When I played NMS I felt the same thing. The game is getting updated at a good pace, and it has a great base to start with. Maybe it will become better than ED... so I decided to fire it up, and then remembered you press E to land on planets and you autodock on stations... and well... just went back to Elite.
400.000.000.000 stars, and what to do with it?
- Thread starter lysan
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When I played NMS I felt the same thing. The game is getting updated at a good pace, and it has a great base to start with. Maybe it will become better than ED... so I decided to fire it up, and then remembered you press E to land on planets and you autodock on stations... and well... just went back to Elite.
I agree, they do care, however something is not discussed by the water cooler, and we are just talking out loud here
I must admit that i did raise my eyes to the heavens at the prospect of yet another exploration is boring thread. But hey this is well written, not at all whiney and for a change has some good ideas! My only real issue is that building and maintaining a planetary outpost takes us off in another direction and would require several gigabytes of code for something that may well prove to be of limited and minority interest...
Thats the thing: people always take for granted what they have and then demand more or expect something else will automatically give more. Then get disappointed, frustrated and project their dreams on some other project. The eternal cycle of gamers who refuse to learn.
As a veteran Elite Player, base building is definitely *not* a road I want them to go down. I have no problem with a more scientific approach to exploration, where you can use science modules & the collection of geological samples as a means of learning more about a planet. I am also an advocate for all USS's & PoI's being persistent for a commander, from the time you discover them, as long as they're in that same instance (i.e. don't quit the game then restart ).
The way I envisage the exploration process is that, as now, you do a primary scan (honk). Depending on scanner quality, this will reveal decreasing levels of detail about all objects, out to the maximum range of the scanner.
Getting greater detail either involves a secondary scan of the object at a closer range or taking the primary data & feeding it into a science module. Tertiary Scans (close range "honk") of a landfall planet would behave like a DSS scan, whilst also giving information on the number of PoI's on the surface of the planet. The better the scan, the greater the detail revealed. Tertiary scans of USS's could also reveal more details about what is inside it (approximate number of ships, approximate quantity of commodities and/or materials-that kind of thing).
For me, the most "permanent" presence I want on a planet is one or more MB4 mining platforms.
).The way I envisage the exploration process is that, as now, you do a primary scan (honk). Depending on scanner quality, this will reveal decreasing levels of detail about all objects, out to the maximum range of the scanner.
Getting greater detail either involves a secondary scan of the object at a closer range or taking the primary data & feeding it into a science module. Tertiary Scans (close range "honk") of a landfall planet would behave like a DSS scan, whilst also giving information on the number of PoI's on the surface of the planet. The better the scan, the greater the detail revealed. Tertiary scans of USS's could also reveal more details about what is inside it (approximate number of ships, approximate quantity of commodities and/or materials-that kind of thing).
For me, the most "permanent" presence I want on a planet is one or more MB4 mining platforms
.As I said, i'm not a game developer, I just think out loud. I don't know what can or cannot be done with the Cobra engine. However I do know that some of it is possible, even if it was just in a basic form.
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As a veteran Elite Player, base building is definitely *not* a road I want them to go down. I have no problem with a more scientific approach to exploration, where you can use science modules & the collection of geological samples as a means of learning more about a planet. I am also an advocate for all USS's & PoI's being persistent for a commander, from the time you discover them, as long as they're in that same instance (i.e. don't quit the game then restart
The way I envisage the exploration process is that, as now, you do a primary scan (honk). Depending on scanner quality, this will reveal decreasing levels of detail about all objects, out to the maximum range of the scanner.
Getting greater detail either involves a secondary scan of the object at a closer range or taking the primary data & feeding it into a science module. Tertiary Scans (close range "honk") of a landfall planet would behave like a DSS scan, whilst also giving information on the number of PoI's on the surface of the planet. The better the scan, the greater the detail revealed. Tertiary scans of USS's could also reveal more details about what is inside it (approximate number of ships, approximate quantity of commodities and/or materials-that kind of thing).
For me, the most "permanent" presence I want on a planet is one or more MB4 mining platforms
The MB4 mining platform is actually a small outpost if you think about it, and it was very automated, and that is something I don't want, we need to interact with it to get results.
