"Build a mining station" feedback Alpha 0.16.0 Build 8

[ZakaryX]

I decided to try out one of the new station building missions and have run into several issues that I'm not sure how to overcome. First it seems as if you're supposed to receive a cargo shuttle full of supplies for this mission. I built a cargo port on my ship and never got a shipment. I reloaded the game and built an asteroid cargo port and still didn't get a cargo shuttle of supplies.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2892897513

After giving up with that I just went ahead and built the station with everything on the list here.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2892894661
The problem is that I have no idea how to "release" the station to that faction. I checked the faction tab,mission tab,tried hailing them, tried abandoning it. I'm assuming there's a button somewhere and I just can't seem to find where the hell it is. Right now the only other thing I can think of is that the station is still not at 100% health. I'm going to wait and see if something pops up once it is.

Any help/advice is appreciated.

*edit*
As I tabbed back in after I wrote this I saw a flashing blue message in the top right that tells me that the station is ready to be released. I'm not sure if I was just blind or if some trigger happened while I was typing.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2892900211

It looks like the cargo ship is for the colony once it's finished? If that's the case my final feedback would be that it's definitely not worth the time or money it takes to build this. The amount of money doesn't come close to the cost of how much it would take to build this station which I made just about as small as possible.

[aksel_bugbyte]

The blue message at the top right also has an activate message for receiving the cargo shuttle, before venturing out to the place to build the station. Some missions will have the player rendezvous with a NPC ship to get the cargo, while others have the entity giving the mission also provide the Cargo Shuttle, but it needs to be activated within the blue message top right.

So it needs to be opened and activated to receive the cargo shuttle. It is not entirely clear and will have to think about making it more clear.

[ZakaryX]

My first instinct is to check the mission screen when it comes to any kind of quest in a game. Maybe also have a button there that's clearly marked for calling in the cargo shuttle and turning in the mission once complete? Like "step one call in cargo shuttle" and have it blue and blinking just like the one on the side of screen. There's tons of things popping up and going away on the right side of the screen so I almost never bother to look unless it's a red alert like a fire.

My other instinct was to hail the questgiver directly and try to do it that way. Plus if there was quest specific dialogue option you could have it show up as a different color which would immediately draw my attention away from the blue choices. Or have the captain hail you and ask if you're ready for the cargo to be sent over.

Alternatively the tutorial just needs a handholding section that teaches you to always click blue flashing boxes on the right side of your screen. Of course it could just be that I'm super blind and that everyone else will find it immediately lol. I'll definitely try to find another station and attempt it again now that I know how it works.

[Nebelbiber]

I agree that there should be a button to start the mission in the missions screen. Having a dialog option would be good too.

[Ash Tré]

I just ran into a little roadblock after accepting a base-building mission. Apparently, you have to "claim" the asteroid where the station will be built, and that means you must have enough free ship points for that size asteroid.

I accepted this mission before I realized that all my ship points are used up. Now I have a choice to either temporarily abandon one of my ships (which would be a hassle -- moving the crew and jumping out and back in to the sector), or to renege on the mission (which would cost me money and reputation).

My suggestion would be to allow the game to treat the stations as something other than a ship. The player can't fly away with it anyway, so it's not part of his fleet, and shouldn't take up ship points. Maybe temporarily claiming an asteroid to build a station should cost 0 ship points, or some hidden value in the game logic which players can't see or worry about. I realize that the "ship points" tally is important for the game to figure out how many ships can fit into one map, so hopefully this solution is feasible and doesn't break the game logic.

The other suggestion is to disallow accepting this type of mission if the player has not enough ship points.

[Nebelbiber]

Originally posted by נתראה במסיבה, ריכ:

I just ran into a little roadblock after accepting a base-building mission. Apparently, you have to "claim" the asteroid where the station will be built, and that means you must have enough free ship points for that size asteroid.

Thanks for pointing that out, I haven't thought about this.

My suggestion would be to allow the game to treat the stations as something other than a ship.

+1

[Ash Tré]

I have another suggestion to discuss, involving base building.

The Power Conduit is a great way to connect different "pods" on a base, making the base look truly "outpost"-like and aesthetic. An asteroid base made up of several separate "pods" has a real science fiction feel, much nicer than one big rectangular building.

But as it is now, each pod still needs its own life support equipment to give each pod a liveable atmosphere.

Maybe the power conduit should be changed to a general utility umbilical, both for carrying electricity and for sharing atmosphere between different structures. This would allow building a handful of small, cozy pods, without having to duplicate gas scrubbers, oxygen generators, vapor collectors, etc.

On the other hand, maybe it's technically more complicated than sharing electricity, since the oxygen gas, water vapor and smoke are modeled in a more complicated way. Just a suggestion to consider and maybe discuss. Even in this current state, the base building is a great "diversion" from some of the repeatability of a long playthrough.

[Nebelbiber]

Keep in mind that you only really need the life support equipment in the leisure and sleeping places. If you build a "pod" with only machinery in it, you can just let the crew wear space suits in there ;)

[Ash Tré]

Originally posted by Nebelbiber:

Keep in mind that you only really need the life support equipment in the leisure and sleeping places. If you build a "pod" with only machinery in it, you can just let the crew wear space suits in there ;)

You might be right, I'll have to check in-game. From what I remember, some facilities show the alarm for "bad atmosphere" if the oxygen level is too low, or smoke is present. The shuttle bay aboard ships is one, so I assume the mining pod bays are similar.

But yes, that's one of the benefits of breaking things up into separate buildings on a base. If you have hazardous and noisy equipment, it makes sense to keep it in a completely separate structure from the dormitory / dining area / medical bay.