil about war anyway?)
Stability
Major military movements or interdiction of a system
New space station or city construction


CHANNELS
The channel decides what news items are available from the events list and how they are presented.
The channels allow us to create newsfeeds specific to player’s interests as well as more general news. Here are some example channels.
Imperial Times – The flagship Imperial newsfeed, it features high profile stories focused on the Empire.
FNN (Federation News Network) – One of many Federation news channels.
The Daily Hunter – Bounty hunter related news.
Each inhabited system will have a procedurally generated local news channel for reporting only local events.
Certain channels may be tagged so that they are only available in certain systems
To be considered is the possibility of including some mark-up in the templates to allow branding and visual distinction between the different channels, but this may be considered for future updates.


ACCESSING THE NEWS FEEDS
Newsfeeds are accessed from the player’s cockpit. There is the direct interface part of the tertiary screens as well as hooks via the galaxy maps for accessing news feeds for different systems.


EXAMPLE NEWS ITEM
Here are two different example stories using the same event but different templates:
Daily Lave
Pirate Menace Struck a Blow
Today a blow was struck against pirate forces when police engaged and killed the known pirate RedBeard. In a statement the local Trader’s representative said “This is wonderful news. Traders throughout the system will all rest easy knowing RedBeard won’t be out there waiting for them on their next run.”
The Daily Hunter
Lave bounty update – RedBeard taken down!
Another pirate bit the dust in Lave today when the infamous RedBeard was taken down in a furious battle. Although the bounty was relatively small the traders of Lave will be feeling safer today.
Players will have control of detail – to show stories just in headline form, or in more detail (by expanding them), to show them in full as above.


ADVERTS
Adverts are content added to channels to provide colour and variety. They should also add some humour as seen in the previous games. They also add authenticity and depth by expanding the fiction in the universe.
These come in two forms:
Authored - Adverts that have been authored (we can get the fans involved in this as well as write them internally, and possibly include real ones adjusted for the fiction).
Procedural - These are template adverts that are used to generate ads for local commodities. For example Lavian Brandy, these are generated from the same system to create local specialities, along with a variety of templates to reduce repetition.

Persistent NPCs

Spoiler

Elite Dangerous - Persistent NPC's
A quick update, the Persistent NPC's proposal has now been internally approved. Here's the run down:


GOALS
Provide consistent characters for player’s to interact with
Provide a sense of history for the galaxy
Provide the opportunity for casual encounters to become longer running threads




CHARACTER TIERS
Character tiers are used to identify the characters, their significance and permanence in the game world.




TIER 1 CHARACTERS
Tier 1 characters are major characters within the game world, for example Planetary Presidents, Major Corporation CEO’s and top ranking crime bosses. Typically the player will interact with tier 2 characters associated with the tier 1 character rather than directly with the tier 1 character.
There is a global list of tier 1 characters.
They are identified by the following characteristics:


Players do not interact with these characters directly.
The character is common to all online players.
The character is created via an in-game invent – typically manually.
The character can only be killed by an in-game event.
A tier 2 character can be promoted to tier 1, but only by an event.




TIER 1 CHARACTER EXAMPLES
Faction leaders
Station leaders
Regional persons of note
Engineering/Scientific specialists (enhanced weapons and modules)
Can provide missions, but only on rare occasions, for example:
Very high faction rating
Very high player rank




TIER 2 CHARACTERS
Tier 2 characters are characters that persist for players, but can be interacted with directly. There is a per player list of tier 2 characters and they are identified by the following characteristics:


Players can interact with the character directly.
Character can be killed by players or by events.
Character can be created via an event, by the game or promoted from tier 3.
Character can be promoted from tier 2 by being known to a large number of players.
Characters can issue missions.




TIER 2 CHARACTER EXAMPLES
Faction leader underlings that the player deals directly with
Mission targets
Mission providers
Pilots of NPC vessels that the player has previously interacted with
Player contacts




TIER 3 CHARACTERS
Tier 3 characters are transient characters that are created when traffic is generated, these are typically pilots for NPC ships. Tier 3 characters are randomly generated from a global pool as needed.


If the player interacts with a tier 3 character then the character may be promoted to a tier 2 so they can be encountered again. They may also shift back down to tier 3, if the interact is minor, as their importance will diminish over time.
They are identified by the following characteristics:


They are not persistent
They can be promoted to tier 2 (and thus become persistent)
They are randomly created according to the required archetype




TIER 3 CHARACTER EXAMPLES
Pilots for generated traffic
Passengers




NEWSFEEDS
Characters (particularly tier 1 types) can be used as named people in news items.




