What i think the game needs the most at the moment are fast to implement features that add depth to its various aspects, the best would be something that takes devs weeks to be implemented and takes us (the players) months to be mastered and fully explored.
Right now most of ships components have a linear progression, meaning that going from rating E to A they simply get better and more expensive, for a player with enough money only in very few cases it is reasonable to stick with lower tiers parts due to power consumption and/or mass and even in those cases this choice is pretty obiouvs; once you decide ship and archetype (fighter, miner, trader, explorer..) most of the components will fall into place automatically.
so here is my idea: ship components mods.
Each component could fit a small (1 to 3?) number of mods. These mods would not be clean improvements, instead they would be a tweak to its charateristics, making that subsystem more situational.
EXAMPLES (these are not balanced values, it's just to give the idea):
-thrusters cooling system: reduces by 50% the heat generated by thrusters, reduces by 10% the acceleration of the ship
-improved lateral thrusters: lateral movements, pitch, yaw and roll acceleration increased by 10%, max speed and boost acceleration reduced by 10%
-FSD cruise optimization: Supercruise acceleration and deceleration increased by 5%, max fuel for hyperjump reduced by 5%
-FSD commerce optimization: Charging time for jump increased by 50%, optimal mass for jump increased by 10%
-palladium shield capacitors: shield health increased by 5%, time for shield back online increased by 5%
Each of these does not improve the ship in an absolute way, it rather optimizes a subsystem for a specific role and playstyle. So the way you play and your plans for the ship become very important.
The % offered could be randomized so you might find a "thrusters cooling system" that reduces the heat by 25% in exchange of a 5% decrease in acceleration in one station and a -100% heat, -20% acceleration in another one.
Instead, the relationship between the positive and the negative % would be fixed, so extreme positive % comes only with extreme negatives.
Rarity of the mod would be proportional with the % offered, extreme modifications would be quite rare, also the type of the mods avaible in each station could be related to the system economy, and slowly change over time.
Mods cannot be swapped to a new component, they stick with the one they were made on (they are mods afterall).
Why this would be good for the game:
1-It all works on variable tweaks (no new graphic, no drastical changes to the environment or gameplay) and generates a lot of complexity for the players, so high efficiency from the Devs point of veiw.
2-Exteme depth added to the fitting process: "more is better" doesn't work here, there will be a sweet spot where pros and cons are just perfect for you, internal components will have a stronger influence on each other.
3-Your ship will be unique in the universe. Not only you'll make very specific choices, what you fit will also depend on what you find in your journey thorough the galaxy. Even the same exact mod configuration will have some differences due to the % you found. Your ship will have a history. This fits incredibly well with ED.
4-It would be no longer all about credits. Even with billions in your account a very specific setup might be very hard to obtain, you would need to visit multiple systems to find what you are looking for. Even then you'll not be the most powerful, just the best in a very specific task/situation.
5-It encourages players to explore more, as they look for that exact %mod they need.
(optional consideration: mods could be saved on death only by paying a lot of money, possibly an amout proportional to their rarity or distance from the system you purchased them, as pilot federation has to find those for your new ship. This would mean that a highly customed ship would be an asset of extreme value, almost impossible to be fully saved by insurance, a nice add to the already hardcore nature of the game)
Right now most of ships components have a linear progression, meaning that going from rating E to A they simply get better and more expensive, for a player with enough money only in very few cases it is reasonable to stick with lower tiers parts due to power consumption and/or mass and even in those cases this choice is pretty obiouvs; once you decide ship and archetype (fighter, miner, trader, explorer..) most of the components will fall into place automatically.
so here is my idea: ship components mods.
Each component could fit a small (1 to 3?) number of mods. These mods would not be clean improvements, instead they would be a tweak to its charateristics, making that subsystem more situational.
EXAMPLES (these are not balanced values, it's just to give the idea):
-thrusters cooling system: reduces by 50% the heat generated by thrusters, reduces by 10% the acceleration of the ship
-improved lateral thrusters: lateral movements, pitch, yaw and roll acceleration increased by 10%, max speed and boost acceleration reduced by 10%
-FSD cruise optimization: Supercruise acceleration and deceleration increased by 5%, max fuel for hyperjump reduced by 5%
-FSD commerce optimization: Charging time for jump increased by 50%, optimal mass for jump increased by 10%
-palladium shield capacitors: shield health increased by 5%, time for shield back online increased by 5%
Each of these does not improve the ship in an absolute way, it rather optimizes a subsystem for a specific role and playstyle. So the way you play and your plans for the ship become very important.
The % offered could be randomized so you might find a "thrusters cooling system" that reduces the heat by 25% in exchange of a 5% decrease in acceleration in one station and a -100% heat, -20% acceleration in another one.
Instead, the relationship between the positive and the negative % would be fixed, so extreme positive % comes only with extreme negatives.
Rarity of the mod would be proportional with the % offered, extreme modifications would be quite rare, also the type of the mods avaible in each station could be related to the system economy, and slowly change over time.
Mods cannot be swapped to a new component, they stick with the one they were made on (they are mods afterall).
Why this would be good for the game:
1-It all works on variable tweaks (no new graphic, no drastical changes to the environment or gameplay) and generates a lot of complexity for the players, so high efficiency from the Devs point of veiw.
2-Exteme depth added to the fitting process: "more is better" doesn't work here, there will be a sweet spot where pros and cons are just perfect for you, internal components will have a stronger influence on each other.
3-Your ship will be unique in the universe. Not only you'll make very specific choices, what you fit will also depend on what you find in your journey thorough the galaxy. Even the same exact mod configuration will have some differences due to the % you found. Your ship will have a history. This fits incredibly well with ED.
4-It would be no longer all about credits. Even with billions in your account a very specific setup might be very hard to obtain, you would need to visit multiple systems to find what you are looking for. Even then you'll not be the most powerful, just the best in a very specific task/situation.
5-It encourages players to explore more, as they look for that exact %mod they need.
(optional consideration: mods could be saved on death only by paying a lot of money, possibly an amout proportional to their rarity or distance from the system you purchased them, as pilot federation has to find those for your new ship. This would mean that a highly customed ship would be an asset of extreme value, almost impossible to be fully saved by insurance, a nice add to the already hardcore nature of the game)
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