If u were writing FL2, what would u add?
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As the title says, what would you add to Freelancer?
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Obviously Dx9-10 render capabilities… way simpler handling of collision detection… Proper Havok… and all the bells and whistles most other games have at there core.
Most of all… Them animations we saw in the dev vids… moving parts, different ship configurations (scout/war mode) better targeting (mulitiple) and like in Darkstar… fully modular ships with addon bits that do things.
Dynamic economy would be a pain to implement in MP… but not undo-able… just a pain… look at every “dynamic” game we have so far… most are SP and for good reason… those that have a MP mode normaly have that stripped from them (kinda like Stalker LS… you should know what i mean there… no co-op SP mode… as it’d fry most servers as soon a a NPC sees a Player … then the other player… then trys to “chose” what to do next and sync that with both players….)
Oh… and for a story (as that kinda helps…) the Dkv can come back to check on the nomads… and find them removed… so thus starts the next great incursion into Sirius… also need a few more Factions to reflect the way it has come since the Nomad War… Ye know… write a game not from the American view of what’s important … a few Ausies in there… some Indians (outsourced maybe lolz) ye know… from India not Arizona.
Cambodian’s… lets not forget the Arabians… yeah… some more thought than just “what we had left from the starlancer story” 8-) -
- Easy ship imports/surs
- Easy station building/surs
- Easy Starspheres
- Easy Landing scene editing / bar scenes
- Remove the retarded docking rings and make planets dockable from any angle
- Instant loot removal once any player is 10k away
- 5k trade range
- 10k player spotting
- 20k+ to any base planet or battleship base
- glitch-free pathing system
- built-in anti-cheat
- built-in admin/player commands
- NO dynamic economy.
- Website with ten computer voices so modders can customize their bases, npcs etc
- Existing CAP ships for players AND npcs in space AND in missions
- F8-Player stats to show NetWorth (if a $2 billion net worth is still the max). Currently only works in SP.
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Oops, forgot page 2, lol:
- Instant docking for those not inclined to view the landing scenes
- Allow all Dealers to speak, not just the bartender
- A button to auto-sell all unmounted loot in all categories
- The Chat menu to ALWAYS auto-scroll to the bottom, not the top!!
- Built-in Welcome messages
- When in the Chat menu, all players in your current system are at the top immediately under your name
- A political map that actually works (ask if you don’t know what I mean). It is currently broken in sp and mp.
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Wow what a response….this is for Galaxy Empire as Vital figured out
For the economy, this part is complete. Prices are based on quantity and what the demand is for it. If a base manufactures it then the price is lower than what you will find at a base that isnt manufacturing it. Prices are never lower than 0.5 of the base price (If it’s 10 credits the minimum it will sell for is 5 credits), btw, this is for SP and MP unlike Stalker which got screwed in this department, both the server and client use the same code. The economy can be set to adjust prices on per second, per day, per week, your choice with a minimum of 1 second adjustments.
Realistic space graphics - attempting to make it as real as possible, supports 8 different textures in the shader already. Requires a minimum of a shader 3.0 video card (most of you already have that) which requires a minimum of a DX9 video card.
Additional factions - possible, this will have to be a mod though since I can’t legally use the FL factions, GE will have it’s own factions based off of the SSM universe
Nomads - mod only, can’t legally do that species
Instant docking - when a player is in range of the dock it is instant, GE does not have base access like FL, instead everything is accessed through the player’s perspective in 3D. Within range of a trader, you can trade. Otherwise you will be instructed to get closer to the trader (NPC) and try again. Xarian knows what I mean, you have to be within a certain distance of a NPC to interact with it.
Speech hasn’t been added because I don’t have any voice talent, any volunteers?
Auto-sell - good idea, atm you have to sell each item 1 by 1
Chat system hasn’t been implemented yet but scolling to the bottom of the text is a great idea, will do
Built-in welcome msg - very good idea, follows what FL Shell and FL Hook provide
Chat menu, current system - please elaborate
Since the faction control of systems is integral to GE, this type of map will be part of the standard star map
Easy ship imports/surs - GE uses the DX format supported by most every major modelling program, SURs are not used, the mesh is used instead giving a high definition collision mapping
Easy stations/surs - again, simple model format, full collision based on the model
Starspheres - supports spherical and cube map starspheres, all you have to provide is the textures
Landing scenes - GE isn’t based on the room format that FL uses so there is never any chance of having a landing sequence, rooms are fully integrated into the main scene renderer, there is only scenes…
Docking is performed when you are within range of the dockable object, there is no docking supported since each part of the game is a full scene. Docking is only used to switch scenes from space to surface or vis-a-versa.
