Horizons Would you like to build your own base in Elite Dangerous?

[HazardousMatt]

Some like just YOU and NPCs. Ah...then generally Solo players don't count and it's all about PVP? That position is why many discussions end up in arguments. ED tries to accommodate both and PVP has already won many concessions at the expense of Solo.

Player base abilities are somewhat in game with the basic ability to store ships at a station. Add in personal storage for equipment and outfitting ships becomes more efficient and fun as well. It would be nice to simply swap out weapons and modules without having to rebuy them over again or use the market to accomplish this.

This would require the ability to purchase equipment and store it as cargo versus mounting. Then travel to your home system and store it. That opens up a whole new can of worms with ship-to-ship trading. Solo would love it for just the storage. PVP would probably hate it thinking one player with billions of credits could upgrade a wing of players becoming harder to defeat. A partial solution would be to disable equipment storage in a ship's cargo bay in PVP. It would get worse having a player base with a group overwhelming the individual player. I don't think this proposal will fly.

I'm not talking about PVP, I'm talking about just plain interaction with other people. I can only talk to ASTRA for so long before I get bored of her. Just grinding away at rep or credits in a NPC filled galaxy is not fun to me.

How can you all think base building will be a bad idea? Come on! It would add so much gameplay! Building a guild or a group then finding that sweet planet to build a base near a highly sought after trade route or a forward outpost to expand ones power play or guild. Have your own mining field, where over time you come back to pick up the ores and trade them in. A hangar to store all of your ships with a dedicated robot that can fly your ship for you to bring it to you anywhere in the galaxy! This could add PVP aspects as well as Solo aspects. For PVP obviously you can attack eachothers bases, Federation VS Empire! Solo you can build mining fields, a market, or even a black market! Become that legendary merchant.

We have an entire GALAXY! The options we have for gameplay and ideas ARE ENDLESS!!!! Helllooooooooo! But this is all my opinion, I'm getting tired of reading bullietin boards about trying to rescue some loser that needs saving or whatever. What is the point in being in a group (wing) right now? Not much. My friend and I just go around hopping planets and checking out the canyons and mountains and seeing what we can jump in our SRV's. Thats about it. Its getting a little boring. I could come up with so many ideas for this game but its frustrating because they will probably never happen because everyone want's to take the slow route....

Sorry for my rant, Merry Christmas.

 

[Cynaqq]

I'm not talking about PVP, I'm talking about just plain interaction with other people. I can only talk to ASTRA for so long before I get bored of her. Just grinding away at rep or credits in a NPC filled galaxy is not fun to me.

How can you all think base building will be a bad idea? Come on! It would add so much gameplay! Building a guild or a group then finding that sweet planet to build a base near a highly sought after trade route or a forward outpost to expand ones power play or guild. Have your own mining field, where over time you come back to pick up the ores and trade them in. A hangar to store all of your ships with a dedicated robot that can fly your ship for you to bring it to you anywhere in the galaxy! This could add PVP aspects as well as Solo aspects. For PVP obviously you can attack eachothers bases, Federation VS Empire! Solo you can build mining fields, a market, or even a black market! Become that legendary merchant.

We have an entire GALAXY! The options we have for gameplay and ideas ARE ENDLESS!!!! Helllooooooooo! But this is all my opinion, I'm getting tired of reading bullietin boards about trying to rescue some loser that needs saving or whatever. What is the point in being in a group (wing) right now? Not much. My friend and I just go around hopping planets and checking out the canyons and mountains and seeing what we can jump in our SRV's. Thats about it. Its getting a little boring. I could come up with so many ideas for this game but its frustrating because they will probably never happen because everyone want's to take the slow route....

Sorry for my rant, Merry Christmas.

Well, this game doesn't differentiate between solo and open in terms of the game world. You can't place a solo mining station because you chose to play in solo. There can be an infinite number of instances of the same exact location in the game. What will happen when someone attacks your mining operation while you are in solo? Will you watch it explode helplessly?

Again, I'm not against suggestions but please people, think a little bit in depth before posting gleeful visions of glorious sci fi fantasy.

 

[FuelX]

I would buy a penthouse with a huge garage and a pool on the roof in the outer ring of a luxurious station.

And open a bar in an anarchy system where traders and pirates and bounty hunters may drink together and brawl and break some of my tables before getting kicked out and go kill each other again.

 

[mossfoot]

No, Elite Dangerous is about being a lone pilot finding your way in a massive galaxy. The day they allow player bases is the day I stop playing.

