"Goods Subsidy" for Single-Player Colonization

I've anticipated base building for a long time. The recently released colonization gameplay isn't the base building I had in mind, but it is still a neat feature of Elite. However, some of the costs (in time and tonnage) to complete construction projects are steep for a solo player. I assume the developers set the values for the larger starports (e.g. Coriolis) and settlements with collaborative effort in mind. This is reasonable; for a group of friends and/or a squadron, these projects are far less daunting and fun.

My suggestion is to implement a form of "goods subsidy" (I couldn't think of a better term for this) for solo players. Using this subsidy, the expanding faction contributes a certain percentage of the colonization/development efforts. For example, an outpost currently costs ~20,000 tons. After the subsidy is applied, perhaps the total supplied goods by the player is ~15,000 (25% reduction). Higher tier projects receive a larger subsidy in terms of percentage (e.g. Coriolis receives ~33% reduction, Orbis ~40%). The subsidy is applied during the claims process (for expansion) and in the "set down" phase in a newly colonized but developing system. Once the subsidy is applied, no other commander may contribute to the project. This is done to prevent abuse of the subsidy system. However, a subsidy can be removed once. Upon removal, the values to complete the project are returned to normal, and any commander can contribute. A subsidy cannot be applied twice to the same project (again, to prevent abuse).

A group of players who wish to work together to develop systems will not be affected by this change.

The subsidy achieves cheaper costs for the solo player without impacting the balance already struck by the developers. Future balancing efforts for two categories of players (solo and social) are avoided, because the modifier is a percentage of the "social" balance values.
 
Always construct first an outpost.
Once you done this, there is no time limit for constructing a big station in your system.

Have fun
I would say figure out what you are capable of first. Starting with a T3 spaceport is the most optimal choice in the long term since the construction points are waived. This is the only way to get a spaceport with large pads into a system with 3 (primary + 2) and fewer orbital slots, though those are not ideal to colonize to begin with.
 
I'd still start my first system with a smol outpost - it took me a couple of systems before I got to grips with it.

(And obviously no discount for single players pls - I've already done 3 systems solo, it it was even easier .... )
 
I started with a Coriolis, possibly out of stupidity, only realising afterwards that an outpost would have been quicker.
Because of that, initially I held back, waiting for the Trailblazer megaships to be ready (and contributed more to the CG).
But at the weekend I realised that I find the prospect of doing it by myself intriguing, so I decided to give a go at the starport, and I am at about 60%, with more than three weeks to go, and I'm enjoying it.
While it's not my favourite game loop, it's definitely one more activity that I will happily engage with periodically, especially once (and if!) they fix the various issues that are being reported.

It's very doable as a solo project, but it requires some commitment for sure.
 
I started with a Coriolis, possibly out of stupidity, only realising afterwards that an outpost would have been quicker.
Because of that, initially I held back, waiting for the Trailblazer megaships to be ready (and contributed more to the CG).
But at the weekend I realised that I find the prospect of doing it by myself intriguing, so I decided to give a go at the starport, and I am at about 60%, with more than three weeks to go, and I'm enjoying it.
While it's not my favourite game loop, it's definitely one more activity that I will happily engage with periodically, especially once (and if!) they fix the various issues that are being reported.

It's very doable as a solo project, but it requires some commitment for sure.
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Good going wherever you are - not many Coriolis showing up yet (y)
 
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