Ideas for Tech Broker Mods

[TheSisko]

Mods - please please please don't move this into suggestions - that's where great ideas go to die.

Like it or not, the Tech Brokers are coming! There's already a thread discussing the means of obtaining the tech and if its a good personal narrative or not and if Tech Brokers suck or not and if FD have lost their minds or not.

In this thread, lets put some suggestions for the wizards at Cambridge to ponder over.

Since its a Friday, my ideas may or may not......suck. Feel free to add your own.

Heat Dampener:
Reduces heat signature of ship by 30%. Useful for silent runners and explorers.

The Tank:
Provides access to an armoured version of the SRV.

Performance Fuel
Special fuel which provides 20% extra thrust, but also causes significant damage to your thrusters over time since they're being pushed beyond their operating limits.

Efficient fuel
Special fuel which provides 20% reduced thrust, but also reduces the fuel used per FTL jump. Good for explorers.

Energy Bomb
About time this one made its return! Unleashes a powerful, medium-range blast of energy which sucks your PD dry in the process (SYS, ENG, WEP - all of it!) and causes damage to your power plant every time you use it. Not powerful enough to destroy ships (like in original Elite) but capable of causing significant damage to shields/hull of nearby vessels, especially to small ships.

Custom Transponder
In super-cruise, can fool the sensors of other vessels, making it appear that you're in another ship of the same size.

Advanced Sensor Array
Capable of determining if the targeted vessel has engineered mods/weapons, and exactly what those modifications are.

 

[Chris Simon]

Despite your best efforts, these ideas don't suck.
I particularly like the efficient fuel thingy.

Heat dampener is also nice, but your idea lacks drawbacks (Fdev love drawbacks)
What about this: The heat dampener will consume all your powerplant overheads up to 100% and it's effectivity will depend on how much power it consumes. (The less power rest of the ship consumes, the more effective the dampener is)

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Still want:

Combined Sensor Array - An ADS and DSS all in one, convenient Class 2 sized package.

Advanced Docking Computer - Does the same thing as a standard docking computer, but can also do the same in reverse (Undocking Computer) AND will automatically signal Flight Control for Docking clearance within 7.5 Km (No more Cosby Maneuvers). You know, for when you've docked and undocked 100,000,000 times and it's not fun any more - plus grants immunity to station ramming by lamers by locking your max speed at 99.

Flare Launcher - Kind of like Chaff, but for missiles and torpedoes. Burns hot enough to mask your heat signature and attract unwanted explosive projectiles, and bright enough that you don't want to stare at one.

Scan Jammer - Because what's in your cargo hold or who's in your passenger cabins is really no one else's business. Works like an ECM or Counter EMP device, but for the duration, scans pointed your way will not complete, keeping your whiny passengers happy, and your goods fully masked.

Cactus Patch - Packhound Mines. Drop 4 smaller mines per shot, that spread themselves around.

Glassbreaker Limpet Controller - Does for Canopies what Hatchbreakers do for cargo hatches. Makes NPC's flee and aggravates other CMDRs.

Towing Harpoon - Not used for its intended purpose of moving ships unable to move themselves, these are adopted by Pirates. Bring down a target's shields and stick them with one of these to prevent them from fleeing without giving you something - cargo, a face full of mines, or a Glassbreaker Limpet. Could potentially be used to get that stuck Beluga out of the toast rack, but honestly, who does that?

Just a few more ideas... I know they said the list we saw in the live stream was only a partial one, so who knows what else they've thought of.

 

[TheSisko]

Despite your best efforts, these ideas don't suck.

God-damnit, I tried to make them suck!

I particularly like the efficient fuel thingy.

I got the idea for that while putting petrol in the car. It would be nice to have more types of fuel, with pros and cons. Speaking of which....

Heat dampener is also nice, but your idea lacks drawbacks (Fdev love drawbacks)
What about this: The heat dampener will consume all your powerplant overheads up to 100% and it's effectivity will depend on how much power it consumes. (The less power rest of the ship consumes, the more effective the dampener is)

I like that, makes a lot of sense. [yesnod]

 

[William H. Bonney]

Solar powered Tesla Engines

Military fuel for the military F.S.D. coz i like bio-waste.

