Tau-65 Replacement (concept/idea/silly drawing)

[Ironwatsas]

I'm not putting it in System Submissions since, obviously, it ain't done. But I've had an idea for a redesign of the Tau-65 system I'd like to suggest, or atleast throw out there for others to consider.

The current GC Guard system is a bit overbuilt, and considering the direction Disco is moving, somewhat pointless. So, after a brief random discussion in LWB chat, Paint.Net, and 10 minuites of imgination, I came up with this:



As you can see, it's just a vague splotch of a concept. But it illustrates my amazing idea, so everything is subject to change.

The basic jist of it is thus; the System was once an old colony made by either Hedeyoshi Era Kusari, Samura, or the Colonial Remnant (whoever makes sense). They managed to partly terraform the desert planet ("Assam") and install a docking ring, HOWEVER, they eventually discovered some very hostile and dangerous wildlife (Sandworms!), and rising costs and changing political climate made it impossible to continue. The colony was later lost to starcharts due to shifting Jumpholes.

Fast forward to the "Present Day", the Jumpholes have realigned, exposing the Tau-65 system to the rest of Sirius. The colony planet has been rediscovered, with it's automated maintnance systems having kept the Docking Ring working, but most of the orbital infrastructure has decayed to wreckage. Now a number of groups are seeking to recolonize the system.

So, for the stuff (which I mostly named Indian for now, but it can be changed);

Planet Assam: The centerpiece of the system. It is an abandoned planet that dosen't really sell anything except generic stuff, but serves as an excellent base for various groups. It has a Freelancer or Neutral IDed docking ring, effectively serving as a Planet-sized Freeport. However, due to it's lawlessness, a number of groups are fighting over it (both on the surface and in space), and there is alot of hostile wildlife on the planet. Basically, any player faction could RP colonize it or fight over it or whatever.


Dhaka: Moon of Assam. A dull lifeless rock without much stuff on it. But a Moon it is.

Unnamed Scrap Fields: A bunch of leftovers from Assam's development; the wrecks of a few stations and ships that were abandoned when development halted and left to rot. The Tau-44 hole is in one of these, and the other is full of weapon platforms set to shoot everyone. The fields are dangerous, but contain minable scrap (possibly premium scrap!) and other goodies like weapon drops and old wrecks.

Bengal Field: A field of rock asteroids and a teal nebula (think the Nampo Cloud in Tohoku). It was mined for part of the colony initiative and has a few useful metal deposits that the IMG and Samura might be interested in. An abandoned mining base/shipyard called Chennai is stationed within, as well as the Tau-63 Jumphole (if we decide to keep it, I have a concept for that too).

Chennai Port: An old mining outpost, with some large drydocks for mining ships (or a collection of non-collected depots and objects in the style of Invergordon spaceport). Also either Freelancer or Neutral, but has seen some use over the years. Would also be worthwhile for Independent Miners or Traders to colonize as a sort of way-station.

Yakumo Cloud: A stray drift of the Hokkaido cloud that floated through the Jumphole. The Golden C. have built a fortified outpost there to act as a fallback point and guard the way to Hokkaido.

(not) Morioka Base: GC base in the Yakumo Cloud. I know the name Morioka is taken but another name can be applied. It serves as the De-facto GC "Guard" base selling high-level equipment and maybe some ships. Has a few gun turrets around it too but is otherwise fairly basic.

Kerala Dust Cloud: Sparse dust field. Interesting to fly through and maybe with a wreck or something.

Unnamed Planet: That round pink stripey thing at the bottom of the image. Is supposed to be a Gas Giant of some kind that mostly sits there as a nice background piece. Pretty to look at but that's it.

Vindhya Planetoid + Coma: This is the interesting one. Vindhya is basically meant to be a small rocky planet that is gradually breaking apart due to low gravity, as it orbits, it leaves behind a field of dust and fragments (the planetary coma) trailing behind it. Might be worth putting some Diamonds or something mineable in, but it's mostly meant to look cool.

Kashimir Nebula: A big yellow nebula full of rocks. Walker nebula style. I personally think the Yellow contrasts nicely with the Blues and Whites and wierd Purple/Orange colors that Kusari and the Taus mostly have. Also supposed to contain....

Mysterious Ancient Minefield: The original Tau-65 system lore said there was supposedly a minefield in the middle of the system (there isn't). I was thinking that would be neat to have. A mysterious minefield protecting... something. I was thinking either 1: An inactive Nomad Jumgate, 2: An inactive Human Jumpgate, 3: a Baxter Object, or 4: Something else cool/wierd/ancient/mysterious. It shouldn't be explained in lore just WHAT it is, leave that to player researchers to find out.

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So that's out there. Feel free to give feedback, since I thought it best to atleast throw the idea out there. I don't want to see T-65 removed outright, since it's a useful back-door into Kusari, but as it sits now it is ridiculously overbuilt for what the GC need or have any right to have.

This kind of "Freeport" style system could bring alot of activity to the region as groups try to claim the 'Free Planet!' for themselves or collect some of the goodies. If anyone wants to help design it or offer feedback, that's appreciated.

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All that begins must end.

[AeternusDoleo]

Be aware that zones can only be spherical, ellipsoid, or cube-shaped when assigning asteroid fields and the likes. That planetary coma of yours is a nice idea...

