[Suggestion] Research Kha'ak Hive Location Scanner.

[G315t]

It's always very annoying to search for Kha'ak hives to get rid of that little annoying bug nests.

Can you please add a way to find them a bit easier? Because the options right now are very limited.

Sector scouting only works as long as there is still fog of war left in the area, otherwise the scouting order seems to fail.

The sector edges do not expand when I order a ship close to the edge, which would be needed to set up a manual scouting route (the Nests are always very far outside) This is also not a good way.

Sitting in the sector and manually looking around is also no good way because of the drawing distance.

And cheesing the system by looking them up at the building plot view feels wrong.

Here is an idea how this could be added:

Give a new research option to Boso-Ta, make it available after you killed your first hive.

The first step of the research let's call it "hive scanner" would unlock a 2. repeatable research option, that would be "perform a scan" each scan will reveal the map location of a random Kha'ak hive.

What do you think?

[Falcrack]

I would like something lIke this. There is a hive somewhere in Nopileos's Fortune 2 due to a bunch of my miners dying there, but this sector is massive, and for the life of me I can't find it

[Modan]

Sounds like a good idea to me. The current tools we have in the game don't work against the khaak, so we need a new tool.

[alt3rn1ty]

Sector scouting only works as long as there is still fog of war left in the area, otherwise the scouting order seems to fail.

The sector edges do not expand when I order a ship close to the edge, which would be needed to set up a manual scouting route (the Nests are always very far outside) This is also not a good way.

Sitting in the sector and manually looking around is also no good way because of the drawing distance.

Very good points, these always annoy me too.

Maybe something like the unusual but excellent Low Frequency scanner in X3 Farnhams Legacy (LFL).

[Feloidea]

Or another option would be to give the newly introduced scanning array (don't remember what it's called ingame) station module the extra benefit of highlighting Khaak installations within the sector (even if it's outside it's reveal range). Would make the module more valuable other than just being a super satellite you need to build on a station.

[vvvvvvvv]

Or another option would be to give the newly introduced scanning array (don't remember what it's called ingame) station module the extra benefit of highlighting Khaak installations within the sector (even if it's outside it's reveal range). Would make the module more valuable other than just being a super satellite you need to build on a station.

Actually why not make it a research.

[Feloidea]

Or another option would be to give the newly introduced scanning array (don't remember what it's called ingame) station module the extra benefit of highlighting Khaak installations within the sector (even if it's outside it's reveal range). Would make the module more valuable other than just being a super satellite you need to build on a station.

Actually why not make it a research.

The research (as proposed here) would be a repeatable one-off ping. Which is fine, but would be an unending resource sink as you would do it over and over again to find Khaak installations.
Meanwhile if such a functionality were given to the sensor station module, you could just plop one of these on a station in a sector and have it covered permanently. Covering all sectors you wish to (mining/production hotspots for you and wherever you wish to curtail Khaak activity) would necessitate building more but each and every instance would be a permament solution.

There's pros and cons to both. I just put my suggestion out there for consideration.

[c0d3warrior]

It would be convent and save clicks.

I would think a lore friendly method would be to add it as a research option if you already have a station in the system with the new radar module. Maybe a "deep space scanner" but it would take time to detect the hive/outpost.

Research requirements could finally be to use kyon crystals.

[vvvvvvvv]

The research (as proposed here) would be a repeatable one-off ping.

Well that's another possibility. But what I meant is that radar dishes do not have ability to detect khaak by default. Means it should be unlocked through a research.

you could just plop one of these on a station in a sector and have it covered permanently.

You can do this now, but you'll need seven stations. You know, in hex pattern. I actually recall doing this in one of the spawn sectors.

[G315t]

You can do this now, but you'll need seven stations. You know, in hex pattern. I actually recall doing this in one of the spawn sectors.

Thats why it's not a practical solution. If you have to place 7 radar stations in almost every sector (because they can spawn in most of the sectors that have Mineral resources in them) that is a bit much.

