ST2 discussion

[Deleted]

Independents 4eva

[Lt. Hathaway]

Definitely needs friendly relationships with aliens. This is well documented in TA! Of course it always goes terribly wrong... not so many human alien cultist per se. Actually, it seems to work better for Narvidian (the words I have to add to spellcheck,) playthings.

[Deleted]

One of the admins (Cory Trese, slayernz, fallen, grävling) should sticky this for everyone to see.

Gonna add one right off the bat - bigger map. Not as big as AoP though, that map is waaaay too big in my opinion.

I'm gonna have a ball coming up with ideas for ST2.

[chronic]

I would actually love that for ST. Need much better navigation aids though.

DeValtos Imperialist

[maurizi0]

After playing HoS for a while I was thinking what about small off ship areas on major planets?

It would be cool to look around the major starport areas - maybe instead of the current menu based interface? Also could make boarding actions even more tactical if you have to direct and organise your bording squads.

Maybe pull together the HoS engine, TA graphics and star trader over all game.

I like the idea of a narrative based game but the current sandbox style allows a more varied approach to things imo allowing everyone to put their own spin into things

Thoughts?

[Deleted]

do you mean like the 16 bit final fantasy airship scenes on the overworld map? That sounds like it would be hard to do. Would be awesome though

[Cory Trese]

Hehe ... I've been working on the idea list for ST2 for 3 years.

Glad to see people posting +1 items for the design elements we've nailed down.

[Deleted]

Well, ST2 just topped Mass Effect in my book....

[Cory Trese]

We've put down the foundational work so that sequels of the new game engine (Heroes and beyond) will be able to gather game state data from the previous games. Mass Effect was a big inspiration for this.

It is very possible that your Episode 1 Act 1 choices in Heroes of Steel will have impacts in Legends of Steel, Episode 2 Act 3.

ME raised the bar for everyone who's planning a set of connected games =)

[maurizi0]

Dec 29, 2013 12:58:24 GMT -5 dayan said:

do you mean like the 16 bit final fantasy airship scenes on the overworld map? That sounds like it would be hard to do. Would be awesome though

Haha, I think that would be complicated!

I was thinking more a staged layout. So everything is kinda the same for the basic flying around (or however it will be implemented) but I thought it would be cool that once you land on a planet instead of the text based system its grafics based HoS style, moving your captain between palace, exchange and other places.

Could also incorporate some cool off ship combat as bounty hunters come after you on the ground - personal wargear? And same for boarding actions.

I'm sure what ever comes out will be awesome either way.

One think I would hate to miss is the non-completable aspect of the first game, too many games are finished within the first few hours of play and its great to have one that literally all about survival.

I do agree tho, it would be cool to have a mass effect style saga

[chronic]

So I've recently been thinking and here are some ideas:
-more trade goods
It'd be great for many more trade goods and in depth additions to the merchant class
-expiring legal papers + a huge variety of papers for trading
Somewhat self explanitory, more permits/ liscenses etc. Permits froth spesific trade goods just more in general.
-transition hos/ Ck like minigame when exploring/boarding ships.
-full political system influenced by in game events aswell as the player.
-both npc/player made organizations
-multiple ship system (combination of ST:BF and ST2)
Better smuggling (no Rep loss for successful operation)
-reputation system overhaul
All for now, ill add more later.

DeValtos Imperialist

[Cory Trese]

Great feedback, some of those ideas are certainly baked into the design for ST2.

Some of them are baked into the design for ST1 as well -- especially the game events one =)

[chronic]

True, but the politics in st1 seem random at best, could you elaborate on how politics on st1 work?

DeValtos Imperialist

[Cory Trese]

Dec 30, 2013 16:41:57 GMT -5 chronic said:

True, but the politics in st1 seem random at best, could you elaborate on how politics on st1 work?

DeValtos Imperialist

Sure, but if you feel that they are "totally random" I probably won't be able to convince you otherwise. I haven't had much luck with that process.

Usually people who e-mail me and outline a theory that's close to the system's real rules take the explanations I give pretty well, and confirm them in game.

The e-mails that start with "your game is totally random" usually go off course and end up with little enlightenment for either party.

So, that said, I can try to explain. Politics is a pretty large question ... something specific you'd like more information on might be a good thread.

The Factions are divided into two major groups -- Syndicates and Houses.

Syndicates and Houses each have predisposition to like or dislike other specific Factions. As groups, they are also predisposed to certain types of conflicts, alliances, rumors.

Because the game occurs on a carefully designed map, those predispositions are echoed and magnified by the planetary ratings, ranges, prince action tables, etc.

Star Trader's "political engine" occupies nearly 20,000 lines of mathematical formulas, so giving a one paragraph summary of "how politics work" isn't easy =)

[Cory Trese]

And if our designs for ST2 come to be a real game, that skinny little 20K lines will probably be more like 200K =)