The "Mysterious weapon turrets" and "Mysterious minefield" ideas need to be ditched unless you can properly explain them. Miners wouldn't lay those, and the GC wouldn't either given the remote location of that system. The infocards describing the current T65 system have no basis in lore - frankly, the system is too overdeveloped for what it's function is. T63 will not connect to T65 in 4.87.

A colonizable planet with a docking ring is a bad idea. If a planet supports life, the nearest house will move in and gobble it up at the first opportunity. Kusari is short on living space for it's population - a planet not even needed to be terraformed would be claimed ASAP. Alternate suggestion: Desert world, with strong sandstorms that prevent a docking ring. Occasional landing windows open that allows freighters to get through, at random. A base in orbit (Freelancer trading post) handles some traffic, whatever the planet's rich in.

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Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.

Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.

[Ironwatsas]

Yes I know about the Ellipsoid.

Gun Platforms could be ommitted easily, or we could say they were put there by a now-defunct pirate group or something. We could replace them with mines or explosive gas or something to make the field a bit more dangerous/spooky.

My main justification for the "Colonizable Planet" with a docking ring being thus; the nearest House (Kusari) did try to gobble it up at first oppurtunity. They simply jumped the gun and only later realized the planet was a Death World, after having put in the docking ring and most of the infrastructure.

That And a combination of Political Instability, Jump Hole Realignments, and Budget Constraints meant that the project would have been abandoned. The idea is that (from the timeframe the system is introduced) the Jumpholes only JUST realigned, so Kusari has every right to go in and try to take over.

But that takeover should be made in RP, based on Player Actions. So that logic actually works for us. I still think a landable planet would be an interesting change of pace, think of the oppurtunities.

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All that begins must end.

[farmerman]

Be aware that zones can only be spherical, ellipsoid, or cube-shaped when assigning asteroid fields and the likes. That planetary coma of yours is a nice idea...

Can't they also be cylinders? I wonder if it could be made with a series of interconnected cylinders? I just know that it'd be pretty neat

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Faction info links: Samura Heavy Industries : LWB : Watchers

[AeternusDoleo]

Cylinders are used mainly for trade paths. Nebulas may only be ellipsoid or spherical, nebula exclusion zones only spherical. It's a limitation by the game engine. Asteroid fields could be done by a few ellipsoids linked together and excluding eachother to prevent overlap - but the easiest way would be just a single elongated elips.

Explosive gas pockets sounds better then minefields - an oxy field like in Tau29 perhaps.

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Wide awake in a world that sleeps, enduring thoughts, enduring scenes. The knowledge of what is yet to come.
From a time when all seems lost, from a dead man to a world, without restraint, unafraid and free.

Mostly retired Discovery member. May still visit from time to time.

[Ironwatsas]

Well, since it'd be in a debris field, it'd probably be leaking fuel or oxygen or other volatiles from some of the old wreckage.

Also, since it's a debris field that hasn't been touched basically forever, since the system was isolated, we could make it drop Premium Scrap metal perhaps? Might be a good place for Gallic Junkers or Normal Junkers to set up a foothold near Kusari. There was some discussion of that.

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All that begins must end.

[Altaris]

I thought guard systems are being removed in next mod continuum...

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Carnage itself flying within void...
Proud cardihead ever since 2008...
You all gonna eat cardi!

...also im a troll, so hate me.

[Ironwatsas]

Some are being removed, some are being replaced.

That's why I'm suggesting this. It wouldn't be a guard system, but an open system occupying the same space that anyone can use.

Personally I'm against the concept of "Guard" systems since they don't make any sense.

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All that begins must end.

[Prysin]

Be aware that zones can only be spherical, ellipsoid, or cube-shaped when assigning asteroid fields and the likes. That planetary coma of yours is a nice idea...

The "Mysterious weapon turrets" and "Mysterious minefield" ideas need to be ditched unless you can properly explain them. Miners wouldn't lay those, and the GC wouldn't either given the remote location of that system. The infocards describing the current T65 system have no basis in lore - frankly, the system is too overdeveloped for what it's function is. T63 will not connect to T65 in 4.87.

A colonizable planet with a docking ring is a bad idea. If a planet supports life, the nearest house will move in and gobble it up at the first opportunity. Kusari is short on living space for it's population - a planet not even needed to be terraformed would be claimed ASAP. Alternate suggestion: Desert world, with strong sandstorms that prevent a docking ring. Occasional landing windows open that allows freighters to get through, at random. A base in orbit (Freelancer trading post) handles some traffic, whatever the planet's rich in.

Desert world + smugglers mooring (like the one that will be added to Leeds). Make it the ONLY indy pirate/smuggler base in sirius... that explains the mysterious minefield and weapons... that way, we can remove pirate docking rights and stuff from the places we want to without unneccesary Q_Q

Planet sells KuEx, Ptrans, Waran (the good pirate sheeps)

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DHC Discord

[Durandal]

Making it a 'smuggler/pirate system' with the Blood Dragons and Colonial Remnant literally right next door is pretty much the most hilarious idea I've heard in ages. That having been said I'm all for Watsas' interpretation of it, if only because it's actually usable and players need to have more input on system design.