Nav Beacons are a peculiar sight in inhabited space at the moment. They're a location where vessels arrive, and depart, but without any real reason behind it. Why stop in a centralized location at all, near a sun, in the middle of space with a bunch of other potentially adversarial pilots? Why would pirates compromise a beacon when everybody can clearly see that it has been compromised in Supercruise? Everything about them seems to indicate that they were previously meant to be used in a way they currently are not. Indeed, the original design for Elite Dangerous did not have a Supercruise, and that's probably where beacons originated at. They need a new purpose.
So what do we do with them?
So, what if ships had the option of jumping (either from Supercruise or regular flight) directly into a system's Nav Beacon instead of being dumped into supercruise? This could be chosen as an option in route planning on the map, or by moving right on the interface in the navigational overview (say, a pair of squares when each star system is highlighted, one representing a star and the other a beacon). Pilots who choose to jump directly to the beacon get a pair of distinct advantages.
1) Jumping to a beacon reduces the fuel cost of the jump by some arbitrary percentage; locking onto a navigational beacon that's currently in your system's database allows you to more efficiently path a jump route than a blind dump into a system would; perhaps beacons still have to exist near stars due to requiring the largest system mass (as is currently) for a jump, but the beacon fine tunes your pathing through witchspace. This is advantageous for people on long voyages though the bubble who are not equipped with a fuel scoop. I was thinking about perhaps instead of this one, adding additional range (it could be rationalized as giving your FSD more accurate coordinates to key in on or something), but I really think that would be a much more involved balance issue. Range is, in the game, at a much tighter premium than fuel.
2) Jumping to a beacon allows you to remotely assess some of the station services in system, browsing (but not purchasing) available wares, seeing commodity prices, available ships and modules, without actually venturing to the stations themselves. Perhaps just, as Frontier have called it when talking about the BGS, the "Primary Station" in the system, but depending on balance and UI considerations, all stations could work as well. All missions would be visible, but material transporting/smuggling missions would show as unavailable as those require you to be given goods at a specific location. This is a long-requested feature by many
That being said, it would also carry a pair of distinct disadvantages, which commanders would have to weigh when determining their course.
1) Obviously, jumping into a beacon puts you in close proximity with other ships, which may or may not have your best intentions at heart. Unlike Supercruise, ships do not have to have an interdictor to stop or harass you during your voyage, and can attack and masslock you at will. Additionally, travel may be a bit slower simply due to the fact that your frameshift drive charges slower in proximity to other vessels. Which leads to...
2) Compromised nav beacons. In no way would you know, unless you had previous experience in a system, if the navigational beacon has been compromised or not, until you jump into the system. In this way, Compromised beacons have a sensible purpose; they're a trap set up by pirates to prey on passing by trade ships blindly following their routes.
I think this would add a little bit of depth and choice in navigation, and bring a few of the disparate elements of the game together.
So what do we do with them?
So, what if ships had the option of jumping (either from Supercruise or regular flight) directly into a system's Nav Beacon instead of being dumped into supercruise? This could be chosen as an option in route planning on the map, or by moving right on the interface in the navigational overview (say, a pair of squares when each star system is highlighted, one representing a star and the other a beacon). Pilots who choose to jump directly to the beacon get a pair of distinct advantages.
1) Jumping to a beacon reduces the fuel cost of the jump by some arbitrary percentage; locking onto a navigational beacon that's currently in your system's database allows you to more efficiently path a jump route than a blind dump into a system would; perhaps beacons still have to exist near stars due to requiring the largest system mass (as is currently) for a jump, but the beacon fine tunes your pathing through witchspace. This is advantageous for people on long voyages though the bubble who are not equipped with a fuel scoop. I was thinking about perhaps instead of this one, adding additional range (it could be rationalized as giving your FSD more accurate coordinates to key in on or something), but I really think that would be a much more involved balance issue. Range is, in the game, at a much tighter premium than fuel.
2) Jumping to a beacon allows you to remotely assess some of the station services in system, browsing (but not purchasing) available wares, seeing commodity prices, available ships and modules, without actually venturing to the stations themselves. Perhaps just, as Frontier have called it when talking about the BGS, the "Primary Station" in the system, but depending on balance and UI considerations, all stations could work as well. All missions would be visible, but material transporting/smuggling missions would show as unavailable as those require you to be given goods at a specific location. This is a long-requested feature by many
That being said, it would also carry a pair of distinct disadvantages, which commanders would have to weigh when determining their course.
1) Obviously, jumping into a beacon puts you in close proximity with other ships, which may or may not have your best intentions at heart. Unlike Supercruise, ships do not have to have an interdictor to stop or harass you during your voyage, and can attack and masslock you at will. Additionally, travel may be a bit slower simply due to the fact that your frameshift drive charges slower in proximity to other vessels. Which leads to...
2) Compromised nav beacons. In no way would you know, unless you had previous experience in a system, if the navigational beacon has been compromised or not, until you jump into the system. In this way, Compromised beacons have a sensible purpose; they're a trap set up by pirates to prey on passing by trade ships blindly following their routes.
I think this would add a little bit of depth and choice in navigation, and bring a few of the disparate elements of the game together.
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