Remove the traveling grind

I’ve suggested this many times, however the only response I got was from FDEV leaving FD.
So I guess it’s kind of a taboo?

If I use a certain word people goes balistic here, so I won’t, however the need to remove grind in the game is as needed as it was 4 years ago.

When you need to go somewhere you need to plan your route, that’s cool, the galaxy map is better than it ever was, after you pick a destination the grind begins, press (J) jump raise and repeat until you lose your sanity or reach your destination. Now the are pros and cons involved here, if we use the docking computer to dock it is an option for those who don’t want to dock manually, or if they just want to kick back and eat something while the ship is docking, some elite sessions are quite long you know!

I, and this is my personal opinion, simply got bored with this mechanic so I, and still do, set the game on pause. This was the intro, and you know where I’m going with this right ;)

I would like to have a function, that removed the grind in traveling from star to star, I would like to keep the time, only remove the micro management from this traveling mechanic.

It will not make the game easier nor would it make the game less playable at the contrary it would make the game more enjoyable. It could be an NPC crewman/woman/bot or it could be a piece of equipment you need to buy.


I am not at all opposed to your proposal, but it has to be connected with a good gameplay mechanic.
I have proposed to add an autopilot function that is integrated with hiring NPC crew (I would prefer to get a much better and much more complete NPC crew mechanic than we have now).
You would hire a co-pilot (which of course costs you credits) and then this npc co-pilot will take care of the jumps in a route you plotted.
This co-pilot could then also do the docking for you (if you wish). You would not need to install a docking computer.
 
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Instant travel from one point to another (presumably a point you've already visited) makes sense in an RPG, but none in a space simulator.

If you had "jump gates" they would be no-go areas in open, as every ganker in existence would congregate there. They also have no Elite lore to back them up.

As a player who is time-poor myself, I appreciate what you are saying, but it doesn't really fit with Elite as a game. I mean, if you just set your ASP on auto-pilot to Beagle Point then logged off and came back in a week, what has been achieved? You won't have saved any time, you'd have just not played. So I'd say "No" to any kind of auto-pilot.

How else could it work? How could we change it?

  • Maybe if we removed the single-jump restriction and allow ships to jump their total range in a single "leap". The witch-space tunnel would last longer and the FSD cool-down would also be longer (minutes, not seconds). This could always be done with some Guardian tech "Frame-shift modulator". Yes, you go further faster, but while the "FSD modulator" cools, you could do a bit of exploring.
  • Also (a long desired function) have the ability to direct-jump to any star in a star system, either from within or from without that system (provided we had visited it in our ship to lock in the location).

I would think that those changes could improve QoL without breaking the core of the game.
 
I am not at all opposed to your proposal, but it has to be connected with a good gameplay mechanic.
I have proposed to add an autopilot function that is integrated with hiring NPC crew (I would prefer to get a much better and much more complete NPC crew mechanic than we have now).
You would hire a co-pilot (which of course costs you credits) and then this npc co-pilot will take care of the jumps in a route you plotted.
This co-pilot could then also do the docking for you (if you wish). You would not need to install a docking computer.

Yes, and we had long and very interesting discussion in the past about this, so many good suggestion how to make it interesting, oh was it in 2014 or 2015 my memory is not what it used to be.
 
Not an argument, it brings nothing other than making sure the players is alive, it’s a deadman’s switch.

People already complain more then enough about the game being repetitive. Sitting in the same spot for a half hour/a hour would make people dislike it even more. If there is a autopilot feature I assume it will work similar to what the ship transfer option works like currently.
 
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Instant travel from one point to another (presumably a point you've already visited) makes sense in an RPG, but none in a space simulator.

If you had "jump gates" they would be no-go areas in open, as every ganker in existence would congregate there. They also have no Elite lore to back them up.

As a player who is time-poor myself, I appreciate what you are saying, but it doesn't really fit with Elite as a game. I mean, if you just set your ASP on auto-pilot to Beagle Point then logged off and came back in a week, what has been achieved? You won't have saved any time, you'd have just not played. So I'd say "No" to any kind of auto-pilot.

How else could it work? How could we change it?

  • Maybe if we removed the single-jump restriction and allow ships to jump their total range in a single "leap". The witch-space tunnel would last longer and the FSD cool-down would also be longer (minutes, not seconds). This could always be done with some Guardian tech "Frame-shift modulator". Yes, you go further faster, but while the "FSD modulator" cools, you could do a bit of exploring.
  • Also (a long desired function) have the ability to direct-jump to any star in a star system, either from within or from without that system (provided we had visited it in our ship to lock in the location).

I would think that those changes could improve QoL without breaking the core of the game.

