- Joined
- Mar 7, 2022
- Messages
- 40
Last time, we talked about ship design in Starbase. Today, let’s spend some time to talk about another aspect of Starbase: exploration. With exploration listed second after ship design/construction, it seems like this part of the game could use some focus on what the vision could be. Currently, exploration consists mainly of searching for ore hotspots and encoding navigation chips, but it could be so much more.
The two greatest features needed for proper exploration in Starbase are an exposed universal coordinates system and a customizable map. ISAN provides a coordinate system within approximately 1,000 kilometers of the Origin stations, but it cannot extend any further than that. Furthermore, navigation chips currently tie to an ‘official’ game set of coordinates, but players cannot see these coordinates or use them in any meaningful manner. A map tied in to these coordinates will both expose them to players and enable them to do quite a lot with them.
Before diving into the power of a map, I think a minor revision of navigation chips should be made. Currently, a navigation chip must be in the personal inventory of the pilot of a capital ship, and navigation chips cannot be copied. I think that instead of relying on personal inventory, endos should have the option to insert navigation chips into the computer of a capital ship. This could be as simple as a UI option to insert the chip from the inventory window, or a module on the capital ship that will accept the chip in the game world. Afterwards, the chip is removed from your inventory, but anyone who has fast travel permissions on the capital ship can use the chip to warp the capital ship. This makes it vastly easier for corporations and groups to operate communal capital ships. Lastly, a toggle setting for the navigational logger to copy navigational chip data would ease production. It saves having to fly another ship out to the location to copy it.
A map for Starbase should be based on layers, including an extension of the current transponder display system. Users should be able to toggle on/off layers and combine them as desired to produce an overlay that suits any situation. I’ve attempted to compile a list of layer suggestions below:
Why should players explore? Right now, the only incentive besides “just because” or “that moon looks cool” is to find new mining locations. However, besides the occasional hotspot, entire zones of belts are largely homogenous and not worth exploring. This could be fixed with richer and more concentrated hotspots, where the locations are worth selling or sharing with other people. Frozenbyte could also automatically spawn in wrecked ships around moons and the Eos belt over time to encourage people to salvage them. Being able to track friendly and unfriendly stations also incentivizes exploration once there’s a reason to take those stations. Lastly, NPCs could be hidden through belts and other locations and offer appropriate rewards that can be gained through guile, cooperation, or combat.
By introducing a highly customizable and effective map and coordinate system, Frozenbyte lays the basis for a number of other interlocking systems for exploration and enabling greater player interaction with the Universe. Without an in-game way to track their discoveries, exploration is simply too hard or boring for many people. Next article, I’ll elaborate more on the Cycle of Life in Starbase, and what happens after you design your ship.
The two greatest features needed for proper exploration in Starbase are an exposed universal coordinates system and a customizable map. ISAN provides a coordinate system within approximately 1,000 kilometers of the Origin stations, but it cannot extend any further than that. Furthermore, navigation chips currently tie to an ‘official’ game set of coordinates, but players cannot see these coordinates or use them in any meaningful manner. A map tied in to these coordinates will both expose them to players and enable them to do quite a lot with them.
Before diving into the power of a map, I think a minor revision of navigation chips should be made. Currently, a navigation chip must be in the personal inventory of the pilot of a capital ship, and navigation chips cannot be copied. I think that instead of relying on personal inventory, endos should have the option to insert navigation chips into the computer of a capital ship. This could be as simple as a UI option to insert the chip from the inventory window, or a module on the capital ship that will accept the chip in the game world. Afterwards, the chip is removed from your inventory, but anyone who has fast travel permissions on the capital ship can use the chip to warp the capital ship. This makes it vastly easier for corporations and groups to operate communal capital ships. Lastly, a toggle setting for the navigational logger to copy navigational chip data would ease production. It saves having to fly another ship out to the location to copy it.
A map for Starbase should be based on layers, including an extension of the current transponder display system. Users should be able to toggle on/off layers and combine them as desired to produce an overlay that suits any situation. I’ve attempted to compile a list of layer suggestions below:
- Points of Interest: Users can drop a pin on the map at any location, give it a label, and then mark it a PoI. Users can then share these PoIs with a group, friends, company, or other individuals, and this layer on the map can have settings to hide/show these other PoIs.
- Ship transponders: Currently, users can look around in world and see ship transponders. Overlaying these onto a map and going beyond the current limit of 50 could ease visualizing them, especially in complicated scenarios like sieges or other group fights/endeavors.
- Station transponders: Functionally very similar to layer 2, this would allow visualizing station transponders.
- Known stations: This could be combined with layer 3 possibly, but this would overlay the positions of all known stations. If you fly by a station, you should be able to mark it and add it to this layer, even if you don’t have any permissions for the station.
- Territory: Claimed territory could be overlaid onto the map. More about this will be published in a future article.
- Ship sensor readings: More about this will be published in a future article.
Why should players explore? Right now, the only incentive besides “just because” or “that moon looks cool” is to find new mining locations. However, besides the occasional hotspot, entire zones of belts are largely homogenous and not worth exploring. This could be fixed with richer and more concentrated hotspots, where the locations are worth selling or sharing with other people. Frozenbyte could also automatically spawn in wrecked ships around moons and the Eos belt over time to encourage people to salvage them. Being able to track friendly and unfriendly stations also incentivizes exploration once there’s a reason to take those stations. Lastly, NPCs could be hidden through belts and other locations and offer appropriate rewards that can be gained through guile, cooperation, or combat.
By introducing a highly customizable and effective map and coordinate system, Frozenbyte lays the basis for a number of other interlocking systems for exploration and enabling greater player interaction with the Universe. Without an in-game way to track their discoveries, exploration is simply too hard or boring for many people. Next article, I’ll elaborate more on the Cycle of Life in Starbase, and what happens after you design your ship.