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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 15, 2011 17:44:29 GMT -5
Trying to get some feedback on which options are most popular.
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Post by marmite40 on Jan 15, 2011 18:09:03 GMT -5
I'd love to see astory element to the captain. Make us more involved, take us beyond just money making and base building. The cptn should have a compelling reason to be out there.
Tho its hard to not make it cheesy ;D
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darkmonk
Curator
[ Elite & Heroes of Steel Supporter ]
Posts: 72
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Post by darkmonk on Jan 15, 2011 18:34:48 GMT -5
Personally, I'm in it for the Outposts. No disrespect meant, but when I play ST its not the story that gets me playing, I like making up my own stuff as I go along. I've always liked that it felt like a template for you to layer your own stories over
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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 15, 2011 18:36:56 GMT -5
No worries here about expressing your opinion. I hope that different people find different ways to enjoy ST RPG.
This poll isn't about will include or will not include -- it is more about in what order to include.
Thanks again for your feedback, suggestions and support!
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Post by Kelvin Zero on Jan 16, 2011 2:47:54 GMT -5
I would like to see the Factions fleshed out more. Who they are, what are the people like, what do they believe in and what are their flaws. I don't need to have any particular one be a "villain" per se, but having a storyline to follow with each faction would be interesting.
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Post by neodaz on Jan 16, 2011 6:29:04 GMT -5
I used to play a board game rpg called Battletech by FASA, had quite a good back story about why the universe was the way it was, the formation of the houses / factions, the different roles, etc, etc. Well worth a read as reference material.
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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 16, 2011 13:59:15 GMT -5
I have the original Battetech series by FASA. Every book.
I also have ShadowRun and Earthdawn by FASA as well. Great recommendation, neodaz.
The 90s had some good P&P games going, that's for sure.
Thanks for the tip -- I'm going to go back and read it again today =)
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koles
CKF Backers
Posts: 449
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Post by koles on Jan 17, 2011 18:43:11 GMT -5
Sector and planet conquest could be fun, but without storyline of factions and without bit battles with many ships involved it would look strange. Our Captain is one from many hundrets of otheres captains in quadrant. He alone cant win war for his faction or even conquest planets with his 100 crew member's as soldiers. This would be ridiculous If we throw away big battles, we could randomize sectors and planet conquest but... if our captain would participate in solar wars, by following series of orders (not one but many), by completting it with success he could give advance to side what he choice. but normal conquesting sectors alone by captain shouldn't be in game. he is only a pawn (or even less - he dont belong to faction's military hierarchy), not a king Player outpost and bases will probably completly ruin idea of caches on planet There is one thing with reputation and rank system that i dont like. We could buy bigger and bigger military ranks, and we still have full freedom of choices. If someone belongs to faction millitary's hierarchy - and he is on top ot it - in still can destroy friendly ships, break friendly embargos on enemy factions, he has not need to participate in wars (is this really millitary rank?) and still has big amount reputation... What do you think about rewrite this system and make millitary rank more complex to maintain? If you are in military hierarchy you get orders and you need to follow them. Reputation is only reputation and logically, you could have big reputaton in all factions at once, but getting millitary rank in more than one faction could be only achive for spies... You get orders - you follow them. There is not place for freedom of choices, those above you are for thinking, not you. We need to think what captain could get for his duty to faction, and what punishment will be if he deserts in time of spy/trade/solar war What do you think about it?
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Post by ASCI Blue on Jan 18, 2011 0:44:59 GMT -5
Could always take a Wing Commander Privateer approach. The game is what it is but you can enter the story whenever you want to. Those who don't care about the story don't have to play it. People who want it can jump in quickly or after they've made some money, new ship, etc.
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Post by thecaptain on Jan 18, 2011 16:35:39 GMT -5
koles <see above> has a good point that your captain, be they the awesome or the lowly, is just one of many in space, and I like the possibility of something like being given the opportunity to assist a fleet action.