Those who are gung ho for and against on this issue should recognize that there are shades of grey to be had.

A base doesn't have to be private space station that influences the BGS economy or affects other players. From the Kickstarter times there was talk about "inflatable asteroid bases" for example.

I think there is definitely a place for player bases, so long as they are kept on a personal level, like the ships. A place to store ships and modules, for example. A place you can modify and customize as a home away from home.

But not a space station or even an outpost as they currently are in the game. Certainly not something you can modify the BGS with. Not something made guild-exclusive or otherwise game-changing.

 

[daddychew]

To keep it short.... Oh (insert word here) YES!

 

[adrinker]

No, Elite Dangerous is about being a lone pilot finding your way in a massive galaxy. The day they allow player bases is the day I stop playing.

I disagree, and I typically dislike in game housing. Elite has a very fragmented human bubble where there is little reason stay loyal to any one system. The closest you can come to having a home system is based on your influence.

The option of being a lone pilot is an option but this shouldn't be an exclusive notion. I don't think that player bases would add value because they would lack station services like markets, shipyards, outfitting that realistically rely on providers to stock the parts in stations.

I'd much rather see larger stations where players can rent residences, have an inventory, bank, etc.. This would add value.

That being said, there's plenty that the game needs more than player housing

 

[W4rSkuLL]

Bases can be so many things. I was thinking about a base build on a planet. Where you want, when you want. Maybe have foundations which you may buy for credits, if you are rich or you can manufacture them yourself. This takes longer time but may feel more rewarding. So on these foundations you can build hangars, landing pads, walls and storage space/containers. Only the fantasy sets the limit of what you can build. You collect resources with the SRV around the planet. Like in nodes, and then synthesize/craft them into goods you need to build the base. The base operates as your personal base or home. Defenses can be build and skimmers can be bought to patrol the "boarders" of your base. Frontier could even sell prefabricated bases on the shop for those lazy ones that just need an base set up fast. All your ships can be stored here, different SRVs and loot. It can be attacked and found by other commanders, and destroyed if you are unlucky.
If Frontier can put pois with different building on the surface of the game. I cant see why commanders cant do it. Just set up a server for player build stuff. The server stores the base and location. Or maybe have it on the galaxy server. Just start with a small shack which can contain a landing pad and storage space. To start with.

I know this will be a huge job. And if it should be prioritized, well who knows, but down the line it would add to game play.

 

[njc]

I heard a description of ED somewhere that I thought was really nice. It described ED as playing Han Solo who never meets Luke. I couldn't think of a better metaphor. So no, private stations make no sense. Imagine Han Solo having a giant multi-billion dollar Orbis somewhere.

I wouldn't mind actually if they allowed someone with like 100Bc to have it, so that just a fraction of those tycoons who play ED like it's their life can afford it. But if it was something that your average player can have, makes no sense.

Of course some really tiny planet bases are another thing but still.

 

[Cynaqq]

... Only the fantasy sets the limit of what you can build. ... Just set up a server for player build stuff. The server stores the base and location. Or maybe have it on the galaxy server. Just start with a small shack which can contain a landing pad and storage space. To start with.

... I know this will be a huge job...

Actually, the technical limitations induced from the multiplayer instancing structure and the procedural generation based nature of the game sets the limit of what you can build. Not the fantasy.

Nothing you see in the game is stored on a server. The only things stored are the databases used for the BGS and the first discoveries list for the CMDRs. Everything else, including the types and locations of stations (and planetary bases) are hard coded in the client installed on player's computers as instructions in the procedural generation algorithm. Adding a new station is not as simple as writing the type, host system and the planet on a database spreadsheet. There is also no 'galaxy server'. There is the BGS server, running the BGS obviously, the transaction server, governing the data transfer between the client and the BGS server so what you buy, sell, kill etc is used to update the BGS database, and when the server ticks, to update what you see in the client, and the matchmaking server which takes care of the distribution of instances among the players.

Even a small shack will be about the same work as a full blown station. It doesn't matter what size or complexity. Even a single rock which is persistent across all player instances will require about the same amount of coding as a coriolis station to get into the game.

It would be a huge job. Almost as huge as rewriting the whole game as a different one. You apparently have no idea how huge of a job this is.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

Regardless of people being in favour or against, the main question that would need to be answered is how would they work?

W4rSkuLL said: Bases would give commanders all the content they want.

While an obvious exaggeration, if only because not all commanders would be interested, one has to ask, what content? What could they do? What might they do?

Someone else mentioned persistence through BGS and how devs have to manually add stations. Devs have said they want that business to become more automated, so its probable down the line they can automate deployment of bases.

