Elite Dangerous | System Colonisation Beta Details & Feedback

[Darrack]

I wouldn't.
I'm 2/3rds filling up my FC with the materials for my first outpost. Luckily, I found a ground station that offered 730tonnes of CMM phantoms and I managed to get twice the required quantity. But I can see this getting old very fast, and I don't think I'm the only one. There's a finite amount of enthusiasm after each update, and it's getting lower as we speak. I think the designers have to get back to the drawing board soon.

I actually disagree, ive just headed back from Beagle to have a crack at this and its pretty amazing.
Yes Carrier jump times are borked but me and the Mrs have a small outpost on the go and plans that can keep our little squadron entertained for a year.
It also means i can still head off exploring whilst they crack on with cargo hauling, the only downside is its pretty much killed PP2 for us as this is way more interesting.

O7

 

[Gannopen]

I actually disagree, ive just headed back from Beagle to have a crack at this and its pretty amazing.
Yes Carrier jump times are borked but me and the Mrs have a small outpost on the go and plans that can keep our little squadron entertained for a year.
It also means i can still head off exploring whilst they crack on with cargo hauling, the only downside is its pretty much killed PP2 for us as this is way more interesting.

O7

I kinda agree but my thoughts are with the future PP2 after my settlements etc are sorted and the neighbouring power started to acquire, or not, the system and how I'm going to interact with that process.

 

[yianniv]

I actually disagree, ive just headed back from Beagle to have a crack at this and its pretty amazing.
Yes Carrier jump times are borked but me and the Mrs have a small outpost on the go and plans that can keep our little squadron entertained for a year.
It also means i can still head off exploring whilst they crack on with cargo hauling, the only downside is its pretty much killed PP2 for us as this is way more interesting.

O7

I'm glad you're enjoying it. So am I, for the time being, but I can already feel the boredom slipping in and I haven't even completed my first outpost. Basically, although I found a great system, it's still in the bubble and my vision was to colonize somewhere far-far away (still in this galaxy, though ). I don't know, I just hoped FD would use some newer mechanism than the usual haul-till-you-drop method.
I think I'll spend arx to rename my station to "We Value Your Time".

 

[mkizub]

Tier 1/2/3 construction and Tier 2/3 points and prices are too complex to understand for new architectors. Can you simplify them, please? Like just construction points, and cost of an installation (in points)? Why this unnatural overcomplication is needed at all? Another problem with these points can be seen on my screenshot below. It states that I can build 2 stations. And yes - there are 2 slots to build something. But in fact - I cannot build an asteroid station, because it requires some construction points, and there are no slots in this system to build something meaningful that will give me these points.

 

[CMDR Matredo]

Aside from the whole CMM thing other people have complained about (I really think we need either an even greater increase in CMM supply or a reduction in CMM requirements for all station types) I think the biggest change needed right now is the removal of the cap on system taxes. It just punishes players for investing the effort needed to make lots of colonies, and I don't think having the possibility of large amounts of passive income is even remotely unfair considering both the up-front cost and the effort required. It's not like explorers need to make much of an effort to rake in billions, so why does an activity as labour-intensive as colonisation only get a tiny return on investment?

I can't believe there is a limit for an income. This should absolutely be removed

 

[Martind Forlon]

Very nice stuff with this colonisation. I especially like the need to check mechanics more in detail and need to think few times (before pull the triger) what you can to do with given place, limits and your ideas of what want to be achieved. Visible form of BGS is kind of fulfilled dream . I have smaller compact system with limited space, but it look like ideal candidate for learn how these things works. And build it is just a first step, then BGS/PP will kick in with next phases

 

[Darth Ender]

I'm fine if the passive income caps at a little more than the fc upkeep, whatever that amount is for you. i don't think the game benefits from players getting passive income beyond that at this point.

 

[GroG79]

Problem/Bug

There is a problem with bookmarks set on construction sites. Once the structure completes the bookmarks diappear from sysmap but are still visible in the bookmarks page.

I had two crashes renaming a bookmark of a constriction site that had been completed (and thus was a invalid bookmark.


Work around: Delete bookmark

 

[pseudo6626]

please forgive me if this has been addressed already but I really, really would like a straight answer from Fdev:

The numbers stated for the commodities needed to build something in the Colonization Contact menu does not match the actual ones requested by the game.

