If u were writing FL2, what would u add?

Cannon
1 - interesting idea, it is what is done in Allegience
2 - thats an idea, the smaller ship can be carried as cargo
3 - atm it’s set to 256 players, I will be switching it to a dynamic array soon so it will just be however many your connection can handle
4 - In-game items are owner based, so owning a base is quite possible
4a - NPC ownership, as in own the NPC or the NPC owning something?
4b - player factions, will be handled in-game as a clan

Mini-Me
1 - input options only use INI for now, may use XML later for the infocards but Im following the KISS method for modding GE, plus I dont care for XML’s over-complexity for stuff a text file will do fine for
2 - message board will be an integral part of the game, it’s how the missions will be processed and also how the NPCs will request materials to build something, think of a shout box
3 - there will be permanent NPCs, always being replaced when dieing, I had also considered adding temp NPCs (aka FL NPCs) for doing such stuff as defending a base or making the waves of a mission. Usually this ends in a boss fight but I dont believe I would want one of those wandering the galaxy.
3a - taking over a local factions, thats what the game is about, capturing. I am help balance it to where if a player attacks multiple systems in a short period of time, the possiblity of mutiny (base revolt) grows.
4 - each and every scene (aka FL systems/rooms) has a script. I have the init script coded, next is the in-scene triggers. Feel free to post any trigger types you can come up with.
5 - since MS dumped support for DXMedia stuff, I don’t know of any other usable method for showing video in 3d

To be continued…

Crazy

• Don’t sell it to Microsoft Games
  weeellll if they offer a nice mil for it, I might.

BBalazs
Yes, I want those to, I may make a mini ST mod to play with and without beam weapons it would not be right

Bas
1 - I will look around, hadn’t considered that option, if you know of some please post a linky
2 - explained in the response to Cannon
3 - interesting possibility, for the moment weps are either guns or torps

Timmy51m
1 - maybe in a couple of years, I don’t have DX11 yet
2 - very good question, modding is the main aspect focused upon by most of us (me included) but the rest is just as valid. At this time it seems I’m the only one working on the other parts. Sol’s models did help in the content area but that is just a single part of the equation. You are welcome to help out if you wish…
3 - open source - maybe in a few years, I would like to make a little bit of money for the amount of work I’ve done on it. Don’t worry though, modding is fully supported, the client is free (server isn’t) so SP mods can easily be made and distributed.

Nova
1 - working space factories - yes
2 - factory cargo limited - yes
3 - produce stuff - yes
4 - require resources - yes, up to 4 types per item, a specific quantity and usage settings (usage is so I could add artifacts and use those without destroying the artifact, ie quantity = 1, usage = 0 )

Chips will get his own post next, trying to answer all of them so be patient

Chips
1 - yes
2 - one of the research tree items is a mining robot, each one gives u the ability to extract more rare elements (all 118 elements are in the game)
3 - this is a great idea, I have considered jammers before, will flesh it out to avoid any ability of abusing it
3a - since targetting is ranged based this one would be easy
3b - kinda like a fake driver’s license, interesting
3c - lane hacking, thats a possibility. I still haven’t decided if I even want to include trade lanes. I may add trade lanes as an optional feature
4 - good idea and make it where players can hire them as well
5 - that is intended, I want the NPCs to be able to do anything the players can
6 - I havent made it to the random missions part yet but I will add these to the list of mission types. Only the structures have been added so far, have to add the bulletin board stuff first (no missions without it)
7 - thats a good idea and could be implemented as part of the conversation system (player/NPC interaction is handled here). This could be extended to sending the call to players in the same area.
8 - each item in the universe can have an owner. Until the player actually owns a base they will be limited to trading, mining.
8a - license to trade on a base, since it’s always in 3d mode this wouldn’t work unless I forced the player to be at a base. Hard to explain but suffice it to say GE has no rooms like FL does.
9 - this will a part of the game
10 - this just takes time to get it right
11 - good idea to split it between good/bad factions
12 - will be part of the BBS system

Moonhead
1 - it has that already, need to make a video showing it
2 - involutary jump holes, not a bad idea
3 - this would be limited to player create jumpgates
4 - moving clouds is easy
5 - mission variety is planned

