I think some contracts are unnecessarily grindy, especially the bulk delivery contracts. They require a lot of repetitive mining and transportation without adding much challenge or interesting gameplay.
I understand that can drive you towards assembling more useful and capable grids, but the contracts are very similar to grinding 50K, 100K, etc items or building similar bases with basic production blocks.
I noticed that there are topics about atmosphere in space bases/grids, but for now for the contracts the player doesn't need to build a whole base with walls and doors, just some structural blocks and the machinery. In the future, the contract should check that the base has atmosphere and a functional airlock. Some bases should provide minimum comfort like shower, toalet, etc.
I think the contracts related to fight are OK in the current state; while we don't have NPCs or more intelligent weapons, they are relatively easy to finish if you find, for example the blind spot of the gatling turret. So atm you can just approach/sneak to the grids with turrets in spacesuit, and you can even kill them with a grinder if they can't fire at you. Probably here we can expect more difficult fight contracts when NPCs are in.
FYI: I'm still a beginner and doing contracts for Vallation, Vallis, Palentine so my notes are about contracts available there.
Some ideas for contracts:
Exploration / Survey contracts – "We lost contact with a survey team somewhere in this 20–30 km area. Locate their base." Instead of getting an exact GPS marker, the player receives an approximate search area. Antennas, ore detectors, visual exploration or signals could help narrow it down. Deep Space Expedition – Detect an unidentified signal or unusual asteroid far away from established stations. Reach it, investigate it and return with data or a specific sample. This would give players a reason to build long-range exploration ships. Lost Expedition – Find an abandoned or crashed ship. Recover its flight recorder/data pad and discover what happened. The wreck could sometimes be in a dangerous location, inside an asteroid or on difficult planetary terrain. Signal Triangulation – Locate a weak transmission by visiting several coordinates and taking measurements. Each measurement narrows down the location of the source. This could eventually lead to a wreck, hidden station, pirate base or rare resource deposit. Satellite Deployment – Build and deploy a satellite at a specified orbital location. Requirements could include an antenna, battery, solar panels and perhaps specific instruments. The satellite must remain operational for a certain amount of time. Communication Network – Establish communication between two locations that cannot directly see each other. The player has to build one or more relay stations or satellites. This would become especially interesting if planets could block radio communication. Search and Rescue – Find a disabled ship, repair enough of its systems to make it operational and either escort it home or tow it to a station. Sometimes the problem could be power, sometimes propulsion, damaged conveyors or lack of hydrogen. Emergency Repair – Travel to a damaged station and diagnose why it is not functioning. Instead of simply welding highlighted blocks, the player might have to discover that a conveyor is broken, a battery is disconnected, hydrogen production has stopped, etc. Hazardous Cargo – Transport fragile or explosive cargo. Excessive acceleration, collision or damage could destroy it. This would make piloting skill matter instead of cargo contracts being only about carrying enough mass. Heavy Transport – Move a large object, container, disabled ship or station module from A to B. The player has to design a suitable tug or transport ship. Prospecting contracts – Locate a particular ore deposit and mark it rather than mine 100,000 kg of it. More advanced versions could require finding several deposits above a certain size. Construction Challenge – Build something that satisfies functional requirements rather than following an exact projection. For example: "Build a mining outpost with 100,000 kg storage capacity, refinery capability, power generation and an antenna." This would reward engineering creativity. Courier / Time-sensitive contracts – Deliver a relatively small cargo within a time limit. Suddenly acceleration, ship design and route planning become more important than cargo capacity. Reconnaissance – Approach a Renegade installation, identify specific structures and return without necessarily destroying anything. A bonus could be awarded for completing the mission without being detected or taking damage. Multi-stage expeditions – A contract could start as a simple investigation and develop into a small story:
Unknown Signal -> Find Wreck ->Recover Datapad -> Follow Coordinates -> Discover Hidden Base -> Repair/Defend/Salvage it...
Contracts for more advanced blocks (rotors, pistons etc)
Deep Drilling Operation – Extract ore from a deposit below a platform where a normal mining ship cannot safely enter. Build a piston-based drilling rig that can extend into the ground, mine a required amount of ore and retract again. Loading Crane – A heavy cargo container must be moved from one platform to another. Build a crane using rotors and pistons, pick up the container and place it in the marked loading area. The challenge is designing something stable enough to handle the mass. Repair the Solar Array – A station's solar panels can no longer track the Sun. Repair or rebuild the rotor mechanism and configure it so the array can rotate again. Deployable Communication Mast – Build a retractable antenna tower using pistons. The antenna must reach a specified height before it can establish a connection with a distant station. Hangar Door Repair – A station's large mechanical hangar door has been destroyed. Reconstruct a working door using pistons, rotors or hinges and demonstrate that it can fully open and close. Ore Elevator – A mining facility is located at the bottom of a shaft. Design a piston/rotor-based elevator that can transport a cargo container between the mine and the surface. Rotating Docking Arm – Build a movable docking arm using a rotor and piston. It must connect a station conveyor network to a ship parked at a specified location. Retractable Landing Gear – Build a vehicle or small spacecraft with mechanically retractable landing gear. The contract checks that the landing gear can move between deployed and retracted positions. Mobile Drill – Build a rover with a piston- or rotor-operated drilling arm. The rover must mine ore without driving directly into the excavation. Asteroid Mining Rig – Establish a temporary mining station on an asteroid and construct an articulated drilling system using pistons and rotors. This could be a more advanced version of the planetary drilling contract. Tracking Dish / Radar Station – Repair or construct a large antenna dish mounted on rotors. The contract requires it to rotate through specified angles or point toward several GPS coordinates. Shipyard Construction Arm – Build a rotor/piston arm equipped with welders and use it to complete a partially constructed ship. This would introduce mechanical blocks and welders in the same contract. Salvage Crane – Recover a valuable reactor or cargo module from a wreck without grinding it down. Build a crane or articulated arm, attach to the module and move it onto a transport platform. Mechanical Excavator – Construct an excavator-style vehicle where the mining head is controlled by multiple pistons/rotors rather than simply attaching drills to the front of a ship.
I like this feedback
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