This brought (sad) smile on my face.
You know what FDev think of DDF? "Ancient history".
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I would love a NPC Helmsman
- Thread starter lysan
- Start date
You know what FDev think of DDF? "Ancient history".
I don't get the arguments against doing this due to exploration. You still have to honk. You still have to approach planets to get the detailed information. Not seeing the problem here. But I'd be willing to go further towards the restrictive side of implementing this and say that autopilot requires the presence of a Nav Beacon that has already been scanned, or put another way the system data has to be in the ship's computer. Therefore, autojump couldn't be used in unexplored systems, therefore making the exploration-related arguments against no longer an issue.
Come on, lets be realistic. FDev won't bother even considering much more universally positively received & harmless features (in terms of game impact). E.g. visible NPC crew, small QoL improvements, etc.
Chance of them latching on something so controversial and relatively significant in term of gameplay impact and workload are absolutely nil. Though I guess it provides good soil for yet another giant thread which will fade to obscurity in a month or so.
Chance of them latching on something so controversial and relatively significant in term of gameplay impact and workload are absolutely nil. Though I guess it provides good soil for yet another giant thread which will fade to obscurity in a month or so.
Some good ideas here, but part of me wonders how many would welcome adding difficulty to to travel? How high would the salt piles grow? "This is worse than being interdicted in the bubble!" As long as the difficulties were also added to the bubble, maybe tone down the interdictions a little, but the unexpected, for me, would be nice. As far as the AP, like the docking computer I most likely wouldn't use it.
But I wonder what FD is going to do to make exploration better... I generally like the changes coming in Beyond so far. They do seem to have listened and seem to be trying to add deeper features. The trade finder is decently done, could be a little more intuitive but not bad. So what would cause me to travel further than the Palin qualification? Screen shots and scanning payouts were never a reason to spam the "J" 5,000 times...
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I know but these suggestions was what actually made people very excited, and i hope it also made FDEV excited.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/5443-Elite-Dangerous-Hyperspace
The Palin travels distance is just another painfull grind to get something you want, that is not how you keep players engaged to play your game.
Only the most hardcore sado players would actually love it if most are honest it's just something that need to be done to get to those sweet D5 drives.
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Yeah, excitement is important. Good sales pitch.
Yes, he didn't seem to have been refering to them.
I'd say that "J" key thingy was right there in the game before you bought it and by this point I guess you should just go and read a book, it would be the same as if you left AP running.
I'd say that as someone who purchased this game and is quite invested in its direction and continuance as a going concern, I am within my rights to share my thoughts on facets of its design, and you are more than welcome to put me on ignore if this bothers you so.
Exactly this, and we need more mechanics like Neutron Jumping that make travel more interactive & reward that interaction.
Good for you but I doubt you'll change FD's mind as they currently seem reluctant to allow AP.
I think FDEV listen to reasonable suggestions, we have seen a lot of that during the development of ED, that include ship transfer and other mechanics.
Raising concerns about the game is good for the development of the game, as this is not something static, it changes all the time, even in the minds of FDEV.
NPC crew where this could be one of the functions a said crewmember could do, is wanted by many players.
The discussions is just as the discussion regarding spacelegs, some want it some don't, that was never in the original game, however even FDEV expressed they would like it someday.
it's called evolution.....
I won't pretend to know what or how, but I would also like something to be done. Either make it less monotonous to travel long distances or allow an auto pilot of some kind. I don't know how it can be done without essentially breaking the game or exploration, but I do know that a something ceases to be fun when I am watching Star Trek on my second monitor.
I sort of like the idea of a hyperspace tunnel that essentially sends you long distances. There could be some sort of extra cost involved if needed. Maybe its a little slower than jumping manually to conserve fuel. Maybe it has a damage to ship cost. I don't know, I just know I don't enjoy jump scooping to travel long distances if I am only traveling and not exploring.
I sort of like the idea of a hyperspace tunnel that essentially sends you long distances. There could be some sort of extra cost involved if needed. Maybe its a little slower than jumping manually to conserve fuel. Maybe it has a damage to ship cost. I don't know, I just know I don't enjoy jump scooping to travel long distances if I am only traveling and not exploring.
I would love this optional game mechanic. I served on a real ship, and this is exactly what a ship's captain does - he gives appropriate orders to his crew, and then he goes off and luxuriates in his cabin until he gets the call, "Captain to the bridge!" Now obviously he has duties, but the captain isn't the one stuck in the pilot's seat for the entire duration of the trip, I can tell you that right now.
I do believe this game mechanic needs stipulations. It can't be "fast travel", it must happen in real time just as if a human pilot was flying. It should only be available in ships that have multiple seats, and perhaps smaller ships like the Cobra should have a time limit before it's your turn to take the helm. In the Cobra, the NPC is the copilot. Larger ships like the Conda would have a full crew, so there you wouldn't need to take the helm. I do think NPCs should be able to perform system scans, but not surface scans. Instead there should be customizable filters that hands control back over to the CMDR. "Commander, we have detected an earth-like world in this system. What are your orders?" NPCs should not be able to evade interdictions, and one might argue that an NPC needs to be Elite rank to use neutron star jet cones. You get the point.
Many of you just want to be space truckers, and that's fine for you, but some of us want to be actual commanders of a spaceship with a crew. As for reading a book, I'd much rather be reading an ED novel in my "captain's quarters" while my NPC handles monotonous jumps, to eventually be interrupted by, "Commander, you need to take a look at this!" Of course, I can tell my NPC at any time, "I want to fly the ship for awhile. You're dismissed, lieutenant."
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I'm 100% with you, we hear many times the argument that it's not realistic to use autopilot or that it's the core of the game to pilot your ship, these claims all fall to the ground before they are spoken.
We got the option to own huge vessels in ED, they would need several crewmembers to function, as of now we are flying empty shells around without any crew members, that include the fighter pilot, as I can't see my pilot anywhere, she only magically appear when I asummen her to the fighter.
modern ship bridge Captain chair, notice the autopilot to the left.
Oh well, opinions change but I see no pronostic in that change and either way, not many have actually requested this feature.
Actually it has been requested many times, however as these requests was made by members of the community who normally is not
24/7 on the forums they quickly disappeared.
Some was requested in the suggestions forum threads.
That's actually an idea I like and can be somewhat justified in game by NAV beacons.. doing some NAVigating, thus playing a role in game.
Compromised ones can temporarily loose functionality. Even better, jumping in compromised NAV beacons could result in forcefully dropping supercruise and NPCs or PCs could use such star systems to pirate, by lurking in the compromised area. Playing with BGS could result in this state and then maybe players would try to compromise beacons in anarchy to create traps for traders. Hell, compromised NAV beacons could have some variety, others being quiet, others acting as traps by outlaws, others being full fledged war-zones.
This could also create a mechanic for better blockades (ok solo will also exist but if NPCs could play blockaders that represent a system faction in a certain state, even solo can get more exciting without any grief-fear.)
So automate navigation inside the bubble but at the same time create game-play that will require even more attention and action needed by the player who will actively monitor the state of the next system and avoid traps like that. It's only rough idea of how a game mechanic can be taken advantage of, that took 2 minutes. Surely a game design team can do better and create more fun content.
Yep, I requested an autopilot some months ago. Like you, I was branded a heretic and promptly marched to the nearest airlock and given a swift shove, LOL. Since then I've become more partial to a copilot / crew instead of an autopilot, but the basic gameplay mechanic is the same(ish).
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