I believe more ship customization would be great for this game. Others have suggested some good ideas. Here are a couple of mine to add to the pool of things we can hope to see added to the game. These can be quested, found, researched and upgraded. Ship Planet Scanner. Can scan for basic resources like trees, ore, and vegetation such as crops while in orbit. Later upgrades can give more accurate information such as ore ratio. Copper 50%, Iron 33%, Silver 9%, Gold 8%, Platinum 0%, and Titanium 0% etc etc. Other upgrades can let you scan other planets within the same solar system and possibly 1 solar system away or further with additional upgrades. Should be limited in distance to no more then a couple solar systems away. Would be great to get updated information if you rescan planet after visiting it to reflect the changes you have made from mining/harvesting and have the numbers represent that. Auto Mapping Scanner. As you explore a planet, you reveal and remove the Fog of War on a HUD map with option to use full screen to view and scroll through the entire map of explored areas of the planet. Easily locate areas. Upgrades can include the planets day/night time cycle. Planet density (Gravity). X/Y coordinates. Ability to Mark and make notes on your maps. Maps can get quite large the more planets you visit, but with today's 2TB HD's being more and more common, shouldn't be a problem. Advanced Computer Log. Keep a separate record of planets you visited. Amount of time you have spent on said planets. Ability to write you're own journal for each planet with personalized notes/comments. Just some ideas I would really like to see, and hope you would to.
I was going to make my own suggestion thread but decided to do a search and this is more or less what I was thinking. If not mapping, I think the ability to become familiar with the day/night cycles (and so on) of a planet would be wonderful, and most especially being able to keep some kind of text-based log on your ship - either to keep notes on a specific planet, or even a more open notepad style document so that a player could record - in game - coordinates of planets. For now I'm using an index card on my desk, but it would be great to be able to track those things in game!
