What Might Base Building Be Like?

[Cmdr Travers]

I'm out near the Magellan's star cardinal point right now scouting for potential base locations. I'm one of the very many Cmdrs that are hoping and expecting the "new big feature" coming to the game later in 2024 to be base building. I'm also hoping that mining settlements will be allowed and that will support planetary tritium mining (what the hell, it's found here on Earth in the real world, just not a lot of it).

I've already found a very suitable ice planet, and a great location on that planet (see below) where I could build my base. Having tritium mines out in the black would do for fleet carrier owners what DSSA carriers currently does for explorers. It could only be a valuable resource that would extend gameplay considerably by encouraging more Cmdrs to head out into the black with their carriers to explore.

I don't know what you all think about how base building could work, but I'm very excited by the possibilities and wanted to throw my own thoughts into the ring. I think that there will be a standard base layout. This will consist of a power building, a habitat building, a command building (where the base owner would have their office as they do on fleet carriers), and there would be another building containing a bar (which I see working in exactly the same way as the bar on fleet carriers) and other facilities including outfitting, vista genomics and so on.

On top of this I see, or rather would like to see, modules that can be added to the base so it can specialise in mining, military or security support, tourism, agriculture, industry, or high-tech production, with goods that could then be sold through its own market.

I really like the idea Cmdr Buur came up with in a recent video where he suggested Cmdrs could have to buy construction materials and transport them to the base location to actually build the base. This could be expanded upon with on-foot materials and data (building schematics for example) being required in the construction or upgrading of a base, including being able to engineer specific base components to improve the defensive weaponry, mining efficiency, or industrial capability as examples.

I can see bases being owned both by individual Cmdrs but also as squadron assets. Players would set up a faction as a replacement for the player groups that were withdrawn from the game earlier in the year. These factions would appear within the improved PowerPlay as a means to encourage players to take part. Let's face it, people don't do PowerPlay as hardly anybody feels a connection to the in-game powers, but actual player and squadron-based factions are definitely something players would be invested in. This would also lead to new types of gameplay, such as players attacking other settlements in their own or a neighbouring system to try and take it over, using their influence through missions and actions in the system to achieve the same, and also having to defend their own base from attack which isn't a current gameplay dynamic. The player-owned base would then become a sort of Command Headquarters from which everything is run.

I think you can all probably guess I'm extremely excited about the prospects that base building could bring to the game, and I'm thoroughly hoping that by the end of this year I'll be able to set up Travers Independent Trading out in the black

 

[Florenus]

Well, I think base building would be great end game addition. I would finally have some goals to pursue. Mining or buying materials with some tangible result. I would hope for some more free form modular base building instead of just placing whole base out of a blueprint (like Fleet Carriers), even if that would be just placing underground corridor segments (as this could exist in separate world space, not cluttering up the landscape) in any way I like.
That being said, I'm not so sure if base building is this incoming "new feature". I'm afraid it will be something smaller and less game changing.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

with goods that could then be sold through its own market.

Other than Tritium - and only then outside the bubble, of course - what goods would be worth producing?

I guess it's possible to set up something recursive where you need Titanium to build a base, so a base module which converts Rutile into Titanium [1] saves you some hauling if you're building the base a long way from the bubble, and another base module that mines the Rutile for you potentially saves you some mining too, or at least gives a different gameplay loop around it. But then you'd need a lot of Titanium to build a base for that to be easier than "drag a carrier full of Titanium out there, decommission it once unloaded, buy another one in the bubble for the next trip". (And for that matter, the Tritium generation of the base would need to be pretty high for the solution to "deep space Tritium supply" not to be "drag a carrier full of Tritium out there, decommission it once sold out")

Maybe there could be some sort of extreme market reform where almost all commodity supplies drop substantially, so everyone in the bubble gets the Colonia Highway Tritium experience for everything until they've set up some bases to produce their own commodities. That'd be a rather more major and controversial change than "new feature", though.

