An idea for ship deterioration and shhh space legs :)

[zarking]

Just a random thought....
I'm not that fussed about space legs, but I do want to get up and walk about my ship, just because
So, this is an excuse for limited space legs.

Let's say, all ships get a new module, the diagnostic module.
Ships deteriorate. This might be due to age, distance travelled, total damage received.
This deterioration leads to random malfunction. Could be you can only put 3 pips to a system, lower top speed, decreased jump range, weapons lock or misfire issues.
AFMU will stop further damage, but not repair a "system malfunction". It will repair integrity.
You use the diagnostic module to repair these issues.

Ok, the cool bit, you have to walk to the relevant part of the ship to activate the diagnostic module on that area. Repairs may require materials, completely replace parts (that you can find, buy or scavenge), only hi tech systems will allow total repair without these manual repairs, but effectiveness continually decreases.
On the upside, as you carry out repairs you get an increased "mechanic" skill, this means you might get a short term boost to a module, pick up mission's where you have to go to a base and repair something, allow you to carry out repairs on other people's ships in multi crew. So there is a reward structure for actually manually repairing something as opposed to just getting it done when you dock or buying a new module to replace it.

It gives a reason to have limited space legs (though it could be done without that bit I guess), adds a new skill type, makes long distance exploring a bit more interesting by adding risk, gives a reason to replace older ships in your fleet (and therefore a credit sink), or to keep engineering new modules, adds a bit of a risk/reward to combat (from the possible repair bonus). But really it means you have an excuse to walk around inside your ship

Won't lie, this is off the top of my head stuff so probably has major flaws, but, meh.

 

[Shiro Akai]

As space legs are far more complicated than it looks like (the need of designing every ship interior, some station interiors, planet base interiors... lots of design work) I don't think ANY idea would make FD to implement this, even in a limited way. And sadly, what you propose could be done by adding yet another tab in one of already existing menus.

The main issue I see with diagnostic module is - long range exploration. By default you don't have access to any repair facility and you need to rely on yourself. With bad deterioration values it would artificially limit exploration. And it would add unnecessary complication. Not only ship integrity but also individual module maintenance, limited access to facilities that repair it would make maintaining your ship in top condition time consuming and tedious.

Overall idea of deep ship maintenance is interesting. But it would require total overhaul of basic mechanics. Modules, outfitting, custom tweaking and engineering of those. And maintaining.

 

[777Driver]

Well all the ships have been designed with interior space pre-planned, ships currently deteriorate, although a safety net is built in so we never have catastrophic failures. Modules already have a malfunction logic built in (Below 85% the lower the percentage the higher the chance of a glitch/failure)

Plenty of scope for manual repair once we have the ability to walk around the entire ship (As a VR user I've been stretching my legs walking the bridge for over two years now)

Quite a few good game's out there already, the devs could easily borrow ideas. Lone Echo is very good, forgotten the name of another great game, it has a strange name, you essentially scavenge parts and modules from other ships and stations, the aim is to keep your station up and running.

 

[zarking]

Yep, understood.
It wouldn't limit long range exploration, just be something else you have to be aware of, you'd be able to fix any issues yourself if you find the right materials. It's basically splitting the AFMU into two things, one does basic repair, the other deals with specific malfunctions, so you can keep running forever even without using the diagnostic module but you risk losing some of your capability. And yes it could easily be done with another tab, but since the ship interiors are already modelled, might be an easier way to utilise limited space legs without massive extra development, but I could be totally wrong with that, I just want to walk about my ship lol.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

My idea if we ever get space legs is that AMFU and the Hull repair limpets are basically band aids. They will deteriate over time. So to actually mend it properly, you need to either go to a station and do a full repair job, or you need to synthsis the materials needed and then go to the actual module that is damaged and fix it up, or do a Hull repair via EVA to fix it.

For those that are out exploring and don't have the space legs expansion and get hull damage or module damage they would need to refill their AFMU to continue to repair the items until it can get fully repaired when they get back to civilisation, so there is a bit of risk and management involved, and for those that have space legs a way to completely repair it, but it will take some time to do, plus you will need to get the materials to synthesis the parts.