The ability to alter/hack my ships computer so i can organise my bookmarks better with tabs, categories, colours, routes, etc.

The ability to possess a "Black Box" so you can retrieve cartography data in a system far, far away, it would stick an icon on the Galaxy Map for it's location but If stumbled upon by another Cmdr, they would "steal" the cartography data, possibly just for giggles.

A "This vehicle is reversing" with audible beep-beep sound.

 

[Wyaston Hypatia]

Locking cargo hatch, like on the the mega-ships. Requires the hack limpet to open.

 

[TheSisko]

Still want:

Combined Sensor Array - An ADS and DSS all in one, convenient Class 2 sized package.

Advanced Docking Computer - Does the same thing as a standard docking computer, but can also do the same in reverse (Undocking Computer) AND will automatically signal Flight Control for Docking clearance within 7.5 Km (No more Cosby Maneuvers). You know, for when you've docked and undocked 100,000,000 times and it's not fun any more - plus grants immunity to station ramming by lamers by locking your max speed at 99.

Flare Launcher - Kind of like Chaff, but for missiles and torpedoes. Burns hot enough to mask your heat signature and attract unwanted explosive projectiles, and bright enough that you don't want to stare at one.

Scan Jammer - Because what's in your cargo hold or who's in your passenger cabins is really no one else's business. Works like an ECM or Counter EMP device, but for the duration, scans pointed your way will not complete, keeping your whiny passengers happy, and your goods fully masked.

Cactus Patch - Packhound Mines. Drop 4 smaller mines per shot, that spread themselves around.

Glassbreaker Limpet Controller - Does for Canopies what Hatchbreakers do for cargo hatches. Makes NPC's flee and aggravates other CMDRs.

Towing Harpoon - Not used for its intended purpose of moving ships unable to move themselves, these are adopted by Pirates. Bring down a target's shields and stick them with one of these to prevent them from fleeing without giving you something - cargo, a face full of mines, or a Glassbreaker Limpet. Could potentially be used to get that stuck Beluga out of the toast rack, but honestly, who does that?

Just a few more ideas... I know they said the list we saw in the live stream was only a partial one, so who knows what else they've thought of.

I got the impression they have plans to extend the list of Tech Brokers items beyond.....well, Beyond.

Good stuff, especially Combined Sensor Array and the Harpoon idea - I'm sure Sandro actually mentioned something like the latter in a previous stream (or interview?), so there's real hope for that one.

Here's another one (inspired by your Combined Sensor Array idea):

Multi-purpose Limpet Controller
Combines all the functionality of all limpet controllers into one module slot. Select 'limpet controller mode' from right panel.

And another:

Fighter Crew Escape Pod:
Takes up module slot and some power, but allows fighter pilot to escape ship destruction.

 

[Urbanski101]

Energy bomb....I used to love that as a last resort get out of jail card in '84...sigh

Not sure it would be introduced in ED though...I can hear the whine from here on that one.

How about an EMP bomb instead...disables ships within radius for a short time but also shuts off your weapons and shields, purely defensive and means you can't do a 180 and unleash on your victims.

I like the heat dampener...

I also think there should be more SRV varients so tank (combat), truck (cargo), buggy (speed), science mobile (for er.. science stuff related for explorers), mining rig (for planetary mining)

Also like the ideas from indigo except the ADC....I don't use one.

 

[Mengy]

• Neutron Battery – New utility slot module, can store one charge (or more maybe) of neutron energy for the FSD. This could allow explorers to potentially use neutron stars to jump into very remote systems which would normally strand the ship with no way to return. Filling the battery takes longer than normal FSD charging though, thus more time spent fighting the jets and much greater damage done to the ship. Plus activating a neutron battery can potentially overload systems and cause lots of additional random module damage.
• Combined ADS/DSS Scanner - Exactly what it sounds like, one module combining both the ADS and the DSS together.
• Enhanced A+ Fuel Scoops - Improved versions of all the "A" scoops, even faster than standard but requiring more energy than normal to operate.
• Shield Phase Bank - A modified Shield Cell Bank, but instead of dumping energy into the shields to recharge them, this module phases the shields so they temporarily deflect much more damage than usual. A pure defensive module designed to help the ship survive longer when under intense firepower. Very useful for trade ships and explorers who are running away from heavy attack but find themselves needing more time to jump out.
• SRV Printing Hangars - These modules don't only carry SRV's, they can synthesize them from scratch too, allowing the ship to make a new SRV in case one is lost. Uses great amounts of materials to print however.

