We keep finding all these terraformable planets, but why are we not dropping people off at these planets with drop pods? Let them colonize and maybe the game would have a take on other frontier games like planet zoo.
Terraformable colonization planet missions
- Thread starter Dustinat0r
- Start date
This is a great idea. It gives purpose to finding these worlds, as well as expanding goals and new gameplay mechanics .
You could even bus settlers and equipment to these planets to increase production of resources.
This validation of the exploration mapping work gives it purpose. It can also generate credits and or resources for the worlds founders.
This brings me to the question: how dynamic are settlements, installations and such in the game currently? Does population fluctuate/grow? Does a bigger population/economy increase services available at the installations? My gut feeling is: "not very dynamic". Which would imply something like new/growing colonies would be a major change requiring hefty development investment and extensive testing (BGS is a complicated beast and any changes have the potential to wreck it).
But I do love the idea of a developing world. And not only new colonies on ELWs and terraformables. Tiny extraction economies growing, starting to develop refineries and finally industry, while the resources dwindle down and extraction withers away. Newly built refineries and industry causing new extraction outposts to pop up in close by systems. Perhaps systems ravaged by war, famine or outbreak could lose population to surrounding systems.
But I do love the idea of a developing world. And not only new colonies on ELWs and terraformables. Tiny extraction economies growing, starting to develop refineries and finally industry, while the resources dwindle down and extraction withers away. Newly built refineries and industry causing new extraction outposts to pop up in close by systems. Perhaps systems ravaged by war, famine or outbreak could lose population to surrounding systems.
Population growth! Terraforming! Build new station!
Let's do this, BGS!
Let's do this, BGS!
We might get these missions once atmospheric planets are actually in the game, but at the moment you are stopped at the exclusion zone so dropping off colonists isn't going to work.
The OP suggested drop pods. I assume a CMDR would have to approach close enough and launch them, not land.
Perhaps they would be self-contained units that could be hauled in the hold and simply jettisoned. But why stop there? Having a vehicle bay like "drop pod launch bay" would open other possibilities: prospecting drills and mining rigs (non-atmospheric only, so that a ship can land to retrieve the ores), soil sample probes (that return very valuable exploration data, especially from ELWs and metal rich planets), ocean sample probes, ice sample probes etc. This could pave way for lots of interesting new features, some of which would not require extensive development effort.