 

[lysan]

In the commander creator you stand up and can turn around, that is as basic as it gets

 

[elkiller]

there is use for space legs, why frontier has not talked bout it. it beats me.... here is my penny in the whole idea of why space legs add more gameplay.


1. salvaging missions, refueling, repairing.(no more limpets)


i find annoying to have to equip certain type of limpet(refueling, prospector). those 2 would not be necessary whit space legs. get a crew and salvage rare good and alloys. refueling is other useless limpet . is the 34th and no ship has a hose like emergency refueling system . another thigh would be repairing your own ship and others for cr.

2.outpost/mining depot, manufacturer, (phoenix down mining)

we know the old asteroid mining but apparently we became so advance that planets dont need to be mined anymore.... W...T..F. FDev I;m not asking to dig a hole as big as a crater.. ever heard of drilling extraction? now what if i dont what to buy a 18 mil C4 cannon harpoint and instead i want to manufacture it[also sell/gift to other commanders]. im not gonna ask to make ships but modules definitely. this will all be done in your orbit or land outpost(not station)

3.station sabotage/repair jobs (refueling/repair/outfiting/)

this is a no brainier, got to a enemy faction station mess with the internals (dont get cough) or repair a stations that has been sabotaged by looking for the fault

4.Derelict ships investigations/hunt [Detective/military]
military/faction missions where u EVA into a destroyed ship, investigate cause of destruction if natural retrieve blk box to mission giver, if attacked track and destroy aggressor


5. Crew module repair

ur fighting on your CZ or Hz and ur power plant is out of commission with your hull to 80% u have couple minutes of life and u have to sit idle waiting for ur ship to go kaboom. that get of the chair(any crew member ) fix the god dam power plant to a maximum of 40% if u get blown up after that at least u tried to survive.

6 Unity
the biggest flaw that ED has is ts scattered player base, there is nothing to to do as a group except combat. this features will give ED players a good reason to bad together. and give goals to the game that are not ship size related, a proper end game.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

No deterioration, thanks.

For long range exploration it's just a pointless housekeeping chore, which I have to waste my time doing simply to justify somebody else getting to walk around their ship.

 

[Chrystoph]

No deterioration, thanks.

For long range exploration it's just a pointless housekeeping chore, which I have to waste my time doing simply to justify somebody else getting to walk around their ship.

+1, and there is novel new invention called robotics...

 

[MBaldelli]

Let's say, all ships get a new module, the diagnostic module.
Ships deteriorate. This might be due to age, distance travelled, total damage received.

First off there is already a structural wear & tear model already in place that has been revamped since I came into the game. Prior to 2.2 the costs of those structural repairs could almost be equal to a rebuy on a DBX. This was infuriating when one owned an AFMU that should be able to fix such structural damage while out in the Deep Black. Not to mention you couldn't monitor the wear & tear going on without actually landing on a station capable of going into the Advanced Repair Menus upon landing.

While the costs for this have been greatly reduced with 2.3 and 2.4, the amount of structural disrepair is still through the roof when out in the Deep Black for more a month and we still can't see how bad the damage without landing on a base that offer advanced repairs. I won't make more noise about this; the compromise in place is sufficient and FDev has bigger issues to worry about.

Second is the fact that with the current set ups of Synthesis and the AFMU we only now are able to fix the canopy, which could only be fixed prior to 2.4 was through a system reboot and a prayer to RNGesus that a broken canopy will fix itself if it ever gets broken in the Deep Black. It's rare, but it can definitely happen through player mistakes.

Third is the fact that there is still no possible way to repair a power plant in the deep black. You screw that up -- and this is far more likely to happen through human error -- you'll be doing vivisections to chickens and praying to the deities of choice to continue your journey or self-destructing in ignominy to come back to the Bubble and try again.

No thank you... This is needless player sadism and I'm not a fan of it.

Good luck with the space legs though.

 

[Faybs]

Well all the ships have been designed with interior space pre-planned

Given now much experience FDev have with creating compelling FPS levels (none), I strongly suspect that any ship interiors they have at this moment will have to be redone.