There's been a clamor here for player-bases, and I'll admit, I'd love to see them as well. But how would these work? Well, that's what this is all about - the How-To that fits the Elite universe.
The way I see this working would be like this:
Once you find a site where you want to construct a base, the first thing you'll need is to hire an Engineer. No, not those talking roulette-wheels that tinker with our modules, but someone who knows how to actually construct a base. This NPC will serve as a point-of-contact for controlling all your building needs, and comes with his/her own little 1 ton cargo module - a little self-contained trailer to work out of, so to speak. You'll then carry this cargo item to the location you've chosen to construct your base, land your ship and jettison the trailer. This then becomes your first structure.
You then interact with your Engineer NPC via the Comms tab, where you can begin selecting structures you want to create. Each of these structures are then handled like a Community Goal, except it's a Personal Goal, and Tier of that particular structure requires specific materials to complete. A few hundred tons of Aluminum, Copper, Consumer Electronics, and the like will each be required for each structure built, and require you to acquire these materials, and return them to your Engineer until the Goal is finally met, at which time a new structure will be placed, until you've completed construction and your base is completely built.
Now base structures themselves should be rather limited - after all, we're not building Installations here. But the following list should cover every basic thing needed:
1. Generator Facility
2. Habitat Facility
3. Hydroponics Facility
4. Communications Facility
5. Environmental Control Facility
6. Landing Facility
And what do you get for all this? When all is said and done, you wind up with a small settlement-type structure with a landing pad, but not just any landing pad, a Universal Landing Pad that can accommodate Small, Medium or Large ships. One pad, any ship size.
So what does all this work get you? A limited-function station where you can land without having to request docking. Just fly in and land.
Your station services menu will offer a limited Shipyard, with no ships for sale, just stored ships and ship transfer options.
You can get GalNet news here, and have access to Module Storage and Outfitting, though you can't buy any modules from yourself - that would be silly, but you can swap your modules around between your ships.
If/when we get material/cargo storage, you can access that as well.
If/when we are free from our chairs, you can wander freely around your facility and do Not-Stuck-in-the-Chair activities as well.
No Market, black or otherwise, no Cartographics. Refuel and Repair services should be available though.
In short, a very basic station with minimal functionality.
Mission board can remain available, but your only mission contact would be your facility manager to add new structures, modify existing structures, and serve as an interface should additional functionality ever be added. Perhaps routine maintenance missions can be given here - such as Replenish Fuel Reserves (bring in X tons of Hydrogen Fuel) or Repair Damaged Skimmers (bring in X tons of Skimmer Components), or Upgrade Facility missions of similar natures could be given this way.
And a Crew Lounge so you can manage your crew members, but not hire new crew members. Perhaps in the future when there is additional functionality, we'll be able to Off-Duty crew members and leave them here, so they don't just eat our profits for doing nothing.
And that's really about all there is to this. Those who want to put the effort in are welcome to do so, those who don't - well, you're really not missing out on anything here, are you?
The way I see this working would be like this:
Once you find a site where you want to construct a base, the first thing you'll need is to hire an Engineer. No, not those talking roulette-wheels that tinker with our modules, but someone who knows how to actually construct a base. This NPC will serve as a point-of-contact for controlling all your building needs, and comes with his/her own little 1 ton cargo module - a little self-contained trailer to work out of, so to speak. You'll then carry this cargo item to the location you've chosen to construct your base, land your ship and jettison the trailer. This then becomes your first structure.
You then interact with your Engineer NPC via the Comms tab, where you can begin selecting structures you want to create. Each of these structures are then handled like a Community Goal, except it's a Personal Goal, and Tier of that particular structure requires specific materials to complete. A few hundred tons of Aluminum, Copper, Consumer Electronics, and the like will each be required for each structure built, and require you to acquire these materials, and return them to your Engineer until the Goal is finally met, at which time a new structure will be placed, until you've completed construction and your base is completely built.
Now base structures themselves should be rather limited - after all, we're not building Installations here. But the following list should cover every basic thing needed:
1. Generator Facility
2. Habitat Facility
3. Hydroponics Facility
4. Communications Facility
5. Environmental Control Facility
6. Landing Facility
And what do you get for all this? When all is said and done, you wind up with a small settlement-type structure with a landing pad, but not just any landing pad, a Universal Landing Pad that can accommodate Small, Medium or Large ships. One pad, any ship size.
So what does all this work get you? A limited-function station where you can land without having to request docking. Just fly in and land.
Your station services menu will offer a limited Shipyard, with no ships for sale, just stored ships and ship transfer options.
You can get GalNet news here, and have access to Module Storage and Outfitting, though you can't buy any modules from yourself - that would be silly, but you can swap your modules around between your ships.
If/when we get material/cargo storage, you can access that as well.
If/when we are free from our chairs, you can wander freely around your facility and do Not-Stuck-in-the-Chair activities as well.
No Market, black or otherwise, no Cartographics. Refuel and Repair services should be available though.
In short, a very basic station with minimal functionality.
Mission board can remain available, but your only mission contact would be your facility manager to add new structures, modify existing structures, and serve as an interface should additional functionality ever be added. Perhaps routine maintenance missions can be given here - such as Replenish Fuel Reserves (bring in X tons of Hydrogen Fuel) or Repair Damaged Skimmers (bring in X tons of Skimmer Components), or Upgrade Facility missions of similar natures could be given this way.
And a Crew Lounge so you can manage your crew members, but not hire new crew members. Perhaps in the future when there is additional functionality, we'll be able to Off-Duty crew members and leave them here, so they don't just eat our profits for doing nothing.
And that's really about all there is to this. Those who want to put the effort in are welcome to do so, those who don't - well, you're really not missing out on anything here, are you?