 

[TheSisko]

• Neutron Battery – New utility slot module, can store one charge (or more maybe) of neutron energy for the FSD. This could allow explorers to potentially use neutron stars to jump into very remote systems which would normally strand the ship with no way to return. Filling the battery takes longer than normal FSD charging though, thus more time spent fighting the jets and much greater damage done to the ship. Plus activating a neutron battery can potentially overload systems and cause lots of additional random module damage.
• Combined ADS/DSS Scanner - Exactly what it sounds like, one module combining both the ADS and the DSS together.
• Enhanced A+ Fuel Scoops - Improved versions of all the "A" scoops, even faster than standard but requiring more energy than normal to operate.
• Shield Phase Bank - A modified Shield Cell Bank, but instead of dumping energy into the shields to recharge them, this module phases the shields so they temporarily deflect much more damage than usual. A pure defensive module designed to help the ship survive longer when under intense firepower. Very useful for trade ships and explorers who are running away from heavy attack but find themselves needing more time to jump out.
• SRV Printing Hangars - These modules don't only carry SRV's, they can synthesize them from scratch too, allowing the ship to make a new SRV in case one is lost. Uses great amounts of materials to print however.

I really like the pros and cons of the Neutron Battery, I've always thought that exploring isn't dangerous enough in this game. Great ideas there.

Speaking of ideas:

Comms Frequency Scrambler
Temporarily scrambles communication frequencies used between mother-ships and SLFs, resulting in SLFs becoming dormant for a time. The catch? Will also effect any SLFs you have launched.


HackBot Limpet Controller
Deploys limpet onto an unshielded and targeted ship. Once attached, the limpet hacks into the ship's computer system and then downloads trade, exploration, transaction and navigation data from that ship to yours - but the download process takes time (say, 15 seconds?), during which time you need to stay within 700 meters of the target vessel. If you move out of range, the download is paused - it will resume once you get back into range. If the target ship high-wakes, the download is cancelled.

Use to steal exploration data, gain access to trade data from systems you haven't been to, and discover what missions the targeted vessel has outstanding and where those missions are - basically an enhanced version of the existing 'Tip Off' system.


Explosive Cargo Container
Capable of fooling weaker sensors (anything not A-rated) into looking like scoop-able cargo. But its not. Once the container is scooped, it denotes within the vessel, causing damage to modules. Use against pirates. The catch? If your ship takes enough hull damage, these containers may explode within your cargo bay.

 

[TheSisko]

Energy bomb....I used to love that as a last resort get out of jail card in '84...sigh

Not sure it would be introduced in ED though...I can hear the whine from here on that one.

How about an EMP bomb instead...disables ships within radius for a short time but also shuts off your weapons and shields, purely defensive and means you can't do a 180 and unleash on your victims.

I like the heat dampener...

I also think there should be more SRV varients so tank (combat), truck (cargo), buggy (speed), science mobile (for er.. science stuff related for explorers), mining rig (for planetary mining)

Also like the ideas from indigo except the ADC....I don't use one.

Haha, when all else failed for me playing Elite in 84, out came the Energy Bomb! I placed a few cons on my suggestion because at first glance, its overpowered.

I like the EMP idea, the Thargoids are basically doing that to us now. With all the research Aegis are doing, you'd think that tech would become available for human Commanders.

 

[jasonbirder]

Heat dampener is also nice, but your idea lacks drawbacks (Fdev love drawbacks)

There should ALWAYS be drawbacks...otherwise you're just enabling "Power Creep"
New additions (and ships) should be balanced back to the original...
(Don't even mention Engineering sigh)