Powerplay Intelligence

MrDudeGuy

M
I was thinking about the upcoming Powerplay update, and had some really neat thoughts about how to integrate exploration. I apologize if this has already been discussed. I did a quick search on the forums to avoid repetition, but my dedication to exploration does not translate into forum searches :)

I would love the opportunity to become part of the "military intelligence" section of a faction. It would be great to be able to fly dangerous scouting missions into enemy territory to scout out possible targets of opportunity, requiring a detailed scan of habitable planets all while staying out of sight of local security forces. Imagine flying into a system, dropping out of frame-shift and putting yourself into orbit on the dark-side of a moon, setting your ship to silent-running and aiming your scanner at the nearby planet. As the seconds tick away, your chances of discovery increase. Sweat beads up on your brow as local security ships whiz by, scanning your FSD wake. Finally, with the scan complete, you watch the network of "killer bees" looking for your opening, then slam your throttle to full making a quick getaway. Return to your base of operations, turn in your scans and collect some well-deserved credits and faction rep :)

The same principle could be applied to trading and smuggling; running food and supplies through planetary blockades, transporting weapons to enemy worlds to support local rebellions, and bringing much-needed ore to your burgeoning faction's war-machine...
 

Deleted member 38366

D
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DrakeAurum

DrakeAurum
The tricky part would be including a way to "de-explore" the systems in question for participants, since you can't scan an object that's already identified.
 

Bevz

B
This is exactly the kind of thing I'm praying 1.3 will bring! Really deep missions that are also part of a much bigger story arc.... Anything that 1.3 can do to bring us closer to this is a bonus :)
 

Surly_Badger

Surly_Badger
DrakeAurum said:
The tricky part would be including a way to "de-explore" the systems in question for participants, since you can't scan an object that's already identified.
Click to expand...

Just require participants to go to a certain location and remain there undetected for a certain amount of time. Or give them multiple locations, etc. You could alternatively trigger it with an event: go to location (whatever) and scout for enemy ships means going there and deploying a stealth camera-drone and retrieving it in 60 seconds, with the data.
 

DrakeAurum

DrakeAurum
Along the same lines, there could be missions to cargo-scan a certain number of ships in an area without being identified in return, requiring judicious use of silent running. This would be a great way for newer players in small ships to get involved.
 

Eminor

Eminor
Great idea. Also maybe drop a spy probe (cunningly disguised as a cargo canister...) inside an enemies Space Station.
 

Elpapo

Elpapo
Being as Spy aint is bad idea at all, Rep for OP for idea.

While one fraction would hire you for spy work, other fraction would hire you as well, for search and kill Cmdr who spy to prevent leak of info.
 
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MrDudeGuy

M
DrakeAurum said:
The tricky part would be including a way to "de-explore" the systems in question for participants, since you can't scan an object that's already identified.
Click to expand...

How about this: The detailed surface scanners seem to be for finding minerals, chemical composition of atmosphere, topography, etc... What if there was a new type of scanner that gave priority to heat signatures, energy usage, and structures; all the stuff you would want to know about as a spy. This way, you can could scan planets with the "Tactical Scanner" even if you have already used the DSS.

Additionally, the "Tactical Scanner" could be used to determine if uninhabited planets could provide strategic military advantages, making it possible to scout out new bases of operation from which to launch attacks. Once a suitable planet is scouted, and the data is turned into HQ, that faction could eventually establish a military outpost there for players to run missions from.
 

GrimThara

GrimThara
I like the idea, I would love to be able to do spy missions. Scanning cargo ships, convoys, planets, stations, docking in stations to take notes of what's in stock or demand and reporting back and such.
 

Huros

Huros
MrDudeGuy said:
How about this: The detailed surface scanners seem to be for finding minerals, chemical composition of atmosphere, topography, etc... What if there was a new type of scanner that gave priority to heat signatures, energy usage, and structures; all the stuff you would want to know about as a spy. This way, you can could scan planets with the "Tactical Scanner" even if you have already used the DSS.

Additionally, the "Tactical Scanner" could be used to determine if uninhabited planets could provide strategic military advantages, making it possible to scout out new bases of operation from which to launch attacks. Once a suitable planet is scouted, and the data is turned into HQ, that faction could eventually establish a military outpost there for players to run missions from.
Click to expand...

Value should decrease with time but increase with the distance needed to travel, and also the quality of information should erode based upon the population and tech level of the planet, so you need to keep monitoring if they are being busy bees....
 

Bokugo

B
I like this idea but there aren't really any hostile areas. Everything is pretty much open to everyone (minus permit systems). I suppose once you get the mission it could just spawn one or something but it would be best if it was a persistent thing like CZs. Idk just trying to understand how exactly this could play out with some theory crafting :T
 

Hell Razor5543

H
I like this idea. How about this tweak? There have been signs of unusual activities in a few systems. While these systems have been 'inspected' in the past, the interested parties want to know what is now going on. They then ask Commanders to go and take a look. The information they have on the systems in question is now obsolete, so all Astronomical Objects will need to be scanned (including the asteroid belts; there may be interesting things going on there, such as hidden bases or flight testing of new vessels).
 
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