If u were writing FL2, what would u add?

There’re two ways i personally see.
One is “EVE Online way” which includes an open market, manufacturing, system sovereignty, station building, etcetctetc.
Another is more classic-FL-shootery-style which is basically not far from original FL, but with good tools for automated “deathmatches” between groups of people that eventually get won by some group and don’t last forever.

And better graphics and UI with ways for modding/improvement, obviously.

edit:
Oh, and eve or similar ship fitting mechanics for both cases.

If that’s true, i want the engine & engine tool License to allow me create my own game and share it freely and free.

And i want the game engine support:

Database based data store(to support complex function like station cargo data and factions data, char data and more.) and player based economy system is good for me. Player production system is good, and ….

Well, my idea: just support all EVE functions to the game, and without the dull battle system for fighter.

AND MUST include a Easy Structure to mod the game.

In real, so i don’t care about the planet land system. Almost all planet in space is not good for human, we just need few planet to “land”.

And as DwnUndr says: I like:

• glitch-free pathing system
• built-in anti-cheat
  and
  MMORPG
  Good graph
  Using double to store cash and system range and more large number.

AND

• Don’t sell it to Microsoft Games (by Crazy) LOL i like this one function LOL

Uh, I readed the full topic, and looks you looking for idea for your game? That’s alright but …. Can we have authorization to use the engine?

This is my idea if you really think about:
I recommend you use database to store anything, include system data, base data, player data, market data, traffic data and more and more. Because data in database can be edit Real-time and Simple.

• System can be change by player’s action. For exp: If player destroye a base, this base will take sometime and something to restore or be destroyed permanently.
• Player can build base in any system (You can set a number limit for it, or use a sovereignty system to limit it)
• Dead punishment, Like EVE. But i don’t like clone system.
• Skill system is not need. It’s just for commerce game and wasting your time.
• “Infinite” map size so we can add system freely. Use map like EVE.
• Add all unfinished Freelancer function: Cloak, Jump etc.
• Good graphic, better than Freelancer at least.
• “Limitless” Vehicle, Equipment class.
• System security level
• Free PRG function. Player can create a function, and with NPC support (NPC can join that group if it popular)
• Add things using the real size.
• Strong Anit-Cheat system
• Player register system so players will not care about how to remember MPID.

• Hehe, i think i will lost many interest if it cannot be mod for MP.
• Almost all SQL server will give response in 0.5s even mysql. It’s fast than any file handle if you have many sessions. And note that you can load all data to RAM then update it.
• You should try that. EVE is a very good space game if you don’t care about the combat system.
• Mine not mean land. You should know even in our solar system only one planet can make life sustain. If you want to mine, just build a station in space and keep the station running.
• I like this
• I believe this not actually a max number. Hey, why don’t give a Free 256 players permission and keep 1024 players for pay?
• Yes, updated graphic to support DX9,10 and 11?
• Not only cash. But also something like pos we headache about LOL.
• Don’t give a undervalued value for yourself. I believe almost people here don’t want to see after years some people petition for Galaxy Empire’s Source Code LOL.

BTW: Hey, If that’s true, you successfully developed Galaxy Empire, long years before you get bored, want to close the game to make zone for other your game, some people petition for Galaxy Empire’s Source Code, will you give the source code?

BTW2: Topic Hijack: LS, i still cannot get go with curve creation. Maybe i using a wrong calc? can you send me one or upload a good one to DB please?

Hey, you skip the database block. Just think about it.

A dynamic universe better than everything, and database is the way, file not. Take look EVE, it’s using Oracle, and for your game, any SQL server may good enough.

How much money are you going to raise for a server?

You’ve lost me, at first it seemed you were making a game in the fashion of freelancer, now you’re talking about controlling an empire. That sounds more like an RTS. What exactly is it going to be?

In all the reviews for games I’ve read over the years one thing has become clear, if you try to make a game that mixes different types of gameplay it will at best be average at any one of them.

You don’t want to be making a shooter which requires any form of micro management for example, people play shooters because they want fast paced blow #$%% up action.

Freelancer is a shooter, EVE is micro management, they’re worlds apart and if it were possible to combine the two it would have been done long ago.

At the same time, Homeworld, Galactic Civ, Sins etc are RTS, lots of zooming in and out, tactical views, management, construction, assigning tasks to fleet groups and so on, there’s no time for a dogfight in a single ship in between all that.

I’d urge you not to get sucked into trying to combine an RTS with a shooter, pick one genre and plough everything you have into making it the best it can be in that field of play.

It’s freelancer or it’s homeworld, homelancer would be the offspring of a cheetah and an elephant, slower than a cheetah and weaker than an elephant.

I’d urge you not to get sucked into trying to combine an RTS with a shooter, pick one genre and plough everything you have into making it the best it can be in that field of play.

It’s called being original. I do agree that you can easily lose focus when wanting to implement too many things at once, but I see no reason why you wouldnt want to be original and try to mix genres.
The critical point is always accessability. If you concentrate on making a shooter or an RTS but dont make it accessible, it will fail. But that doesnt necessarily have to do with mixing genres.

w0dk4 wrote:
I do agree that you can easily lose focus when wanting to implement too many things at once, but I see no reason why you wouldnt want to be original and try to mix genres.
The critical point is always accessability. If you concentrate on making a shooter or an RTS but dont make it accessible, it will fail. But that doesnt necessarily have to do with mixing genres.

I think you’re right. A cool aspect of FL, in fact the most appealing of it imho, is the ‘lack of specified purpose’. The player is (at least in MP) free to do whatever he wants to, to go wherever he wants to. So it would be great if LancerSolurus could manage to create a game where this freedom is even bigger.

w0dk4 wrote:

I’d urge you not to get sucked into trying to combine an RTS with a shooter, pick one genre and plough everything you have into making it the best it can be in that field of play.