[1] Which you'd never ordinarily want to do, ever since the big market rebalance, because Titanium sells for 1750/t and Rutile sells for 10000/t - but it might be worth taking the cash loss in ultra-deep space. Any semi-logical production chains would need to come with a massive market price rewrite so that ingredients are cheaper than the same mass of finished goods (which has knock-on issues for the balance of mining relative to trade)

 

[Cmdr Travers]

Other than Tritium - and only then outside the bubble, of course - what goods would be worth producing?

Outside of the bubble I would only really see players building tritium mines, and they'd be very useful at Colonia too. Elsewhere though (and also at Colonia) I think mining for engineering materials like yttrium or polonium, or producing high-tech engineering materials like proto radiolic alloys, would be a good use for ground bases.

 

[Mohrgan]

I have a notion that 'Base" building should/would come down to simple ship interiors based on a ships pad size. You should be able to buy different decor and accessories, along with advanced interior layouts for more individuality.

Out of all the games I've played with a player 'housing' option, the feature ended up only being used for personal vanity storage, or as an environment for high value trades. It's always too much investment by the Devs, for the resultant game-play realized for the players.

FD should make bases/interiors, if they consider it at all, simple and obvious. FD should not over invest in features that don't include game-play

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

Well, I think base building would be great end game addition. I would finally have some goals to pursue. Mining or buying materials with some tangible result. I would hope for some more free form modular base building instead of just placing whole base out of a blueprint (like Fleet Carriers), even if that would be just placing underground corridor segments (as this could exist in separate world space, not cluttering up the landscape) in any way I like.
That being said, I'm not so sure if base building is this incoming "new feature". I'm afraid it will be something smaller and less game changing.

Another end game addition? Allegedly the Thargoid stuff is end game - or so I'm told. How about adding something for everyone to enjoy?

 

[Oh Seven Commander]

Unless it generates something for me, like cash or materials, I'm not super interested in base building honestly.

If they go a similar route to Starsector's colonies, or PI in Eve, where I can get a respectable ROI then I'm all for it. If the needless fear of passive income starts to creep in, and makes the feature more or less a trickle of cash/materials, then I see no point in engaging with it at all if that's what the feature ends up being.

In other words, if bases end up being worth my time, I'll be very excited. If not, I will ignore them.

 

[Florenus]

Another end game addition? Allegedly the Thargoid stuff is end game - or so I'm told. How about adding something for everyone to enjoy?

If you have an idea what that "something" might be, then feel free to make a suggestion. I'm posting to support the idea of base building.

As for Thargoids - this might be end game mode for combat oriented players. I find combat boring. I'm glad to fight occasional pirate or take part in a skirmish, but that's not what I want to do all the time.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

Another end game addition? Allegedly the Thargoid stuff is end game - or so I'm told. How about adding something for everyone to enjoy?

I see the benefit of passive income, but I personally think there are more options. I don't care if I make a loss on a tritium mine out in the black (though hopefully only a small loss) as it'll be something genuinely helping the player base. Then there will be player groups that like the idea of having and expanding their own faction as a gameplay narrative. While mining and manufacturing can bring in income in the same way the carrier bartender can, it's good that base building also has the potential to give something to all types of player. That's genuinely rare in Elite.

 

[aRJay]

I am against the idea of base building with us being the lord and master of the base.

But if it does come it should be done properly where time and effort are seen to be used to place and build the base and also to keep it operating.
Not like a carrier which just involves handing over a few billions to get it then adding more to keep it going for a lifetime.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

This thread has definitely got me thinking about this today, and I think I can break my thoughts down into a series of should include and upgrade bullet points...

