Travelling long distances quickly in Supercruise

[Quasi]

I have been a player of ED now for close to 12 months mounting close to 1000 hours. I hear frequently comments/complaints about some of the distances commanders need to travel while in supercruise to meet their personal goals in game.

I hear lots of times those who say space is large and therefore long distrance travels in system should be expected and then I hear the otherside, well we are 3304, surely we have the technology to do better.

My suggestion. Similar to what is implemented in other simulators, provide the player the ability to speed up game time, 2X, 4X, 6X and so on. This way you leave the option with the player whether they maintain the immersion for the long SC travel OR provide a means for them to shorten the duration. No new flight mechanic is necessary.

Obviously this is a raw thought as certain in game events will need to be catered for and 'automatically' bring you back to 1X game speed. Being interdicted is one such event that comes to mind. Also I am not lost on the intracusies of multiplayer instances and the BGS etc and if the individual ability to speed simulator time is possible or not, regardless of being in open, solo or other. Given that many BGS items are batched to the 'tick' of the clock at a certain time of day/week, there may be an element of this idea that has potential without impacting other game mechanics. Immersion breaking I know. I personally like the long distance travel.

After you cater for all that, and you still had the appitite to implement this sort of feature, it may be easier to implement a new flight mechanic [big grin]

I did scan through quickly in the other many suggestions and did not notice this one so if someone else has mentioned it, I apologise.

Love the game, and at the time of writing looking forward to the live launch of Horizons, Chapter 4

o7

 

[Azmuth Divarchchron]

I have been a player of ED now for close to 12 months mounting close to 1000 hours. I hear frequently comments/complaints about some of the distances commanders need to travel while in supercruise to meet their personal goals in game.

I hear lots of times those who say space is large and therefore long distrance travels in system should be expected and then I hear the otherside, well we are 3304, surely we have the technology to do better.

My suggestion. Similar to what is implemented in other simulators, provide the player the ability to speed up game time, 2X, 4X, 6X and so on. This way you leave the option with the player whether they maintain the immersion for the long SC travel OR provide a means for them to shorten the duration. No new flight mechanic is necessary.

Obviously this is a raw thought as certain in game events will need to be catered for and 'automatically' bring you back to 1X game speed. Being interdicted is one such event that comes to mind. Also I am not lost on the intracusies of multiplayer instances and the BGS etc and if the individual ability to speed simulator time is possible or not, regardless of being in open, solo or other. Given that many BGS items are batched to the 'tick' of the clock at a certain time of day/week, there may be an element of this idea that has potential without impacting other game mechanics. Immersion breaking I know. I personally like the long distance travel.

After you cater for all that, and you still had the appitite to implement this sort of feature, it may be easier to implement a new flight mechanic [big grin]

I did scan through quickly in the other many suggestions and did not notice this one so if someone else has mentioned it, I apologise.

Love the game, and at the time of writing looking forward to the live launch of Horizons, Chapter 4

o7

the easiest thing to do would be to allow us to hyper-jump between stars in a multi-star system.

how fast or slow you go in supercruise is dependant on the mass of local astronomical bodies in the system and how far or close to them you are.
as I understand it the FSD is limited by the local mass because its effectively a warp drive, planets, stars, and black holes both bend or even warp space with gravitational waves.
Your FSD has to compensate for sailing through those gravitational waves because it has to bend space that is already being bent by the mass of a local astronomical body thus creating quantum friction between your FSD and the astronomical object.
However your ship also AI scales the FSD's multiplier to make sure that your ship maintains a relative speed in conjunction with local bodies as well which is something I belive frontier has said.
So maybe there could be a new setting to manually adjust the multiplier to go faster but a drawback of that might potentially be overheating from quantum friction.

 

[Quasi]

Yeah, I like that idea. And you would think that given the mechanic to jump to a star is already in game, that the dev time to allow in system star jumps, where a B and or C star existed would not be that hard to introduce. Also helps maintain immersion. I know some hate that word but it is important to others. Sure, if there B star is inside certain distances maybe have some limits BUT, I like the idea.

