Requirements for building a Coriolis starport

[Lee Archer]

This is the constant cost/benefit analysis with Elite -- and has been since the late '80s.

On the one hand, flying around in a visually stunning open sandbox space game is f'kin amazing!

On the other, any game that makes you create your own spreadsheets gets old sooner or later.

P.S. The CMM Composites thing HAS to get fixed some time in the next three weeks!

Still the BEST Elite year for awhile.
Thoughts before rebuying a Fleet Carrier.

I’m positive on Elite’s technical evolution, spacelegs and all.
With What the game Engine can now do, with all the new content and features recently released, improving multiplayer; this game could be accessible to a Huge number of gamers but but but
—— the grindy gameplay focus limits its player growth to ‘us’. The do this 20 times has thankfully recently been reduced to 3-5 times but oops, we’re now Beta back to unwieldy repetition again and relying on the Beta test to set the content speed limit.
Ok, sure, who needs growth, we love our little niche. That said, using repetitive grind to delay player access to new content to ‘make it last’ can’t be seen as a strength for a developer.
Asking true believers here in the Beta has pluses and minuses. My system has 20+ buildings slots spread amongst 4 high metal landables, 3 pristine metal ringed gas giants, 6+ surface mineral icy/ rocky bodies/ planets - how many building hours required for orbital/ planetary stations, plenty, no need to make the initial stations a spreadsheet chore or maybe use mission board integration to spread it around. At least there’s no ‘energy charge ups’ involved, just straight, if mundane Space Truckery haulage.

Strangely there’s been some repositioning re: content timings as the grindwall blocking access to Thargoid gameplay was entirely dropped which may have contributed to the player boom during the end of the last content cycle. There’s a lesson there.
It’s not about making the game easier- DCS modern jets is hard; Basic Elite is not hard, it’s really enjoyable and a bit inspiring with optional auto this and assist that to ease players in.
I guess I’m suggesting a slowly increasing workload to make amazing content accessible; not reduced outpost content- the full Monty deal content and if out of reach goals are needed fudge them up Titan drive like to drive ship sales or whatever. No Man’s Sky makes me question a low content output model.

My wants: I’ll probably never leave the Stellar Forge in VR, wish it worked on landable thin Atmospheric planets, also why so few, astronomy?

 

[Lee Archer]

I'm confused...

Building a colony system is an exercise in hauling, with the amount varying according to the size of the first station, straightforward enough.

Yet, here are folk complaining that a hauling project requires that they haul the stuff themselves (or, shock horror, have some friends join in the fun), wanting instead to hire NPC hauliers, or reduce the amount so thay can build their system in a couple of hours play...

Why bother?

It is a bit like wanting to visit Sag A* and searching around for a FC tourism service to take them there, because flying there is too demanding on their time, doing repetitive tasks for hours...

I think the point is for people to post ideas and wants. Ad hominy really isn’t fair= it’s a Beta test forum thread!

 

[Rat Catcher]

I think the point is for people to post ideas and wants. Ad hominy really isn’t fair= it’s a Beta test forum thread!

So one adding a point that disagrees with your own is not permitted, or is an ad hominen?

Never mind, all of the new content, naturally, is optional, and the individual player is able to decide if it is something they wish to interact with.
Naturally, players will complain, regardless of the actual content, if they cannot complete their chosen activity in just a few hours...

With a little help from 3 squadron members, we have built our first station, which was completed last evening...

 

[Jmanis]

So one adding a point that disagrees with your own is not permitted, or is an ad hominen?

Never mind, all of the new content, naturally, is optional, and the individual player is able to decide if it is something they wish to interact with.
Naturally, players will complain, regardless of the actual content, if they cannot complete their chosen activity in just a few hours...

With a little help from 3 squadron members, we have built our first station, which was completed last evening...
View attachment 419024View attachment 419025

FD should really make players squirm and replace CMMs with HE Suits

 

[Rat Catcher]

FD should really make players squirm and replace CMMs with HE Suits

We'd found a couple of "off the beaten path" ports with a reliable supply of CMM Composites. Now trucking to our FCs ready for whatever follows!

 

[Koma Pahu]

Well I thought I’d see what all the fuss is about and went and staked a claim with an outpost.

Went on INARA for my nearest CMM Composite site. I’m filling up my T8 with them until I no longer have a full hold and then topping up with other needed commodities. Im currently running at about 5% progress an hour.

It really doesn’t seem insurmountable to solo it in 4 weeks, even for a casual player. I wonder if part of the problem is people sitting waiting for stocks to replenish because they’re only running back and forth between a carrier and the surface?

I’m only on hour 4 so my experience so far may not be any indication of how things are generally.

 

[K Olley]

With a little help from 3 squadron members, we have built our first station, which was completed last evening...

Give the barman a kick, he seems to be hiding somewhere, unless he is out producing the biowaste that you have for sale

Topped up my fuel and had the service personnel kick the landing struts on my Asp (s), heading back to my carrier now.

 

[Jmanis]

Well I thought I’d see what all the fuss is about and went and staked a claim with an outpost.

