Oolite Bulletins

Hey Mossfoot,

Love the idea, hopefully it gets picked up in some of the fanfic.

I have an idea (which may be covered as an amalgam of some of the others). A life support system is likely to be a USS, but what if it transmits on relatively universal frequencies that are monitored by something like the system survey equipment. That way, standard system survey stuff +0, upgraded intermediate level equip +1 and the advanced survey equip +2. I'm not sure if there is an equivalence in the equipment used to look for certain commodities in asteroid belts, but perhaps if you have that sort of equipment, then +1 - because asteroid mining could be a dangerous job, and your fellow miners would want to look out for you just in case.

Hmmm... interesting idea! Given that it generates a "pulse" to scan a certain area, when a ship is destroyed, maybe the last thing it does is send out a pulse in an SOS kind of way. Is that what you mean?

I've added the following to the main entry:

DISCOVERY SCANNER (within unpopulated systems only)
Exploring and surveying can be a dangerous thing, and no amount of life support or stasis fields will help if you're never found. That's why Discovery Scanners are designed to emit an SOS "pulse" during an ejection sequence, alerting Search and Rescue as to the system the accident happened. This pulse effectively fries the scanner (not that you needed it anymore anyway). Obviously the further out you are, the less likely a rescue is going to happen, but explorers all alone in the deep dark no doubt appreciate the extra bit of hope. In populated systems, however, this pulse provides no extra benefit (given the number of other ships also sending out distress signals).
Basic Discovery Scanner +0
Intermediate Discovery Scanner +1
Advanced Discovery Scanner +2

Yes, that's the sort of thing I was going for. I'm not sure if there are any other types or grades of scanning equipment, or transmission equipment in general in E:D, but the basic idea was to marginally stack the rescue in your favour if you had been around enough to have accumulated the top shelf gear. Probably not needed on offensive or defensive gear, because if you are in trouble, it's because someone's there putting you in it. This is for the lone wolf explorer or deep space miner using that sort of passive equipment.

That way if Frontier introduce something new like 'spy comms equipment' (for that special deep space mission), it can be added to the list as a potential life saver.

Thanks for the idea again. I've tweaked the numbers up a bit, because you already have a -1 for being in an unpopulated and untrafficked system, so the Basic Discovery Scanner would at least cancel that out, with the Intermediate and Advanced giving a slight edge.

Unless new equipment comes along, I think we've covered just about all basic scenarios.

I blogged about one of my recent ED experiences here, covering the multiplayer elements and how I handled it recently:

http://www.noahjdchinnbooks.com/2015/02 ... ne-gaming/

With the changes made in the elite system...I can finally fly in the elite dangerous fields. unfortunately... after the last upgrade,, I crash about every 20 minutes and have to relog in... but once logged in,, I find myself at the point of where the crash occured... strange.
Currently doing solo in a section on the edge: Brani star system with multiple mineral rich planets but what has me trading is that of all of the 8 stations , only 1 has a commodity that all the others need so I am busy shuttling back and forth delivering items in demand. The profits are not high by any stretch of the imagination but it is giving me a lots of experience in docking, using the fsd and avoiding interdictions. In the forums... there are complaints that solo is boring because of the lack of interaction... I am getting interdicted on almost every run. On one run, I was interdicted 3 times in a row. By the time I escaped, my hull was down to 5%, no shields, my canopy was cracked, my thrusters were hardly working but I delivered the goods. I have had some good runs with light cargo or doing courier work and will get a good rep with the federation and then on the next run... lose it somehow and then arrive at the station with a fine on my ship.

Oh well, such is the life of a trader.
I have seen some of Mossfoot's posts and congrats, you have not only found a home but a very rich field to write about with an audience who like his style. +1 rep.

Yah-Ta-Hey wrote:

... complaints that solo is boring because of the lack of interaction... I am getting interdicted on almost every run. On one run, I was interdicted 3 times in a row.

<nods> Yep, plenty of interdictions where I am too! I'm becoming adept at evasion though - only failed once (which led to my first kill)!

Kudos to you Mossfoot. This is the sort of thing I think ED is made for. Dare I say it; a more pleasant and mature form of online interaction with discerning gamers (is that too OTT ). Once Diz mentioned First Great Expedition, I've been following their bb - I think they have the right idea as well. ED can and ought to be an interactive forum for like-minded people if they wan't to get together to share common interests.

I think that the 'Common Cause' missions are one of FD's methods of trying to bring that sort of element into ED. You've done it in a rather creative way. A way that is remeniscent of when I used to get together with a gaming club once a week to go off and adventure for few hours in an RPG universe. A bit of intellectual escapism

I'm glad it also got up to the top of the tree - DavidB has a lot more ability to spread this sort of message, but better for it having come from one of the regular gamers rather than trying to spruik it himself.

This is also the sort of feedback that tends me towards buying the game.

Thanks I've updated the thread so that you can see how things turned out when I met Cortex Reaver again on the day we were supposed to go to Yembo

mossfoot wrote:

I've updated the thread so that you can see how things turned out when I met Cortex Reaver again on the day we were supposed to go to Yembo

Since it's not included in the blog article, here's a link to the aforementioned thread:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=114593

Diziet Sma wrote:

mossfoot wrote:

I've updated the thread so that you can see how things turned out when I met Cortex Reaver again on the day we were supposed to go to Yembo

Since it's not included in the blog article, here's a link to the aforementioned thread:
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=114593

Thanks

I've been trying my hand at trying to inspire ideas in other directions, too. Earlier I mentioned the Pilot's Ejection Seat (recently updated): https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=107694

And now I've put together a "Space Trucker Lingo" thread. The idea here is to eventually have different "lingo" for each major occupation type (bounty hunter, pirate, miner, explorer...) that is based in something familiar: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=115768

(turns out a lot of Elite players are familiar with CBs )

Have I mentioned how much I dislike my in-game hands? On a long cruise, the regular finger-flexing becomes mighty tedious - and in the middle of a tough dogfight, when I'm almost breaking my 'stick to stay in the fight, out of the corner of my eye I see the damn thing release its 'stick and do its flexing exercise! Repeatedly!

Chuckling..... I don't even notice them at all.... to busy trying to save my carcass from imminent death from kill only NPC's.

don't have a stick to worry about... using the old keyboard.... try maneuvering with just 4 keys and really bad turning capabilities.

What do you think about ED saying that animated avatars are now a no no, use of profanity is frowned upon or even forbidden and that they are really clamping down on posting starting the 20th?

There is no doubt, in my mind, that a 'stick greatly improves flight performance in ED - and it only needs to be a budget 'stick like mine (£20).

As for the forum rules, I'll be pleased to see the back of animated avatars - but I think the moderation has become too heavy-handed. I understand why it has become so, and know it comes from FD themselves (family forum, children reading it, etc) - but it sours the atmosphere somewhat!

A stick (or better yet HOTAS) is the only way to fly, in my opinion.

As for the rules - I heard from a mod it's more of a CYA situation than something that will be strictly enforced.

Oh, and I've decided to expand on my lingo posts by creating on for bounty hunters and one for pirates:


Traders: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthrea ... &p=1797210
Bounty Hunters: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthrea ... &p=1803554
Pirates and Privateers: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthrea ... &p=1803574