But as someone else said - do they persist? Attackable? Findable? etc

I seem to recall a while back, possibly a dev suggested something like small bases, like pirate outposts or mining outposts could be considered. Hide one in a ring, discoverable on a frequency only the owner has (or group members?) and you solve the problem of people in different modes finding and attacking. They would be like special signal sources in a way. Needle in a haystack wouldn't even come close to it if someone chose to place a small base in a planetary ring. Chance of someone randomly stumbling over one would be very small indeed.

But yeah, what content, and how it would work are two major questions that need answering before it can be considered to be something being worth devs spending any amount of time on.

 

[Kezha]

Being able to start a colony far far out in space, find a spot 2000 LY and properly start your own "faction" could have it's potential.

As long as it was not done in lines of "every other indie like surivival game ever", looking at you rust, go away with your poorly build shacks



But being able to choose from preset sort of bases for your powerplay faction or something else to expand with, and within there being able to have a hangar for your ship and perhaps a living quarters where you could invite wingmembers to join in. as well as a social area where you could meet people (something Elite direly seems to need..) and interact with other people, hang out and talk etc. then sure.

But survival game shacks on planets sounds like a terrible flop idea unless you would like to fly past a planet one day and see a massive "piece of art" across the surface, we all know that would happen

 

[Herik]

No, I can't see myself ever wanting it. Essentially I'm a single-player. In Fallout 4 I can/could build settlements, -just don't want to.

I also think, if individual base building were to come to pass in this game (assuming the game remains P2P), the bases would be non interactive; -other players could not see them.

 

[floozie]

No please let them fix existing content and build a working missionsystem with teammissions before they hit the next buzzwordy milestone

 

[dryjoy]

Would a feature like this be technically feasible, given the procedurally generated nature of the environment? I think that items that are not procedurally generated are random spawns rather than persistent features. Would player built, persistent features be possible within the ED architecture?

Personally I'm not that bothered either way, just curious how this idea could be realised.

 

[Lestenio]

I would like to be able to build 'something' at the edge of the Galaxy. But going to say no, it would be a bad thing because of all the other things it would bring. Eg guilds, player run stations etc.

 

[Windscreen Smudge]

1) If they released player housing / storage in Horizons it would have caused a paywall screaming fit like you wouldn't believe

2) Is it persistent in all 3 play modes? Can other people access it?

3) Can it be attacked, do you have to pay for base defences, or hope to be hidden far from the ganking crowd?

Do you know how many F2P MMO's put their storage and housing behind paywalls?

I don't. I'd have to spend the rest of the day counting them. People would whine, but just because they're whining doesn't mean their opinion matters.

2: Open Play only. If you want to attack someone's base you do it while exposed to danger yourself.

3: Why would you think otherwise? It's also mostly unnecessary. The needle in an astronomical haystack analogy is very apt.

 

[W4rSkuLL]

Actually, the technical limitations induced from the multiplayer instancing structure and the procedural generation based nature of the game sets the limit of what you can build. Not the fantasy.

Nothing you see in the game is stored on a server. The only things stored are the databases used for the BGS and the first discoveries list for the CMDRs. Everything else, including the types and locations of stations (and planetary bases) are hard coded in the client installed on player's computers as instructions in the procedural generation algorithm. Adding a new station is not as simple as writing the type, host system and the planet on a database spreadsheet. There is also no 'galaxy server'. There is the BGS server, running the BGS obviously, the transaction server, governing the data transfer between the client and the BGS server so what you buy, sell, kill etc is used to update the BGS database, and when the server ticks, to update what you see in the client, and the matchmaking server which takes care of the distribution of instances among the players.

Even a small shack will be about the same work as a full blown station. It doesn't matter what size or complexity. Even a single rock which is persistent across all player instances will require about the same amount of coding as a coriolis station to get into the game.

It would be a huge job. Almost as huge as rewriting the whole game as a different one. You apparently have no idea how huge of a job this is.

Powerplay Update 1.3.07 (07/07/15)
Hi everyone!

Let's try this again.

The galaxy servers will be down from 10.30AM for approximately one hour to allow us to update to 1.3.07.