REQUIRED DATA
Each persistent character has two sets of data:
Core information
Character log




CORE INFORMATION
The core information defines the character and how they interact with the world and the players. The required data includes:


Name
Archetype – this is used to manage events the character is attached to. It also defines what missions or behaviour the character has.
Location – this is where the character is currently based.




CHARACTER LOG
Like players the character’s (tiers 1 and 2) generate an event log to track their history. There will be a separate design discussion on the player’s log, but for the characters the following information needs to be recorded for each entry:


Timestamp
Character/Player
Event type
Other parties




The NPC’s log of player interactions will work on a system of event significance, the more significant the interaction, the more likely the character is to remember it. An entry of a player destroying an NPC’s ship will last far longer than a quick player communication. Each entry with lose significance over time, allowing an NPC to “forget” interactions, and eventually returning them to a lower tier.


The propagation of this data across players will need to be handled by the server, making this data shareable across multiple instances of the game. Igor has more information on the technical aspects of this system.

Shields

Spoiler

Elite: Dangerous - Shields
Hello backers!


Here for your perusal is our finalized rules-set for how we're going to make shields work. Once again, I'd like to say a big thank you to all who took part in the debate - the final result is hopefully simpler, without losing the focus of what we want to achieve (meaningful and fun shield interactions).


As usual, this post will remain in the DDF for a few days, then wend its way into the design archives.


Shield Systems


A ship can be fitted with a shield system
Shield systems are optional
For release 1, a shield system has either 1 or 2 zones in playable ships
Larger NPC ships can have more shield zones
Each zone describes an area of hull coverage
The sum coverage of all zones always completely covers the hull
In shield systems with 2 zones the coverage is split between fore and aft zones
Ship hulls determine the number of shield zones in a shield system
The player must assign shield generator modules to the shield system
A single shield generator module must be assigned to a single shield zone system
1 or 2 shield generator modules can be fitted to a system with 2 shield zones
If one shield generator module is fitted it’s values are equally divided between the two zones
If two shield generator modules are fitted each is assigned to an individual zone
The player must choose which shield generator module is assigned to the fore and which to the aft zone
Shield generator module assignment is carried out whilst docked
in later releases players will be able to manually assign shield generator modules by direct interaction
Each shield generator module provides the following combat parameters
Health – the amount of damage that can be absorbed before a shield zone collapses
A collapsed zone will reform at full health after a delay (low minutes)
Resistance – the amount of damage that is “soaked” by the shield before any damage is applied to the shield’s health
A shield generator module assigned to two shield
The shield system determines recharge rate – how much shield health is replenished over time when the shield is not under attack
Shield generator modules have a number of secondary parameters
Cost
Grid footprint
Power draw
Heat generation
Module health
Additional shield generators create redundancy but generally speaking, two smaller shield generators are less efficient than a single, larger shield generator module.


Shield Interactions
A shield system gives the player access to strategic and tactical decisions
The player makes strategic choices when outfitting a ship with shield generator modules
Redundancy verses efficiency
Cost versus effectiveness
During flight the player is able to use a simple interface to tactically push shields fore/aft
Recharge rate is upped to 75% for the pushed shield zones and reduced to 25% for the remaining shield zones
During flight the player can tactically deploy cells from a shield bank to stabilize damaged shields before they collapse
As an attacker, a player is able to (whilst a shield is collapsed) target and attack shield emitters
Emitters that receive damage transfer the damage directly to the appropriate shield generator module, potentially destroying it or causing malfunctions
Targeting emitters is initially manual, though advanced sensors are able to provide varying levels of assisted aim


Shield Bank (Optional Module)
Players can augment their shields performance by equipping their ship with an (optional) Shield Cell Bank
Shield cell banks are large installed systems that allow the player to restore a shield quickly to full health
Different shield cell banks provide the player with more shield cells
Shield cells can be used to stabilize a shield (massively increases shield recharge rate for a brief period of time)
Shield cells are ineffective on collapsed shields
Shield cells are consumed when used
Shield Cell Banks have the following properties and attributes:
They draw a fixed amount of power from the ships power plant when active
They have a mass and size limiting how many and in what way they can be put inside a ship
Number of cells: the maximum number of cells a cell bank fitted with
Using a streamlined cockpit interface control the player can select a shield zone and apply a shield cell
Preferred options would be hotkeys for each shield zone or a “two-tap” (select shield, stabilize)
There is a slight delay from the player using a cell to the shield being restored (seconds)
A visual effect on the shield occurs during this delay which can be seen by other players

Ship Management

Spoiler

“Hello, Bomb? Are you with me?” Ship Management in Elite: Dangerous
Hello Illustrious members of the DDF!


