Teleporter device - big logical error?

[mr.WHO]

We know that player will discover and research the technology of Teleporter device...

...then why all the ship build in the galaxy have teleporter device as standard part of the interior? It like 1900s early cars already having the socket for CD player

Or, is it that the standard issue teleporter device is X3 TD (aka short range teleport)? later overclocked/upgraded by player to work on longer range?

Also why not to just attach big ass TD to trading station and make all freighters obsolete?
https://youtu.be/4N15J4ibej8?t=94

[Kernel Panic]

My first thought when I heard about the teleporter in X4 was "Then why are we transporting cargo in ships at all?"

Teleportation in X4 seems to be a middle of the road compromise to allow player fast travel. It will likely have several limitations built in that will be explained away by something like "The Terminator" time travel only working on something covered in organic matter. Why does it only have be to organic on the outside? Because otherwise there would be no movie.

[DaMuncha]

I was also thinking this. But maybe that section of the ship would be locked off untill we researched how to unlock the door. or better yet have the teleporter model not there and it being a small cargo space or a chair for your co-pilot

[PabloRSA]

Simple, don't think of a teleporter on the ship but on the HQ station.

When you teleport it will lock onto XYZ space and initial a matter transfer from your current ship to the teleport pad on the HQ station and then instantly teleport you to the ship you are using...

Why cant we teleport cargo, well the buffer limit is just enough for a full grown boron squid and its impossible to teleport goods due to the mass and power overload requirements.
Why cant we teleport on NPCs ships... well they have their shields up and as you discovered in the HQ logs when you take over the HQ, when that Suicide squid teleported through the shields it becomes nasty business and could result in a matter loss/implosion due to the interference from the shield

Come on your playing a sci-fi game, make stuff up.

[mr.WHO]

IMO teleporting NPC crew would be good for crew management - I despise X-Rebirth Skunk crew shuttle.

[lplates]

It could be that all ships have short range teleport and we research greater range ship to ship upgrades.

Who knows at this stage.

[MatthewK]

Can't remember the source but I believe it was said somewhere that some very restrained option will be available from the start (which would justify the preinstalled pads) and further research will remove the obstacles and open previously unavailable options (thinking stuff like range, TPing to ships in flight as opposed to just those docked etc.)

[Kernel Panic]

...Come on your playing a sci-fi game, make stuff up.

That's not what good science fiction is about. It's about making up stuff that could possibly work within the framework of our current scientific understanding. In my opinion the best works of sci-fi require the least wilful suspension of disbelief because it is the most immersive. It takes a good balance of fact and fiction to make good sci-fi.

However, just making stuff up is not immersive. Having to do it means that I have found a logical error in what I am being presented and must resolve it before I can go on and enjoy the rest of what's in front of me. If it happens too often science gets left behind and what ever is before me comes closer and closer to pure fantasy over time.

[Alan Phipps]

The game can have any teleport logic its needs for gameplay purposes. The on-ship device could be considered tiny and trivial to install but with all the processing done elsewhere such as on planet bases. The real problem lies in the uncluttered reception/transmission areas you will need and not so much what you can transport where as what you can't or shouldn't.

Scenario: "Hey boss, I've made a bit of a blunder. I tapped the wrong button and I've sent 290k bulk containers of ore to one of our small fighters. Sorry!!!"

[Mavo Pi]

I thought those were elevators like turbolifts in Star Trek and the teleporter teleports us to the elevator.

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

Logic and science. Then came along Quantum Mechanics and broke it all. Chaos and chance.

[Chris0132]

Just say the ship-end version is some sort of single bit quantum transponder that the HQ uses to target.

So you can produce them easily and fit them to anything but they're not standard and useless without the HQ teleporter.

Also you can't build more actual teleporters and the HQ one doesn't have enough transmission bandwidth to meaningfully transport cargo.

[sd_jasper]

There has been a teleporter in the X games for some time, in the form of the "transporter" device. This allowed moving cargo and persons between ships, but only at a very close range. My guess is that the teleporter in X4 is going to be a new tech that extends that range significantly.

As to why this doesn't let us transport wares over vast distances? Any number of reasons. I think that there is a warm-up or cool-down (or both) for the device. There could be a weight limit, and most wares are sold in large heavy bulk. It might need to be tied to an organic lifeform. It might require a specific "pattern" to be memorized and only works with that one pattern (and recoding the patter takes an extreme amount of time). Or any number of other reasons. But this is all pointless speculation. We'll just have to see.

[mr.WHO]

...Come on your playing a sci-fi game, make stuff up.