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Post by Zaereth on Jan 21, 2011 15:51:12 GMT -5
Yes, larger scale battles (I voted for conquest) with a more chess board style combat arena would allow for a whole new dimension in strategy, upgrades, combat maneuvers, and dare I say it? Deployable fighters for carriers? Gasp!
A great storyline is nice, but no one is playing a game with 8bit-esque graphics suffering from an utter lack of imagination. The two things I'd love to see is a better combat arena (assuming you can get the A.I.'s to operate on it without making your head POP) and a more detailed info screen for the upgrades as well as a manual that we can check in game for all Tue background details on things like the impact of metal deficiency affecting repairs, etc.
Honestly that second part about the in-game info I say as much for our benefit as the devs'. You guys have a million downloads, but wouldn't it be great if even 20% of those resulted in am elite purchase? Helping the new guy jump in and play without an anuerism is how to make that happen!
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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 21, 2011 17:14:55 GMT -5
My game design evaluation is: including another, more advanced screen of numbers with even more details is not going to help the new guy jump in and play.
I think the path to new player acceptance is with a better tutorial advice and better access to the basic information about the game and Captain.
Personally, I think it is neat that the type, quality and quantity of Metals and Crystals change, slightly, the durability of your Hull, Solar Sails and Engines. However, I doubt the "new guy" has any idea what we're talking about.
ST RPG won't have a 4X overhaul for combat in space with multiple ships. That wouldn't be an RPG, that would be a 4X. =)
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Post by Zaereth on Jan 21, 2011 20:05:09 GMT -5
Ahh, I had read some discussions on 4x but it eluded me what you guys were referring to! And you're correct, giant piles of data on a screen won't make the new guy feel welcome. Also, to be clear I'm in total agreement and I love the feature involving resource affects in game as well. Heck you could even do similar things with crew, giving lower quality crew in planets with vudka/spice deficiencies!
I guess the primary hope might be allowing perhaps a payable tutorial in addition to the slide show, where a player can complete a series of basic tasks to learn the ons and outs. this could be an opt out tutorial. And it could even allow for some early plot development, sich as bringing the captain from his home planet and preparing for his journey to the capitol planet where the true adventure begins!
Your story mentions the victus is a bit of an old clunker on the forum. Players could be shown how to operate the urban menu by making repairs and buying supplies. It's usually true a person learns best by doing.
Perhaps then allowing for occasional flavor rumors expanding on game mechanics (ie. "I heard the metal shortage on cedar prime is really affecting business in the starports! Ships in need of repairs are barely getting off the ground with the little scrap the mechanics can scrounge up!") This tells the player about game mechanics without looking like a sheet of numbers that'd go over the average pocket gamer.
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Post by Cory Trese on Jan 21, 2011 20:14:53 GMT -5
"giving lower quality crew in planets with vudka/spice deficiencies"
Confirm that this is how it works today -- although Vudka has a much larger influence over quantity of recruitable folks than it does quality.
Rumors about rumors that are currently active is really clever. I'll add that to an upcoming release. Good idea, Captain.
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Post by dickythreesticks on Jan 21, 2011 20:53:33 GMT -5
Zaereth: You have some great ideas there, and I can already imagine how effective the tutorial mission could be for teaching the game. The first mate says "Well I guess that makes you the captain... the first thing we need to do is limp into port and repair these sails" etc. It seems like it would be difficult to implement a story for the captain that goes too much deeper than that. Given the open-ended nature of every part of this game, I prefer it that way. The captain doesn't have his own story; I'm the captain. My ship, my story. To that end, what I would prefer is to conquer an outpost and grow it into a profitable colony. This also seems very ambitious but more in the feel of the game as it is now. I could leave my outpost and let it manufacture widgets while I cruise around wheeling and dealing. It adds functionality to the legal trade goods (because lets face it, who cares about legal goods?) Maybe it opens the door for Sim-City or Sid Meier's Pirates! style land based expansion in the future?
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