Fuel scooping

[MarcusBritish]

Similar to the way flight speed has an optimal speed for turning, indicated by the blue range on the speed gauge, I think it would be interesting for fuel scoops also to have an optimal speed range, below or above which would cause the scoop to gather less fuel per second. The optimal scoop speed could also be designed to vary slightly depending on the star type, as well as scoop size/class just to keep things interesting. Further, failing to maintain an optimal scoop speed could contribute to loss of fuel scoop module integrity faster than efficient scooping might. Just a thought to make fuel scooping a less routine and uninteresting game mechanic.

o7

 

[comdr0303]

I'm in my diamondSack exploDer with 2 xtra fueltanks and a scoop, no cargo no nothing. Just me scooping & discovering, i found meself a new way to scoop, instead of flying around the star i just fly straight forward till the temp sets at a decent figure and stay ther while i do other things. Works great, no more overheating and good for me cause out of these magical cooling devices.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/442368-What-are-you-up-to/page73 post 1092 try it.

 

[Daynen]

You wouldn't be the first one to suggest that scooping needs an overhaul. Let me guess...you assumed you had to go faster to scoop more and were disappointed when you found out you could just sit still and scoop, right?

Me too.

I'd post a quick link to my own suggestion thread on scooping overhauls, but for some reason Fdev doesn't like to make their forum easy to navigate or easy to find things...either way you and I are on the same page Marcus. Scooping needs to be exciting and rewarding instead of just a chore.

EDIT: Ah HAH! There we go! https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/429598-Make-Fuel-scooping-fun-again

 

[MarcusBritish]

You wouldn't be the first one to suggest that scooping needs an overhaul. Let me guess...you assumed you had to go faster to scoop more and were disappointed when you found out you could just sit still and scoop, right?

Nope. I have over 1,500 hours playtime experience and am familiar with how scooping works. Just suggesting one of many quality of life improvements that could be made to enhance the gameplay in a small but relevant way to an area that grows tiresome.

 

[moorison]

I appreciate the intent of making mundane things in the game more exciting, personally I would not like it. I usually "fuel-park" and do something different like checking the system map. A sidegrade like the bi-weave shields would be fine, but there should be a different (negative) effect if you don't fly at optimal speed.

 

[Daynen]

Nope. I have over 1,500 hours playtime experience and am familiar with how scooping works. Just suggesting one of many quality of life improvements that could be made to enhance the gameplay in a small but relevant way to an area that grows tiresome.

nonono, I meant when you first started. Upon your first flight did you instinctively circle a star and watch the scoop while keeping an eye on your heat? Did you enjoy that? I did.

Did you later discover, to your disappointment, that you could just sit still and scoop just as effectively? I ask because that's precisely what happened to me.

We're in agreement about the QoL change and the need for scooping to be more fun and less of a chore; I just find it highly likely we both came to the realization the same way at some point early in our careers.

 

[PhanttoM]

I prefer to spend as much time actively doing something — so I've learnt how to time charging my frame shift, while I'm scooping.

It turns into a manual minigame of optimizing when to start charging the FSD vs. heat levels vs. amount of fuel scooped.
Sometimes the heat does go above 80-90% if the star was hotter than expected, and in rare cases I have to abort the charge to avoid taking heat damage.

 

[Daynen]

I appreciate the intent of making mundane things in the game more exciting, personally I would not like it. I usually "fuel-park" and do something different like checking the system map. A sidegrade like the bi-weave shields would be fine, but there should be a different (negative) effect if you don't fly at optimal speed.

check out my link above. Proposals there might interest you. I proposed a way to keep exactly what we have while offering more fun alternatives.

 

[MarcusBritish]

Yes, I've tried star circling and dead stop scooping. Isn't really a surprise to me that neither is a faster method, just a disappontment that the process lacks any further mechanics to enhance gameplay. Also irritates me that engineering offers nothing more than a Shielded fuel scoop - would like to some kind of faster rate scoop engineering option with lowered integrity as a penalty.

 

[moorison]

Yes, I've tried star circling and dead stop scooping. Isn't really a surprise to me that neither is a faster method, just a disappontment that the process lacks any further mechanics to enhance gameplay. Also irritates me that engineering offers nothing more than a Shielded fuel scoop - would like to some kind of faster rate scoop engineering option with lowered integrity as a penalty.

Or a modification that the scoops might actually weight something, requiring a choice between that and absolute jump distance.

 

[Daynen]

Yes, I've tried star circling and dead stop scooping. Isn't really a surprise to me that neither is a faster method, just a disappontment that the process lacks any further mechanics to enhance gameplay. Also irritates me that engineering offers nothing more than a Shielded fuel scoop - would like to some kind of faster rate scoop engineering option with lowered integrity as a penalty.

EXACTLY how I feel about it. Fuel scooping is an undervalued feature of the game from a design standpoint; we have the option to bring extra fuel and risk heat damage scooping it for free, so why is it so safe, easy and unrewarding? Look at what they did to mining! They made it more profitable AND more dangerous if you so choose! Fuel scooping needs a similar philosophy: play it safe for small gain or go big for big returns with big risk! There's so much potential for fuel scooping to become more than just an option for those who don't want to dock to refuel--it could be so much more than that.

 

[JesusRocks1988]

Personally, when Frontier start to implement Gas Giant gameplay and atmospherics, I'd like to see them remove the exclusion zone around stars and make fuel scooping happen a lot deeper in the star's surface - much more akin to how the Destiny in Stargate Universe did its fuel scooping - much more dramatic.

 

[comdr0303]

Personally, when Frontier start to implement Gas Giant gameplay and atmospherics, I'd like to see them remove the exclusion zone around stars and make fuel scooping happen a lot deeper in the star's surface - much more akin to how the Destiny in Stargate Universe did its fuel scooping - much more dramatic.

Keep it a little real please, we now have a perfect way to get fuel for free so we can travel anywhere and the mechanics are great.
First, what destiny does is impossible cause of the fact that the sun would just eat you at close range. There's no way escaping a sun if not catapulted with an incredible power source like the mass ejected from the suns, note that the most of these ejecta comes back to the sun and most can never leave...any ship would be dead and yes fdev must keep it like that.

 

[Hydrino]

It's a good thread.
I've posted ideas afore about this.
The perfect time to overhaul fuel and fuel scooping is when FD launches the first atmospheric gameplay.

The DDF had a late topic on fuel quality; whereby for example fuel from a gas giant might not be as pure or good as fuel from a starport with resulting lower performance. Also there was to be a fuel dumping or flushing mechanic to get an entire tank back up to quality because just mixing high and low quality over a few tanks would still leave enough impurities to keep performance lower. There is also the prospect of military fuel and waste disposal issues when using that higher grade stuff.

The add-on for the old DDF topic would be an improved mini-game better than the current heat and exclusion zone ones. So, speed should matter and also the path flown should matter to speed and quality/purity of the fuel as well as the source of star type, gas-giant type, lagrange cloud type, and maybe even comets (who knows? it's sci-fi with a hard edge but still fictional).

Combine those with increased fuel cost to make fuel scooping something more players would want to do even in the bubble so it isn't just explorers wanting to scoop.

Then, fuel scooping 2.0 would feel less place-holder from release and more like the new mining mechanics, etc. as a fully fleshed-out game mechanic.