Dear FDEV, I got a small request for you.

lysan

lysan
Well actually it's a big request, but I'm a moderate man ;)

USS or Signal source point, whatever we call them, please please consider them when you look at how to make the game better. They feel in so many ways incomplete.

Now I would not just give critique, I also got a solution of how to fix it, it may not be the right way, but that is how discussions starts right :)

Let's get cracking shall we?

Floating balls in space is not cool, my immersion meter is not moving, so what can be done, without changing too much under the hood? How they are detected and what the player need to do to activate them.

Let's assume our ship computer is constantly scanning for signals, that is normal, when it finds a signal it is analyzing the signal and from a preprogrammed algorithm sorting them according to what the priority is.

Filter USS

1. Unknow signals (alien stuff)
2. Known signals /distress signals
3. Known signals /rescue beacons

you got the picture....

How will they be displayed?

The signals need to be displayed, not as floating circles but add some gameplay into it. Make a separate tap where you can A) let a teammate/NPC crewman locate the signal, first you need to filter for the signal you are searching for, then when you find the signal, you triangulate or track where it's from, THEN you display it as a marker. This marker could also be displayed on planets as this will make the player feel that time is well spend, as you are first spending time to track the source and the fly to to location.

As in Alien where Mother finds a signal and wake the crew, ok we are always awake and don't need that, however some kind of signal UI, like we got contacts could be made for the system, we just need to filter and actively look for the signal before we start to fly around aimlessly looking for it.

[video=youtube;2ywWFvjE-yU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ywWFvjE-yU[/video]

This could also be signals from planets, low orbit and so on.

Today we a milling aimless around in hope of getting the signal to show up, maybe if we need to start tracking the signal we're looking for as soon as we drop into the system would help.

This is of course gameplay where you are on foot, but it will be the same mechanics when we're in a spaceship just a different UI.
[video=youtube;2UMj031Lsps]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UMj031Lsps[/video]

I'm confident we can just what's under the hood, it just need a bit a depth in the gameplay, and a slightly improved graphic representation, it would make the mechanics much more integrated and also add more to the overall gameplay. This could also make the played look for unknown places on planets, and get a mark to where it is, WHEN they find it among all the signal noise out there.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Moritasgus

Moritasgus
I agree they could be improved, we already have a mechanic in place for missions that scanning in a system or scanning the nav beacon will locate an object in the system.
USS appearing as you travel then blinking out as you move away is fairly lame gameplay, maybe something along the lines of needing to use a discovery scanner to bring up points of interest around the system which then become fixed places while you are in system like tourist beacons. Maybe even putting invisible timers on them to simulate the living nature of the galaxy, dog fights finishing, convoys leaving the system, someone else reacting to the distress call etc etc.
You could then from that scan decide which ones you wanted to visit. At least that would feel more realistic than them popping up just next to you.
 

lysan

lysan
Yes I think we could get a lot more actual gameplay out of that mechanic. Find the signal locate where it is, then mark it and travel to it would be an interesting way to deal with USS.
 

UnhappyDev

UnhappyDev
Agree OP, SS are quite clunky and still feel like placeholders.

babelfisch said:
Yes, signal sources definitely need improvements. But do you know what's even worse? Conflict Zones.
Click to expand...

At least there is plenty of stuff to shoot at in CZ. Yesterday I jumped into a 'threat 1' SS. It contained a harmless (wanted) Cobra that immediately high waked, leaving me in empty space. It had taken a couple of minutes to jump in.
 

lysan

lysan
UnhappyDev said:
Agree OP, SS are quite clunky and still feel like placeholders.



At least there is plenty of stuff to shoot at in CZ. Yesterday I jumped into a 'threat 1' SS. It contained a harmless (wanted) Cobra that immediately high waked, leaving me in empty space. It had taken a couple of minutes to jump in.
Click to expand...

True, we need a better way you find, locate and filter the SS, some will be noice some only wreaks others more dangerous, but there are some unused gameplay around all that we could activate.
 

