I've made contacts, but I'm always so busy that I don't always get back to where they reside. And when I do they never have anything for me. I really wish I could set up a bunch of trade contacts and then bounce between them for missions and contracts to do.
That's actually a legitimate issue currently, super odd that there aren't interstellar phones in a future with interstellar communications for market data... but there's a mod for that!
I was surprised there are no mechanics for surrender and ransom.
So is basically everyone else, but general consensus is that game doesn't really want to give a player an excuse to skip battles, since steep learning curve and a big part of game. Seriously, not hating on newbs or anything, but curve is
waaay steeper than most realize; however, also much more fulfilling once you stop being Sisyphus and finally get that boulder up the hill! I mean, mastering the curve requires both figuring out piloting, weapon layout, CR mastery and skill interaction just for player's ship, PLUS also learning how the orders system works for rest of your fleet (here's a hint: CP will regenerate slowly, but player actually gets a window to issue orders per CP use. So pause game and issue a bunch of orders at once).
Wish there was a way to make salvaging and refurbishing ships a viable business. They just don't sell for enough to make up for the supply cost of recovering them and flying them back somewhere to sell them.
Can't, too easily exploited for $$ by average player. What is interesting is that cost of D-mod ships also had weird cost issues when buying (I guess a ship with a single D-mod is same cost as 4 D-mods).
It would be cool to have a cruiser-sized salvage rig that had a chance to remove d-mods when salavaging ships. Or it could be interesting to be able to cannibalize ships of the same hull type to assemble "rebuilt" versions that got rid of the other d-mods and replaced them with a dedicated "rebuilt" d-mod of some type.
Agreed, kinda weird that biggest salvage ship is only a destroyer class. Balance mostly likely achieved by having terrible speed, so would require some Ox tugs in fleet (since S-modding in augmented burn drive prolly not worth it for big salvage rig). Alternatively, game could split hull mod so there is a better version that affects ship speed, and less efficient version that doesn't affect ship speed.
It would be nice to have pre-made systems thrown into the mix of randomized systems that contained a mini story quest within them. Maybe some pre-scripted standalone encounters. Or just some interesting hand-crafted setpieces to find.
Prolly something added with final polish update, along with all that missing fun lore from just so so many planet ruins
Rather than relying on the black market and avoiding tariffs to make money as a trader/merchant I would rather have more opportunities to take legitimate delivery contracts. I run into potential smuggling jobs all the time, but I'd like more of the normal trade contracts too. I did eventually learn to look for invasions and other trade disruptions that create opportunities where demand was high enough in enough different goods at one location to make tariffed trading really profitable.
This used to be much more viable, but 0.95 update shifted basically all the trade contracts into the contact system. Player used to just be able to fly around and get trade contracts, now they have to land and ask; very tedious...
I had been wanting to play a mostly legit trader/merchant, but the only way to make money in a reasonable time-frame is by trading with pirates and on the black market. That's fine when I want to play a smuggler or mercenary type career, but I'd like to have the option to be a more upstanding business magnate. As it stands, I spend a lot of time smashing up pirate bases in the fringes, yet in the core sector they're my biggest customer! Oh, what a double life I lead!
Game specifically forces player to use black market by setting arbitrarily high trade tariffs. C'est la vie.
I think tariffs ought to be affected by your faction relationships. If you have a maxed out positive relationship with a faction the tariffs should drop down to 15%. Or maybe you should be able to buy "preferred trading partner" certifications for different planets. Where a one-time fee drops your tariffs at that particular location by 5-10% permanently.
There's a mod for that. Actually a few mods that do something like it, but only one specifically specializes in doing it.
Asteroid belts and navigation hazards should be harsh in places you've rarely been. But if you've navigated through a system a hundred times you should eventually be able to cruise through its asteroid belts at full burn with no problem. You've been through there so many times you know what to watch out for and where the main hazards are. Maybe you've flown through a particular electromagnetic or radiation hazard enough times that you've come up with tweaks to your shields and engine coils that mitigate the worst of it.
Space hazards are dynamic. Asteroids aren't locked in place. But hitting six asteroids in a row late game
is super annoying and can really kill CR at inopportune points in game. Multiple solutions have been suggested, I still stand by mine that extra Ox tugs should reduce asteroid strike chance. I'm sure someone will mod a fix eventually anyways...
It would be fun to be able to "re-fit" the color scheme or paint job of your ships. Or at least have a hue/color slider for the details and pin-striping.
More 0.99 polish stuff, lotta sprite recoloring for little payoff. But someday!