Minigame utility module and a new utility slot in all ships. Pls. Thx.
add jump mini-game
- Thread starter Darth Ender
- Start date
I think that there basically two camps here, those that are bored by pointing at a destination and want something to do while waiting, and those that have already got something to do because their approach to travel is different.
I personally think that a skill dependent jump system would be good, I'd love to look out for astrogation based clues as my FSD destination draws closer, but, however this is Elite Dangerous not Traveller, so it shouldn't really be changed, well not without needing to change even more stuff to support the new minigame, and many are still reeling from the last new minigame that was introduced without much though or support for those displaced traveller explorers.
As for something to do during those long supercruise jaunts... the 'washing up' springs to mind, perhaps put the kettle on for a cup of tea, maybe look at the list of other pilots in you system and think what they're gonna do, look to your next plot perhaps take a look at the density of the planet you're heading to, maybe steer a course that avoids grav fields which can slow your journey there's a ton of stuff to alleviate boredom, as for the jump tunnel (worm hole) it's only a few seconds to be honest and just time enough to push your chair back and smile at the missus to show you still care.
I personally think that a skill dependent jump system would be good, I'd love to look out for astrogation based clues as my FSD destination draws closer, but, however this is Elite Dangerous not Traveller, so it shouldn't really be changed, well not without needing to change even more stuff to support the new minigame, and many are still reeling from the last new minigame that was introduced without much though or support for those displaced traveller explorers.
As for something to do during those long supercruise jaunts... the 'washing up' springs to mind, perhaps put the kettle on for a cup of tea, maybe look at the list of other pilots in you system and think what they're gonna do, look to your next plot perhaps take a look at the density of the planet you're heading to, maybe steer a course that avoids grav fields which can slow your journey there's a ton of stuff to alleviate boredom, as for the jump tunnel (worm hole) it's only a few seconds to be honest and just time enough to push your chair back and smile at the missus to show you still care.
Well that may be the way you fly your ship but it's certainly not the way I fly my ship. The longest way to get to your destination is a straight line, and SCA just exacerbates that by running throttle at 75%.
Optimal Supercruise Flight Paths | Canonn Research Group
We are privileged to have been asked to host Cmdr Heisenberg6626's study of the Optimal Supercruise Flight Paths, which examines this key element of space travel in detail
canonn.science
I never jump a hundred jumps in a row, there's just so much interesting stuff to stop and look at, the fact you ignore it all is not my problem.
And yes let's start insulting people on a forum, that always ends well right?
I can see both sides of the argument and I'm afraid I'm going to side with the faction that enjoys the current travelling mechanics and is not so keen to see them removed.
Could more activity be added into Supercruise? Possibly. I'm still firmly of the belief that different ships should not just have different agility, but also speed (basically the smaller ships should be faster giving them at least one [firm significant] benefit over the larger ships as well as opening up more wing strategies). I'm sure other people could come up with additional more things which, crucially, don't change the core aspect of it which the Op is suggesting.
Elite Dangerous is leaning more towards being a Sim rather than an Arcade game. In the latter; yes, definitely, non-stop action please, with everything a challenging minigame. In the former, no, I like the fact it tries to at least acknowledge the vastness of space by giving us a couple of minutes (unless you go to Hutton or something, but that's your own lookout) travel time between points of interest, allowing people to reflect on the immense setting of this game.
There are plenty of games which are non-stop action. Perhaps Elite just isn't suited to the people that are bored by supercruise? But please, PLEASE, don't turn Elite into yet another generic Arcade Shooter. It is so much more than that. At least to those of us who enjoy the original premise of the game.
Could more activity be added into Supercruise? Possibly. I'm still firmly of the belief that different ships should not just have different agility, but also speed (basically the smaller ships should be faster giving them at least one [
Elite Dangerous is leaning more towards being a Sim rather than an Arcade game. In the latter; yes, definitely, non-stop action please, with everything a challenging minigame. In the former, no, I like the fact it tries to at least acknowledge the vastness of space by giving us a couple of minutes (unless you go to Hutton or something, but that's your own lookout) travel time between points of interest, allowing people to reflect on the immense setting of this game.
There are plenty of games which are non-stop action. Perhaps Elite just isn't suited to the people that are bored by supercruise? But please, PLEASE, don't turn Elite into yet another generic Arcade Shooter. It is so much more than that. At least to those of us who enjoy the original premise of the game.
Good point! I feel the same.
I've been to Beagle Point with DW2. As long as I was in the expedition I felt motivated. But the return trip has been a terrible pain. My CMDR is parked at Explorer's Anchorage since 3 weeks and since that time I've only been playing with my other CMDR in the Bubble skipping any exploration activity. I need to recover my mind from all those jumps...
Last edited:
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
I did a bit over 100 jumps the other night:
.... I would not have been happy if I'd had to engage in an arbitrary mini-game each jump....
What I've learned in this community:
1. Many players don't like minigames or don't want more than what we already have
2. Only optional activities are in general promoted.
Why it needs to be optional:
POINT 1:
Combat pilots, Smugglers, Pirates and Miners wouldn't care. Becaue according to their game style they don't spend so much time jumping and supercruising. If you force them to do something more they won't be happy.
Which players would benefit of additional game mechanics then? Traders, Passengers Transporters and Explorers only.