Instant loot removal - why?
Trade range - adjustable per trader, normally set at 250 units for the basic game
Player spotting - players are visible up to 30k away, is that enough?
Pathing - unimplemented, later feature once I get multiple systems online
Base docking - normally 250 units, adjustable
Built-in anticheat - absolutely, wouldn’t have it any other way
Built-in admin/player commands - such as?
No dynamic economy - sorry, it has that, fully adjustable thru INI files
Website with comp voices - umm, u wanna make them
Cap ships - haven’t got around to makng any yet but since it fully scriptable I would say it’s up to the modder how that is handled
Net worth - intend on having a score board for the players later on, haven’t made it to that part yet
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Cap ships that could be controlled by multiple players (i.e. one guy does guns, another flies it, etc…)
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A way to launch a small ship and fly it from the player’s mothership.
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Ability to scale to large player numbers.
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Player controlled base and NPC ownership including the ability to create player factions. I have in mind a kind of player controlled automatic system and faction modding facility.
This last one is what really interests me. I’m half working on it in my copious free time.
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Options for using multiple data sources: ini / xml files, database, or network / web. Or perhaps something combining them. Infocards that could include dynamic content would be nice for news, resource shortage notification, territorial disputes, clan info billboards, on and on.
In-game interface for accessing a message board system. This would make getting the rules read by new players more fluid than firing up a browser and being pulled out of the game world. It also opens the door to player auctions, if you go that route instead of a full blown Auction House system. Plus you have easy access to bounty postings, regional warnings, event coordination, etc. As well, it still leaves the option to interact with this data via a browser when you can’t fire up the game or are away.
A good variety of event type features, allowing for possible invasions and such. One group of NPCs re-spawning every X minutes doesn’t cut it. Event… or heck all spawns need to be dynamic server-side; so scout types can appear, then graduated numbers and types of enemies, culminating in a win / lose scenario which can then actually change over the local faction. Probably too much to ask, but if we’re dreaming…
Plenty of event trigger options; flags for animation, script initiation, cut-scenes, cargo add / remove / replace, NPC spawn (carriers could actually act like carriers). On that note, non stationary bases (player dockable Cap ships, etc).
–Canon’s post brought back another thing that might be nifty to have: more perspective options. Say if one were to dock at a base, it would be nice to tap into video feeds observing nearby traffic, or remote satellite feed. Silly to think that in the future surveillance is less sophisticated than today’s traffic lights.
These type of questions can lead to hours of postulation, but methinks the pillow’s call can no longer be ignored. Nitey nite ^.^
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Speech hasn’t been added because I don’t have any voice talent, any volunteers?
You could ask some kind of dubbing group in the internet. I have seen two modifications for the game Gothic II which had very nice voices. If you are interested in, I might check if I can find such a thing for you…
- How about multiple players per ship? For instance, transporters, or battleships where players can shoot with the turrets manually. Undocking from cap ships etc
- Different guns and weapons, you might want to check FS2 for that. (for instance that marker gun that simple marks enemies as targets and then the capital ships shot at those targets)
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I don’t know if you have any limitations but DX11 tesselation allows some pretty drastic visual improvements to surfaces. If you’re looking to produce an engine you hope to last well into the future it might be worth consideration.
Many requests seem to be based around things people would like to be able to mod, is that the kind of input you’re asking for or are you asking about content, background, storyline etc as well? Is this a product you’re looking to market or an open source community type project?
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Unsurpirsed by the heavy modding related suggestions.
Focusing upon the game play aspects rather than what you wish they’d do to make modding easier/better (graphics, sod that, FL still looks nice to me - so not that bothered).However, I can’t help but feel one or two (such as seeing from security feeds?) is irrelevant and something that won’t ever get used (what is the advantage it offers? Being able to see…the space?).
I agree with the dynamic economy - it is vital.
Since this is for your work, I’d go with things that would have helped me play the game longer, or more.
- Dynamic economy (which you’ve got)
- Make mining an actual possibility, but you require special stuff - mining lasers etc to make it worthwhile.
- Make it so that piracy IS possible - without necessarily ruining your reputation with everyone. In other words, if you had a “jammer” - you could pirate without too much of a reputation hit as the call never goes out (if in a desolate area of space) - whereas close to bases, you’re going to be toast. However, this would require care… as obviously everyone would pirate everything - so some rep degradation is required.