Went on INARA for my nearest CMM Composite site. I’m filling up my T8 with them until I no longer have a full hold and then topping up with other needed commodities. Im currently running at about 5% progress an hour.

It really doesn’t seem insurmountable to solo it in 4 weeks, even for a casual player. I wonder if part of the problem is people sitting waiting for stocks to replenish because they’re only running back and forth between a carrier and the surface?

I’m only on hour 4 so my experience so far may not be any indication of how things are generally.

I put it purely down to a long-established mentality that was all too common with "engineering grinders"
Step 1: Get shopping list
Step 2: For x in shopping list:

• Step 2a: work out where to get X
• Step 2b: get all X needed

... whereas I've had a much better time going to surface ports to grab whatever CMMs are available and titanium, or steel, or whatever... and also ensuring the port I'm visiting is at least 5m population.

I suspect many are going to ports with populations in the 10k-100k range, which will be very poor sources.

Again... this is simply mechanics that have long existed and are entirely manageable, just the game's never needed people to think about them, and so no streamer's done a "Get CMMs Fast!" guide.

 

[Koma Pahu]

I put it purely down to a long-established mentality that was all too common with "engineering grinders"
Step 1: Get shopping list
Step 2: For x in shopping list:

• Step 2a: work out where to get X
• Step 2b: get all X needed

... whereas I've had a much better time going to surface ports to grab whatever CMMs are available and titanium, or steel, or whatever... and also ensuring the port I'm visiting is at least 5m population.

I suspect many are going to ports with populations in the 10k-100k range, which will be very poor sources.

Again... this is simply mechanics that have long existed and are entirely manageable, just the game's never needed people to think about them, and so no streamer's done a "Get CMMs Fast!" guide.

I think there were 3 possible sources of CMM Composites within 2-3 jumps from me. If I was spending longer online I might switch between them.

Going and seeing what’s there, possibly checking out the next place, kinda reminds me of hauling before I found 3rd party resources. It’s more enjoyable than maxing out a T9 somewhere it’s guaranteed to have stock for 10 trips.

 

[Jmanis]

I think there were 3 possible sources of CMM Composites within 2-3 jumps from me. If I was spending longer online I might switch between them.

Going and seeing what’s there, possibly checking out the next place, kinda reminds me of hauling before I found 3rd party resources. It’s more enjoyable than maxing out a T9 somewhere it’s guaranteed to have stock for 10 trips.

I have three sources in the one system right now... each one yields 200t if I'm very active... 600-1000t if I go get other materials which don't come from refineries.

 

[Henkka77]

Half done, all by my self:

 

[Tifu]

It really doesn’t seem insurmountable to solo it in 4 weeks, even for a casual player. I wonder if part of the problem is people sitting waiting for stocks to replenish because they’re only running back and forth between a carrier and the surface?

Definitely doable solo with a T-8 as long as you start out with an outpost. And as long as you're willing to hop from one planetary outpost to another, snagging whatever is available, even the CMM's can be handled. Just don't take Inara data as gospel truth, things are moving too fast in-game for it's numbers to keep up.

 

[Henkka77]

Determination and couple decent sitting muscles. All you need.
Well, Netflix on the other monitor is a plus..

And beer.

 

[Jaffz]

Finally got my first outpost built after three days of grinding and making boring runs back and forth to the same ports

Great, now I'm going to build a planetary port....60,000 tonnes of steel just to get going

Forget it

 

[Fozy]

I have "some" faith some of the numbers will get balanced as this is beta. BUT. I understand......those numbers are stupid, I don't care if it's scaled, its not reasonable.

 

[Koma Pahu]

Certainly doable in 4 weeks then, or you could turn it into a grind and do it in a weekend…

 

[Macros Black]

4 days
3 CMDR's, 2 of them alt's
2 FC's
1 Coriolis

 

[Bravo17]

Am I reading this right? Do I really have to haul 200,000+ commodities? Someone tell me I'm misunderstanding something here.....that's 252 trips in the Cutter....
Please tell me I'm being an idiot

Not sure if this has been said before in the thread, but according to my calculations its actually just under 54,000 for a Coriolis, the Outpost that I just finished was just under 22,000 so the Coriolis should be doable in 4 weeks.

 

[Doctor Dread]

Well I thought I’d see what all the fuss is about and went and staked a claim with an outpost.

Went on INARA for my nearest CMM Composite site. I’m filling up my T8 with them until I no longer have a full hold and then topping up with other needed commodities. Im currently running at about 5% progress an hour.

It really doesn’t seem insurmountable to solo it in 4 weeks, even for a casual player. I wonder if part of the problem is people sitting waiting for stocks to replenish because they’re only running back and forth between a carrier and the surface?

I’m only on hour 4 so my experience so far may not be any indication of how things are generally.

Let's crunch some numbers for the basic Coriolis station:

total tonnage needed 69 012
ship to use - T9 or Cutter, cargo capacity 750
fully loaded deliveries needed: 92

30 days in a month, it takes three fully loaded deliveries every day, with two days in a month you deliver four.

 

[Bravo17]

just under 54,000 for a Coriolis

total tonnage needed 69 012

Does it change by the location of the system I wonder?