Base building

[Neo-ST]

I agree that base building is a good idea. Frontier have said it's not on the roadmap, but the coming of Odyssey really does make player-owned bases compelling.

However... They would have to offer things that Fleet Carriers don't, otherwise it would make much more sense to just park your carrier in orbit as at least you could move that if you changed your mind. I'm thinking this difference should include mining, as it would be great to be able to mine Tritium by building your own base on an ice world (as an example) or gold and platinum on a barren world out in the black. Frontier would need to balance the cost of running the mining operation with the value gained from the materials being mined. It can be done, but would require a lot of thought to avoid being outright exploitable.

Then there's the issue of durability. Fleet Carriers are indestructible. Bases would also need to be indestructible (surely, right?) in order to be similar, but what would this mean for the building of turrets, and the deployment of security drones?

I do love the idea of being able to build a base over time. Let's face it, Frontier have a history of building exactly this type of game. I really hope it happens, as I'd love to have a small base that expands into a fully-fledged outpost, complete with its own NPC and player factions, or even a Tritium mine in the centre of the galaxy to help refuel carriers.

My thoughts.

I see people compare carriers with planetary bases. Why?
It's not remotely the same.
If you only gonna look mechanics-wise, then maybe yes, you can park your ship at both locations, but they're not the same experiences.
Surely there'll be people who would rather call their carrier a home, but others would prefer to call their planetary based real estate a home.
For a number of reasons, I wouldn't compare them.
Just IMO.

 

[jacozilla]

It has been a while but certainly not years.
Portion of my base in NMS. I had to build it floor by floor and don't remember any prefabs. I am not saying there aren't any at all.
And this is the example of base building prefabs I meant for Elite, each unit being customisable but not to an extent of changing the design completely. These are probably too massive (although small buildings would look laughable next to the landing pads given their own size) but you get the idea.

maybe we just have different definitions of modular and prefab, fair enough.

in my mind, exactly what you said in the literal sense is what I mean by modular - e.g. instead of having to build something piece by piece, floor by floor, you use pre-built 1-click placement objects which are made up of many individual pieces instead of having to create single piece by piece.

for example, in NMS if you want to create a base room, say a large central room where you will fork out various other pathways and rooms - you could do it
a) piece by piece and put down 4 floor square tiles + 8 separate wall tiles + 4 roof tiles, then create a doorway, then add a door, then add power connectors to power the door, add window objects to the wall tiles, etc

or

b) just 1-click put down the pre-fab circular or square base room modular component - it comes already pre-wired for power, and is basically all the above individual pieces but pre-fabriacted into a single unit. Same for the underwater base versions.

From your screens it looks like in one of those shots you were already using the modular circular room. That's pretty common, players will stack the modules to create even bigger bases. I suppose you could call the modular pieces an individual piece too, but from my pov since it contains a number of already put together individual pieces, that's kinda what I would like to see in ED.

Let people who want to piece their unique masterpieces together 1 single wall, floor, etc at a time, but also have some modular pieces that let people basically plunk down pre-fab components for at least the room and small building level like in NMS.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

I see people compare carriers with planetary bases. Why?
It's not remotely the same.
If you only gonna look mechanics-wise, then maybe yes, you can park your ship at both locations, but they're not the same experiences.
Surely there'll be people who would rather call their carrier a home, but others would prefer to call their planetary based real estate a home.
For a number of reasons, I wouldn't compare them.
Just IMO.

They're similar because they'll both do similar things, such as allowing people to store ships, modules, cargo, and to trade etc. This is why I said that bases need to offer something extra that carrier's don't do. Mining is an obvious one, but being able to expand your base over time would be a good differentiator too.

 

[Neo-ST]

They're similar because they'll both do similar things, such as allowing people to store ships, modules, cargo, and to trade etc. This is why I said that bases need to offer something extra that carrier's don't do. Mining is an obvious one, but being able to expand your base over time would be a good differentiator too.

They'd be dirt cheap and you could build multiple bases for a price of one carrier.
If you find uninhabited system, you can build several bases on different planets and automate Belugas to act as interplanetary transport for public between your bases.

Maybe have some mechanics that would simulate population growth, and according to that, see houses pop up around your base automatically?

 

[Cmdr Travers]

They'd be dirt cheap and you could build multiple bases for a price of one carrier.
If you find uninhabited system, you can build several bases on different planets and automate Belugas to act as interplanetary transport for public between your bases.

Maybe have some mechanics that would simulate population growth, and according to that, see houses pop up around your base automatically?

I very much doubt they'd be cheap. Probably two to three billion for a very basic mining station, building to five billion for one with landing pads. It would be great to be able to use them for selling the materials you mine though, so they could be built all the way up (potentially) to a 100 billion credit starbase, complete with its own Engineer I can definitely see this as something to keep players in the game for years.

 

[Triptych]

It's a great idea, but don't hold your breath.

 

[iiMStevo]

I'd say expand on the Fleet Carrier way of base building.

Having a mobile base in this setting makes a lot more sense then having a fixed base on a planet somewhere.

Until you think about player factions, and how they could reside in your planetary base...

 

[ChipStar65]

Once we can walk around on planets, it's a logical and natural evolution for us to build our own stuff on them. But instead of purchasing pre-built modular units, I can envision a method that makes use of equipment parallel to existing modules. Miners require a Refinery to pursue that career. Pioneer Commanders could use a Fabricator module that produces various levels of inhabitable structures using on-board cargo, materials harvested dirtside, and ring- or belt-mined minerals/substances. Such structures would initially provide only the minimal range of pioneer services -- pressure, radiation shielding, and basic food production -- for a limited number of players, and all of which must be regularly attended to on foot to have it persist in full functionality. It should be very much a "log cabin" approach at first, to test and confirm whether the base-building idea can really work successfully. The benefits beyond the satisfaction of the effort could be the ability to produce rare goods based on planetary resources, like Bark Mound Ale or some other such fancy commodity for export.

Such pioneer sites should be vulnerable, making defense considerations part of the pioneer's plan, including maintaining secrecy about such sites -- a whoie new level of engineering could be stealth tech. Cooperative pioneering would lend advantages, as would FC ownership for cargo export and import, and squadron connections for active defense. One reason to start and maintain only small installations is to reduce the hit if a site gets pounded. More extensive settlements of course incur greater risk.

Start-up costs need not be outrageous, but requiring certain ship and cargo features to accommodate the pioneering module(s) could present considerable hurdles to newcomers, just as module, ship and carrier costs/availability do now.