Interstellar Travel Suggestion

[Peter1x9]

I just thought of this while navigating through several jump points to get from my current location back to Cephid_17.

Scrap the entire system of jump points and use SPEC or another method for interstellar travel to direct travel from one system to any other. The ability to target other solar systems is already in the game via the map on the nav computer-expand on that ability to set your destination and directly travel there. It would sure be much easier and faster to get to Sol or the other homeworlds this way than jumping through 30 or more other systems in the process.

A few ways this can be implemented:

1. Target your destination system, point your ship in that direction and SPEC. Once your ship reaches the boundary of the current solar system, increase SPEC speed by a LARGE amount. If there is another system between your current one and your destination, slow down and travel through that one. If not, only slow down when you reach your destination system or when objects are detected in your path. (probably the best way to keep VS unique)

2. JUMP. Same as above, but when you reach the edge of the system activate the JUMP light, hit the "j" key and teleport to the edge of the destination system. (Think JUMP without flying to Jump points)

3. Substitute the Jump drive with a warp drive. SPEC to the edge of your current system and enter warp speed until you reach the edge of the destination system. (Star trek solution)

Have better ideas? Please add them below.

[triato]

Well, all the current fiction and gameplay are made in some way around the current system. However, I think it would be interesting if other travelling ways could be moded to meet the fiction of some mods.

[jackS]

There exists code in the codebase to do interstellar spec/warp (the Trek mod needed it).

Aspects of VS fiction require that, while SPEC travel between systems must be possible, it is significantly slower and more resource demanding than the usage of jump points (days-to-weeks). For single-player play, this is tenable, and could well show up as part of particular missions, but is very unlikely to become the default mechanic. For MP, there are clearly some time dialation issues - we'll worry about crossing that bridge when enough works to worry about it