Engineers - My proposal from years ago. Make them simple & relaxed, not a contrived "accounting job"
Intro
I proposed this mechanic years ago. I understand it's all water under the bridge now. I do not expect FD to consider it (now). I post it here purely to demonstrate how FD's vision of "good/fun/accessible gameplay" differs from mine. And ultimately why these kind of mechanics being added (by FD) basically actually dislike the game!
So, here is what I proposed all that time ago, and IMHO I feel it demonstrates how I'd like to see such mechanics (ie: Be friendly and easy to work with, instead of requiring faff, spreadsheets and wasted time).
Engineer Reputation - Increasing It
You have a reputation level with any/all Engineers you've unlocked. When in any station, you can access a screen showing your available Engineers, showing your reputation level with them.
If you wish to, you can select an Engineer, and any materials you have, which they use, are listed and you can choose to donate them to the Engineer. Common materials will result in a small reputation increase. The rare materials a bigger reputation increase.
So over time, as you donate materials, you may see your reputation with an Engineer increase as follows:-
You've never donated any materials to the Engineer... (You can't do any Engineering with them)
You've donated some materials to the Engineer... (You can do G1 & G2 Engineering with them)
You've donated more materials to the Engineer... (You can do G1, G2 & G3 Engineering with them)
Note 1: Each grade of reputation is expotential. So each "step" in Grade 2 is more than a "step" in Grade 1. etc.
Note 2: You could argue you should have to instead go to the Engineer to hand in materials, instead of being able to do it at any station. Personally I'd prefer anywhere!
Engineer Reputation - Spending it
When you visit an Engineer, your reputation dictates what grade of Engineering you have access to. So here you have access to upto grade 2 Engineering:-
When you Engineer a module, an appropriate amount of reputation is "spent", and your reputation drops a little/lot accordingly. ie: Grade 2 uses up more than a Grade 1 Engineering (in effect the cost of the materials involved are taken from your reputation).
I'd imagine each step shown in your reputation would equate to X Engineerings at that level. So if you were high into Grade 4, you'd be able to do for example about ten Grade 4 Engineerings until your reputation was spent enough to drop it down in Grade 3 territory.
Result
Done! That's it!
Note how much more simple it is... And how accessible (friendly) your relationship with Engineers are! It's almost like it's there for enjoyment rather than as an accounting job!
So your relationship with Engineering is far more casual and friendly:-
Again, I've long since given up hoping The Engineers would be changed to something more simple (friendly) like this. I'd simply like to demonstrate how my vision of friendly accessible gameplay mechanics differs seemingly from FDs... You may clearly agree or disagree which is fine.
Note: Next time you're sifting through spreadsheets and documents, trying to juggle numbers of matts and if you can/should go to an Engineer... Give this thread a consideration. Next time you're trying to work out whether to fly all the way to a Material Broker to swap X of Y for some other materials, only then to have to fly all the way back to the same Engineer again.... Give this thread a consideration.
Intro
I proposed this mechanic years ago. I understand it's all water under the bridge now. I do not expect FD to consider it (now). I post it here purely to demonstrate how FD's vision of "good/fun/accessible gameplay" differs from mine. And ultimately why these kind of mechanics being added (by FD) basically actually dislike the game!
My biggest bug bear with The Engineers have always been:-
Soon after the initial Engineers was released I made a proposal for an alternative simplified approach. And seeing the new mechanics being employed in Beyond, it's interesting to see steps towards it in someway - with the Material Broker allowing you to swap mats - but it still ultimately remaining seemingly a contrived unfriendly time wasting faff IMHO. ie: It could all be streamlined to a far simpler and more friendly experience with the same outcome.
- The unnecessary spreadsheet/accounting micro-managedment faff required: Knowing you need to collect X of mat Y, for grade 1, then X of Y for grade 2, over and over, for difference grades, for different upgrades for different engineers. Knowing what mats are of use to what Engineers for what grades for what upgrades.
- The needless travel faff: To work with an engineer in anyway, even just to in effect even cash in some materials you have to fly to them and Engineer (roll) knowing you're only really doing to improve your reputation with them, and to get rid of some matts.
Soon after the initial Engineers was released I made a proposal for an alternative simplified approach. And seeing the new mechanics being employed in Beyond, it's interesting to see steps towards it in someway - with the Material Broker allowing you to swap mats - but it still ultimately remaining seemingly a contrived unfriendly time wasting faff IMHO. ie: It could all be streamlined to a far simpler and more friendly experience with the same outcome.
So, here is what I proposed all that time ago, and IMHO I feel it demonstrates how I'd like to see such mechanics (ie: Be friendly and easy to work with, instead of requiring faff, spreadsheets and wasted time).
Engineer Reputation - Increasing It
You have a reputation level with any/all Engineers you've unlocked. When in any station, you can access a screen showing your available Engineers, showing your reputation level with them.
If you wish to, you can select an Engineer, and any materials you have, which they use, are listed and you can choose to donate them to the Engineer. Common materials will result in a small reputation increase. The rare materials a bigger reputation increase.
So over time, as you donate materials, you may see your reputation with an Engineer increase as follows:-
You've never donated any materials to the Engineer... (You can't do any Engineering with them)
You've donated some materials to the Engineer... (You can do G1 & G2 Engineering with them)
You've donated more materials to the Engineer... (You can do G1, G2 & G3 Engineering with them)
Note 1: Each grade of reputation is expotential. So each "step" in Grade 2 is more than a "step" in Grade 1. etc.
Note 2: You could argue you should have to instead go to the Engineer to hand in materials, instead of being able to do it at any station. Personally I'd prefer anywhere!
Engineer Reputation - Spending it
When you visit an Engineer, your reputation dictates what grade of Engineering you have access to. So here you have access to upto grade 2 Engineering:-
When you Engineer a module, an appropriate amount of reputation is "spent", and your reputation drops a little/lot accordingly. ie: Grade 2 uses up more than a Grade 1 Engineering (in effect the cost of the materials involved are taken from your reputation).
I'd imagine each step shown in your reputation would equate to X Engineerings at that level. So if you were high into Grade 4, you'd be able to do for example about ten Grade 4 Engineerings until your reputation was spent enough to drop it down in Grade 3 territory.
Result
Done! That's it!
Note how much more simple it is... And how accessible (friendly) your relationship with Engineers are! It's almost like it's there for enjoyment rather than as an accounting job!
So your relationship with Engineering is far more casual and friendly:-
- At any time in any station you can decide to see what (unlocked) Engineers you can contribute your Mats to, to improve your standing with them. ie: It's a far more laid back relationship!
- At any time you can see how much reputation you have with an Engineer, and decide whether or not to "spend" it on upgrading some modules.
- You need only visit an Engineer when you finally want to Engineer (& spend some of your reputation).
- You can deal with Engineers casually, simply handing in whatever materials you happen to come across they're interested in. Or do it more professionally and go and get rare materials they specifically want.
Again, I've long since given up hoping The Engineers would be changed to something more simple (friendly) like this. I'd simply like to demonstrate how my vision of friendly accessible gameplay mechanics differs seemingly from FDs... You may clearly agree or disagree which is fine.
Note: Next time you're sifting through spreadsheets and documents, trying to juggle numbers of matts and if you can/should go to an Engineer... Give this thread a consideration. Next time you're trying to work out whether to fly all the way to a Material Broker to swap X of Y for some other materials, only then to have to fly all the way back to the same Engineer again.... Give this thread a consideration.
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