The following changes are included in the update:

Server change log
- Fix for discovering and scanning new stellar bodies not always showing up on system map
- Fixed Hudson’s outfitting discount benefit
- Fixed cases where player received rank up message, but rank stayed the same

Client change log
- Fixed accidental pasting of clipboard contents when typing ‘V’ in the galaxy map search box (OSX)
- Increased radius of the sphere of systems used to generate missions from 10ly to 15ly, allowing all permit systems to be within range of at least one system that can give the permit
- Various text fixes
- Fix crash in PlanetNoiseTextures (OSX)
- Fix crash in IShipMining interface
- Fix crash in SheildEmitterModule
- Fix crash in GalaxyRenderManager (OSX)
- Increase the limit of cargo that can be dumped before being culled, depending on location (near starports or scenarios limit stays at 20. In deep space it’s now 100)

Thanks!

According to Ed Lewis there are galaxy servers. I remembered ive heard it somewhere. I guess a member of the support team are talking the truth?
Although im not very into the code and stuff that E.D is made up off. I am very aware what I want to see in the game, but its just suggestions. I know its P2P and instances. And that pois, npcs and USS all disappear if the instance you are in closes. The only thing that are persistent is the galaxy and the BGS. It has to be on a server. I think these are the galaxy servers. I might be wrong If a planet can be persistent in the galaxy, a base can be to. Thats what I am going out from. (Damn, Norwegian English) Thor Heyerdal Although I guess it will be a huge job to implement it. If Frontier could test this by just try to make some collectable stuff, mix these into goods and then set up a base on a random location. Log of and log in again and see if its still there. Voila you have a persistent base. Okai I made it sound very easy. But suggestions comes very easy I know Frontier is busy and is looking into many features for this season. Im just asking that they maybe hold the door open for player made bases some time in the future.

 

[Tenshi]

There was always the scope during kickstarter for player owned bases inside asteroids. How this will be implemented I am not sure.

 

[Roybe]

Powerplay Update 1.3.07 (07/07/15)
Hi everyone!

Let's try this again.

The galaxy servers will be down from 10.30AM for approximately one hour to allow us to update to 1.3.07.

The following changes are included in the update:

Server change log
- Fix for discovering and scanning new stellar bodies not always showing up on system map
- Fixed Hudson’s outfitting discount benefit
- Fixed cases where player received rank up message, but rank stayed the same

Client change log
- Fixed accidental pasting of clipboard contents when typing ‘V’ in the galaxy map search box (OSX)
- Increased radius of the sphere of systems used to generate missions from 10ly to 15ly, allowing all permit systems to be within range of at least one system that can give the permit
- Various text fixes
- Fix crash in PlanetNoiseTextures (OSX)
- Fix crash in IShipMining interface
- Fix crash in SheildEmitterModule
- Fix crash in GalaxyRenderManager (OSX)
- Increase the limit of cargo that can be dumped before being culled, depending on location (near starports or scenarios limit stays at 20. In deep space it’s now 100)

Thanks!

According to Ed Lewis there are galaxy servers. I remembered ive heard it somewhere. I guess a member of the support team are talking the truth?
Although im not very into the code and stuff that E.D is made up off. I am very aware what I want to see in the game, but its just suggestions. I know its P2P and instances. And that pois, npcs and USS all disappear if the instance you are in closes. The only thing that are persistent is the galaxy and the BGS. It has to be on a server. I think these are the galaxy servers. I might be wrong If a planet can be persistent in the galaxy, a base can be to. Thats what I am going out from. (Damn, Norwegian English) Thor Heyerdal Although I guess it will be a huge job to implement it. If Frontier could test this by just try to make some collectable stuff, mix these into goods and then set up a base on a random location. Log of and log in again and see if its still there. Voila you have a persistent base. Okai I made it sound very easy. But suggestions comes very easy I know Frontier is busy and is looking into many features for this season. Im just asking that they maybe hold the door open for player made bases some time in the future.

The galaxy is not kept on a server. It is procedurally generated...that includes the stations. All the game tracks is changes to different measurable items, secondary to the galaxy, and is kept up with various databases.

There is a report that the devs have done on YouTube dicussing the whole server setup as well as how it works for a variety of things.

<br>[video=youtube_share;EvJPyjmfdz0]https://youtu.be/EvJPyjmfdz0[/video]

 

[Xender]

I think we have two options for future in Elite:
1) Player based - it is simple and easy.
2) Player ship-base! It is not capital or mother ship. It is more like huge ship like T9 which can carry smaller ship. Or ship bigger than Anaconda which cannot land on station but can carry anaconda. Player can move across ships, upgrade it, buy interior equimpment. Weapon storages, crafting tools etc.

It will be great idea to have base-ships in instanced world of Elite. Also huge ship like Anaconda can be base itself if Frontier allow to access interirors of ships and modyfing it.