Limpet Controller Unification

[Koben]

Good evening...

The suggestion is quite simple:

- Instead of having different controllers for each limpet drone kind, we use the same device for all of them and we would carry various types on our cargo hold... this would enable players to spare module slots and be able to make better use of this feature;

- Player could quickly select which limpet they want to deploy and it would also avoid accidentally launching a limpet.

Cheers!

 

[Exeider]

Good evening...

The suggestion is quite simple:

- Instead of having different controllers for each limpet drone kind, we use the same device for all of them and we would carry various types on our cargo hold... this would enable players to spare module slots and be able to make better use of this feature;

- Player could quickly select which limpet they want to deploy and it would also avoid accidentally launching a limpet.

Cheers!

Another module that could benefit from the use of the sub-module slot idea.

You would buy a single module called "Limpet Controller", which would have a sub-module slot, lower grades would have one, higher grades would have more, E and D -1, C - 2, B -3, A - 4

The sub modules would be called "XXXX Limpet Controller Card" with XXXX being the type of limpet, Collector, Fuel, Repair, etc.

You would buy and install the controller card into the sub slot of the limpet controller to determine what limpets you can launch.

So miners would use at least a grade C controller for their collector and prospector limpet cards. Though keep in mind, the class still determines how many you can have out at once and how long they last, that wouldnt change.

The cards just determines what your controller can program the blank limpets to do.

The point is, you would have ONE module that by itself does nothing, but you add the appropriate card, you can set what limpet types you want to use, throw your blank limpet into the cargo hold and go on with your business.

 

[c00ky1970]

I think Sandro mentioned that some thought is being put into unifying the controllers, although that was on a live stream earlier this year around the 3.0 launch and had the usual "no Eta's no Guarantees"

 

[JonesTheFilm]

Actually I'd like to see drones (limpet or otherwise) eventually become a more substantial permanent device rather than the expendable commodity they are now. Perhaps along the lines of smaller unmanned but programmable ship-launched craft. Not big enough or strong enough to put weapons on, but usable for the things that limpets currently do along with some new things (hopefully in the promised exploration improvements) like surveying, data & sample gathering, remote photography, terrain mapping and other exploration stuff.

None of my current ships are big enough for an SLF but it would be really cool to have some sort of small robotic craft to use for various jobs, the current limpet drones feel like they're half-way-there to this sort of idea.

[edit: Thinking about it, maybe this new drone device I'm dreaming of could fit in an SRV hangar slot? e.g. install a two slot hangar and have an SRV & a multi-role drone]

 

[John Xenir]

I would rather have limpet controllers to store limpets (capacity depending on slot size), and not be a throw-away garbage.
I find it difficult to believe a self-sufficient drone, capable of three-dimensional positioning relative to ship of origin and the target object in space, is a throwaway cheap hunk of plastic and a few processors loosely thrown together.

IMHO, it should be:
- limpet controller capable of storing limpet drones based on its size (where the basic one can store just as many as control, meaning a loss of one limpet is crippling to operational efficiency);
- limpets to be re-usable (recalled into limpet controller after their operations is completed);
- have a limited operational time after which they need to return to ship and refuel using ship's fuel tank;
- limpet type being strictly tied to the limpet controller type.

I don't believe any technology advance that results in production of drones capable of three-dimensional, self-sufficient operation, would throw them away like paper towels after 10 minutes of operation.
But then again this game's massive stations are spawned using voodoo, as nowhere in the galaxy large scale mining operation can be seen, that would justify the capability to supply enough resources for such stations to be viably built. Apparently all humanity needs to build 20km-long station is sufficient supply of pilots in their SRVs, gathering iron one chunk at a time.
In such context, throwing away advanced drones like paper towels doesn't seem all that ridiculous.

 

[JonesTheFilm]

I would rather have limpet controllers to store limpets (capacity depending on slot size), and not be a throw-away garbage.
I find it difficult to believe a self-sufficient drone, capable of three-dimensional positioning relative to ship of origin and the target object in space, is a throwaway cheap hunk of plastic and a few processors loosely thrown together.

I'd still like to have some sort of launch-able exploration probe one day, but I'll certainly take your version of limpets over the current one. I think it's ridiculous that they're throw-away and take up a ton of cargo space each!

 

[John Xenir]

I would love exploration-supporting probes too!
There is market for various activity-supporting limpets, and I welcome any life improvements with open arms

 

[Rogue_titan]

Yes and remove them from the cargo hold and as mentioned in other posts treat them as ammo.

 

[Yure]

Yes please. As an explorer I hate that have to sacrifice exploration or research tools for things that will help me survive long term in the black.

As another option consider making limpet controllers mounted on utility slots.

 

[Limoncello Lizard]

Yes and remove them from the cargo hold and as mentioned in other posts treat them as ammo.

This is the only possible reason why the larger collector module controllers scale as terribly as they do now. A 2 tonne module can control one limpet, yet one that is 64 times larger can only control four. If the controllers contained large numbers of limpets, it would make some small sense.

 

[Exeider]

You guys are talking about a drone bay, and drone controller.

That would be awesome. When I played EvE Online, I loved drones

In City of Villains, they had the mastermind class which was much the same thing with it's pets system.



Here it would be good to have a Drone Controller module, and a small drone bay, say 1-4 drones depending on class and grade. The drones would be permanent unless you abandon them by jumping out or are targeted and blown up by someone.

they would pull their fuel off your main tank, requiring you to stop, pull the drones in and go fuel scoop at the local star and come back.

or someone come in to give you fuel with transfer drones.

Fuel would become a thing again.