It’s called being original. I do agree that you can easily lose focus when wanting to implement too many things at once, but I see no reason why you wouldnt want to be original and try to mix genres.
The critical point is always accessability. If you concentrate on making a shooter or an RTS but dont make it accessible, it will fail. But that doesnt necessarily have to do with mixing genres.

There’s a reason it would be original to mix these two genres, nobody has been able to pull it off in a multiplayer game. Single player, fine, like X2, but multiplayer, no way.

Essentially, as we all know, RTS multiplayer is a single map with a finite number of resources usually with a maximum of around four players, once the resources are gone, provided you’re not already dead, you will play to the last unit standing. Once you’re dead, you’re dead. You can’t log out of an RTS universe and come back tomorrow to continue your game.

You can’t have 256 players with infinite resources all marching an army around the battlefield, I can’t even begin to imagine the server required to handle the task of 10 of those players going into battle against each other, never mind 256. I would also imagine your average computer would scream and die a death if the units and environment had any amount of quality to them.

A shooter like freelancer is one man one ship, just like any FPS game really, you can throw a hell of a lot of these single units at a server or your average computer without any issues.

EVE is the only multiplayer game that’s done anything like it, in the sense that it features massive amounts of players online at the same time and battles over territory. But having said that it’s one man one ship all the same and there’s a huge universe where players can grow without getting stomped into the ground by corporations. Even with their considerable infrastructure, the servers have a real hard time when any large number of players decide it’s time to blow each other to pieces.

That’s just one small difference between the two genres that gives you probably your first massive problem, there’s a shed load more where that one comes from.

Sorry for double posting but this is a slightly different point.

We’re talking empires here right, lot’s of time invested in character development etc.

This belongs in an MMO environment where you pay for a guaranteed spot in a persistent universe.

If you’ve got a limit of 256 players per server, even if the model is feasable at that number, say I invest time on server 1 and build myself an empire, what happens when server 1 is full. How can I take that character to server 2 where someone else already occupies that area of space with their own army?

I can’t think of any way that could be possible, can you?

Essentially, as we all know, RTS multiplayer is a single map with a finite number of resources usually with a maximum of around four players, once the resources are gone, provided you’re not already dead, you will play to the last unit standing. Once you’re dead, you’re dead. You can’t log out of an RTS universe and come back tomorrow to continue your game.

Thats why its called a mix and not a combination.
You cannot simply combine two different genres, but you can mix elements of them both.

As regards this has never been done before, do you live under a rock?
Meanwhile, I know a dozen of games that mix FPS with RTS elements. The oldest game being Allegiance by Microsoft Research (www.freeallegiance.org).

You could always lay it out, explain your game model so I can understand exactly what it is you’re trying to achieve. I’ve really got a negative feeling about what I “think” you’re trying to do, but I could be misreading the situation. You’re a great guy who’s done many great things around here and I’d hate to not say I see a floor in something and let you just carry on regardless.

When I said 256 players, I did mean online not files. Building and grinding things out in the online world is usually reserved for MMO’s, persistent, where your character is always available to play on the same server. Imagine how confusing it would be having a few different accounts with empires scattered around various servers all at different stages of development, half of them might not even exist by the next time you log on, or at the very least look nothing like the way you left them. Do you see what I’m getting at?

I mean, “massively” means number large than FLServer lol. OK i made mistake, i don’t know MMO means Massively Multiplayer Online before if “Massively” must large than 256.

Purely FPS game is boring for me and i hate ALL RTS game…. Just try to make a Action mixed Strategy Game and that’s enough.

i’ll explain eve ships fitting mechanics as it’s not too big and other things i mentioned are sufficiently self-explanatory by their names (i think) %)

eve ship fitting (equipping a ship with modules) mechanics have less restrictions (or smthing) than FL, and that gives a lot more of different combinations (excellent and awful (darwin award fits) ones ;] )/

basically there’re only two restrictions:
1. ship resources: cpu and powergrid (pg). each module can eat up 0~100 cpu and 0~20+k pg.
2. slots: each ship has different number of high/med/low energy slots which are used by different groups of modules. quick breakdown:
high: guns, missiles, capacitor(energy) warfare, all kinds of probe launchers, remote repair mods, stuff like that.
med: all shield tank and capacitor mods (except 2 special types), all electronic warfare (EWAR) mods (there’re a lot of them, huge part of the game), active propulsion mods.
low: all armor tank mods, weapon upgrades mods (damagemods), some passive EWAR mods, cpu and pg boosting mods, passive propulsion mods.

and that’s that! no other restrictions at all. of course not everything is written here, i don’t think i know everything about eve fittings
there’re rigs, tech 3 subsystems fitting (modular ships), overheating, but they all are expanding not restricting the fitting system.

this allows things like 100MN AB Tengus when a battleship-sized afterburner is fitted onto a T3 cruiser-hull (Tengu being one of them) and makes nice things in hands of a good pilot.

compare this to the FL system where you just have to pack all the slots and have like 1-2 mods that you’re really considering to fit, because you have an AB slot for instance, and you can’t put some crazy EWAR there, you just go and buy the best AB, because you don’t want to leave that slot empty too. And you can’t switch you repair module (yeah, i know noone uses nanobots, but whatever) to damage mod. Or change your shield for some mod that increases CD velocity.
Well i guess you got the idea.

As for eve in general, i think everyone designing space games should try it. Even if you don’t like combat or ship control style (i didn’t for a long time) it’s just beautifully balanced and variable game mechanics.

ps sorry if i sounded too fanboy here, i just love the complexity of it %)

I wouldn’t use sur files!

They cause too much ruckus!