Kizbot

Kizbot
UnhappyDev said:
Agree OP, SS are quite clunky and still feel like placeholders.



At least there is plenty of stuff to shoot at in CZ. Yesterday I jumped into a 'threat 1' SS. It contained a harmless (wanted) Cobra that immediately high waked, leaving me in empty space. It had taken a couple of minutes to jump in.
Click to expand...

The AI now has a threat assessment check. If it knows it's outmatched then it immediately runs, which imo is pretty realistic. It's a positive feature. Did you follow his wake? That was the following gameplay to that situation. What were you hoping to find in a threat 1 anyway? Go for a threat 3, they are usually a little more fun.
 

UnhappyDev

UnhappyDev
Kizbot said:
The AI now has a threat assessment check. If it knows it's outmatched then it immediately runs, which imo is pretty realistic. It's a positive feature. Did you follow his wake? That was the following gameplay to that situation. What were you hoping to find in a threat 1 anyway? Go for a threat 3, they are usually a little more fun.
Click to expand...


That's fair enough, but the pesky little NPC almost *immediately* high waked, no 'surge detected' message despite apparently 'jumping' into the instance just as I did.

Was looking for phase alloys BTW and was getting desperate.
 

zombieapocalypse

zombieapocalypse
Agreed, USSs definitely need a rethink/rework. They've certainly improved since the game first launched, but they still feel too bare bones and arbitrary.
 

babelfisch

babelfisch
UnhappyDev said:
Agree OP, SS are quite clunky and still feel like placeholders.



At least there is plenty of stuff to shoot at in CZ. Yesterday I jumped into a 'threat 1' SS. It contained a harmless (wanted) Cobra that immediately high waked, leaving me in empty space. It had taken a couple of minutes to jump in.
Click to expand...

The problem with CZs is that they are completely unrealistic and don't make any sense.

I think RES don't make any sense either.
 

Deleted member 38366

D
Considering we can "listen" to Deep Space and the Audio Team clearly did an awesome job - how about we capitalize on that ?

So instead of just pointing the Ship's nose in normal space, how about a more science'ish approach, i.e. with a basic Spectralizer Display while the CMDR slowly scans Objects or areas of space ?

Imagine scanning through Frequency bands while listening to the Galaxy and its Stars and suddenly you stumble upon stuff like that :

[video=youtube;N-r4pPrHarw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-r4pPrHarw[/video]

[video=youtube;O9G5lrxTF6k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9G5lrxTF6k[/video]
 

Harry Hates Golf

Harry Hates Golf
Lysander lysan said:
Well actually it's a big request, but I'm a moderate man ;)

USS or Signal source point, whatever we call them, please please consider them when you look at how to make the game better. They feel in so many ways incomplete.

Now I would not just give critique, I also got a solution of how to fix it, it may not be the right way, but that is how discussions starts right :)

Let's get cracking shall we?

Floating balls in space is not cool, my immersion meter is not moving, so what can be done, without changing too much under the hood? How they are detected and what the player need to do to activate them.

Let's assume our ship computer is constantly scanning for signals, that is normal, when it finds a signal it is analyzing the signal and from a preprogrammed algorithm sorting them according to what the priority is.

Filter USS

1. Unknow signals (alien stuff)
2. Known signals /distress signals
3. Known signals /rescue beacons

you got the picture....

How will they be displayed?

The signals need to be displayed, not as floating circles but add some gameplay into it. Make a separate tap where you can A) let a teammate/NPC crewman locate the signal, first you need to filter for the signal you are searching for, then when you find the signal, you triangulate or track where it's from, THEN you display it as a marker. This marker could also be displayed on planets as this will make the player feel that time is well spend, as you are first spending time to track the source and the fly to to location.

As in Alien where Mother finds a signal and wake the crew, ok we are always awake and don't need that, however some kind of signal UI, like we got contacts could be made for the system, we just need to filter and actively look for the signal before we start to fly around aimlessly looking for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ywWFvjE-yU

This could also be signals from planets, low orbit and so on.