Thats why I think a Kha'ak scan research would be a nice addition.

The 2. best solution imho would be if the scouts could be sent on a scouting job even if the fog of war was already cleared. That would still require many ships on scout jobs but better than having no working options.

[vvvvvvvv]

Thats why it's not a practical solution. If you have to place 7 radar stations in almost every sector

There are about 9 sectors where HIVE and not outpost can spawn. If you detect that and nuke the hive, you'll get a breathing room.

Also, 7 station thing is largely for sectors where khaak keep reappearing. They do not do that in every sector.

[Feloidea]

Hence why my suggestion was the sensor array station module gets a special baked-in property in that it will see/ping the location of any Khaak installation in the same sector even if it's outside of its 500km (iirc) reveal area. As in you only need to build one for the purpose of scanning for Khaak in the entire sector.

Now that I think of it, Egosoft could make it one-off research to give it that property (i.e.: upgrade it) and perhaps give it other upgrades you can research (such as seeing warp anomalies and lockboxes respectively).

But mostly, my proposal is just for the convenience of building the sensor module once and be done with it for the entire sector, rinse and repeat for other sectors as needed.

[grapedog]

I would LOVE changes for how to detect kha'ak locations...

All we really need is a reliable way to kind of track which sectors have the nests. I don't mind doing some work to find it, but just randomly going from sector to sector and doing super large circles at the edge of explored space with long range scans, and scanning the sky to see if you can see a nest at a distance against a background... it's not fun.

I also don't want to go around building giant antenna arrays everywhere...


-Perhaps when the kha'ak are attacking in the same sector as the nest they could be named slightly differently, or a different unit spawns in... like sentinel variants... slightly tougher versions of the regular ships.

-I like the research angle too... perhaps by wiping out a couple different kha'ak swarms, you get scoop up a piece of loot, bring it to Boso Ta, and do some research... and it shows you where the kha'ak came from, leading you to where it jumped from.

-Or it could be a generic mission offer, like go to these 8 locations and do a long range scan and you should find it. Or talk to these people on stations who were attacked, and maybe they can tell you hints of where to look.

[Y-llian]

Or talk to these people on stations who were attacked, and maybe they can tell you hints of where to look.

I quite like this idea though the research “ping” option is good too. Regardless, the gameplay loop here does need refinement. The explore command becomes useless after the first use (which in itself gives other problems like having to manually scout for rebuilt SYs, EQs and Wharfs - also a laborious process).

Perhaps the “ping” option could become available once you’ve researched up to a certain level, but Grapedog’s rumour idea can be there from the start. My logic here, is that the resource sink for research is more useful for advanced players and less so, when you’re just getting some miners going early on.

Best
Y.

[Alan Phipps]

This does crop up again every few years or so.

[G315t]

This does crop up again every few years or so.

And what do we learn from this? Right. It needs a change.

It is not a big problem in earlier game because you can just send a few scouts into the sector.

But this mechanic does only work as long as there is fog of war left. If you send your scout to look for a hive 1-2 times the fog of war is gone and then the scouting order does not work anymore.

We need another option that is viable in late game. Thats why I proposed the repeatable research way because you can then also use it as an additional resource sink.

[Raptor34]

Hence why my suggestion was the sensor array station module gets a special baked-in property in that it will see/ping the location of any Khaak installation in the same sector even if it's outside of its 500km (iirc) reveal area. As in you only need to build one for the purpose of scanning for Khaak in the entire sector.

Now that I think of it, Egosoft could make it one-off research to give it that property (i.e.: upgrade it) and perhaps give it other upgrades you can research (such as seeing warp anomalies and lockboxes respectively).

But mostly, my proposal is just for the convenience of building the sensor module once and be done with it for the entire sector, rinse and repeat for other sectors as needed.

Why not incentivize building multiples by having them be different modes for the sensor arrays? A Khaak detection mode, an area detection mode and all those other things. Obviously each one can only function in one mode at at time, so just build more.
Besides, its's not really necessary to see the entire area in your rear areas anyway, so having a sensor array be exclusively for detecting Khaak hives shouldn't be an issue by the time it starts being a serious problem.

And also I have another idea. Like nowadays how modern AESA sensors can both be radars and also communication tools. Why not give sensor arrays a way to "ping' stations for trade information and what not? It'll be another one of the aforementioned sensor modes of course, but the idea is that rather than needing to park assets next to each station, you just build one of these and it'll just automatically reveal all trade information and stations in the sector. Then maybe certain stations like pirates or whatever can have a do not reveal tag, otherwise factories would obviously want to advertise their wares for more customers. It'll be nice before you get the trade subscription. And it'll also be multipurpose and in case say Khaak pops up, you can turn it to Khaak detection mode for a bit. It'll have more gameplay at least than just being a giant satellite.

[Tilen]

I second this suggestion. Being able to find, or at least define the general location of, the Kha’ak installations would be nice instead of this endless cat-and-mouse game.

[Feloidea]

Hence why my suggestion was the sensor array station module gets a special baked-in property in that it will see/ping the location of any Khaak installation in the same sector even if it's outside of its 500km (iirc) reveal area. As in you only need to build one for the purpose of scanning for Khaak in the entire sector.

Now that I think of it, Egosoft could make it one-off research to give it that property (i.e.: upgrade it) and perhaps give it other upgrades you can research (such as seeing warp anomalies and lockboxes respectively).

But mostly, my proposal is just for the convenience of building the sensor module once and be done with it for the entire sector, rinse and repeat for other sectors as needed.

Why not incentivize building multiples by having them be different modes for the sensor arrays? A Khaak detection mode, an area detection mode and all those other things. Obviously each one can only function in one mode at at time, so just build more.
Besides, its's not really necessary to see the entire area in your rear areas anyway, so having a sensor array be exclusively for detecting Khaak hives shouldn't be an issue by the time it starts being a serious problem.

*snip*

I'd love that, but I think that wouldn't be possible due to game limitations because I don't think the game can switch on/off such properties. If the sensor array could do different modes seperately it'd probably come down to just having different versions of the same (but-not-same.jpg) module you can build. Though if Egosoft wants to prove me wrong I'm all for it. More utility and informations the player can use is good in my books.

[Raptor34]

Hence why my suggestion was the sensor array station module gets a special baked-in property in that it will see/ping the location of any Khaak installation in the same sector even if it's outside of its 500km (iirc) reveal area. As in you only need to build one for the purpose of scanning for Khaak in the entire sector.

Now that I think of it, Egosoft could make it one-off research to give it that property (i.e.: upgrade it) and perhaps give it other upgrades you can research (such as seeing warp anomalies and lockboxes respectively).

But mostly, my proposal is just for the convenience of building the sensor module once and be done with it for the entire sector, rinse and repeat for other sectors as needed.

Why not incentivize building multiples by having them be different modes for the sensor arrays? A Khaak detection mode, an area detection mode and all those other things. Obviously each one can only function in one mode at at time, so just build more.
Besides, its's not really necessary to see the entire area in your rear areas anyway, so having a sensor array be exclusively for detecting Khaak hives shouldn't be an issue by the time it starts being a serious problem.

*snip*

I'd love that, but I think that wouldn't be possible due to game limitations because I don't think the game can switch on/off such properties. If the sensor array could do different modes seperately it'd probably come down to just having different versions of the same (but-not-same.jpg) module you can build. Though if Egosoft wants to prove me wrong I'm all for it. More utility and informations the player can use is good in my books.

They should try at least, there is a lot of fun things mode switching allows you to do.
Like imagine being able to choose between super charging your shields or weapons. Basically a simplified form of power to shields or weapons and in a way a counterpart to travel mode.
Or for factories/shipyards, imagine a super wasteful mode for when you're resource rich but time poor. It doubles your resource consumption, but halves your production time.