 

[Guest 161958]

I do not agree on this proposal as it speeds up things and takes away the fun.
The people who complain of the long distances are a vocal minority. Please do not push oversimplification in this game. The fact that I have to travel and possibly have some unexpected trouble along the way is what makes it challenging and fun.

The only exception I can understand is with stars like proxima centauri, but that 0.22 ly was left for fun.

I think interstellar jump under 0.2 ly must never be allowed.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

I do not agree on this proposal as it speeds up things and takes away the fun.
The people who complain of the long distances are a vocal minority. Please do not push oversimplification in this game. The fact that I have to travel and possibly have some unexpected trouble along the way is what makes it challenging and fun.

The only exception I can understand is with stars like proxima centauri, but that 0.22 ly was left for fun.

I think interstellar jump under 0.2 ly must never be allowed.

There's nothing challenging or fun in staring at a windows 95 screensaver for 15+ minutes.

 

[Guest 161958]

There's nothing challenging or fun in staring at a windows 95 screensaver for 15+ minutes.

if content is added you won’t stare at the screensaver. If placeholder for content is removed you cheapen the game.

 

[Noogillim]

Time dilation is fine in a single player game but not in a multiplayer game, jump drives seem like a simple solution but in the early elite it was a sure fire way of getting jumped. If at some point they were to implement some form of in system jump then it would need to balance against normal supercruise more fuel/damage/wear and tear/more risky.

Mechanics shouldn't be introduce in this game because you can do it in others. It makes it a different game. The game in terms of effort needed to give a sense of scale risks being watered down.

 

[IcemanAJL]

It really is silly that some systems we spend 1 hour+ just staring at the screen while our ship slowly travels to the next cluster of stellar bodies. Definitely like the idea that once we leave an ‘exclusion zone’ around each stellar body we can then make a ‘mini frame shift jump’ to the outer rim of the next cluster or something.

Good gameplay actually requires input from the player, not just staring at an empty screen.

 

[Exeider]

I would appreciate it if somewhere around 500k away from the system proper, the acceleration curve would tick up a bit faster so it wouldnt take so long to get up to max speed.

making high speed runs I feel like there should be one or two more scales past the current MAX that the speed curve should adjust to.

 

[Lestat]

I still have to say no on this one. It only takes a few minutes to do research at the location you do your mission to find out if it too far for you or not.

Now for your exploration type. You have a choice Make your range suited for your needs. If you think 100,000 or beyond too far. You don't have to explore pass it. Make your own limits.

Common sense is a skill.

 

[elkiller]

I still have to say no on this one. It only takes a few minutes to do research at the location you do your mission to find out if it too far for you or not.

Now for your exploration type. You have a choice Make your range suited for your needs. If you think 100,000 or beyond too far. You don't have to explore pass it. Make your own limits.

Common sense is a skill.

i have to disagree with you, this is a game not a job, and elite could use less Grind. if you have to stop playing for more than 20 minutes to get somewhere then we have a game design issue here.

Its not about choice if you have to decline a mission because is too far. you not deciding anything here if the "choice" is bias. think about this: we have the choice to end our human lives at any given time but we dont do it because the cons outweigh the pros Extremely and that is what a bias choice is. the same can be applied here (get paid 1 million to travel in one direction for an 1 hour) none one whit an ounce of sanity or "common sense" will take do this. now that i think about it is just like a mobile game feature(wait an x amount of time to get reward) ewww


Here is an example of a choice in good game design: you can take 3 minutes of travel by passing thru this "acceleration gate" or you can take 20 minutes of travel and relax. it panders to players that have lots of time to play and those who don't, e.i a win-win situation.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

There have been loads of suggestions to do something about the "dead space" in supercruise.
Nothing particularly interesting beyond a USS can happen, interdictions are impossible due to the acceleration curve.
With 3.3, you can't even use the FSS while moving, so that ruins the "something to do inbetween" argument.
Spacelegs are basically a myth, so no point counting on being able to stretch your legs anytime soon.
Sense of scale is already lost when you're too far away to actually get a frame of reference for your velocity.