They are not only off, but apparently differently off for each player. sometimes by upwards of 10s of thousands of tons. If this is intentional, that it would REALLY BE NICE if you stated it..... anywhere?

For folks trying to plan systems out, coordinate efforts, and build companion tools for the game having unstated RNG for no apparent reason and no good way to undo your choses comes across not only frustrating but downright disrespectful and deceitful.

 

[Easy]

I do not have an FC, so I'm just hauling with my cutter. My first construction project is a Science Outpost, with a goal to make the system a tech hub. Within 48 hours I am at 42% completion.

I think this is a reasonable rate of completion given a dedicated grind for mats.

I do think it would be an improvement to have a mat list available within the ship menus or codex to facilitate the process, and have basic authority services on the colonisation ship. I've had to fight off a few pirates, and it would be nice to cash in those bounties as I go.

Maybe I did not know how to operate the menus, but the colonisation ship popped into a planet in my selected system that is not where I wanted my first station/outpost to be located. Will I get to control the placement of my outpost once all of the materials are delivered, or is that arbitrary based on the location of the colonisation ship?

A clarifying tip on the initial location of the colonisation ship and first outpost/station would be nice.

It does seem that an FC would give an extraordinary boost to the construction curve that is only magnified if a player selects an outpost (maximum medium pad) before a full station.

I understand that the BGS is a complicated beast, but there should be some guidance on what types of stations/outposts/planetside facilities that should be selected if a commander wanted to develop a focused economy, or a generalized economy in their system. Are specialized economies viable? Are generalized economies more viable? Which has a better population growth curve? Which has a better economic growth curve? Which has the best security / stability curve? It's all magic to me right now.

 

[Darth Ender]

please forgive me if this has been addressed already but I really, really would like a straight answer from Fdev:

The numbers stated for the commodities needed to build something in the Colonization Contact menu does not match the actual ones requested by the game.

They are not only off, but apparently differently off by each player. sometimes by upwards of 10s of thousands of tons. If this is intentional, that it would REALLY BE NICE if you stated it..... anywhere?

For folks trying to plan systems out, coordinate efforts, and build companion tools for the game having unstated RNG for no apparent reason and no good way to undo your choses comes across not only frustrating but downright disrespectful and deceitful.

it's not a work in progress so I'd assume that's working as designed... somehow. We're just supposed to give feedback on the balance. i don't think they're looking to fix or change anything no matter the experience.

 

[DaraTheNeko]

Alright I just finished getting my coriolis (two arms version) done solo, which was a ton of work and time spent on it.
Money wise, pretty much just broke even, -25M from beacon, likely +25m from "trading" so that side is fine.
Now thanks to steam I have a close estimate of the time it took me :
42.6 hours.
Over four weeks that would amount to playing 1 hour and a half each day, to make a coriolis solo (with access to : millions in the bank, a fleet carrier, a corvette, type 8 and cutter all quite engineered).
I'd say that's 30m/day too much, and with the time needed being closely tied to how many tons are to be delivered, I think a reduction of 33% would be fair.

Well, except for the CMM composites but that's a subject fdev is likely hearing about.

Then comes the after first station part, which is half clear. The cost and reward for tiered constructions could be explained more clearly or shown right from the start, and the "unlock" requirements for some parts could also be made clearer.

Also I am aware I could have started with an outpost, which is pretty much half price. But that would still equate to basically 20 hours of work, for no large pads.

TLDR : I'd like a reduction of 33% on the build costs, easy access to informations, and easier access to CMM comps.

 

[pseudo6626]

it's not a work in progress so I'd assume that's working as designed... somehow. We're just supposed to give feedback on the balance. i don't think they're looking to fix or change anything no matter the experience.

fwiw,
I did find this issue on the issue tracker and it is flagged as "acknowledged" as opposed to "by design". so hopefully that means it is a bug? I highly encourage folks to vote on it to make things clear to Fdev that this is an issue https://issues.frontierstore.net/issue-detail/72180

 

[pmejna]

I can't believe there is a limit for an income. This should absolutely be removed

Wait! What???
There is a limit to passive income??
So if I develop 12 big prospering systems I will get the same passive income as someone who built 3-4 rathole systems?
This cap (if exists) should be removed definitely!