Remember the mod(s) that just removed the manual mechanics? What it did was doing exactly what you’re doing, it was just automated, you need to be online, you needed to be at the controls because something could go wrong, but no need to micro manage a boring task. I will not link to the video because it’s not allowed here, but I’m sure you remember.
 
People already complain more then enough about the game being repetitive. Sitting in the same spot for a half hour/a hour would make people dislike it even more. If there is a autopilot feature I assume it will work similar to what the ship transfer option works like currently.


That would be wrong, it should not be like that, the way to do it is to not make it easier, just the option to take away some of the grinding mechanics, there are many ways to make it interesting and still automate the jumps, we had many threads in the past describing how to.
 
As per the OP's avatar - more than one jump at a time could make your head explode. ;)

I can see that some people find travelling many jumps a bit of a bore, to which I respond: "Why are you travelling so many jumps at a time?"

If you are exploring - go explore.

If you are running Colonia - use the NS Jumps.

If you are in the bubble - "What's your beef?"

So really, seriously, what is the purpose of this suggestion? What is the big issue in these days of Engineering, NS boosts and Guardian Modules?
 
Yes, and we had long and very interesting discussion in the past about this, so many good suggestion how to make it interesting, oh was it in 2014 or 2015 my memory is not what it used to be.

Yes many, many discussions.
I was still young then :).

I still hope that we will eventually get a good solid NPC crew mechanic.
So much could be done with this to add depth to the experience, but also to add QoL improvements (like the auto jump mechanic), or even increase profits (f.e. by hiring a mining supervisor, or a science officer).
Flying an Anaconda, T9/T10, Cutter, or even a Python etc on you own should simply not be possible. This has been a thorn in my side since the very start.
 
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I’ve suggested this many times, however the only response I got was from FDEV leaving FD.
So I guess it’s kind of a taboo?

If I use a certain word people goes balistic here, so I won’t, however the need to remove grind in the game is as needed as it was 4 years ago.

When you need to go somewhere you need to plan your route, that’s cool, the galaxy map is better than it ever was, after you pick a destination the grind begins, press (J) jump raise and repeat until you lose your sanity or reach your destination. Now the are pros and cons involved here, if we use the docking computer to dock it is an option for those who don’t want to dock manually, or if they just want to kick back and eat something while the ship is docking, some elite sessions are quite long you know!

I, and this is my personal opinion, simply got bored with this mechanic so I, and still do, set the game on pause. This was the intro, and you know where I’m going with this right ;)

I would like to have a function, that removed the grind in traveling from star to star, I would like to keep the time, only remove the micro management from this traveling mechanic.

It will not make the game easier nor would it make the game less playable at the contrary it would make the game more enjoyable. It could be an NPC crewman/woman/bot or it could be a piece of equipment you need to buy.

Define 'grind'. Everybody sees this different. To me traveling is one of the systems which is awesome in design and works flawlessly. Which cannot be said for a lot of other things. YMMV, but for traveling in systems and from system to system is the core of the game, not a chore. It is a game about space flight, isn't it? Yes, at some point you are tired of it, but at this point I either leave the game and do something else, or I do something else in the game which involves less traveling.

So traveling (per hand) is not a grind in my book. There are other things which are a awful, boring and senseless grind. For example buying a wake scanner I do not need, sitting in front of a busy station for hours (no traveling, yay) and wake scanning hapless NPCs for wake destinations I do not need, just to 'farm materials'. This is senseless boring grind. And other things connected to materials.

But traveling is actually nice, things to see, things to do. Actually playing the game (trading, exploring, mining doing missions) and traveling around is no grind for me...

But YMMV, as I said.
 
Define 'grind'. Everybody sees this different. To me traveling is one of the systems which is awesome in design and works flawlessly. Which cannot be said for a lot of other things. YMMV, but for traveling in systems and from system to system is the core of the game, not a chore. It is a game about space flight, isn't it? Yes, at some point you are tired of it, but at this point I either leave the game and do something else, or I do something else in the game which involves less traveling.

So traveling (per hand) is not a grind in my book. There are other things which are a awful, boring and senseless grind. For example buying a wake scanner I do not need, sitting in front of a busy station for hours (no traveling, yay) and wake scanning hapless NPCs for wake destinations I do not need, just to 'farm materials'. This is senseless boring grind. And other things connected to materials.

But traveling is actually nice, things to see, things to do. Actually playing the game (trading, exploring, mining doing missions) and traveling around is no grind for me...

But YMMV, as I said.

Explain to me how: point ship towards star; press (J); wait until jump starts; turn ship to new star; raise and repeat x times is not a grind?
 
