Scrounging signal sources for the exact materials you need for engineering (or planetary surfaces for synthesis) can get a bit tedious after a while.
Instead, we could trade the materials we don't want towards getting the materials we do want via Scrap Dealers, found in select stations (in the contacts menu?).
Every material would get assigned a Material Value -- not credits. To acquire the material you want from the Scrap Dealer, you need to give the dealer the equivalent value in other materials (plus a handling fee?). The rarity of the material could work as the Material Value (maybe on a logorithmic scale?)
This way it's still worth your while to gather materials (and with high Material Values), only you don't have to get as frustrated when you can't find the exact material you're looking for since you can swap anything you find.
Of course, different Scrap Dealers would specialise in certain materials, and have limited stock. And we'd have to map out where the Dealers are, and what sort of Materials they accept and trade.
Instead, we could trade the materials we don't want towards getting the materials we do want via Scrap Dealers, found in select stations (in the contacts menu?).
Every material would get assigned a Material Value -- not credits. To acquire the material you want from the Scrap Dealer, you need to give the dealer the equivalent value in other materials (plus a handling fee?). The rarity of the material could work as the Material Value (maybe on a logorithmic scale?)
This way it's still worth your while to gather materials (and with high Material Values), only you don't have to get as frustrated when you can't find the exact material you're looking for since you can swap anything you find.
Of course, different Scrap Dealers would specialise in certain materials, and have limited stock. And we'd have to map out where the Dealers are, and what sort of Materials they accept and trade.