So, the second round for “Contacts” will be slightly delayed until next Monday/Tuesday. Please accept my apologies for this. Hopefully, today’s new topic will give you some conundrums to puzzle over: ship management.


What do we mean by this then? Basically, it’s the various ship functions that aren’t directly to do with piloting the vessel. They may, of course, have significant impact on piloting though.


I suspect this is going to be a topic that provokes a tsunami response. Why? Because our definition of ship management cannot but imply some of our thoughts on how we envision the core gameplay being; mainly that whilst we are using a skill-based flight model, the pace of the gameplay may not be quite so frantic as shown in the initial videos.


Though it has to be said that to a large degree this will vary by ship type (with smaller ships tending towards twitch and larger towards management) and by the amount of involvement the player puts into ship management; most of these systems can be left to run at default settings if that sort of thing doesn't float your boat.


First a quick summary of interface intent:


The Multi-Function Displays
A ship has multiple multi-function displays
These displays can show a variety of different interfaces
The commander can interact with these displays to employ ship management controls and generally decide what each is showing
The displays can dynamically alter their contents (and dimensions) based on trigger events
At any time a commander can use these screens to browse to view particular module options


And now, the systems:


Power Management


Each ship has a reactor in a power plant module
The reactor consumes fuel when active and converts it into energy used by ship modules and fixtures
The rate of fuel consumption is based on the current power draw
Some modules have power requirements
Such modules can be turned off and on manually, but will generally default to on when the ship’s reactor is activated
When turned on the modules increase the reactor’s power draw
All reactors are rated for a maximum power draw
It is not possible to turn on a powered module that would cause the reactor to exceed its maximum power draw
It is possible for malfunctions and effects to temporarily alter a reactor’s maximum power draw, potentially causing the current draw to exceed it
In such a case, powered modules are automatically turned off until the current draw does not exceed the maximum
The ship automatically maintains a priority list of powered modules so it can shut them down in order
The commander may manually adjust this list whilst docked


Reactor Safety Override
Most reactors are set up with a buffer zone of potential draw that is never used, to protect the reactor from damaging itself
The commander may manually disengage/engage the overrides and run the reactor at over 100%
Disengaging the override increases the maximum power draw capacity for the reactor at the expense of reactor damage over time and potential ship irradiation (reducing the effect of life support modules – see below)


The Power Distributer


All ships have a power distributer module (PD)
The PD when active takes a small amount of power for its own use and reserves a large chunk of power which it can call upon to fill four separate capacitors
The capacitors are:
Weapons: power available for energy weapon fire
Shields: power available to reconstruct and replenish shields
Engines: power available for engine boost capability (also, the higher the ratio here, the higher the ship’s top speed)
Utilities: power available for utility systems such as the hyperdrive and sensors
The commander can dynamically adjust the ratio of power fed into each capacitor using a cockpit interface, though the total amount of power available is always the same
The bigger the ratio for a particular capacitor, the faster it fills
Various modules draw power from an appropriate capacitor rather than from the reactor directly when they are “activated”
Activation is not the same as being powered (e.g. a beam laser has a nominal power draw directly from the reactor when it is turned on, but when fired drains the weapons capacitor)
The higher a ship’s power draw, the bigger its EM signature, making it easier to locate using EM sensors and easier to track with EM–tracking weapon platforms
Different versions of modules have different power requirements


Cooling Management


Powered modules including the reactor generate heat
Heat is transferred from a module to the ship’s cooling system when the module’s thermal limit is exceeded
Heat in the cooling system is radiated from the ship
If more heat is being generated than radiated the heat transfer may stop or even reverse, overheating modules
Most ships have articulated heat vanes which can be raised, significantly increasing heat dissipation from the ship
However, such activity normally affects the flight model of the ship and always increases the ship’s thermal signature whilst active (see below)
Systems can be fitted to flush the cooling system, instigating chemical reactions to dissipate heat
Heat sinks may modules can be fitted to hard points
When activated, a heat sink module flushes the cooling system’s heat into a heat sink which is then ejected from the ship
Ejected heat sinks can be used as a form of chaff to confuse heat tracking weapons
Heat stored in a ship’s cooling system generates a thermal signature for the ship
The higher the thermal signature, the easier it is to locate using heat-based sensors and the easier it is to track using heat-tracking weapon platforms
When heat levels exceed set thresholds some modules may automatically turn off/begin to suffer fatigue damage
Excessive heat puts a strain on the ship’s atmosphere control (reducing the capability of life support modules – see below)
Super excessive heat directly impacts the pilot and crew’s ability to function and will eventually kill them


