I've played all of the Privateer and Freelancers, several other sims along the same lines. Enjoyed them for so long I even started other pilots to redo or move along different paths....
So, I started this game, to find some of the things I had assumed would be in a game in 2014-2015 would be there... And many of them aren't.... :/
Here's a list of some of the things I had hoped to see here that aren't... (Some of these things are included in various add-ons and mods to the game.)
NavConsole:
Since part of the game is exploring:
1) Fog of War on the Nav Console. You can't see what you haven't found. If you haven't been to the system/planet you can't get to them from the start. If you haven't jumped through the jump gate you don't know where it goes. (Gotta use it to know what it is.) Same for the names of planets/stations/moons.
2) Once you been there, you can use it from the Quadrant map or the system map. Can pull up the remote system by r-clicking it from the Quadrant map. This zooms in to the system map, and you can r-click on something (plant, station, etc.) to see what prices were the last time you visited that spot.
3) Trade Route - You are in one system and want to move to another system you have already been to, go to quadrant map, r-click the destination system, r-click the planet/station and select that as the route you want to travel. Nav Points are then plotted (using known jumps or straight through if none are available.) and turn on auto pilot. You arrive with cargo intact and ready to sell. Repeat that route a lot, set up a saved list like the nav logs and there you are, Saved routes.
4) Prices at remote location. You docked there, you know what they were selling and buying things for the last time you were there... You should be able to bring that information up for any commodity in-game, not needing to write it all down... R-click and bring up that price list (from a menu, of course.)
5) Subscribe to a station's news feed: Want a more up to date list of prices for commodities? Who is offering what premium price for this or that given contract? What Baddie-bad guy needs killing by what goodie-two shoes? Part of your license includes a subscription to the "All Merchies Newsletter" delivered via jump gate to your local nav con periodically. Get up to date (or, allow time to bend for jump travel.) news of all your favorite stations. Don't want to get it any more? Sell the station your license back. Configure delivery via a button in the station or in Nav Con. (Every 5 min, 10, half hour, etc.) (And remember, if you are 20 jumps away, it's going to take X * 20 to get to you!)
So, what I see for the Nav Con improvements would entail a r-click menu that has choices for plot a route, make a trade route (with start and stop and waypoints for various other stops.) and last known prices and newsletter.
These are just the things with Nav Con I had hoped to see. I have a rather largish wish list for ships, weapons, commodities, etc. (not putting them all in here... Maybe later I'll build on this list.)
Why does the smallest ship in game have the same size cargo (upgraded) as the largest playable civ ship??? Larger ship means I got more room, right? I should be able to make a ship that can take 10 or 15 cargo pods, as long as the frame is large enough... Less secondary weapons, or less equipment, or slower maneuvering, etc... Pay for it, but can customize it.
Why can I only pack a single gun system? We get Lasers (1 mount) and guns (1 mount) and can't add more of the given type.... Why not 2 or 3, and stagger the firing? So they go 1 then 2 then 3 and never all at the same time. If I want an all laser ship, I lose an entire weapons hardpoint as it stands now. Why?
Have research stations DO research to improve the ships or weapons? Diamonds for emitters for lasers? Textiles leading to carbon fiber or fiber alloy wings? Frames? Glassteel research, etc.
Player deployable jump gates? I make a jump gate to a system from a system (as long as there isn't that same route, already) and the jump point can be made. Make a hard coded limit to the number of jump gates a player can have, or make it cost to use the jump point. (Like a toll road? Can't make the jump if you can't afford to pay for it?)
Enough of this for now. There are several other things I would love to see in this game. It's not going to stop me from playing what there is here, now, though. Thanks for making it and I hope everyone enjoys!
El!
