My favorite aspect of the game is space trucking and haulage. However, I wish the game offered a richer experience in this area, especially for large ship pilots. I just want to put some ideas down in the hope that somebody in FD might consider them.
Fixing Haulage Missions For Solo Large Ship Pilots
When I do the work getting allied rank with factions (and am an Elite trader which I am) and I scout systems that are in the right economic states I should be rewarded with reasonable payouts on large haulage missions for my Cutter. I don't want to take 3-4 missions going to 3-4 different systems at a time and play a lottery game that CMDR's in smaller ships do not have to play. The increased piracy spawn rates alone can be a chore. It makes shorter game sessions less productive. It's a worse experience and I cannot think of a good reason for it.
I also should never feel compelled to park my Cutter and use my Python in order to make more money doing haulage. This has happened more than once and makes no sense. I want to fly in my Cutter and make a decent living doing it!
Wing missions do not solve these problems. Delivery 6000 tons of something solo does not lend itself to a short play session either and it's nice going to different systems in a play session and not just the same one over and over. Some have suggested scrapping wing missions altogether and just make a spectrum of haulage missions where any mission can be done solo or in a wing. This idea may have merit as well but I want to focus on the top two as it is easier to implement/address and badly needs fixing.
Space Trucking Module Ideas
I also had some ideas for cool modules that could be added to tech brokers for space truckers.
Feedback on these ideas welcome!
Fixing Haulage Missions For Solo Large Ship Pilots
- Large solo haulage missions for large ships - This is the single biggest thing that FD could do to make the game more fun for me. I just want 600-700t missions for the T-9 or the Cutter. This way I can have a similar experience to truckers that fly small and medium ships who can easily fill their holds with one mission. It is like the game ends for space truckers after you get the Python. The haulage experience just isn't the same after you get a ship bigger than that. Is there a secret galactic law that says 180t is the largest haulage mission that is allowed? Some interstellar treaty?
- Better and more haulage missions for stations in highly populated systems - This is immersion breaking. The largest systems in the game surely need more stuff moved around? Also, to make the best money doing haulage it often makes more sense to focus on outpost missions in a Python in some remote and unimportant system. After working so hard (and spending >500MCr) on getting my beautiful Cutter this is disheartening. I'd really like to see Frontier make systems with billions of people and the largest stations offer better haulage missions (yeah state should still matter a LOT but population should matter as well).
When I do the work getting allied rank with factions (and am an Elite trader which I am) and I scout systems that are in the right economic states I should be rewarded with reasonable payouts on large haulage missions for my Cutter. I don't want to take 3-4 missions going to 3-4 different systems at a time and play a lottery game that CMDR's in smaller ships do not have to play. The increased piracy spawn rates alone can be a chore. It makes shorter game sessions less productive. It's a worse experience and I cannot think of a good reason for it.
I also should never feel compelled to park my Cutter and use my Python in order to make more money doing haulage. This has happened more than once and makes no sense. I want to fly in my Cutter and make a decent living doing it!
Wing missions do not solve these problems. Delivery 6000 tons of something solo does not lend itself to a short play session either and it's nice going to different systems in a play session and not just the same one over and over. Some have suggested scrapping wing missions altogether and just make a spectrum of haulage missions where any mission can be done solo or in a wing. This idea may have merit as well but I want to focus on the top two as it is easier to implement/address and badly needs fixing.
Space Trucking Module Ideas
I also had some ideas for cool modules that could be added to tech brokers for space truckers.
- Intertial Nullifer - This optional module would use experimental anti-gravity technology to reduce the mass of cargo within the ship's cargo racks. It would require a lot of power and might even have some kind of drawback like the anti-gravity field reducing shield strength or something like that. But the trade-off is reduced mass when full of cargo which improves jump range and speed/handling. Similar to FSD boosters you get more mass nullifcation for higher slotted versions of this module.
- Cryogenic Cargo Racks - These cargo racks hold special forms of valuable cargo that require cryogenic temperatures. They require power and if they are damaged or the ship loses power the cargo can be ruined.
- Radiation Shielded Cargo Racks - These cargo racks allow for the transport of highly radioactive materials such as radioactive waste to special processing facilities for profit. If these modules suffer too much damage the ship can be damaged through thermal or some other form of damage at a very heavy rate. The addition of special waste processing depots would be a cool mechanic with this. A creative form of high risk/reward.
Feedback on these ideas welcome!