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Define 'grind'. Everybody sees this different. To me traveling is one of the systems which is awesome in design and works flawlessly. Which cannot be said for a lot of other things. YMMV, but for traveling in systems and from system to system is the core of the game, not a chore. It is a game about space flight, isn't it? Yes, at some point you are tired of it, but at this point I either leave the game and do something else, or I do something else in the game which involves less traveling.

So traveling (per hand) is not a grind in my book. There are other things which are a awful, boring and senseless grind. For example buying a wake scanner I do not need, sitting in front of a busy station for hours (no traveling, yay) and wake scanning hapless NPCs for wake destinations I do not need, just to 'farm materials'. This is senseless boring grind. And other things connected to materials.

But traveling is actually nice, things to see, things to do. Actually playing the game (trading, exploring, mining doing missions) and traveling around is no grind for me...

But YMMV, as I said.

Only real big grind for me so far was the fed rank grind though I may have made it harder on myself by trying to get it done so fast. When the pain from that wears off I'll finally get around to the imperials so I can finish building my fleet.

A ship transfer type of mechanic like Thea said is probably the only thing they could ever realistically implement though I doubt fdev sees a need for it. If such a thing existed we'd pay to have our ships transferred to stations in previously visited systems but with us inside.
 
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I’ve suggested this many times, however the only response I got was from FDEV leaving FD.
So I guess it’s kind of a taboo?

If I use a certain word people goes balistic here, so I won’t, however the need to remove grind in the game is as needed as it was 4 years ago.

When you need to go somewhere you need to plan your route, that’s cool, the galaxy map is better than it ever was, after you pick a destination the grind begins, press (J) jump raise and repeat until you lose your sanity or reach your destination. Now the are pros and cons involved here, if we use the docking computer to dock it is an option for those who don’t want to dock manually, or if they just want to kick back and eat something while the ship is docking, some elite sessions are quite long you know!

I, and this is my personal opinion, simply got bored with this mechanic so I, and still do, set the game on pause. This was the intro, and you know where I’m going with this right ;)

I would like to have a function, that removed the grind in traveling from star to star, I would like to keep the time, only remove the micro management from this traveling mechanic.

It will not make the game easier nor would it make the game less playable at the contrary it would make the game more enjoyable. It could be an NPC crewman/woman/bot or it could be a piece of equipment you need to buy.

as long as its like ship transfer and takes a certain amount of time, costs some credits based on ship value and you dont get the scan of any of the systems you pass through, i dont understand why anyone would get their knickers in a twist about it to be honest with those limitations imposed.

i mean you can already basically do it in a limited version via the suicwinder - home is only a sidewinder away from any station with outfitting or a shipyard.

if you expect to autopilot your ship AND scan every system (albeit level 1 scan) you pass though while your making brown play dough in the downstairs toilet... dream on
 
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If there is a autopilot feature I assume it will work similar to what the ship transfer option works like currently.

No that is absolutely not the way to do it.

As I proposed many times: It could be done via a good and solid npc crew mechanic.
One would hire an npc co-pilot and he would then be able to do the jumps in a plotted route.
We would of course have to see this co-pilot on the bridge/in the cockpit as a physical model too.
 
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Explain to me how: point ship towards star; press (J); wait until jump starts; turn ship to new star; raise and repeat x times is not a grind?

As I mentioned, grind is something everybody must define for her/himself. I am doing more after arriving in a system, I do not point my ship at the star (except when fuel scooping between jumps) and it takes a while until I make my next jump. I can understand, that somebody who does long distance travels - for example as a trader - with time becomes bored with it. This is like in real life, where driving a car may be fun, or it may be a chore if you have to drive long distances every day. Maybe you could try something else in the game?
 
No that is absolutely not the way to do it.

As I proposed many times: It could be done via a good and solid npc crew mechanic.
One would hire an npc co-pilot and he would then be able to do the jumps in a plotted route.
We would of course have to see this co-pilot on the bridge/in the cockpit as a physical model too.

It might be too costly and technically challenging for them to develop such a npc crew mechanic especially with the skeleton crew that's watching over the game until 2020. Just a guess though I don't know much about that kind of stuff
 
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Elite: Passenger


You stowaway on a passenger liner.On discovery,you are put to work as a flight attendant.After successfully demonstrating emergency exits etc. a number of times you will be promoted to flight engineer,and you main responsibilty is stocking and maintaining a fully functional vending machine for the notoriously finnicky passengers(lots of synthesis fun here to keep those idle hands moving).
Finally you will be elevated to the rank of space plumber,and as you wallow in the fetid outpourings of your fellow passengers for the tenth time you might begin to think that life with a bit of grind wasn't perhaps quite so bad after all.
 
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