Then you have situations like with SJA, who made a genuine attempt to knock PvE up a notch, then got howled down by the Credit Farmers who were upset that the NPC's were actually putting up a fight. In fact, I have come to the conclusion that credit farmers ruin this game, & hold it back, more than any other group.
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You would need to interact with it, in order to collect the minerals.
SJA, yes it was a sad day when the NPC got nerfed, she did a splendid job I must say.
MB4, True, but it was very autonomous otherwise.
Yes, the argument that "someone else making loads of cash is none of my business" doesn't hold .... they affect the game immensely because of the way they play the game and react to "balances."
As a veteran Elite Player, base building is definitely *not* a road I want them to go down. I have no problem with a more scientific approach to exploration, where you can use science modules & the collection of geological samples as a means of learning more about a planet. I am also an advocate for all USS's & PoI's being persistent for a commander, from the time you discover them, as long as they're in that same instance (i.e. don't quit the game then restart
The way I envisage the exploration process is that, as now, you do a primary scan (honk). Depending on scanner quality, this will reveal decreasing levels of detail about all objects, out to the maximum range of the scanner.
Getting greater detail either involves a secondary scan of the object at a closer range or taking the primary data & feeding it into a science module. Tertiary Scans (close range "honk") of a landfall planet would behave like a DSS scan, whilst also giving information on the number of PoI's on the surface of the planet. The better the scan, the greater the detail revealed. Tertiary scans of USS's could also reveal more details about what is inside it (approximate number of ships, approximate quantity of commodities and/or materials-that kind of thing).
For me, the most "permanent" presence I want on a planet is one or more MB4 mining platforms
Good post. Sensible suggestion within the current scope of the game and would add some desperately needed depth to the exploration game.
All good points and suggestions, all of which take time, money and good planning to achieve. We have no idea what exactly is on the road map for Elite's future or the time frame to get them to us but I'd like to think that at least some of what you've suggested is planned.
I have to add that I lol'ed at the armchair developer comment since I've been able to retire two weeks ahead of schedule an now no longer work in the industry or work at all! Rest assured that from now on I'll only be commenting as a gamer.
Well I'm just a humble engineer, I take stuff apart, and if lucky i can assemble it again
It is not problem assemble it, problem is those extra parts after assembling!Well I'm just a humble engineer, I take stuff apart, and if lucky i can assemble it again
I think that base building on planets is a great idea. Expandable ones even more so. People who don't want to build them don't have to much like other content such as CQC, PP or Multicrew yet it is diverse enough that someone could build a home and no more or a small mining facility or a massive business complex if they so wished all able to be attacked survival game style by other players. The players who make their bases larger and more obvious are of course more likely to be discovered. Someone making little more than a home can probably sit it on a planet somewhere where no one would ever bother them. Choice of location would be critical as you may build your little slice of home right on a seam of pure creditonium that someone with bigger ambitions would want to exploit. Sounds awesome to me, man the Ikran!!
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1) That would be a massive undertaking.
2) Devtime is not unlimited
In the same style I could request FD add a football game to ED. After all, if you dont like it just dont play it, right?
But the OP was taking about adding base building so hence on topic, adding football isn't.
Also base building would add a new angle to the vastly empty planets and discovery in general which has been pointed out is lacking.
Also base building would add a new angle to the vastly empty planets and discovery in general which has been pointed out is lacking.
Well I'm just a humble engineer, I take stuff apart, and if lucky i can assemble it again
I call . I've met a lot of engineer's, and would not ever call any of them humble.
I call . I've met a lot of engineer's, and would not ever call any of them humble.
hehe!
Oh sure, and I even would enjoy basebuilding. Just pointing out that 'and if you dont like it just dont use it' isnt really the best argument.
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I call . I've met a lot of engineer's, and would not ever call any of them humble.
Just a small heads-up: got insta-banned for a day for using that abbreviation due to this being a 'family friendly forum'. No idea what kind of list the mods here use, I asked but havent gotten a response.
Achilles7
Banned
While I'm all for some base building mechanics in Elite, I think the game needs improvements to the core first. Once the core professions have engaging and meaningful game mechanics, then it's time to start adding stuff like player built outposts and mining operations and such. Build the foundation first, then build the house upon it.