That's not what good science fiction is about. It's about making up stuff that could possibly work within the framework of our current scientific understanding. In my opinion the best works of sci-fi require the least wilful suspension of disbelief because it is the most immersive. It takes a good balance of fact and fiction to make good sci-fi.

However, just making stuff up is not immersive. Having to do it means that I have found a logical error in what I am being presented and must resolve it before I can go on and enjoy the rest of what's in front of me. If it happens too often science gets left behind and what ever is before me comes closer and closer to pure fantasy over time.

Yup - that's why I absolutely hate Star Trek and it's "Techno bable". Even Star Wars seem to be more logical and consistent snd we are talking about universe with space magic wizzards

[spankahontis]

We know that player will discover and research the technology of Teleporter device...

...then why all the ship build in the galaxy have teleporter device as standard part of the interior? It like 1900s early cars already having the socket for CD player

Or, is it that the standard issue teleporter device is X3 TD (aka short range teleport)? later overclocked/upgraded by player to work on longer range?

Also why not to just attach big ass TD to trading station and make all freighters obsolete?
https://youtu.be/4N15J4ibej8?t=94

You would need Teleportation Pads to get from point A to B and vice versa.. So you would still need Mining Vessels to mine, you wouldn't be able to teleport the Ore off the Rock. You could if you had smaller more portable pads to connect to asteroids to teleport the Ore, chunks at a time, but that would be insanely time consuming that just blasting the rock and having drones pick up the Ore from the Debris would be allot faster and cheaper.
So it has restraints inbuilt to avoid that scenario from happening.. It's not Star Trek that it can teleport anything it wants, you need the pads inbuilt on ships and Stations.

I think a better way to do this is the Dark Matter Sci-Fi series version of teleportation, where you would enter the chamber, it 3D Prints a synthetic copy of you on the other side of the system and then transfers your Consciousness into the Synthetic Copy, there are safeties involved where if the copy is killed or vaporised that there is a copy of you inside the device transmitting the consciousness into the Copy so you can't die as your original body is safe in the chamber and your consciousness is saved in the 3D Printer Chamber ready to send back to your Original Body when finished.
Plus the Synthetic Copies have a Self-Destruct in it's DNA so the Copy dies after a few hours.
That's how they should of done this.

[mr.WHO]

@spankahontis: Good point - while I think that in the long term this would make freighters obsole, the mining ships would still remain cost effective:
- mine ore
- ferry it to factory
- process
- ferry product to nearest Trading Station with industrial teleporter.
- teleport it to other Trading station with industrial teleporter.


Kinda like HoL Warehouse, but with teleportation.

[MegaJohnny]

The game can have any teleport logic its needs for gameplay purposes.

This is the important bit, for me. Gameplay is the trump card. I haven't had a problem with speed limits, FTL jumpgates, conventional up-direction, sounds in space, or sub-light-second combat range in X, and I won't have a problem with a teleporter in X4. And if I do, it's a shame, but nobody forces me to use it.

Besides, isn't sci-fi big enough for hard SF and science fantasy to co-exist? Hard SF can make cool settings, it's just not what I want from an X game.

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

Or read Altered Carbon.

[StoneLegionYT]

I know my idea is dumb and I'm sure it does not fit with the game. But I can see it being some sort of hybrid alien tech that ends up only being able to transport you because it can only store maybe one complex pattern and even then it was sort of like one those movies where it stabbed you and took your dna sample and encoded it and at this time at least there is no way to reverse engineer this tech.

Outside my horrible RP idea the teleporter itself is a wonderful fair fast travel compromise. I think it's going to get me into more then 1 ship now and also explore more the galaxy rather then running it full RTS mode sitting in my station or ship. I love doing more things by hand at times but I also don't want to spend 3 hours maybe flying to 1 location. Instead I can plan multiple things and once I'm ready I can teleport there and perform them I think that is really awesome.

For me teleporters will help those who want to get into the action faster in a more legit way then jump drives. It also help get you into variety of ships, etc.

My take on it sure most might not agree with me but I think it's awesome.

Biggest logical error you should focus on is light speed travel and newton physics and being able to keep increasing your momentum. Overall this would not be the best thing for the engine and limitations with the engine. But I mean this alone is 10000x more of a locical error then a sci-fi teleporter

[Poacher886]

For me the teleporter device is to x4 what highways were to rebirth....a really bad game changing decision.

Now any ship your flying has zero value because hey..just teleport to another and another and so on...Arcade all the way. Not to mention, no need for fuel / carriers etc etc and its again a stream line to many. A bit like when in the video the Dev say's "Some systems are really big, and will take many minutes to go from gate to gate"......many minutes!!, i hope its like 20minutes!