 

[dunebubu]

Tried and waited twice for the colonization ship to jump in, but it did not show up. First time: No message in the Info box in the upper right corner. Second time (after giving up the claim): Countdown timer for the ship appears, but no ship appearing even after several minutes. The system map only shows the Star and the planets.

Could you please fix this?

 

[Darth Ender]

i don't mind if big stations take a solo player half a year to complete.

i just don't think the right way to make that happen is to have the player repeat the same space truck game loop until they go insane.

there's nothing to suggest that any of this should be able to be done quickly (other than the first station, which should be an outpost anyway and is doable in a month.

we really just need something better than space trucking everything in a repetitive boring time sink as their balance mechanism to convey value for this feature.

 

[Klearoflauge]

CMDR Mechan: "Trailgrinders Is Broken And Unfun"

1. The gameplay loop is barebones (find a system, drop a beacon, haul, construct new thing)
2. No undo button, teardown or remove construction from the system
3. Build points and requirements are convoluted.
4. Prerequisites for buildings are hidden in the UI.
5. Can't pin resources, so you must take screenshots or spreadsheets of the required materials.
   1. Jumping from the trade window at a planetary port to the architect view that states what you require is user unfriendly.
6. The grind is absurd (minimum-time-to-build).
   1. To build an Ocellus starport you need to haul things back and forth for 27 hours (optimistic). Maybe fun for hardcore truckers.
7. Bugs
   1. Steal systems
   2. Primary port "state lost"
   3. Autodock of construction sites

Boy, This sure is fun!

 

[BDelacroix]

Landed at my ground facility I was building and wanted to walk around a bit. My ship took off without me telling it to do so.
I had to run off ~200m and recall.
Boarded the ship to see it was complaining of pad loitering and I am now wanted in my own system?

 

[KKomrade Sylas]

Surely it has been said enough, but CMM composites are the one thing somewhat ruining this feature for me. It's basically everything I've ever asked for and it has tons of new and awesome content, but the CMM composites run to complete my coriolis is taking me about as much time as the entire rest of the shopping list.

You could probably replace the 11k CMM composites I need for my coriolis with 50 thousand titanium and it'd still take me less time than the CMM composites, not to mention it's annoying.

Numbers are still in between 80 to 300 per port and they don't replenish quickly. I've found ports with more and enough to fill a cutter (700 to 1200), but they can't be reused quickly, so you use it up and you have to go find another one or wait a while for the port to replenish.

If you do find a good port like that, you're also not encouraged to share it with EDDN to Inara or sites like that. Otherwise it's just immediately ruined.

Please just either heavily increase CMM Composite production (And by heavily I mean multiply it by a factor of x1000) or just remove it from the shopping list!

I think this is so far even more important than the fact that the only way you can participate in this is by hauling soul crushing ammounts of materials. I don't really want people to build Orbis stations within an hour, sure... but the balance between realism (Not wanting people to just build a million stations per day) and gameplay fun (not wanting players to haul for 30 hours of in game time, which can translate to weeks of actual real life time) is not being met and is not balanced correctly.

Would be fun to have a money sink to let NPC's do a portion of the work for you, albeit at a far slower pace than a player would. I feel like I should be able to give out 50 million credits for an NPC to do 3 thousand commodities worth of hauling, or something like that, within the span of an hour. Far costlier and time consuming than doing it yourself, but you could use a little help tied to a money sink.

 

[KKomrade Sylas]

i don't mind if big stations take a solo player half a year to complete.

i just don't think the right way to make that happen is to have the player repeat the same space truck game loop until they go insane.

there's nothing to suggest that any of this should be able to be done quickly (other than the first station, which should be an outpost anyway and is doable in a month.

we really just need something better than space trucking everything in a repetitive boring time sink as their balance mechanism to convey value for this feature.

Considering there is a percentage of completion, yes it would be great if there were more ways to contribute to that. Like the colonization ship giving out missions that span other activities (Combat, exploration, mining, etc) that reward you with a % of completion. If anything just so I don't have to haul 40k commodities every time. I think hauling should still be the main way to do it, but the last thing you want is players growing tired of repetiveness within a week of your update