Forums » Suggestions
More mining gear
Some ideas we were bouncing around in the game the other day. Apologies if these have already been discussed before:
Mining beacons: buy and use as a weapon with limited ammmo. Beacon attaches to asteroid of choice and only user can see it on his radar, though it can be seen onscreen by others. Used to "mark" useful asteroids for later. As a counter, a beacon sweeper can be bought; it will allow the user to detect other people's beacons from far away (like maybe 2000 meters). Alternatively, the beacons could be used to "tag" other ships! they are slow and bumb-fire, though, so hitting a moving ship should be nigh-impossible.
Cooling beam: another weapon with limited ammo, and which can't be equipped at the same time as a mining laser. When activated it cools down the target asteroid. It can be used for group mining efforts to prolong the time an asteroid can be efficiently mined.
Proximity Detector: general purpose and should be standard issue on all ships; it gives out a warning whenever an object capable of dealing crash damage to a ship comes within 50 meters of your own ship. It does nothing else, though. Alternatively, each person could set the distance at which the snesor goes off.
Tows: extra cargo boxes attached to a ship; user can "manually" move cargo from his ship's hold to any attached tow, effectively increasing cargo space. Tows of course make the ship carrying them more slow and unwieldy, though "advanced" tows, each having a small booster, would be available. Alternatively, tows could be disengaged from the ship and left floating in space, and mining beacons attached to them.
Mining beacons: buy and use as a weapon with limited ammmo. Beacon attaches to asteroid of choice and only user can see it on his radar, though it can be seen onscreen by others. Used to "mark" useful asteroids for later. As a counter, a beacon sweeper can be bought; it will allow the user to detect other people's beacons from far away (like maybe 2000 meters). Alternatively, the beacons could be used to "tag" other ships! they are slow and bumb-fire, though, so hitting a moving ship should be nigh-impossible.
Cooling beam: another weapon with limited ammo, and which can't be equipped at the same time as a mining laser. When activated it cools down the target asteroid. It can be used for group mining efforts to prolong the time an asteroid can be efficiently mined.
Proximity Detector: general purpose and should be standard issue on all ships; it gives out a warning whenever an object capable of dealing crash damage to a ship comes within 50 meters of your own ship. It does nothing else, though. Alternatively, each person could set the distance at which the snesor goes off.
Tows: extra cargo boxes attached to a ship; user can "manually" move cargo from his ship's hold to any attached tow, effectively increasing cargo space. Tows of course make the ship carrying them more slow and unwieldy, though "advanced" tows, each having a small booster, would be available. Alternatively, tows could be disengaged from the ship and left floating in space, and mining beacons attached to them.
i think the cargo boxes are a great idea also. i saw what appeared to be those in a screenshot of a marauder. it would be great to link like 20 cargo boxes full of cargo. would be great to pirate also. what makes me wonder, though, is what would happen if another ship ran into them. sure, you should be able to shoot them and have them explode, maybe leaving some of the cargo behind. and blowing up boxes nearer to the ship could take out any crates behind it.
If not beacons then at least let us take down some sort of coordinates of the particular roid you are mining is.
Cooling beams would be very cool, although I think that equiping them at the same time as a mining been should be allowed, it means that you are not equiping another mining beam, so in essence you are getting the same mining just with less mining beams.
Proximity Detectors are an awesome idea, I can't tell you how many times I've left turbo on and run into stuff that could easily been prevented if an alarm sound had gone off.
Tows are a cool idea for small vessles or poor miners, but isnt' that one of the major functions of a Cap Ship, once we get them? Sure they are moving stations of a sort and are primarily for combat, but they also have droids that they lanch and mine autonimously, and I'm sure the cargo holds of a Cap Ships are MUCH bigger then those of a Centaur or Rag. But I do like the idea!!!! =)
Cooling beams would be very cool, although I think that equiping them at the same time as a mining been should be allowed, it means that you are not equiping another mining beam, so in essence you are getting the same mining just with less mining beams.
Proximity Detectors are an awesome idea, I can't tell you how many times I've left turbo on and run into stuff that could easily been prevented if an alarm sound had gone off.
Tows are a cool idea for small vessles or poor miners, but isnt' that one of the major functions of a Cap Ship, once we get them? Sure they are moving stations of a sort and are primarily for combat, but they also have droids that they lanch and mine autonimously, and I'm sure the cargo holds of a Cap Ships are MUCH bigger then those of a Centaur or Rag. But I do like the idea!!!! =)
The idea of the cargo boxes would be to allow someone without access to a cap ship to attempt to haul large amounts of cargo at one time while incurring greater risks. A lone pirate could overwhelm or rob the towing merchant with a little luck, but he can't even begin to scratch a cap ship. Besides, cap ships are still a long way away, and tows would allow for 100% player-controlled convoy runs and raids.