Make collector limpets work on planet surfaces.

[Surround]

Finding those canisters in planets is fun. But gathering them in your ship isnt.

Currently you can launch limpets but they get destroyed when they touch the canisters.

So my suggestion is simple. Make limpets work on planets with low enough gravity. With stronger gravity make them much slower.

But not to make things too easy, if you launch limpets when there are sentries left, they would shoot them. So you would still have to clear the area with your srv.

Nice addition would be able to call your ship from srv to launch those limpets.

 

[HnB Lonewolf]

You know what, that is an excellent idea!!! Why didn't I think of that....

 

[Lestat]

Or just buy a SRV. Or do it like this guy [video=youtube;SRw8P9p9sMo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRw8P9p9sMo[/video]

 

[HnB Lonewolf]

Or just buy a SRV. Or do it like this guy

except it won't work on crash sites with objects sticking out of the ground or when your in larger ships.
Besides it looks like the same sort of hassle when your using the SRV to transport the cargo to your ship by 2 at the time.

so +1 on the limpet idea

 

[Dealman]

I'm hoping they add 2 new SRVs, a mining one and a hauler one. This would open doors for some very cool surface mining operations.

As of now it's fairly dull, but it has an incredible amount of potential. Just imagine this;

Mining SRV:
• Equipped with mining lasers, it can mine bigger ore veins. It has a small cargo, so it can hold some resources - but not a lot. A bit slower than the Scarab SRV.
• Equipped either with a composition scanner or prospector limpet module to prospect ore veins.

Hauler SRV:
• Either very weak firepower or unarmed(thus requiring protection from for example a Scarab).
• Large cargohold, used in co-junction with a friendly mining SRV to maximize mining efficiency and profit.
• Can equip collector limpet modules.
• Same speed as mining SRV to keep things consistent.

The Scarab could be used as a scout vehicle if you do not wish to use your ships.

Working together like this makes resource gathering highly addictive.

The planetary stuff in Elite has some of the biggest potential in any game, I sincerely hope they make proper good use of it. As for the topic at hand, I do agree that being able to use collector limpets on the surface should be a thing.

 

[Surround]

I just think how cool it would be that once you clear the area you could call your ship. When the ship would be hovering close you could give it a command to pick up the canister.

Then you could enjoy the show when the limpets pick up the canister

 

[DocLooshkin]

+1, but also, considering what FD has said about ship-launched fighters, I think there's another choice.

I'd like for each SRV to come supplied with its own small SLF- or skimmer-style Support Drone, that normally stays with the mothership and can be summoned briefly to perform a range of functions:

• airborne hot-drops and pickups of the SRV, for faster, riskier insertions and escapes from ground installations, or just to make exploration less hellish in some of the more punitive landscapes;

• faster collection of materials and especially cargo, as the current mechanic of having to spend up to an hour climbing 2KM up and down a rocky hillside, ten times in a row, to loot a cache worth less to me than the repair cost of my SRV, after spending up to an hour climbing 2KM up and down a rocky hillside, ten times in a row, is just a bit monstrous*;

• repair, refueling and rearming the SRV, as - IMO - the current mechanics for these are too unrealistic and far too easy, in any conditions other than under heavy fire. It shouldn't really be possible for anyone to drive at high speed off the top of a mountain and insta-repair the bouncing SRV all the way down to the bottom;

• for SRVs still in development, such as combat-focused SRVs, etc, it seems like we could have Support Drones designed for the roles with more specialised functions, such as limited defense capabilities.

If we can have something like this, I'd be much happier with SRV gameplay in general: more accessibility, more tension in what should be dangerous moments, more plausible storage mechanics - and more fun all round.


* I did it anyway, because it was there.