A List of My Suggestions (In Progress)

[Mr. Nova]

This is a thread for me to post my suggestions as I come across them. There are few things that are utilized currently as mods that I believe should become a standard, so I will list them as well. This post will be updated.

 

Upgrade/Downgrade Option

I would like an option to be able to highlight multiple sections or even my ship as a whole and simply "Upgrade" or "Downgrade" each section to either the next tier, or have an option to select a tier, as materials and money allows. (i.e. selecting a ship made completely of Iron and "Upgrading" to Titanium will upgrade each component to its Titanium equivalent). If you are a builder like me, I like to build modules and units individually. The current "Engines" on my ship consist of Engines, Armor, Generators, Integrity Fields, and Thrusters. I would physically have to delete sections of just my engine in order to access the contents to individually upgrade each component with the current system. Being able to section the engine as a whole and "Upgrade" it would be a godsend.

 

Casino Gambling

Currently there is a mod here that somewhat enables this, albeit in a less efficient form (in my personal opinion I think the balancing is a bit off for the reward). I have to say I was a bit disappointed when I came across my first 'Casino' and had no option to gamble. At this point, it's just another glorified post for trade and serves no real function as a casino would/should in my opinion. If there were some way to add even something as simple as a Roulette system for gambling, or even 'Lottery Tickets' that expire after a duration that generates a 'Jackpot', I think that would be extremely awesome to have.

 

Mining Systems

There is probably some reason for the current iteration of Mining Systems to have such limited functionality, and I could agree that there exists an argument against making them 'too large' in area, but I think at their current level, they are more than useless. There is currently a mod here that currently augments Mining Systems to be more viable for those who seek to pursue mining operations, and as that's my current focus as I progress through the game I can't help but feel it's a necessary modification that should be made baseline.

 

AI Salvaging

I know that there are currently already plans to enhance the current AI salvaging ability, but for support I will still add it to my list of suggestions. Currently, this mod adds both an option to clear all Salvage, and to clear only Salvage of any value. While that might be too specific, I at least believe that the option to clear all Salvage, much in the same way current AI will Mine all ore-bearing asteroids in a sector to be a vital and necessary addition to the game. Hopefully, seeing as the developers have already commented a focus on this, it will be covered in later updates.

 

Lastly,

Out of Sector AI Operations

I cannot, for the life of me, condone AI that only functions while there is a human presence. Now while I understand, given the size of the game, that enabling the entire galaxy of AI to function would be quite an additional load on servers, for player AI at least, I believe this is just necessary. Currently, AI just doesn't function if you leave the sector. There is most likely a much more effective way to enable this, but my suggestion for the meantime is for every 'Captain'd' ship/Station, add a "Ghost" of the Player to that sector if the Player leaves, allowing the AI to continue functioning.

 

There is also the issue of being unable to command AI while you're out of sector. At the very least, I should be able to send the same commands to my ships out of sector (Patrol, Mine, Salvage, etc.) as I can in sector. At most, if Mining operations have been completed in a sector, have a "Rendezvous" option, or a way to set a sector so that once completed, AI returns to set location. I do most of my operations in areas with Warp Gates, so at least the AI should be able to track along the path that already exists in the games coding to a specified location. For people who operate outside of Warp Gate areas, AI can start "Jumping" to the location, at the risk of being attacked while waiting for the Hyperspace cooldowns.

 

Having said all that, I understand for large servers, that this might become an extreme amount of AI to moderate given for example 50 players having just 4 AI ships turns into 200 independent AI in addition to the regular AI operating at all times. That being said, if there was a way to operate Player AI to being loaded client-side, I think that would make it more feasible and possible for players to moderate their own AI without bogging down the server.

 

Anyways, those are my suggestions for now, I'll be updating this list as I go. Thanks for reading!