So the best bet is implement one of the many many many balanced suggestions we've come up with.

 

[Lestat]

i have to disagree with you, this is a game not a job, and elite could use less Grind. if you have to stop playing for more than 20 minutes to get somewhere then we have a game design issue here.

Here is an example of a choice in good game design: you can take 3 minutes of travel by passing thru this "acceleration gate" or you can take 20 minutes of travel and relax. it panders to players that have lots of time to play and those who don't, e.i a win-win situation.

Or you can use some game mechanics we already have. Like the easy Access to the Galaxy Map before accepting a mission. You have the mission and below that is Galaxy map. So do you do your diligence and do some research before accepting a mission. You can also do this if a NPC It also has Easy Access to Galaxy map.

The part I deleted from your post. Let just say my family had to deal with the Cons.

 

[varonica]

It really is silly that some systems we spend 1 hour+ just staring at the screen while our ship slowly travels to the next cluster of stellar bodies. Definitely like the idea that once we leave an ‘exclusion zone’ around each stellar body we can then make a ‘mini frame shift jump’ to the outer rim of the next cluster or something.

Good gameplay actually requires input from the player, not just staring at an empty screen.

There's no system in the game where it takes an hour plus to get to the next cluster of stellar bodies. Even Hutton Orbital, the most distant navigable station, takes around 45minutes, and since nearly every other destination is only a tiny fraction of this claiming hour+ times to try and demonstrate.....well what I'm not really sure, spreading misinformation to try and get backing for your personal desires maybe.

Your don't have to travel long distances in the game, you simply don't, if you choose to do it, then complain about it, that's your problem, but why destroy an optional mechanic that a lot of people enjoy, the vast distances, simply because you want to get there quicker. Here's an option for you, don't go there!

 

[varonica]

i have to disagree with you, this is a game not a job, and elite could use less Grind. if you have to stop playing for more than 20 minutes to get somewhere then we have a game design issue here.

No, we have a player entitlement issue. I have played many games where I have never played all the content, many times because it didn't interest me, or it was aimed at large groups and I never play in large groups or it simply took to long. I have never killed a thargoid, not interested in engineering my ship and weapons for anti-thargoid activity, that's a process that doesn't attract me, FDEV must make thargoids easier to kill with regular unengineered weapons and ships. See how silly that sounds?

You don't have to travel large distances, it's optional, but some people enjoy it, why do we have this continual demand to destroy aspects of game play that some people enjoy just to satisfy a few player entitlement issues? Here's an option for you, don't like super cruising long distances? Then don't do it!

 

[IcemanAJL]

There's no system in the game where it takes an hour plus to get to the next cluster of stellar bodies. Even Hutton Orbital, the most distant navigable station, takes around 45minutes, and since nearly every other destination is only a tiny fraction of this claiming hour+ times to try and demonstrate.....well what I'm not really sure, spreading misinformation to try and get backing for your personal desires maybe.

Your don't have to travel long distances in the game, you simply don't, if you choose to do it, then complain about it, that's your problem, but why destroy an optional mechanic that a lot of people enjoy, the vast distances, simply because you want to get there quicker. Here's an option for you, don't go there!

Well tbh I only ever heard that hour long SC trips happened, most I ever had was 45 mins and since then I’ve avoided ever doing pointless things like that.

But if we’re going to accuse me of misinformation, then what about your claim that people enjoy such long distance trips? At most it’s a very tiny portion that would miss that sort of thing, but with a revised micro-jump system they could always have the option to sit back and take the long way.

Most people though would rather play the game than have to Netflix their way past a glorified loading screen that is long distance SC.

 

[Alwayslate]

No, we have a player entitlement issue. I have played many games where I have never played all the content, many times because it didn't interest me, or it was aimed at large groups and I never play in large groups or it simply took to long. I have never killed a thargoid, not interested in engineering my ship and weapons for anti-thargoid activity, that's a process that doesn't attract me, FDEV must make thargoids easier to kill with regular unengineered weapons and ships. See how silly that sounds?

You don't have to travel large distances, it's optional, but some people enjoy it, why do we have this continual demand to destroy aspects of game play that some people enjoy just to satisfy a few player entitlement issues? Here's an option for you, don't like super cruising long distances? Then don't do it!

I have to say that's not so much a valid argument, because FDev did release the Guardian stuffs to make thargoid hunting easier.

 

[Lestat]

Well tbh I only ever heard that hour long SC trips happened, most I ever had was 45 mins and since then I’ve avoided ever doing pointless things like that.

But if we’re going to accuse me of misinformation, then what about your claim that people enjoy such long distance trips? At most it’s a very tiny portion that would miss that sort of thing, but with a revised micro-jump system they could always have the option to sit back and take the long way.

Most people though would rather play the game than have to Netflix their way past a glorified loading screen that is long distance SC.

Well they can if they CHOSE to. You just have to admit you are not using common Sense gameplay. A smart player would use features in the game to make sure the distance is not too far if they don't like to fly long distance unless Pay is worth the distance traveled.

Instead of going well I have to use Netflix to play the game. Which tells us you are not using all the mechanics of the game to help you.

I have to say that's not so much a valid argument, because FDev did release the Guardian stuffs to make thargoid hunting easier.

Same with Having the Galaxy map on Mission board as well as NPC mission which make choosing mission easier. Yes, it uses to be you had to exit out of the Mission Board Log onto Galaxy map and Manually locate the system (Hope you are good at spelling the system right or was smart to write it down) then buy system data and decide if the mission worth doing and hoping that mission did not vanish.

 

[varonica]

Well tbh I only ever heard that hour long SC trips happened, most I ever had was 45 mins and since then I’ve avoided ever doing pointless things like that.

So, you just made stuff up? The very definition of misinformation, make stuff up, pretend it's true, deflect when picked up on it!

But if we’re going to accuse me of misinformation, then what about your claim that people enjoy such long distance trips? At most it’s a very tiny portion that would miss that sort of thing,

The very fact we are having this discussion, and that we have it verging on several times a week with multiple different people rejecting it indicates that indeed some people do enjoy it. I never stated how many, and even if it is a tiny minority, where do you get the right to destroy their game play for your personal benefit when they indeed don't seek to impact your game play in any way.

Most people though would rather play the game than have to Netflix their way past a glorified loading screen that is long distance SC.

You can, DON'T TRAVEL LONG DISTANCES, IT'S, OPTIONAL.

This obviously needs to be in caps because you seem to be ignoring the fact that no-one, and I mean no-one, is forcing you to travel long distances in SC, whereas you want to impose your will on everyone who enjoys the sense of scale that the very occasional long distance gives the game. You don't have to travel long distances, you don't have to watch Netflix, and in fact I never do, so where's your problem? Why destroy this game mechanic simply and only because you don't like it? Don't like it? Don't do it!

but with a revised micro-jump system they could always have the option to sit back and take the long way.

There's already an option in game to avoid traveling long distances in SC, which you are ignoring or not taking, but you want to destroy the game mechanic and then tell us "well you have the option of not using it!"

The point of having places far away is that it takes time to get there, that really sort of destroys the point when anyone can get there in 25 seconds or less! You already have the option of not doing it, but you want to destroy it and then give us exactly the same option you already have but refuse to use. "Don't like it? Don't do it"

 

[IcemanAJL]

So, you just made stuff up? The very definition of misinformation, make stuff up, pretend it's true, deflect when picked up on it!

You mean like pretending half-hour plus supercruise is a fun game mechanic and that it's wanted by anything more than a tiny fraction of the playerbase?

I really try to take seriously all opinions regarding suggestions, even those I disagree with, but this one idea that long supercruise flights are 'fun' is just way too much. It's a terrible game mechanic that isn't even covered by the 'Immersion' clause because FSD jumping is already a thing. Really it's 'paint drying simulator' with no actual thought, even long range FSD jumping is riskier and requires actual player input by comparison.

Hopefully the Devs later make this either more engaging or scrap it altogether, because they are the only ones who really need convincing.