I have tried to keep these ideas within the realms of possibility for the devs, so attainable and i think would vastly imprive gameplay. some subtle, some not so much. - Nanite modules. Could: -- auto salvage cored structures. Would use alot of power and be quite a large module to offset it but would reduce lot of grinding. maybe make it only target certain objects, or search for certain materials and salvage what contains that material. -- nanites could also auto fix a structure to template.... would be nice as repair stations can be a little finnicky. -- auto loot boxes in range where there is no core on selected POI. - sound updates - thinking some cool vulcan cannon brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt sounds, more bassy explosions etc. nullify most sounds while in space. - loot container contents auto go into connected container - science module - given time, will scan an entire sector and track moving objects. either requires minigame of some sort to be completed, or have a NPC crew do it at a slower pace. more antennas make it more effective. - ability to go into a sensor stealth mode, turns off everything bar life support so you can only be detected visually. turn thrusters off too for extra bonus. more thrusting you do the bigger your EM signature. this means no shields, no weapons etc, but you are basically invisible. good for new players sneaking to an asteroid, or just to sneak past orbital defenses. - crouch ability... - auto miner turret - hover over a vein / near an asteroid and it will auto harvest the selected ore type. while not as slow as autominers, it should be much slower than using manual mining techniques. - auto harvesting hydroponics which feed into a fridge. - mobile sentry turrets (think aliens franchise) would use fuel and ammo (of course) and has limited health. - some effects such as screen shake when you ship takes a big hit, or an armoured giga stomps toward you. basically stuff which increases immersion. - drones. ability to manufacture and remote control drones. combat drones, mining drones., scout drones, repair drones (nanites would make this un-needed) could be upgraded to increase range. and defense drones could be given orders such as orbit station/ship, return to drone bay, attack target X etc. some ideas here overlap slightly (ways of mining etc), but this is intentional as it allows people to get creative in building things for a specific purpose. for example a drone carrier, or planet cracking auto mine ship etc.
I like some of the ideas. I think we can all agree that sound needs looking at. The stealth idea seems good, as it requires no extra items. Just a question: If everything is turned off (bar life support) then does that mean that your scanner will not work as well? That would make things interesting and also harder to see enemy and asteroids. If you leave the scanner on then you will be easily detected again. For the auto harvest: I'd rather have NPC's have functions you can give them. One being looking after and planting food you have given them. People would like the crouching function, so yes.