Timmy51m
1 - jumpdrives may be added later, dropped in this version, it is limited to jump gates/holes atm
2 - tractor beams and loot beams are different, loot beams are used for beaming in loot only, tractors are for towing since ship salvage is part of the game
3 - upgrades are handled thru the technology tree (research)
4 - maybe, not a priority
5 - modular ships, can’t model so I doubt that will happen, plus consider the amount of time to cover every configuration of every ship in the game
6 - a fuel system will only be reimplemented if I reimplement the jump drives

Mini-Me
1 - radar sensor drones would be very easy to add, the way it will be made anyway is that what u own allows you to see anything around it out to it’s max sensor range. The actual handling of your empire will be done thru the local starmap and galaxy map. The implementation will most likely resemble the Armada style (see TOW’s latest tactical map video for an example, it’s exactly like the game Armada I & II)
2 - automated drone will be part of the game, it’s what player’s will mainly use for exploring. GE 2 had 10000 stars so this was the only real option of exploring the entire galaxy. GE 3 has considerably less since the galaxy isn’t procedurably generated.
3 - the rest is SOP (standard operating procedure) in the GE series including fleet control, resource and base management, etc

Moonhead
1 - I meant gravity.

• Unfortunately you seem to be under the impression this is about the current FL game engine, it is not. It is about that if you had the ability to actually write your own space game in the same genre as FL then what would you add. Please click the GE link in my sig to see what this is about. I am writing just such a game an like to hear my fellow FL users ideas on what they would add even if it isn’t possible to reasonably add.

2 - rep dependent jump gate, for example, the Corsairs owned a jump gate and locked it to only get used by Corsairs, so if you weren’t a Corsair the gate won’t work for u.

Well to explain the coding would take forever, I will instead explain a little bit about how the this version works. It will be fine tuned once the NPC become a factor.

First off I decided to set the economy off into it’s own domain. This means it can be used across multiple programs, in this case both the client and server. This way both sides will have the exact same economy rules and abilities.

The main part of it is the markets. Everything dealing with cargo handling, trading, manufacturing, tech development needs a place to be stored. This includes the player inventory, which means the player could also manufacture stuff.

Commodities are exactly like in the real world, anything developed, built or picked up can be traded since they are stored in the market.

Prices are based on how much is at the base. Once NPC trading is added, supply and demand will influence the prices. Prices are adjusted at a set time period and slowly change in price.

Markets have a maximum storage amount. Any manufacturing is stopped just before it completes if the cargo capacity will overflow if it is finished.

The main reason for the 4 requirement part is tech development. Alot of the items in the game require specific ores and technology to be built. Some will require artifacts in your possesion as well. This is how the tech tree is integrated into the markets.

No, Im talking about what you wished FL had but doesn’t. Consider editing a HUD layout in FL, what a pain in the backside. In my game it’s as simple as any INI entry, you tell it what to display and where it’s positioned, with additional font control and color as optional features. Plus widesceeen is fully supported since the hud items are positioned in parts of the screen, IE upper-left, center, bottom middle, etc.

I have modded FL for many years and know of many places it should have been fixed, since Im writing the game, I can make it work like I think it should.

Chips the game will be quite similar to FL in many respects. You don’t have to role play if you don’t want to. Also a server owner can force either PvP style or RP style by adjusting what is bought and sold. For PvP they could simply limit a player to a single ship. For RP they can simply leave it as is. As for myself I prefer a mixture of both. I want to keep the same playability that FL has but extend it in many ways such as having FPS play as well (see the video in the GE3 thread). I won’t forget the casual gamer, not planning on wrecking it like the JGE team did. The main parts will still exist such as trading, mining, exploration and NPC fighting.

Moonbeam yes, almost everything is INI based, here is an example of a light in a scene

[light]
nickname = spawn_sun
model = white_light
pos = 0,3000000,-7000000
range = 50000000
spin = 0,1,0
flare = default_flare
color = 290,290,290	; normal range = 0 - 255, its a float so you can oversaturate it as done here
;ambient = 64,64,64
;vel = 0,500,0