I think it would be neat to be able to jump a specific distance or to a set of coordinates inside the sector Im in. What use would it be? Well, nothing right now really, but in the future, there could be different hidden bits spread out throughout the empty and used sectors, far far out in the sector. Once found, the person who knows about them would be able to revisit them. It also makes sense from a station standpoint. Eventually there will be a lot of players in game and people will be building their own stations and stuff. It would be great to be able to locate one far off the main jump lanes in a sector, so you could keep a it secret for yourself or your guild.

are you too lazy to boost?

I mean to go like, a really long way, like 500 - 1000 k

I want to expand on the nav system, to have a "sector" view map, which could contain beacons and such (and scanned asteroid data and so on). I'm not totally sure of in-sector jumps, but that's not impossible, if things were done in such a way that it didn't subvert other gameplay. The fundamentals of in-sector navigation though.. yes, that's definitely something we want.

Well, if we suddenly gain the ability to jump 500 km, the minute I see a pirate I point to open space and do this jump; it will take me beyond radar range, right into 3000m jump to sector range, and, to boot, unless the pirate pointed exactly to where I was pointing, his own 500 km jump will put him far away from me, so if piracy is hard now, it will be impossible with this. Or if I'm carrying CTC cargo and need to skeddadle fast, I just do this jump, and, again, without warping out of the sector I am beyond reach of anyone. This one addition will NEED a lot of thought.

that would prolly allow us to make autopilots

What if it had similar "object proximity" or navigation restrictions as wormholes and intra-system jumps, but much more sensitive? Some possibilities:

1. Jumps can only be performed between specific navpoints within a sector, much like wormhole navpoints. This also provides an in-game and RP safety against jumping into/through large objects.

2. Jumps can be performed from any point to specific navpoints (or possibly any selected point on a sector map that isn't on top of some object) with the following restrictions: There must be no object of any size within 3000m of your ship when initiating the jump. This includes other ships, cargo, mines etc. Groups would be able to slave navigation and jump engines to the group leader so that they can jump while being within 3000m of each other and all end up at the same place (possibly a piece of equipment is required to do this). Thus, it is no more of an escape mechanism than a normal jump.

Im with greengeek, that is how I imagined it happening. In sector jumps follow the same rules that normal jumps.

I also considered that maybe you should only be able to jump to known desinations. Meaning, if you haven't been there or someone else hasn't been there, you can't jump there. How would this work? Well, lets say or example, and large, rich roid field is located 2000km from the main station. Someone manages to find it and fly to it. They now know it's there and can create a destination cooridinate in their navigation PDA, so next time they can jump back again. They can also share this jump in data with others, by means of some kind if data transfer to them or something, like abookmark. We can't just put in random numbers and jump there. You can only set an insector jump point by physically occupying the space, create an encoded bookmark, which you can then share with your guild or your freinds or whatever. The devs could populated empty and currently used sectors with lots of different things that are off the beaten path for us to find.

1. how would you ever find a roid field 2000km away from a station when sectors go on forever in every direction
2. why would someone build a station 2000km away from a rich roid field instead of right next to it.
3. if you cant see something in a sector because its too far away you probably wont ever find it but, if its close enough to see then there is no point in warping because you could just boost to it.
im sure the devs could find a way to make in system jumps useful but i dont really see how usefull it would be any time soon

You just listed all the best reasons. How could anyone possibly find something that's out of view? Exactly, so when they do, it's that much mroe rare and interesting.

It's very hard in VO to keep anything a secret for long, because there's really no way to hide anything. having objects out in the middle of nowhere that require real effort and time to find would make that possible.

The odds of finding a field at a distance of 2000km would be what?

Ridiculously low!

If you can jump from one sector to another, it would seem logical that you could jump to the same sector you're currently in. What a way to throw off pursuit! You'd still do some travelling from where you currently are to that common point of entry every sector has. But being able to set your own entry vectors? That could be... sweet.

I agree SMM. But with throwing of pursuit, intra sector jumping might need to be time intensive.

Much like in BSG, Jumping is like teleporting. Intra sector jumps may need "charging/plot calculation" time.

So if you wanted to jump away from a pie-rat, you couldn't do it instantly, but within a couple of seconds (say 10 at the least).

This would take away the obvious game-play advantages for trading/traveling/racing/escaping bots, as well.

It doesn't have to be for everyone either. It could be included in many different variants of ships that have the misfortune of being "nerf dizzled" by the devs.

This might make those ships more desirable again.

