First off: I'm happy with the changes for 3.0!
That out the way, I do have a suggestion for, I dunno, the far future maybe.
Engineers in Elite, the way I see them, they're lone mavericks working on the edge of civilisation yes, but they have a reasonably close parallel in the real world: Car mechanics.
Specifically, the slightly mad ones that build hot-rods, tweak engines to the bleeding edge of performance, take a 90 year old car and turn it into something that would scare the trim off a Bugatti Veyron.
There are other parallels too, like the guys that turn WW1 howitzers into deer hunting guns, boat builders who have more in common with aircraft designers, you get the idea. These people exist already.
But back to the car enthusiast - They take a standard engine from an old family car. They tear it down, clean it to factory finish, replace the stock pistons, aftermarket rockers, cylinder heads etc. etc.
Each 'upgrade' comes with a plethora of benefits and drawbacks, each balanced by the knowledge of the mechanic and the quality of the original engine frame, with an eye to the intention for use.
What I would love to see is some evolution of this in Elite. The Engineer would be our guide, the expert who runs the garage, telling us the drawbacks of our selection of parts. And like in reality, maybe certain stock parts have advantages over aftermarket. We'd collect materials, as we do now, but instead of miscellaneous parts, we could filter through them for say, a Core Dynamics carburetor, DeLacey cylinder heads, etc. and in THAT way, gain uniquely built, custom ship parts.
No RNG, no 'levels' to unlock, you go in with no knowledge, and learn through experimenting with the system, with the risk/drawback of course that you destroy the module the first time you take off because you thought you could just ram infinite amps through the electrical system, and forgot fuses.
Maybe we could have a dyno to test our modules on.
Inspired by:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtCJS70sEf0&list=PLGvTvFzdMg_O2T3UdUEt5dIHutSOu7srE
I've been binge watching Roadkill, this came up, and despite having a sad little family car, this show makes me want to dismantle my engine.
That out the way, I do have a suggestion for, I dunno, the far future maybe.
Engineers in Elite, the way I see them, they're lone mavericks working on the edge of civilisation yes, but they have a reasonably close parallel in the real world: Car mechanics.
Specifically, the slightly mad ones that build hot-rods, tweak engines to the bleeding edge of performance, take a 90 year old car and turn it into something that would scare the trim off a Bugatti Veyron.
There are other parallels too, like the guys that turn WW1 howitzers into deer hunting guns, boat builders who have more in common with aircraft designers, you get the idea. These people exist already.
But back to the car enthusiast - They take a standard engine from an old family car. They tear it down, clean it to factory finish, replace the stock pistons, aftermarket rockers, cylinder heads etc. etc.
Each 'upgrade' comes with a plethora of benefits and drawbacks, each balanced by the knowledge of the mechanic and the quality of the original engine frame, with an eye to the intention for use.
What I would love to see is some evolution of this in Elite. The Engineer would be our guide, the expert who runs the garage, telling us the drawbacks of our selection of parts. And like in reality, maybe certain stock parts have advantages over aftermarket. We'd collect materials, as we do now, but instead of miscellaneous parts, we could filter through them for say, a Core Dynamics carburetor, DeLacey cylinder heads, etc. and in THAT way, gain uniquely built, custom ship parts.
No RNG, no 'levels' to unlock, you go in with no knowledge, and learn through experimenting with the system, with the risk/drawback of course that you destroy the module the first time you take off because you thought you could just ram infinite amps through the electrical system, and forgot fuses.
Maybe we could have a dyno to test our modules on.
Inspired by:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtCJS70sEf0&list=PLGvTvFzdMg_O2T3UdUEt5dIHutSOu7srE
I've been binge watching Roadkill, this came up, and despite having a sad little family car, this show makes me want to dismantle my engine.
