Elite Dangerous | System Colonisation Beta Details & Feedback

But considering the time losses from long carrier jumps and downtime and how a less active player might just get unlucky and hit a drained port severl times in a row and being unable to make the extra trips needed to actually find the CMM composites it's more reasonable to err on the side of it being too easy.

The end result is kinda similar to engineering where it undercuts the deeper systems to reduce the grind. Which results in a better experience overall but does it in a away that cheapens a design that would've otherwise been good and makes the traps players can fall into comparatively worse.
Soooort of.

Coordinated groups are the ones most likely to build resupply "hubs"... indeed, people are already planning them AFAIK. "Less active players" can take advantage of those same hubs, as their expansion will still be tethered off something within 15Ly.
 
No. System architect is a commander, not a faction.
The architect can't give up their architect role, but all of the factions involved are non-native, so can certainly retreat in the normal way.
Hmm. During colonization by our bubble squadron commander our faction became a syatem owner. Not sure, that it's clear now, IMHO, somebody should be as not-retreatable. We'll see, however
 
Use an npc faction for that.

Sure, no-one owns anything. But imagine if - as in Ian's example - someone "waking up early" on tick-day would just block as many of Cannon's carriers...

That can't be the concept, as it opens the door for "pranking". 1st come, 1st serve but not by using ressources dedicated to someone else.
again... i am not being deliberately dumb i promise, its probably just i am missunderstanding how this is working.... (but if i am and am someone fairly invested in Elite then there will be a huge amount of casual players not posting here who also are as ignorant as i am)

but how is me setting up a new colony blocking cannons carrier and in what way are any resources dedicated to someone else

I ask because this is genuinely concerning for me as it is that kind of thinking which is why i have zero interest in playing EVE, i really do not want Elite to go down that road where big groups of players get to boss where the little lone wolf can and cannot go.

it is why when player factions were 1st announced i was concerned......... and then relieved that ultimately they were just npc factions that players got to name... and sure they could role play themselves but it need not have any effect on me or my game.
 
Last edited:
Have we confirmed if manually chosen station names are unique? As in once chosen, can't be repeated by another CMDR. Maybe there's a range?


20250301212649_1.jpg
 
Hmm. During colonization by our bubble squadron commander our faction became a syatem owner. Not sure, that it's clear now, IMHO, somebody should be as not-retreatable. We'll see, however
So, when you Colonize a system, faction you initiate colonization from becomes the faction in control of that system. If it wasnt your squadron-aligned faction, they will be the third of four factions that populate the system.

But your "squadron commander" as you called them, if they initiated the colonization, becomes the system architect. This is completely distinct from which faction(s) control or are present in the system.

That's because you don't own nor are members of a faction... they're just NPCs.
 
requirements for initial outpost OK for solo player (without FC) given 4 weeks. I doubt if I’ll ever commit to a Starport because of the CMM requirement
I started with a coriolis station. It required quite a lot more commodities, but I was able to do it in less than a week, solo.

Also, CMM amounts are currently ok, as they increased their amount and replenishing frequency a hundred-fold.
 
Dear Frontier,
my intention with colonisation was, to support my faction and make it grow. Thats why i started colonisation from a system, where 'my' faction is leading and yes - it worked with the primary station and i could expand the faction system list.
Now i build a second station in that system and was underwhelmingly surprised that this station was handed over to an NPC faction, that expanded into my system. I built this station with ownership of 'my' faction in mind and put all that grindy work for them into it. And now an (from me) unwanted faction got it.
That is unsatisfying.
I am part of the squadron that 'created' the faction i want to support.
 
Have we confirmed if manually chosen station names are unique? As in once chosen, can't be repeated by another CMDR. Maybe there's a range?
I believe there were duplicate station names even before this update, so I doubt they have any kind of check to avoid that.

(It would be interesting to know if they have some kind of checks for ARX-purchased freely settable station names. Not just for inappropriate names, but also confusing ones. After all, should someone be able to name their station "Jameson Memorial"?)
 
Hello DEVS and CMDRs-- (reposted from a different area)

So I've been playing since the launch of Horizons, and it should be noted that I've been waiting a long time for Colonization. So here are my first thoughts on the good, the bad, and what could be done to improve the system as it currently stands.

1) The Good-- There are numerous different types of orbitals and surface ports, with different aesthetics and versatility. Each has little blurbs on the side which will likely affect the BGS. It's a good method to help Architects plan their systems and build outs.

The stations have a lot of resource needs, which is good for immersion. Planetary exploration and colonization is a slow process. Some players have complained that it cannot be done without a Fleet Carrier (Spoiler: It can be done. I ran half of my runs in a bareback Cutter just to get enough CMM Composites. For steel/ titanium I used by FC.) The drawback is time. But nobody said building a colony would be easy....

The interface seems to be OK so far. But I'd highly recommend a buyback or an "undo" function.

2) The Bad -- The grind is obviously the big concern here. I build an orbital outpost and it took me 5 days in solo to get it running. Obviously, I could probably get a Coriolis in place in about 2 weeks of grinding. But that's it-- two weeks of essentially space trucking. You have ask yourself as Devs-- do we want to punish a player who's invested in system colonization with two weeks of a mindless hauling grind?