I disagree.

The developers added secret sectors and stations back in the old (3.2.x) universe, and they were found out in a matter of days, I think. Special stuff that is plainly visible in space would be found rather quickly. So much for that.

I fully agree with greengeek on the clauses he added, those would make it very interesting.

Yes, they did, tosh but they also advised us they did so the hunts began. If anything secret were placed in the universe now, I'm sure the Devs would not announce it and let the playerbase stumble upon it.

Who's to say that secret wormhole or station hasn't been out there somewhere... waiting... waiting...

Relayer: Ecka.

:P

If it looks like a gerbil and talks like a gerbil... what do you know... its a gerbil!

are you sure??? i thinks a squirrel in drag...

generally... a good idea in need of a LOT of fine tuning. i think that short in sector jumps are a good idea but there needs to be a definitive reasoning to it.

Advantages and disadvantage if you will...

on the bright side you can remove yourself from a hostile situation... move quickly to "jumping" distance... and even explore a little quicker...

on the other hand say after a jump engines are completely drained... could end up in the middle of a roid? basically.... blind super thrust... puts you maybe 500m away quick but leaves you venerable... maybe even puts weapons on a delay before they can be used again.

or make some fun of it and make it a toy... small add? activate by selecting a direction (right click to lock on to direction {in much the same way that a thrust will lock the outer circle) then hit the activate button to propel to set direction and unknown distance of about 400-1000 m? makes the jumps very risky if your in the middle of roids...

heck... lets mess with he player some more and add a back story to the device... say... not completely fine tuned and my put the player in an alternate dimension (that may look quite similar to an ion storm)... or even dump you in a compleatly differant sector or even a random system??? this may happen 1 out of x many jumps? i dunno... just an off beat idea for making it interesting.

note: i'm looking at this from a stratigic point of veiw and not from the exploration point... not to say that exploration isn't a bad idea just that it would take more time to implament... i also will compleatly understand if my variation is flamed... ;-)

I can see this...

and I am reminded of an old BBS game.. trade wars.

had a type of engine called a transwarp, you theoretically could jump anywhere in the entire universe with it, in only 1 move..

There were two ways utilize the jump drive.. you needed to have a fighter in the sector (we can use beacons for this) which could be destroyed by an enemy. OR you could blind jump.. but this had massive risks, as if there was ANYTHING in the system.. you died. (there was a 3rd way, usable only by certain types of players called federally commissioned, needed to have a certain amount of rep with the feds to get it, but you could always warp to a federally controlled sector)

I could see something like this in VO.. not every ship would be able to equip said drive, and wouldnt (nor should they) be very powerful ships compared to the others.

BUT. If you had enough +rep with a faction, they would allow you to jump anywhere inside THEIR system with no risks since they had already mapped it, and given you access to it)

Hmmm, I like that break. It seems all good, except that wormholes are the main link between systems, and according to Ray, or was it John, I'm not sure... anyway, according to one of the devs, wormholes aren't even lined up with adjacent systems. They are inter-twined in a 3D mess of lines, possibly crisscrossing at some points. The whole universe is currently based on the 2D map, however, which does make some sense in its layout. The small port add-on you speak of shouldn't be taken lightly, and I know you see this by reading what you wrote "break19". Assuming you are in the same system, you should be able to jump to said "faction space" in one jump, cancelling out ion storms and multiple plots.

This to me seems kindof useless at the moment though. Unless there are multiple unique areas only attainable by use of this drive, there will be little desire for it. Maybe if using it in certain secret/otherwise empty systems (and there are plenty of them in each system) could get you to other stations, roid fields, possibly even entire uncharted systems; I would see a big want for it then.

I also like the idea about PCS's being secret, and having a set of coordinates. They should be able to move however, because if one is discovered by an enemy at its normal position, the administration of the station should be able to have it either:
(a)disassembled then reassembled,
(b)have some kind security code for a deactivation of a cloak which allows any players within a certain radius to enter a code (correct, cloak drops till they enter, or 120 seconds whichever comes first) incorrect=cloak stays on;
(c)moved via some kind of station propulsion system, constantly fueled by moths providing a fuel from buyable goods from other stations.
(d)(really an appendage of "c") constant motion is also available, but requires a unique station locator device that gives you the up-to-date coordinates.

In anycase, the navigational system needs some serious tweaking, and could be unbelievably fun, complex, and immersive all at the same time. I would love to have my own little navigational map with saved coordinates to secret stations!