SHOULD INCLUDE

• One base purchasable per-commander but squadron / faction bases connected in-game and through gameplay
• Core base design / cost / upkeep
• One large landing pad by default
• Some purchasable materials needed to be transported to build the base (to create gameplay)
• CMD building for headquarters / offices
• HAB building / PWR building
• Main street to include optional additions for bar / vista genomics / pioneer supplies / apex interstellar
• Commodities market to sell anything mined / grown / manufactured

UPGRADE INCLUSIONS

• Options for base specialisation - Mining / Military / Security / Agriculture / Manufacturing (normal and high-tech) / Tourism / Research and Science
• New core gameplay included to provide meaning for Security / Tourism / Research and Science specialisations
• Mining and Manufacturing to allow creation of non-purchasable materials used in ship and (perhaps) on-foot engineering, and tritium for carrier fuel
• Some base specialisation options to require ongoing game upkeep (such as manufacturing needing raw materials deliveries)
• Allow player and squadron factions to be created, these plug into PowerPlay v2 so other players can pledge themselves, thus creating additional new gameplay
• PowerPlay to give squadrons / factions notice of impending attack by player or NPC factions, so they can plan gameplay accordingly, as was done effectively with Thargoid Titans
• Engineerable base options (upgrading weapons / production etc.)
• Upgradeable base size to include more landing pads
• Optional shipyard and outfitting as underground module

 

[aRJay]

That all sounds more like base buying rather than base building to me.

 

[Cmdr Travers]

That all sounds more like base buying rather than base building to me.

If you have to earn the credits to buy the base, and the materials needed to build and expand it, then find the materials and data to engineer and upgrade it, that's all gameplay

 

[Cosmo]

I think that there will be a standard base layout. This will consist of a power building, a habitat building, a command building (where the base owner would have their office as they do on fleet carriers), and there would be another building containing a bar (which I see working in exactly the same way as the bar on fleet carriers) and other facilities including outfitting, vista genomics and so on.

The layout and the building designs should be customizable, because if all the bases look the same that would be boring. If you've seen 20 cookie cutter bases then you've seen them all.

On top of this I see, or rather would like to see, modules that can be added to the base so it can specialise in mining, military or security support, tourism, agriculture, industry, or high-tech production, with goods that could then be sold through its own market..

Seconded. Have a mixed base (jack of all trades) or be better at a specific type.

I really like the idea Cmdr Buur came up with in a recent video where he suggested Cmdrs could have to buy construction materials and transport them to the base location to actually build the base. This could be expanded upon with on-foot materials and data (building schematics for example) being required in the construction or upgrading of a base, including being able to engineer specific base components to improve the defensive weaponry, mining efficiency, or industrial capability as examples..

Perhaps buy a basic base module to get started. Then mine by yourself to expand the base. It becomes a town if enough NPCs migrate there. Setup mining operations and agriculture with NPCs to grow it into a city. That requires more resources to sustain.

I can see bases being owned both by individual Cmdrs but also as squadron assets. Players would set up a faction as a replacement for the player groups that were withdrawn from the game earlier in the year. These factions would appear within the improved PowerPlay as a means to encourage players to take part. Let's face it, people don't do PowerPlay as hardly anybody feels a connection to the in-game powers, but actual player and squadron-based factions are definitely something players would be invested in. This would also lead to new types of gameplay, such as players attacking other settlements in their own or a neighbouring system to try and take it over, using their influence through missions and actions in the system to achieve the same, and also having to defend their own base from attack which isn't a current gameplay dynamic. The player-owned base would then become a sort of Command Headquarters from which everything is run.

This would be cool. Bases that are not members of a player faction could be exempted, because not everyone wants to do that. For example a small planetary outpost that is run by just 1 player with a handful of NPCs may want to stay neutral.

If a player faction conquers 100 bases how do they manage it? What happens to the former owner?

 

[Oh Seven Commander]

If we can have faction networks as Travers is suggesting (which sounds really cool tbh) then it would be time for me to fire up my alts and begin my galactic empire.

 

[Cosmo]

Here's a video about base building by Buur Pit.