Obviously the FC time slot is an issue at the moment. I figure that a rapidly changing station point from place to place would be a strain on the servers. Honestly, I'm ok with a 75 minute wait so long as it guarantees the servers don't go . That being said being able to park the FC nearby the Colonization Ship and hit the "Transfer Needed Commodities" would be a hell of a time saver, even if it required 8-24 hours of game time. Imagine having to gather 23000 tons of commodities aboard your FC, only to have to then run from FC to Colonization Ship 29 times to unload it all. That's what people are doing right now.

Limited range. I've done a lot... LOT.. of exploring. And I've mapped a new area that would be a nice little proto-bubble. But it's 33,000 ly from the Bubble. At 18 ly from system to system, that would require 1,833 colonizations to get there. And suppose I just manage to drop an outpost in each system that requires 5 days of haulage, that would mean I could reach my desired destination in... 25 years of continuous game play. Ouch.

3) Recommended Improvements. So there ae some recommendations to improve the experience and reduce the grind without breaking the immersion too much.

The first is putting in the undo function, especially for planetary settlements. You should have until the Thursday update to undo your decisions if you decided to go in a different direction.

The second is a "quick transfer" option from FC to Colonization ship or Orbital/Planetary construction. You can lock out additional supplies until the wait period is over (so if some does a partial delivery, they won't be able to make any more deliveries to the goal until that cooldown is over.)

The third is.. why not make an Elite Badge for Architects? Start at "Homeless", then once you colonize your first system, go to "Homesteader", then proceed to other ranks.. Like the following:
Homeless --> Homesteader --> Pioneer--> Generator--> Developer --> Designer --> Architect --> Mastermind

Then base each of those ranks off of total number of build points. Each step also opens up new tiers of planetary outposts and other bonuses? Homeless starts at tier 1 and then you can get to tier 3 for Homesteader up to tier 15 planetary outposts at Mastermind. As you increase in rank, you need 5% less materials for each type of base. Also, each tier increases the Colonization range from a colonized system. So 16 ly for Homeless, 32 for ly for Homesteader, 48 at Pioneer, 64 at Generator, 80 at Developer, 96 at Designer, 112 at Architect and 130 ly at Mastermind.

Also, your planetary outposts should have the option for the commodities generated. If you build a refinery, you can chose Market, Intrasystem Focus, and Intersystem Focus. Market is a standard market that can generate credits. Intrasystem will generate materials needed for outposts in-system. And Intersystem focus will generate materials needed for outposts out of system. The system state will affect the materials generated (due to piracy, civil unrest, disease, famine, natural disaster, etc.) so rectifying that state would be important in getting the system producing at top efficiency. But for Intrasystems/Intersystem Focus, those materials will be applied to the construction needs of that base. As the outpost tier increases, it generates more materials that can be used for system construction.

Also, there should be some specialty buildings at higher tiers. For example, at Developer, a tier 9 Research Outpost can be developed for specialty goods in the system. Or at Designer, a system can construct a Colony Support Facility (non-dockable orbital) that can increase the maximum colony range of that Architect. The more CSFs one Architect has, the longer the Colony range. In addition, there can be an Intersystem Transit Authority (non-dockable orbital) that can increase the range and materials of Intersystem Focused outposts.

Finally, and this has always been a personal want of mine, is to build a Terraforming Station over a terraformable planet. It needs tons of commodities too (a huge amount, 100x that of an orbital), that will start the Terraforming process. Ultimately, having Intersystem ports that support such a huge project will be necessary to see it done.

But those are my thoughts on a beta, and suggestions on how to improve and make it less grindy and give more impactful goals for players who really want to invest in Colonization.

o7 DEVS and CMDRs.

-- CMDR PrimusNethicus (formerly NethicusPrimus)
 
I believe there were duplicate station names even before this update, so I doubt they have any kind of check to avoid that.

(It would be interesting to know if they have some kind of checks for ARX-purchased freely settable station names. Not just for inappropriate names, but also confusing ones. After all, should someone be able to name their station "Jameson Memorial"?)
That's what I mean by manually chosen. Sure there's a quick check, but is it checking for duplicates? (on ARX purchased names only)
 
Ok, I built the outpost, now I can't build a large starport without 3 construction points, I only have one. I can build two more small stations with medium pads but large ships have to land at my fleet carrier just to refuel/repair/redeem. This needs to change! :poop:
 
Ok, I built the outpost, now I can't build a large starport without 3 construction points, I only have one. I can build two more small stations with medium pads but large ships have to land at my fleet carrier just to refuel/repair/redeem. This needs to change! :poop:
If you've got a landable planet, then a Tier 1 Planetary Port has large landing pads (and also gets you a Tier 2 point). Cheaper than the Coriolis would be, though more expensive than an Outpost.

If you don't have a landable planet, then two Tier 1 Orbital Installations will get you the necessary Tier 2 points and are cheaper between them than your original outpost was.
 
Back
Top Bottom