mkmin
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Posted - 2011.03.02 20:40:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: Nova Fox
This has been observed as early as the 1700s when they would get two clocks set them up perfectly and one ship goes on a long voyage and the other clock in port when the clock returns its all out of whack.
Yeah... this has nothing to do with using a pendulum clock, carved with a stone hand axe out of a sea sponge, trying to function on a rocking roiling ship. There must have been a time vortex involved somewhere.
Most of the ideas posted in this thread are just space junk will get removed from the overview and ignored by the players. In fact, most of space is only used for target selection and tactical navigation, and all travel and other interactions with the game being done on the overview and other interface windows.
The question needs to be broken into 2 parts. on-grid space, and in-system space.
On-grid space can be filled up with space junk, maybe making some of it actually useful. I'm afraid most of it will be ignored, just like billboards. I remember when there was a billboard glitch (maybe just on sisi) that made the billboards take up your whole screen. I kinda liked that, and that would be cool if they had some interesting content.
In-system space would need some world shaping to fill up. It would be really cool if world shaping was changed to be dynamic instead of being static and needing a downtime. I'm talking orbiting planets, rogue planets, celestial events, and the other stuff mentioned. In the fluff, all systems suitable for a jumpgate are supposed to be binary stars. Why isn't that rendered in space? But yes, this stuff would be cool, but still get ignored.
If there aren't more places in a system to go, and things worth doing once you get there, space will always feel empty. Look at the numbers of unused stations, and the hidden space junk.
A note on system-wide asteroid belts: yes the idea is realistic, but most of the ideas suggested for it would make for awful gameplay. Part of the point of a belt is having a specific place to go and something specific to do there, including interacting with other players. An update of the asteroid belt system would be a good opportunity to nerf bots and the old nonsensical belt system, but it needs to be updated in a way that still provokes player interaction. Maybe there should be NPC survey teams directing pod pilots to the minable hotspots, that when mined out respawn somewhere else in the system.
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