My proposed model for passenger transport missions (DEVS PLEASE READ!)

This needs to happen. We wouldn't truly be honoring the previous elite games if we didnt. And the mechanics of taking missions seems to be working quite well, so surely now is the time. Plus, we are playing in a universe populated with hundreds of billions of humans. How do all those people get around our galaxy? The answer has to US, the hard working members of the pilot's federation!

This is what i propose:

- Passenger cabins can be fitted in outfitting in much the same manner as cargo racks. Cabins can be bought various sizes and comfort levels.
- Ships have a desirability factor that influences both the availability and payout of passenger transport missions. All passengers long to transported in luxurious ships like the clipper and Orca instead over bog standard Type 6s and are willing to pay a premium for the privilege. Some passengers will simply refuse to fly anything other than first class. This is much the same as air travel today.
-The higher the comfort level of a passenger cabin, the less passengers that are able to be crammed in. Higher comfort levels will attract wealthier customers, but sometimes the greater profit will lie in transporting greater numbers. This means you have to think carefully about which mission you accept.
- Slaves are now transported as passengers, not cargo (Anyways, who ever came up with the idea of SLAVES IN A TIN CAN? Seriously, what the...)

Payment reward for these missions varies according to:
o the distance of the journey;
o the time taken to complete the journey;
o the number of passengers;
o the desirability of the transporting ship;
o the comfort level of the cabin fitted;
o the distress level of the passengers (distress is caused by combat encounters).

Your ability to complete certain missions will have huge ramifications for the politics. For example, you might be offered the rare and very privileged responsibility of transporting the leader of a dictatorship to a dictator's conference in a nearby system. But on the way your ship is attacked and destroyed by rebels. This sparks civil unrest and a civil war in the now-dead dictator's home system. I think this sort of mission that allows direct interaction with faction leaders would add some much needed "feel" to the factions that are presently nothing more than a jumble of names and statistics in one of sub-panels.

I'm keen to hear what the rest of the community has to say about my proposal. Feel free to criticize and improve on my idea.
 
+1 I totally agree with your suggestions, the passenger mechanic is the one missing feature I want the most. It's not as if FD are not already planning this feature. Have you read the corresponding DDF thread?

"Chewie here tells me you're lookin' for passage" Passengers in Elite: Dangerous

Many of your ideas sound very similar to what they envisioned in that thread.

And judging by Mike Evans statement about the Dropship and the Orca (I took the liberty to put the most important word in "bold" tags), this feature is still planned:

The orca and dropships rely on passenger game play to justify their downsides that hasn't been implemented yet unfortunately.

I only hesitate to demand passenger missions right away because without actual persons / people / characters / NPC in the game I fear those missions would just feel exactly like normal hauling missions. I think passengers should be clearly discernible from "other cargo" by having dialog options, the possibility to offer additional missions and ideally random generated faces (see my suggestions for that here: NPCs with faces). Further more they could/should be tied into the hopefully still coming "Contacts" mechanic (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7399).

This, in turn, would probably first need the implementation of NPC comms, which at least are still planned (no ETA, though):

NPC comms is on the list, but not close enough that I can talk in detail about it yet.

Combining those tidbits, I think we might eventually see passenger missions, but they definitely seem to be still quite far away, since we don't have all the necessary foundations for it, yet.
 
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+1 I totally agree with your suggestions, the passenger mechanic is the one missing feature I want the most. It's not as if FD are not already planning this feature. Have you read the corresponding DDF thread?

"Chewie here tells me you're lookin' for passage" Passengers in Elite: Dangerous

Many of your ideas sound very similar to what they envisioned in that thread.

And judging by Mike Evans statement about the Dropship and the Orca (I took the liberty to put the most important word in "bold" tags), this feature is still planned:



I only hesitate to demand passenger missions right away because without actual persons / people / characters / NPC in the game I fear those missions would just feel exactly like normal hauling missions. I think passengers should be clearly discernible from "other cargo" by having dialog options, the possibility to offer additional missions and ideally random generated faces (see my suggestions for that here: NPCs with faces). Further more they could/should be tied into the hopefully still coming "Contacts" mechanic (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7399).

This, in turn, would probably first need the implementation of NPC comms, which at least are still planned (no ETA, though):



Combining those tidbits, I think we might eventually see passenger missions, but they definitely seem to be still quite far away, since we don't have all the necessary foundations for it, yet.

Thanks for the feedback (and rep! :))

I'll check out that thread you suggested.

But i cant see why they need to wait for "actual persons". To be fair, even cargo hauling should involve some interaction with the character who is offering the job. There's no reason why they cant put the basics of passenger missions in place now to give us some desperately needed new content before adding the character interaction down the track.
 
The type of passenger should also play a role in calculating the risk and reward of such a mission. Bringing a couple to their honeymoon vacation on (insert any Tourism system here) would be very low risk, whereas a fugitive criminal kingpin, wanted war criminal or Imperial nobleman or high-ranking government official would probably attract the attention of nasty fellows.

Maybe even the chance for a related assassination mission like "Wanted: dead - The Blue Drug Cartel wants <Passenger's Name here> dead. He was last spotted boarding the ship of CMDR <name> at <station>/<system>".
 
Would also be nice for players to have the option of being passengers so they can organise their ships better ie drop of a ship somewhere and get paid passage to your other ship/ships.
 
Two very important points you missed: 1) no unaccompanied children 2) children under 5 must travel in the hold. Other than that, great job :D
 
o the distress level of the passengers (distress is caused by combat encounters).

Unable to keep from imagining passenger distress level thusly:
(pictured: passenger distress)
aba7a_ksp07b.jpg
 
The type of passenger should also play a role in calculating the risk and reward of such a mission. Bringing a couple to their honeymoon vacation on (insert any Tourism system here) would be very low risk,

On the other hand...

PASSAGE REQUIRED for two hitch-hikers to Solo's Rock, Urtize (3,-4)

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Unable to keep from imagining passenger distress level thusly:
(pictured: passenger distress)
View attachment 15981

If you can make Jeb scream...
 
The type of passenger should also play a role in calculating the risk and reward of such a mission. Bringing a couple to their honeymoon vacation on (insert any Tourism system here) would be very low risk, whereas a fugitive criminal kingpin, wanted war criminal or Imperial nobleman or high-ranking government official would probably attract the attention of nasty fellows.

Yes agreed. And as a hardened criminal, the distress level of the kingpin would be less affected by combat situations.
 
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