A few of my own ideas

Straight off I'll admit I haven't checked all the previous threads and posts therein. I started, but there are over 40 pages, so I decided to go ahead and write up mine. If you know of duplication where I have not noted it, let me know so I can either edit my post, or point out yourself which thread someone should read in regard to any of my points. Thanks.

In no particular order:

1. Convoys
- We could have groups of truckers band together and move en masse to different systems/stations. They could also advertise for extra protection, and groups or individual non-truckers could join to lend their firepower to defend the convoy. The truckers would pay, both in a small fee upfront and a % of their load value prior to departing (this evens things out so that the convoys contain big traders and little traders, but those with empty holds still cannot go along for free). The non-trading defensive commanders receive money at both ends of the journey (the upfront fee to begin with, and the % amount at the end). The defenders would need either to have relevant ship specs (e.g. small cargo holds and lots of weaponry) to be classed as a defender, or else they would be barred from entering the destination stations upon accepting the mission. If they lag too far behind then they forfeit their secondary payment. NOTE: the convoys would need to travel slower, so as to keep the ships together, and allow for the defenders to do their job en route, should the necessity arise.

2. People in stations / robot workers
- Whilst sitting on a landing pad watching the universe go by (okay, I admit it, hoping for some poor ship to be destroyed as I watch), I thought it would be good to have small automated robot craft come out and clear away the debris, and they could also be flying around the stations doing routine maintenance. Then I thought this would be a good way to put people in the game (i.e. figures, not actual players). Anyone remember seeing little people spacewalking at the shipyards in early Star Trek movies? If a player accidentally killed or injured one of these maintenance men the player would be subject to a hefty fine, banishment or death. For example, a nasty player decides to see what happens when a beam laser is used on a NPC-maintenance man working on the outside of a station. The man is killed which incurs banishment from all system stations (i.e. they cannot legally enter the stations) and a bounty is placed on their head. If they kill the man inside the station then it is time for the station to put on one of its lovely laser light shows as it tries to dole out the death penalty. Bumping into the men without killing them would result in a lesser penalty (and make the player more concerned about his/her flying abilities).

3. Spend own credit to put a bounty on someone's head
- Been the victim of a pirate or scumbag ship destroyer? Wouldn't it be satisfying to be able to place a bounty on the head of that person? The bounty would have to be put up within a certain (short) period of time, and the game must register that harm was done to you by that person.

4. Storage lockers
- We can store whole ships at stations, so it would be good to be able to store some cargo too (which either costs money every time the storage locker is used or every time trading occurs, to prevent people having a storage locker at every station they visit).

5. Rear-view mirror = already covered in another thread
- I would like to watch what is going on behind me, so a scanner of some description would be a nice option.

6. Atmosphere flying (not landing)
- Fleeing from a pirate? How about dipping into the atmosphere of a nearby planet to shake her off your tail? Oh dear, her attack craft is not equipped for low density atmospheric flight. Can her sensors pierce the specific gasses of the planet, or will she linger above to catch you as you emerge? Obviously this would take some changes to the gameplay, such as gravity, and different outfitting options for the ships. I won't talk about the supercruise/interdiction tethering problems, but I shall say that if we can harvest fuel from stars, why not gather chemicals from planetary atmospheres too. If we could then pirates and bounty hunters would linger near the planets and not just the other usual places.

7. Surveillance Probes
- Hunting for someone? Drop an SP off in a system where you think the person might appear. The SP contains a strong transmitter which can signal you from afar (maybe even between systems for the expensive models) when the target is in the SP's vicinity. Due to the nature of the devices they use fuel rather than simply solar energy to power their sensors and transmitters, and as such exist for a limited time before self-destructing (to minimise the amount of old junk in space).


[I have not proof read this so I shall apologise beforehand for any errors that may have crept in as I was typing]


EDIT: Wouldn't you know it - almost as soon as I posted this I found a couple of similar suggestions elsewhere:
[Suggestion] Scanner Relay Module, by Lovecraft
Mining improvement with Station Storage suggestion, by CSXI

I shall keep trawling the other threads later, but now I'm hankering to get a couple of hours in playing ED!
 
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