It's not secret that I personally strongly dislike the current USS mechanics. They've been improved a little bit over the years, but overall I still find them extremely game-y and unsatisfying. The amount of player agency involved in finding them is very limited. When I'm cruising around the correct area and the thing I'm looking for doesn't show up, all I can think of is, "Oh come on. Just spawn already." When it finally does spawn, the feeling is usually one of, "Fuzzin' finally.", not, "Oh cool, I found it." Cruising USSs doesn't feel like hunting something down; it just feels like waiting for the star system to finally give you what you want once you've wasted enough just waiting.
To resolve this, I propose the following complete overhaul of the USS system:
1) Get rid of the USS spawning in front of your ship
2) Add a hidden background list of all current USSs for the system. This can function very similarly to the mission boards, only this is a) hidden from view, and b) tied to the system, not a particular station.
3) When the first CMDR enters a system, generate a list of USSs. Whatever rules for distribution and type you want.
-Each USS will have a position (like how a wake has a specific position), and a time limit. You can use similar time limits / generation rules to the ones already in place for missions.
4) Add a new tab to the LEFT panel, “Signal Analyser”
-Lists all discovered USSs, their estimated range, accuracy, and number of dimensions (explained later): “Debris……..400ls +/- 40ls….…(1D)
-USSs that were detected in the last scan will have an asterisk in front of their name. Ones that weren’t will be grey.
-Add three buttons to the bottom of the panel, “Increase Range”, “Perform Scan [Range] [Error %]”, and “Decrease Range”.
Ships can now discover USSs two different ways:
1) Passively
-This works much like how they work now. If your ship happens to get within a certain range of a USS (elaborated on below), it will discovered and added to your list of signals on the “Signal Analyser” tab. Signals discovered this way will be completely resolved, as if you’d selected an pointed at them in the current system.
-The range a signal can be detected at is affected by the proximity to gravity wells, just like your max speed in super cruise. The net effect is again something like the current system, where signals discovered passively are generally going to be within roughly the same amount of time from you, assuming you’re traveling at the max supercruise speed for that area.
-Since the signals are distributed throughout the system instead of randomly spawned in front of you, the likelihood of running into one like this is not high. You will likely usually just run into signals this way in shipping lanes, or possibly around planets.
2) Actively
-Here’s where things get interesting. On the new page, you can set the range of, and run, an active scan. The longer the range your scan is, the higher the error % gets. Any signals within the range of your scan will be added to your list of signals, but not necessarily completely. To narrow down where the signal actually is, and what’s in it, you’ll need to follow up with subsequent scans.
-If you select a signal on your list, a representation will be shown out in space. Incomplete signals will be shown as large shapes as appropriate, using something that looks like a wireframe of orbit lines. A center point (and your distance to it) will be shown, but you can’t drop there- it’s just for reference.
-Completely resolved scans will show up on the navigation pane, and on the signal tab as, “[USS Type]……[Distance]......[4D]”
Here’s how the process of find a USS would work:
1) Enter the system, set your scan range to max, and run the scan.
-You’re now presented with a list of most / all of the USSs in the system, but they’re incomplete. The whole list will be a bunch of entries that look like
*Unknown Signal A41…….~400ls +/- 25%…….1D
*Unknown Signal A22…….~550ls +/- 25%…….1D
*Unknown Signal A63…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
2) If you select one of these signals, you’ll see a big wireframe bubble extending out to the edge of the range of that signal (estimated range + maximum error), with the centerpoint at your ship.
-For this example, let’s focus on US A41. To begin narrowing down the location, fly to some point on the edge of the bubble you see. Once there, set your scan range to roughly the distance back to the center point. Run the scan. Now you see something like this:
Unknown Signal A41…….~400ls +/- 25%…….1D
*Debris A22………….……~480ls +/- 15%…….2D
Unknown Signal A63…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
What gives? A41 didn’t change, but A22 did? Well, turns out A41 wasn’t in our new scan area, but A22 just happened to be. Since A22 has been scanned from two different locations (with decreasing scan range), we have a little more information about it (it has debris), higher accuracy (15% error), and 2 dimensions of information. If we select it, it’s shape will now be a big wireframe doughnut instead of a sphere. It WOULD be a circle (where the two scan spheres intersect), but the error percentage “bloats” the circle and turns it into a doughnut.