Atmosphere Management


A ship maintains a habitable atmosphere using life support modules
Each module can support a volume of space – larger ships require multiple life support modules
A commander can fit redundant life support modules to deal with catastrophes
To function normally, all of a ship’s internal volume must be supported
If life support cannot support the ship’s internal volume, the atmosphere begins to degrade over time (the rate is based upon the difference)
Pilot and crew capability is reduced at set thresholds of atmospheric failure
Pilot and crew will automatically switch to personal life support if the atmosphere fails completely
Personal life support is limited but restocked automatically in a habitable atmosphere
The commander can fit and activate specific modules to remove some causes of atmospheric failure (contamination, irradiation, hull breach)
Future: when walking around the ship is possible, hermetic doors can be employed to cut off areas of the ship from the atmospheric control, reducing the strain on life support modules


Crisis Management


Most modules can be directly activated at any time using the cockpit interface – however some actions have a time frame for response which may make such intervention difficult
Most ships are fitted with a crisis management system which monitors the ship
When a particular crisis is detected a multifunction display is automatically and temporarily given to the crisis management system
Such displays show pertinent information about the crisis and offer a contextual quick command to initiate a response
When more than one crisis is detected the system cycles through them in a priority order


Repair


A ship can be fitted with repair modules
Repair modules are powered and can be activated (using the utilities capacitor)
Modules can be flagged for repair - they will be repaired at a rate based on the number of modules being repaired at the same time and the numkber of repair modules active
Repair modules come with a finite amount of resource - once this is used up (when repairing) the module cannot function until restocked at a dock


So there it is folks, quite crunchy with information, I think you'll agree. When going through these systems try to keep in mind the following points: we want the player to feel as though they are REALLY in a space ship, in space, but we want to give the feeling of simulation more than actually simulate total complexity; we want ship management to encompass a bit of thought and enable a lot of drama.


With a little imagination, I hope you will see the some of the potential we're trying to create here. Are we on course though, well let us know!


Are we going too complex or not complex enough? Are there systems and functions we're missing or do we have too many already? Are we harkening back to the good old days too much (power distributor I'm looking at YOU) or is the right level of options for the long term?

Smuggling

Spoiler

"I'm looking for Mr. Bribe. Wink. Wink." Smuggling part 2 in Elite: Dangerous
Hi All,


This is an expansion on the smuggling topic including some of your feedback from the previous thread. Keep it coming, it's much appreciated.


Smugglers make their profits by dealing in grey areas in the law. Smugglers earn money by maximizing their profits by trading in illegal and frowned upon goods, and must try to always stay one step ahead of a system’s authorities. Smuggler’s ships differ from trader ships, as they are often built for speed and toughness, allowing them to outrun pursuers, and survive in hostile environments. Smuggler ships are also often less conspicuous than trader and other ships, in the hopes that their ship will be overlooked in any encounter with a systems authorities.


KEY CHARACTERISTICS OF A SMUGGLER


Smugglers trade illegal or stolen goods to black markets, fences and criminal faction bases without being caught by the authorities
The smuggler's key aim is to stay off radars and under noses, whether hiding in plain sight, or just plain hiding
Smuggler ships tend to be in smaller ships as such vessels are usually less interesting to the authorites, which means smuggler's favour high value cargo to keep the profit margins high
Smugglers tend to plot unusual routes accross the galaxy, often crossing between very safe and very dangerous systems (though ironically for the smuggler the threat is often reversed)
They often prefer the inconspicuous, even ubiquitous ships, to avoid the interests of the authorities - this is one profession where being the best often means flying the worst
The lack of bling may be skin deep - smugglers will likely soup up every possible ship part that can be concealed; deception is the keyword at all times
A certain type of smuggler relies on overt overkill with regards to speed and defence; these bravuras live for the thrill of the ride and infamy that comes with it




SMUGGLER PROGRESSION
The basic progression for smugglers is to trade in higher and higher value ilegal commodities
Distance is often factored in to risk and reward; the longer the journey, the more value many illegal commodities gain, like rare legal goods
Higher rewards can also be accrued by looking for trade runs that are espectially risky due to the nature of the authorities present
The smuggler willing to trade anything, anywhere, anytime is more likely to accumulate a growing list of "contact" NPCs who can offer specific missions of increasing risk and reward - smuggling reputation is a key component for progression
A high smuggling reputation will open more of these missions up to the player
If successful and notorious enough, a smuggler can expect to be petitioned into working directly for criminal factions, where the rewards are greatest but the danger never more deadly as these factions vie for supremacy
Ship progression for the smuggler is often less about better ships and more about better equipment; of which there is an abundance, often specialised to minimise size, power and heat parameters




BUYING AND SELLING ILLEGAL GOODS
Players cannot trade in illegal goods on the open market (although some illegal goods can be legal in more tolerant systems). There are a number of lawless systems and hidden smuggler bases where black market trade is welcome, but if the player needs to trade at a normal space station they must tread with care. When buying and selling illegal goods on the normal market smugglers must trade through contacts and business partners. Finding a reliable trading partner is a key part of a successful smuggling operation, and there are numerous ways to do so.


