Q: CMDR Heisenberg B. Damned

The newsletter said:

“human-created POIs will also not be encountered as far out from human space as they are at the moment”

I think that’s pretty welcome but are there going to be no POI’s when far away from the bubble or are we going to be getting different POI’s if out exploring?

If different do you have any hints on what non human-created POI’s will contain?

A: Finding ‘tea’ is maybe excessive whilst out in the black and shouldn’t find human rubbish so far out. Lost diamondback is part of “the missing”

Natural POIs

‘Other stuff’ that MB isn’t allowed to talk about!

Q: Imeraxes

Any news about POI in space like Antares wreckship, whith may be, CQC asset ?

Cheers, CMDR Iméraxes

A: Still looking at using CQC structures in the main game but NOT part of 2.1

Q: Alec Turner

“Scanning a nav beacon will give Commanders the exploration data for the system (if you don’t already have it).” – does that mean we no longer need to carry a discovery scanner in order to get data for systems with nav beacons?

A: Yes FD Always wanted to do more with Nav Beacons

Doesn’t supplant Exploration Data

Only within populated space

MB Always has a scanner because you never know…

Ed too

If you’re on a mission the nav beacon can point you in the right direction. You can find the body the mission can be fulfilled at then need to search that planet / moon.

Q: Barking_Mad

As well as the graphical improvements to the ring systems, has any further work been done on planetary surfaces?

A: Rings improved distance as well as up close Updated surface terrain system (higher res AND better performance)

Lessons learned from the past

Q: sensai25

Are enemy ships limited around bases to attack ?

A: No but you’re more likely to encounter them around existing ‘stuff’ Got ways to deal with ‘rocket spam’

Can encounter ships flying from one base to another

Looking to increase security response where appropriate

Q: M4rt1n

In the beta before the release of ED there were cool weapon variants, like overcharged, low-heat, focused, high-impact etc. which somehow disappeared upon release. Will the engineers’ crafting options somehow re-introduce these variants, or will there be totally different?

A: These variants are no longer compatible with Engineers and will no longer be in game at all

BUT you can do much better cool cool stuff with Engineers

Q: Bliss

Will the new Ship AI be able to handle canyon flight on a planet’s surface?

A: Yes, I’ve seen them do just that, but sometimes they’re better than we are!

Q: Arubeto

Newsletter 120: “For Commanders who prefer to roam the galaxy looking for wars, the Pilots Federation has upgraded the GalNet system, so Commanders using 2.1 AND 1.6 will have a ‘state’ filter in the galaxy map which will highlight if a system is at war, or suffering a famine, or some other situation Commanders want information about.”



I think this has lead to some misunderstandings. Can you confirm that the exploration data acquired this way can’t be sold, but only gives you the information about the system (therefore imitating the process of buying exploration data about a system from Universal Cartographics instead of imitating exploring as system manually?

A: Yes it does, it can not be sold.

Q: ape808

About the new Galaxy map filters:

Since we will be able to filter for system states (boom/famine/war etc), will these be having more effect on gameplay? I think it may have been mentioned during the Trading livestream that the devs were considering giving states more of an impact on markets and the missions available. Is this the case for 2.1 and can you give a bit more detail if so?

A: Yes, we’re pushing the effects that states will have. Will drive missions, affect traffic, affect commodity prices (this is exaggerated)

Q: DarkMatterGenerator

“Scanning a nav beacon will give Commanders the exploration data for the system (if you don’t already have it).”



How did this decision arise- what is the gameplay and design thought behind it since it really changes a basic function in game from 1.5 years of play?

A: Always been a need to do something with nav beacons, it’s just ‘filling in those blanks’

Q: CMDR Dana Jessica Booth

Which ships exactly will be getting the ‘drives’ upgrade. Does this mean FSD or Thrusters?



Just the sidewinder? All ships that equip class 1-3 thrusters?

If its thrusters will any of these changes come over into the cqc flight model?



Also regarding 2.1 will someone take another pass at the Cobra mk4 and give it the massive speed buff it needs? (it’s currently slower than a T-7…)

A: Sizes 2 and 3 (MB thinks!) very much enhanced performance – still needs some tweaking Makes smaller ships a lot of fun to play in

Racing with more speed is more fun!

Prices will be not tremendously expensive but gotta rem this is the ultimate upgrade for that slot, so…

Q: ape808 (again)

Will the AI ships near the surface apply to the full range of low to high-G bodies?



If so, were there any special considerations the AI devs had to take to get the ships to behave well in high-G conditions?

A: they are very wary and won’t even attempt some of the high g worlds. Some ships can handle High G worlds better than others

Q: Dave G

Within the new mission system, will there also be changes to support “Navy” missions for the players who are focussed on naval progression? Also, will mission successes result in the introduction to other missions or mission givers?

A: Will go into more detail in the news letter. MB REALLY wants to see a career in the military but will live with this for now.

You develop a relationship with mission givers who give you better and better missions. Also your Pilots Fed Ranking counts on how they talk to you.