POINT 2:
To have an appeal the new game mechanic needs to have a good balance between Risk vs. Reward. This is very difficult to achieve because Explorers in general don't want any risk. When you are thousands of LY away from a station with a lot of cartography data you just want to go back home safely. There are explorers that intentionally avoid any Neutron Star/White Dwarf for this reason.
POINT 3:
Many players "enjoy" spending long time in Supercruise and Jumping because it gives a sense of scale. Once I had to deliver 700 tons of "whatever" and I remember I had a slow Type 9 with a short range. It took me 7-8 jumps to arrive to destinaton (with my exploration ship I could've make it in 1 jump only!). I remember that when I arrived to destination I felt like I travelled a big distance and I was stasisfied that after a relatively long trip I could deliver my cargo in one piece and make my customer happy.
Spot on. People will bombard you with quotes made by FD in the dark ages. Don't despair, for the last two years FD have made a turn and slowly started adding gameplay elements to ED. This has been welcomed very much by a clear majority of us, because we are gamers. There are those who consider ED a screenshot generator, where everything that requires skill, thought or practice is a terrible intrusion into their effortless Asp-before-things posting, but slowly they are becoming increasingly irrelevant when design decisions are being made.
Whether what you propose, or some such, will happen would also depend on technical issues, and I doubt anyone of us knows the details to make an educated guess. But your assessment that 'watching lengthy loading screens isn't fun' is shared by, fortunately, an increasing percentage of the comunity.
How about an optional one that would give a bonus (fuel conservation for example, or structural integrity resistence while SC'ing in the next system) to people who do it succesfully? That way people who want a game can play it, and people who want to press 'J' repeatedly can enjoy that.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Fuel is used before the jump starts.How about an optional one that would give a bonus (fuel conservation for example, or structural integrity resistence while SC'ing in the next system) to people who do it succesfully? That way people who want a game can play it, and people who want to press 'J' repeatedly can enjoy that.
Magic hull resistance in the next system seems rather gamey.
We easily could have fuel not be removed at the start if you opt for the minigame, and if you think something is gamey you can not do it., I guess we're really back to the old guard enjoying pressing 'j' for hours on end and demanding nobody else gets anything more involving than that.
One thing which has been posited before is optional targeting of alternative entry points into a system. The skill with which you navigate the witchspace tunnel determines how close you are to your selected point. This, of course, is dangerously similar to mini-jumps within a system which negates the whole space-is-big thing.
So play it safe and use the nav computer, which can only target the primary star, or play it dangerously (possible loss of hull, dumped far FAR away from your destination point, increased fuel use, whatever) and get a potential benefit (better fuel efficiency, drop out close to your destination point (which could be a station or planet), or whatever). Caveat: You need to have full cartographic data for your destination system onboard.
Sounds like fun.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
Posited (and demanded), certainly. Considered by Frontier? Not so much. It would, as you say, negate the whole space-is-big thing - with respect to destinations far from the system entry point.
If "playing it dangerously" became the META then there would be players who would complain (forever) if more fuel could be used - as that could leave them with less than required to leave the system.
I did a bit over 100 jumps the other night:
.... I would not have been happy if I'd had to engage in an arbitrary mini-game each jump....
I've been travelling from the bubble to Sag A for over a month. Nearly finished crossing the Empyrian straight last night while Wifey was out doing 'Le Roc', whatever that is. Started the evening with 300 jumps to Sag A, 155 to go. Then 6000 ly to Colonia for some much needed repairs. Then 20,000ly back to the bubble. In my Challenger that will amount to somewhere in the region of 2,600 jumps.
I like the interdiction minigame because it doesn't happen often. I don't mind the FSS, but I have to admit I quit scanning once I crossed Norma and started to race to Sag A instead as space madness was setting in. If I had to do 2600 minigames to get home I'd go well bibbledy. I mean Reaver on the edge bibbledy....
Then again, others would go bibbledy when having to press 'j' 2600x in a row. To each his own...
I wouldn't say no to a mini-game that took you through several jump points until your fuel limit/max jump distance allowed. Something similar to supercruise turbulence, where you have to try and keep your ship centered in the tunnel. Failing it would drop you in the last plotted star with the standard hyperspace anim for loading content.
So if your ship could jump 5 times with the allotted fuel, you could jump them faster by doing the mini-game. Neutrons and white dwarfs would have to be excluded.
It would be a limited faster traveling option, with the sacrifice of system scanning, neutron jumps and fuel scooping. No fuel risk would be a serious consequence to bad route plotting.
So if your ship could jump 5 times with the allotted fuel, you could jump them faster by doing the mini-game. Neutrons and white dwarfs would have to be excluded.
It would be a limited faster traveling option, with the sacrifice of system scanning, neutron jumps and fuel scooping. No fuel risk would be a serious consequence to bad route plotting.
Robert Maynard
Volunteer Moderator
.... and with economical route plotting, a ship would be able to travel a huge distance in one "jump", with no risk / chance of being intercepted in any of the intermediate systems.
You have a point there. Seems like an exploit. Or maybe it could be the thing to introduce "hyperspace mines" - some beacon devices dropped by a ship that could make it harder to cross a system in hyperspace (harder mini-game at that point), and risk forcing the player into an instance where the trap awaits.
Of course, setting one of those mines would alert security and the place would soon be a chaos of pirates and security fighting each other. XD
Last edited: