USS Utterly Stupid System

[Avago-Earo]

I put this on the Frontier Forums too. I have to say it because I loved Elite on the BBC and the Commodore 64. But this:

USS: unbelievably Stupid Sequence
I just don't know what to say, I really don't. I find it difficult to get immersed in 400 billion star systems when the USS Weak/Strong signal appears. It feels like (please say you feel differently and I'm wrong) a little program running on the old IF (RND) ELSE THEN GOTO. It's as if you could go to an RES site to find your mission target and there is a proportionate chance it will happen. Also find the same target at a Nav beacon, or hanging round outside the no fire zone.

I've moaned but not much on these forums but whichever way I've got a strong jaw so say what you want. I can take it. You won't get called a troll or a griefer or any other modern word that's churned up just for speaking your mind. Good for you for still having a mind!

Do you do this on a mission?... Go round in circles waiting for USS to show up. Then like busses there's three of them. Then thinking 'oh I bet that one I didn't target is the one...' Then eventually getting it and going back and claiming 'it'?

Do you? That's what happens to me and that's why I come back to the game and then get annoyed.

Like I said I'm built of tough stuff and can take it on the chin. I just want to know if I'm the only one bothered by this 'random' stuff.

Fly excited and if you can let me know your secret (not 'make your own story' that's like getting a HG Wells book that turns out to be a blank exercise pad and saying 'write it yourself')

Here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=151780

Take care boys and girls! xxx

[StaticRadion]

I think the idea of the USS came about out of the understanding that while traveling at supercruise, aka FTL, within a system it would be near impossible to detect anything smaller than a group of planets without sensors. As such CMDRs are limited to or have to rely on sensors to pinpoint small objects.

The USS themselves being smaller than the average asteroid belt will remain mostly indistinguishable from each other with the exception being sensors telling us relative size as a threat warning. While I find such limited information annoying at times I understand the limits of the tech we are dealing with.

[clivewil]

i can live with the USS system myself, but the one thing that really gets me is that your target can always magically be found right in front of you (relatively)

i would much prefer something along the lines of a trigger that shows up e.g. 3 different likely search locations in the system, or at least diverts you to a different part of the system than right bang in front of you

[PulsarShark]

I noticed yesterday that USSes do not (or at least, do not always) depend much on location; they will show up wherever the player is. I took a break to finish some food while supercruising way past the edge of some system in the middle of a long string of jumps. I was just pointed at the next star, about 9LY away, and going at max SC (I got way above 1,000c). Signal sources kept popping up in front of me, more than 1, 2, 3LY outside the system I'd just left. (!)

I guess some people get tired of the frenetic pace of jumps and decide to take the long way and enjoy the luxurious accommodations of their Anacondas, Clippers, Orcas... or they're insane and choose to spend that extra time in their Eagle, Vulture..

[Sendraks]

i would much prefer something along the lines of a trigger that shows up e.g. 3 different likely search locations in the system, or at least diverts you to a different part of the system than right bang in front of you

That would be my preference as well. The only part of the USS system I don't like is the randomly flying around waiting for one to spawn in front of me.

[Philip Coutts]

I think quite a lot of people thought the USS system was a placeholder but it seems to be here to stay. I don't particularly like them but they serve a purpose. I think the whole scanning set up could be vastly improved.

[Walter]

I wouldn’t go quite as far a Avago-Earo - perhaps as far as Unusually Silly Stuff - but he’s absolutely right about their rather mechanical nature and many readers will have been reminded of their introduced to programming through BBC Basic.
But I still do the hunt and kill missions while wondering why, as trading is a more profitable use of the time. But mostly I wonder why and how these characters have got themselves into these situations.
There’s the Funeral Convoy sedately flying from one place to another in regular space.At those speeds everybody will be dead by the time they reach their destination.
The Wedding Party will have bred several generations and the on-board society broken down to tribal groups like a representation of the Major Factions in miniature.
The ‘innocent’ group where nobody’s wanted and nobody attacks you. You know they’re up to something but can’t prove anything.
The cops and robbers who have set the scene and are all waiting for you to turn up so they can play their parts with you as the hero.
The group of three or four pirates and an innocent hauler or two, where the pirates take turns to passively present themselves to your lasers.
The group of three Vultures in the Strong Signal USS who you studiously ignore unless you’re feeling particularly reckless.
But you all know all these. There are others, equally predictable, but it must be difficult to create enough (RND) situations when there are so many other parts of the game that still need polish.
So when you’re approaching that oh-so-compliant and convenient USS, just remember you’re doing this in support of your Favourite Faction (nobody still investigates a USS out of curiosity, do they?). Fill in the story lines of these poor NPCs who were dragged into a life of crime after an unhappy childhood and have some compassion as you blast them to bits. Play USS Bingo for Big Prizes - or at least for the satisfaction that you can predict what’s to come.
And if you don’t like it, don’t do it.

[Flip]

I noticed yesterday that USSes do not (or at least, do not always) depend much on location; they will show up wherever the player is. I took a break to finish some food while supercruising way past the edge of some system in the middle of a long string of jumps. I was just pointed at the next star, about 9LY away, and going at max SC (I got way above 1,000c). Signal sources kept popping up in front of me, more than 1, 2, 3LY outside the system I'd just left. (!)

In fact they always appear near you, how near depending on your speed. For example if you SC at the minimum speed, as soon as one appears, it will be at the right distance for you to exit SC immediately (unless this was changed recently, as I haven't used USSes in ages).

[Kiltrathi]

I noticed yesterday that USSes do not (or at least, do not always) depend much on location; they will show up wherever the player is. I took a break to finish some food while supercruising way past the edge of some system in the middle of a long string of jumps. I was just pointed at the next star, about 9LY away, and going at max SC (I got way above 1,000c). Signal sources kept popping up in front of me, more than 1, 2, 3LY outside the system I'd just left. (!)

In fact they always appear near you, how near depending on your speed. For example if you SC at the minimum speed, as soon as one appears, it will be at the right distance for you to exit SC immediately (unless this was changed recently, as I haven't used USSes in ages).

No, that's still the case, travel at the minimal speed and the USS appears at the drop out point, so you can exit SC immediately.

[Gorf]

It might just be my imagination, but it seems that in uninhabited systems, once you're in deep space (100ls from the star) USSs spawn more* frequently.

* "more" is a relative term.