If we select A41 again, It will now look like the old bubble, with a smaller bubble (the most recent scan) carved out of it. Since that’s the signal we were initially interested in, let’s move somewhere else inside its shape and run another scan. Because I like symmetry, let’s just go to the opposite side. Once in place, run the scan again. We see this:
3) Once in the new position, run the scan again just like the last one. Now the list looks like this:
*Ship A41……………...….~200ls +/- 15%…….2D
Debris A22………….….…~480ls +/- 15%…….2D
Unknown Signal A63…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
A41 was in the last scan, which means we’ve now hit from two different positions (of decreasing range). Because of this we have a lower error percent, more info (we know there’s a ship there), and the shape is a doughnut. Since the other points weren’t in this scan, we didn’t learn anything else about them.
4) The next step is to fly to some point in that doughnut, set the scan distance to roughly the distance between you and the center point, and run another scan. We do so, and now we see this:
*Distress Call A41…....….~100ls +/- 10%…….3D
Debris A22………….….…~480ls +/- 15%…….2D
Unknown Signal A63…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
5) Since we’ve now scanned the signal from three points, we get more information (it’s a distress call), even lower error percent, and the shape now becomes two sphere. The shape would be two points (where our scan bubble intersected the doughnut of possibilities), but the error makes the points small bubbles. The last step is to fly to one of those bubbles, set the scan distance to just barely encompass it, and run the scan. If A41 doesn’t change, go to the other bubble and try there. When the scan finds A41 again, the list will look like this:
*Distress Call A41 [Threat 1]…....50ls…………..….….4D
Debris A22………….………….…~480ls +/- 15%…….2D
Unknown Signal A63……....…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
At this point, we scanned it from a short enough range that the error % is 0, and we now know exactly where it is. If you select it, you’ll see a point you can fly to, just like a FSD wake or station. Since the signal is completely resolved, it will also now show up in the navigation pane.
Specific details to note:
1) If in a wing, you share all scan data with your wingmates. This means that a wing of people working together can scan down signal sources far more quickly if the coordinate.
-This is much improved over the current system, as right now USSs are client side- they don’t even exist for your wingmates
2) If a commander enters a signal source, the expiration time of the signal is paused while they’re in there. Once the last commander has left, the expiration timer is set to something short, like a minute or so. This is mostly to prevent “used up” signals from hanging around too long and clogging things up. Make sure the exiting commander’s wake stays in the signal until it expires, so someone can see that someone just left if they arrive before it expires.
To resolve this, I propose the following complete overhaul of the USS system:
1) Get rid of the USS spawning in front of your ship
2) Add a hidden background list of all current USSs for the system. This can function very similarly to the mission boards, only this is a) hidden from view, and b) tied to the system, not a particular station.
3) When the first CMDR enters a system, generate a list of USSs. Whatever rules for distribution and type you want.
-Each USS will have a position (like how a wake has a specific position), and a time limit. You can use similar time limits / generation rules to the ones already in place for missions.
4) Add a new tab to the LEFT panel, “Signal Analyser”
-Lists all discovered USSs, their estimated range, accuracy, and number of dimensions (explained later): “Debris……..400ls +/- 40ls….…(1D)
-USSs that were detected in the last scan will have an asterisk in front of their name. Ones that weren’t will be grey.
-Add three buttons to the bottom of the panel, “Increase Range”, “Perform Scan [Range] [Error %]”, and “Decrease Range”.
Ships can now discover USSs two different ways:
1) Passively
-This works much like how they work now. If your ship happens to get within a certain range of a USS (elaborated on below), it will discovered and added to your list of signals on the “Signal Analyser” tab. Signals discovered this way will be completely resolved, as if you’d selected an pointed at them in the current system.
-The range a signal can be detected at is affected by the proximity to gravity wells, just like your max speed in super cruise. The net effect is again something like the current system, where signals discovered passively are generally going to be within roughly the same amount of time from you, assuming you’re traveling at the max supercruise speed for that area.
-Since the signals are distributed throughout the system instead of randomly spawned in front of you, the likelihood of running into one like this is not high. You will likely usually just run into signals this way in shipping lanes, or possibly around planets.
2) Actively
-Here’s where things get interesting. On the new page, you can set the range of, and run, an active scan. The longer the range your scan is, the higher the error % gets. Any signals within the range of your scan will be added to your list of signals, but not necessarily completely. To narrow down where the signal actually is, and what’s in it, you’ll need to follow up with subsequent scans.
-If you select a signal on your list, a representation will be shown out in space. Incomplete signals will be shown as large shapes as appropriate, using something that looks like a wireframe of orbit lines. A center point (and your distance to it) will be shown, but you can’t drop there- it’s just for reference.
-Completely resolved scans will show up on the navigation pane, and on the signal tab as, “[USS Type]……[Distance]......[4D]”
Here’s how the process of find a USS would work:
1) Enter the system, set your scan range to max, and run the scan.
-You’re now presented with a list of most / all of the USSs in the system, but they’re incomplete. The whole list will be a bunch of entries that look like
*Unknown Signal A41…….~400ls +/- 25%…….1D
*Unknown Signal A22…….~550ls +/- 25%…….1D
*Unknown Signal A63…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
2) If you select one of these signals, you’ll see a big wireframe bubble extending out to the edge of the range of that signal (estimated range + maximum error), with the centerpoint at your ship.
-For this example, let’s focus on US A41. To begin narrowing down the location, fly to some point on the edge of the bubble you see. Once there, set your scan range to roughly the distance back to the center point. Run the scan. Now you see something like this:
Unknown Signal A41…….~400ls +/- 25%…….1D
*Debris A22………….……~480ls +/- 15%…….2D
Unknown Signal A63…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
What gives? A41 didn’t change, but A22 did? Well, turns out A41 wasn’t in our new scan area, but A22 just happened to be. Since A22 has been scanned from two different locations (with decreasing scan range), we have a little more information about it (it has debris), higher accuracy (15% error), and 2 dimensions of information. If we select it, it’s shape will now be a big wireframe doughnut instead of a sphere. It WOULD be a circle (where the two scan spheres intersect), but the error percentage “bloats” the circle and turns it into a doughnut.
If we select A41 again, It will now look like the old bubble, with a smaller bubble (the most recent scan) carved out of it. Since that’s the signal we were initially interested in, let’s move somewhere else inside its shape and run another scan. Because I like symmetry, let’s just go to the opposite side. Once in place, run the scan again. We see this:
3) Once in the new position, run the scan again just like the last one. Now the list looks like this:
*Ship A41……………...….~200ls +/- 15%…….2D
Debris A22………….….…~480ls +/- 15%…….2D
Unknown Signal A63…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
A41 was in the last scan, which means we’ve now hit from two different positions (of decreasing range). Because of this we have a lower error percent, more info (we know there’s a ship there), and the shape is a doughnut. Since the other points weren’t in this scan, we didn’t learn anything else about them.
4) The next step is to fly to some point in that doughnut, set the scan distance to roughly the distance between you and the center point, and run another scan. We do so, and now we see this:
*Distress Call A41…....….~100ls +/- 10%…….3D
Debris A22………….….…~480ls +/- 15%…….2D
Unknown Signal A63…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
5) Since we’ve now scanned the signal from three points, we get more information (it’s a distress call), even lower error percent, and the shape now becomes two sphere. The shape would be two points (where our scan bubble intersected the doughnut of possibilities), but the error makes the points small bubbles. The last step is to fly to one of those bubbles, set the scan distance to just barely encompass it, and run the scan. If A41 doesn’t change, go to the other bubble and try there. When the scan finds A41 again, the list will look like this:
*Distress Call A41 [Threat 1]…....50ls…………..….….4D
Debris A22………….………….…~480ls +/- 15%…….2D
Unknown Signal A63……....…….~700ls +/- 25%…….1D
At this point, we scanned it from a short enough range that the error % is 0, and we now know exactly where it is. If you select it, you’ll see a point you can fly to, just like a FSD wake or station. Since the signal is completely resolved, it will also now show up in the navigation pane.
Specific details to note:
1) If in a wing, you share all scan data with your wingmates. This means that a wing of people working together can scan down signal sources far more quickly if the coordinate.
-This is much improved over the current system, as right now USSs are client side- they don’t even exist for your wingmates
2) If a commander enters a signal source, the expiration time of the signal is paused while they’re in there. Once the last commander has left, the expiration timer is set to something short, like a minute or so. This is mostly to prevent “used up” signals from hanging around too long and clogging things up. Make sure the exiting commander’s wake stays in the signal until it expires, so someone can see that someone just left if they arrive before it expires.