Today we a milling aimless around in hope of getting the signal to show up, maybe if we need to start tracking the signal we're looking for as soon as we drop into the system would help.

This is of course gameplay where you are on foot, but it will be the same mechanics when we're in a spaceship just a different UI.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UMj031Lsps

I'm confident we can just what's under the hood, it just need a bit a depth in the gameplay, and a slightly improved graphic representation, it would make the mechanics much more integrated and also add more to the overall gameplay. This could also make the played look for unknown places on planets, and get a mark to where it is, WHEN they find it among all the signal noise out there.
Click to expand...

A thoughtful, and courteous, critique. Well done.
 

Marc_Hicks

Marc_Hicks
Lysander lysan said:
Well actually it's a big request, but I'm a moderate man ;)

USS or Signal source point, whatever we call them, please please consider them when you look at how to make the game better. They feel in so many ways incomplete.

Now I would not just give critique, I also got a solution of how to fix it, it may not be the right way, but that is how discussions starts right :)

Let's get cracking shall we?

Floating balls in space is not cool, my immersion meter is not moving, so what can be done, without changing too much under the hood? How they are detected and what the player need to do to activate them.

Let's assume our ship computer is constantly scanning for signals, that is normal, when it finds a signal it is analyzing the signal and from a preprogrammed algorithm sorting them according to what the priority is.

Filter USS

1. Unknow signals (alien stuff)
2. Known signals /distress signals
3. Known signals /rescue beacons

you got the picture....

How will they be displayed?

The signals need to be displayed, not as floating circles but add some gameplay into it. Make a separate tap where you can A) let a teammate/NPC crewman locate the signal, first you need to filter for the signal you are searching for, then when you find the signal, you triangulate or track where it's from, THEN you display it as a marker. This marker could also be displayed on planets as this will make the player feel that time is well spend, as you are first spending time to track the source and the fly to to location.

As in Alien where Mother finds a signal and wake the crew, ok we are always awake and don't need that, however some kind of signal UI, like we got contacts could be made for the system, we just need to filter and actively look for the signal before we start to fly around aimlessly looking for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ywWFvjE-yU

This could also be signals from planets, low orbit and so on.

Today we a milling aimless around in hope of getting the signal to show up, maybe if we need to start tracking the signal we're looking for as soon as we drop into the system would help.

This is of course gameplay where you are on foot, but it will be the same mechanics when we're in a spaceship just a different UI.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UMj031Lsps

I'm confident we can just what's under the hood, it just need a bit a depth in the gameplay, and a slightly improved graphic representation, it would make the mechanics much more integrated and also add more to the overall gameplay. This could also make the played look for unknown places on planets, and get a mark to where it is, WHEN they find it among all the signal noise out there.
Click to expand...

I have discussed this at length myself in the past.

1. Doing a system scan should lead to all USS's within an X ls range (perhaps dependent on the kind of USS it is) to become visible, then remain visible until either interacted with or out of range.

2. Further, active scanning of a USS should reveal more info about it-beyond the info we can currently get. Like how many ships-if any-are within the signal source, presence/rarity of materials within the signal source......that kind of thing.

3. USS's, when entered, need to be more dynamic. Where applicable, you need things to be actually already going on within them (like combat within a "Weapons Fire Detected" signal source, or activity/conversation going on within a convoy....to explain why they're not in SC), ships should be able to enter & leave a signal source with impunity, & signal sources containing debris should most definitely have the chance to contain a trap-either ships lying in wait, or ships ready to jump in on you at a moment's notice.

Those would be the 3 biggest changes I'd make.
 

Jex =TE=

Banned
J
USS's, in the devs own words were a "placeholder" which means they had a plan to get rid of it and replace it with something better. There's no excuse for not putting that "something" better in the game now as USS's have to be one of the worst mechanics put into a space game ever.

Nobody wants to play a game when they know exactly what to expect wherever they go.

Rob At Work said:
Not really much point, we are about to be wiped out by Thargoids anyway
Click to expand...

How are they getting ganked so easily then?
 
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