Many stations/settlements will have contacts that are interested in black market trading
The statistics and simulation for a system will affect and dictate the likelihood of a black market trader being present on a station/other settlement
A systems lawfulness, government type etc. can affect contacts
There can be multiple contacts to trade with, with varying prices for different commodities
Players must discover contact details for black market traders before they can instigate illegal trade
There are a number of methods in which details can be found
Bulletin board posts such as personal ads and notifications can have contact details hidden in them
These will be suggestive towards being a black market trader (e.g. Looking for a partner, must be well stocked etc.)
Many bulletins will be from non black market traders, who may not understand why the player is calling, and may even alert the authorities if the player raises black market trade with them. Players must use their wits and experience to gather if a post is from a black market dealer or not
Ships marked with a recognizable smuggler’s mark can be communicated with and interrogated for details
Ships may require payment or proof of a players intent (based on reputation
Details can be hidden on nav buoys in space
Etc.
The player may have to follow a chain of clues to establish a contacts details
These steps may include authorities ‘sting’ operations
Contact details can be bought and sold to other players
Player can sell details to authorities, increasing the chance of a contact being discovered
Players can communicate with their contacts present on a station/settlement once they have docked
Contacts will offer players trade in any items they are interested in buying and selling
This is a separate market from the main economy
This will mostly be goods considered illegal in that location
Profit margins will be much higher than in the main markets
Contacts could be police agents looking to catch smugglers
Confirming a contacts details with multiple sources is a good way to confirm a black market trader is a legitimate contact
Smuggler contacts may change over time
Black market traders may be caught or change to legitimate traders
The player may earn the confidence of a traders superiors, and be introduced to a new contact etc.
Systems may become more/less hostile towards smugglers, forcing traders to move/quit
Smuggler contacts may give players specific missions from time to time that can earn the player rewards and reputation




THE AUTHORITIES
There will be a variety of obstacles in the smugglers in the form of the authorities
In the more secure systems the authorities will conduct random stop and searches on ships that are docking
Certain ships are more likely to be searched
Ship appearance will affect likelihood of being searched
Certain reputations will affect likelihood of being searched - Criminality for example
Distance from authority ships can help players avoid being searched
Being caught will result in fines and often confiscations
There will be options available for greasing the authorities for those with the right reputations
Different types of authorities may have a higher or lower chance of detecting any illicit cargo
E.g. a patrol police ship has a 20% chance of detecting illegal cargo, a police border patrol special unit has an 80% chance
There will be meta game injected blockades on certain systems by military ships, these will provide obstacles for Smugglers to navigate in real space
Rival crime factions can pose just as big a threat to smugglers if they start to trade/work for such organizations
Authorities may use check points on borders where illegal goods are often brought into the system, or on commonly used smuggler routes
These can be temporary or permanent
Players can use special (and often illegal) equipment to hide illegal cargo better from searches
Equipment like this may further reduce the players cargo space
It's up to the smuggler to decide whether their trades are worth the fines/crimes/threat they might incur
Authorities or rivals may decide to pay bounty hunters to quietly take you out if you are indiscreet enough to be linked to too much black market trade




QUESTIONS
What kind of missions can we give to smugglers?
What other clues can we give players about contacts?
How should other players interact with smugglers that makes both their games fun?

 

[tsh]

Powerplay has some good aspects in that it gives a little more of a 'story' where there is a clear chain of events that can be followed through - but for me it seems a little bit too MMO. I really don't want to be significantly influenced by other player's decisions. Powerplay is also far too 'wallclock time' centric, I don't feel I will make a meaningful contribution to a strategy that plays out more than 90% of time when I'm not in game.

Missions along the lines of the powerplay individual structure, yes. That might help, but only if I can realistically take several weeks to complete a set.

The other massive obsticle for me is a comprehensive in-game (or tablet app) directly connected pilots log. Being asked to use OCR scraping is offensive to someone who uses maybe 30k hours compute time per week as a day job, and has to continually automate flows.

 

[dreamer1986]

A better looking galaxy, with more variety in the types of planets, and more beautiful sights.

 

[Elgered]

Yes the list is still long