The comms console needs a receiver dish.

[Sion]

What I find little unreal is that the communication console can communicate with spaceships, especially when the console is inside the middle of a mountain, sure it is in the future... but still.

I suggest that the console also needs a communication disc (size suggestions?) and the disc must be placed outside or at least without a roof over it, so it has "line of sight" to space.

This would make a communication console somewhat of a late game trading,
for early trading I suggest walking traders: http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=2704.0

[Monkfish]

I agree on both points. The dish should be a fair size, so probably 3x3 or 4x4. It and the console should also require power to be able to detect, and communicate with, ships in orbit (unlike currently, where notifications about trade ships are received even with the console powered down).

As an extension to this, perhaps raider parties could only be detected with the dish/comms console present and powered up. That would spice up things somewhat!

[TimMartland]

A dish would be awesome!
In response to monkfish's idea, I think it would be awesome if you could detect raiders before they land if you had one. The current alert system works fine, because you wont exactly miss a salvo of drop pods streaking in from space, but if you had a comms dish you could pick up preliminary chatter and get a 30s-2m heads up.

[Sion]

...and the disc must be placed outside or at least without a roof over it, so it has "line of sight" to space.

Obviously it is designed to be outside even in the rain, so it would never short circuit because it's raining.

I like the idea of detecting raiders with the dish, but I don't like how much harder it would make it in the beginning when you are poor, have few colonists and also gets surprise attacks from raiders, that would be quite devastating, I think.

[iame6162013]

...and the disc must be placed outside or at least without a roof over it, so it has "line of sight" to space.

Obviously it is designed to be outside even in the rain, so it would never short circuit because it's raining.

I like the idea of detecting raiders with the dish, but I don't like how much harder it would make it in the beginning when you are poor, have few colonists and also gets surprise attacks from raiders, that would be quite devastating, I think.

But that woud make it harder and more fun really than u can't just say oh god i need more food let's buy some if u have to protect your field from raider that's fun.