Limpet Controllers - small amount of built-in limpets
- Thread starter bigity
- Start date
Yeah that would justify the controllers being so super heavy lol
I would like that.
But it would be even better if limpets did not expire, but needed to refuel from the ship's tank once in a while.
And we should also be able to manufacture them on board.
I think the current system is weird and unwieldy. It limits game play too much.
I believe a much more flexible and fun limpet drone system is needed.
A limpet controller should be a flexible unit that can program a limpet for any task.
We would buy software packages to add options: refueling, repair, combat, reconnaissance, exploration, mining etc. etc. These software packages should be expensive.
The beauty is that even the smallest ship can reprogram their drones to do all tasks, which makes it much more fun to always have at least one or two drones on board if you are so inclined.
A limpet drone controller would include a drone bay and should be available in different sizes and be able to manufacture new limpets from materials.
The smallest size (perhaps a size 2) module would have storage for two drones, but a large ship might have room for a size 8 for example that would have room for 16 drones.
The largest size drone bay might correspond to the number of drones the game allows you to have active at the same time.
All drones would refuel from the drone bay and might also be repaired there.
When a drone gets destroyed you can manufacture a new one and fill the empty drone slot.
The advantage of this system is enormous flexibility which opens the game up.
For example if I have build myself a mining ship and I encounter an NPC without fuel in a USS I can now reprogram a drone to bring the ship some of my fuel.
When I arrive at my mining area I can then reprogram the drone for mining and when I get attacked I might use a drone or two for defense and when my canopy gets shot out by a pirate I can program a drone to do some repairs.
The drone bay would become a true workhorse that most cmdrs would want to have on board.
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Ship fuel is Helium 3, fusion fuel. A Limpet is a canister with thrusters, probably using a monopropellant.
But limpet controllers WOULD make more sense if they were some kind of tank for monopropellant to justify the mass. Elite's balance system has a REAL bad habit of making things that weigh far too much for what they are. I mean, a sensor that weighs 40 tons and can't see 10 km in the vacuum of space?
But limpet controllers WOULD make more sense if they were some kind of tank for monopropellant to justify the mass. Elite's balance system has a REAL bad habit of making things that weigh far too much for what they are. I mean, a sensor that weighs 40 tons and can't see 10 km in the vacuum of space?
Definitely all for having a limpet 'magazine' based on the size and or class of the controller.
When the controllers get up to class-7, you could fit whole ships in the space in the controller that isn't doing anything..
I think that's a good idea. Also, the controllers are quite heavy IIR, so this would explain why (agreeing withe the Cmdr who already said that).
But don't agree they should be smarter or more functional. One very important skill in mining, and god knows there is not enough reward in mining, is your ability to mine without killing your limpets, who are terrible navigators. So you do some quadratic equation in your head and arrange the fragments to end up in a place where the limpets are less likely to crash into something. I like that challenge.