OR
Ships may be viewable on radar, but only within a certain range (1k) can you actually identify the owner, til then just the class. That way you may sneak around passively, unless actively scanned by cops etc.
Maybe you could implement an ID system to help out - change ID’s if you’re a smuggler, which may pass with civilian ships - but when the military or police scan you deeper, they may work out whom you really are…
Make lane hacking better - you can hack into the lane system, and realise what is coming, and therefore drop it. This may require a skill, or equipment etc. Of course, whilst doing this you may be vulnerable to NPC pirates.
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NPC bounty hunters (basically an NPC with a mission objective of killing you…) which may be “hired” in the event you cause trouble (if you’re a pirate!).
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NPC’s respond to changing world - so if a shipping company is having lots of attacks on a trade route, they may either hire bounty hunters to patrol it (i.e. increased bounty hunter activity in the area, looking for YOU), or deploy more of their own patrols.
Likewise, as markets change, the NPC’s may pick up the profit too… -
Mission variety - not just go and kill, but go protect, go source/mine, go trade, go escort, go observe/collect information. A lot more variety.
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If you’re attacked by pirates, the possibility of putting out a distress call. You’re owning, or local legal factions, may respond to such calls for help by dispatching ships from the nearest suitable location (divert a patrol, or from a battleship - as long as it is within a certain range of course - can’t call for help 10 systems away…).
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The ability to manufacture. So you can source goods and produce other goods, like ships. Or weapons. Or food + spices = luxury food. You get the idea
For this, in a base, you would have to “rent” space - which costs, as does storage for goods…and it costs to produce units in time, so you can’t just flood the market with hundreds of goods…
However, economy may be difficult if everything costs (i.e. NPC’s spend for missiles…).
Maybe trading could require licenses that you have to pay for - certainly with certain goods. Maybe you could pay to become a trader on a station instead - you pay for a license, and get a small amount of space. Then when people sell the type of good you own the license for (or buying a new license starts trade of good at that base) it goes via you (and you net profit).
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Ability to hire a (note A) wingman (if in a fighter), or maybe two (if you’re a trader). But not to command an army!
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Ship balance. Whilst VHF in FL is the ultimate, it’d be nice if a LF could easily evade one. It may not be able to beat one, but at least it can get away and out manoeuvre it in order to escape…
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Ability for players to put out a bounty upon other players heads. Of course, putting up a bounty means that a certain amount of money is required per difficulty level of the hunter AND the money defines the level of bounty hunter dispatched. Requires work to ensure it isn’t abused, or spammed to bully players. One option is to start by only allowing bounty hunters hired by legal against illegal. Pirates only allowed to be hired by illegal against legal.).
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Player posted missions (transports, kill, protect, etc) where they must provide money up front, although the person taking it may only receive money if the mission is a success. Obviously appears in bars, or where-ever you have missions available from etc.
Just things off the top of my head.
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Apart from good suggestions already made (especially the economy! Even if it’s only a supply-and-demand driver price modifier) and also apart from all the cool hacks that have already been figured out, I’d add gravity, so e.g. flying away from a planet would be harder. Besides, I’d add and involuntary auto-jumping of holes (and gates but that wouldn’t make much sense) In combination with gravity, this could be used to implement a ‘realistically working’ black/white hole.
I’d also like reputation-dependant jump gates (so a gate could be set to be accessible from a given rep level)
And maybe a moving or somehwat dynamic radiation clouds (that could be used for solar flares or gamma ray bursts)
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Chips wrote:
- Mission variety - not just go and kill, but go protect, go source/mine, go trade, go escort, go observe/collect information. A lot more variety.
Very good and important point. As they are now, the missions are indeed so limited in variety, it could make one cry.
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Which begs the question. Are you using jumpgates and holes, or a jump drive? If you’re using jump drives, that could be an upgradeable device which could allow you to jump greater distances.
A tractor beam which allows you to tow things would be an idea to, as opposed to being dependant on cargo hold size alone. Could also be upgradeable to allow for towing greater masses, larger containers for example. Towing would slow a ship down and make it less maneuverable, which could again be offset by upgradeable engines or some kind of inertia negation device maybe.
Upgradeable repair droids, defence droids, decoy droids, mining droids etc is another idea.
Point defence turret types for larger ships or freighters.
As Xarian mentioned, modular ship addons, wing extensions for increased agility, hull plating, extra weapon mounts etc.
Thought about a fuel system? Have to land to refuel, not necessarily at cost. If you use jump drives to travel between systems make them have a recharge time so you can’t just insta-jump between systems, another upgrade feature to decrease recharge times.
Enough for now.
