Hey all, I've had too much coffee, and now I'm spewing out ideas all over the place. I do apologise!
Anyway, this is about some additional features for NPC crew.
I know they are likely to be fleshed out in the future, but I do like to suggest stuff anyway. Some of these ideas have been posted before, by others, and myself.
I shall begin!
Inactive Crew Pay Rates
A fairly common idea, that inactive crew take a paycut. I'd suggest around 50~%.
Assign Crew to Stay Ship
Currently, our crew somehow follow us around. But what if they didn't?
By assigning a crew member to stay onboard one of your ships, you can add quite a few additional gameplay options to it.
Crew assigned to ships are classed as active, and receive full pay. (They clean it, and whatnot, plus are on call. See below. lol)
Crewed Ship Transfer, and Request Assistance, could be balanced by paying your crew member a fee and an additional % of our income while on duty, to perform those actions, to prevent over use.
All orders can be cancelled, and they will return to where they came, with a cooldown based on distance to home, and jump range.
Crew transfer and assistance is limited by the ships available fuel, if a fuel scoop is fitted, and if there are suitable stations within the route to you, if no scoop is fitted.
Hire More Than 3 Crew
Yes! Lots more than 3. This allows you to mess with the above options, and assign multiple crew members to one ship.
For example, the Anaconda could require 3 crew, in order to be available for "Request Assistance", a Python would require 2, and so on.
You could also assign multiple crew to your own ship, and be able to launch multiple NPC SLFs at once (Not available with MC or Wings).
The risk being you stand to lose more crew on destruction. But the reward is greater firepower. And it will dent your income quite hard.
Crew on Non-SLF Capable Ships
You can still assign crew to any ship with a spare seat. (It'd be nice if they appeared in it). Your crew can effect various things by being onboard.
Turret control is more precise, more so the higher rank they are. Chaff effect is also reduced based on rank. Crew in control of turrets will also attempt to shoot down missiles, torpedoes and mines.
Crew will also do a baisc scan on random ships in a 360 degree zone. No data is given for these.
Crew can be left in charge of defences, such as PD, Chaff, ECM, SCBs, etc. Higher ranking crew will be very effective with them.
New IdeaThis could also allow you to perform an 'SRV drop' by ordering your crew to fly straight and level, while you board your SRV. Then order them to release you, to drop in to your target area (or cancel and come back in). Your crew will then fly in to orbit.
You can also order an extraction, where they will fly down and attempt to hover above you, even if you're moving, and scoop you up.
Crew Death, and Rescue
Crew no longer die a horrible death, or atleast not always.
When your ship, with a crew member on board, or a crewed ship is destroyed, their chances of survival go through an RNG filter, based on their combat rank, system security, and state, and if you, or they were wanted at the time. Low ranked crew are more likely to not make it. Multiple crew loss may end up in various locations at once. But there are multiple outcomes;
Should any versions involve an occupied escape pod, and that pod is destroyed, you will 100% lose that crew member.
All information on crew status would be available in the crew lounge.
RPG Style Crew
Crew could be expanded to have many RPG Style elements to them, they already have vague back stories. But they don't mean much.
That's about it for now.
Thoughts?
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
Anyway, this is about some additional features for NPC crew.
I know they are likely to be fleshed out in the future, but I do like to suggest stuff anyway. Some of these ideas have been posted before, by others, and myself.
I shall begin!
Inactive Crew Pay Rates
A fairly common idea, that inactive crew take a paycut. I'd suggest around 50~%.
Assign Crew to Stay Ship
Currently, our crew somehow follow us around. But what if they didn't?
By assigning a crew member to stay onboard one of your ships, you can add quite a few additional gameplay options to it.
Crew assigned to ships are classed as active, and receive full pay. (They clean it, and whatnot, plus are on call. See below. lol)
- Never Forget Crew. By permanently assigning crew to a ship, whenever you board it, that crew is already present, and any other active crew from your previous ship become inactive. They'll even greet you (audibly from the dungeon they stay in), when you board to remind you they're onboard.
- Crewed Ship Transfer. Crew Assigned to ships can be ordered around, thus, you can transfer any crewed ship to your location, a lot cheaper, and sometimes faster. Transfer time is based upon your ships jump range, and distance, +5 minutes. Delays can happen with crewed ship transfer, and your crew will update you with random events, like "I'm refueling, CMDR", or "Or I'm under attack, I'll be a while longer!". You'll never lose your ship, it will just be delayed by a minute to two per event. (RNG ship loss would be horrible!).
You can even order your crewed ship transfer from spaaaaacee. Simply select that crew member from the roles panel, and ask them to "Dock at the Nearest Available Station". They will inform you which one they're docked at when they land. - Request Assistance. This is a tough one to balance, but much like crewed ship transfer, you can request that crewed ship to come to your aid. They will rush to you, but still take time, based on their jump range and distance, +2 minutes(because they don't have to dock), but with no additional RNG delays. They will then drop in to your instance and act like a full sized ship SLF, orders all work the same, except there is no recall option, just either "Return Home" or "Dock at Nearest Available Station".
Only 1 crewed ship can be summoned to help at a time, but can work along side your NPC SLF. Not available when winged or in multicrew.
If your crewed ship is destroyed, you WILL lose that crew member, and you will have a rebuy fee for the lost ship waiting at the next station you dock, somewhere under the shipyard menu. The ship will then appear in the shipyard.
If you are destroyed, your crewed ship will dock at the nearest available station.
Crewed Ship Transfer, and Request Assistance, could be balanced by paying your crew member a fee and an additional % of our income while on duty, to perform those actions, to prevent over use.
All orders can be cancelled, and they will return to where they came, with a cooldown based on distance to home, and jump range.
Crew transfer and assistance is limited by the ships available fuel, if a fuel scoop is fitted, and if there are suitable stations within the route to you, if no scoop is fitted.
Hire More Than 3 Crew
Yes! Lots more than 3. This allows you to mess with the above options, and assign multiple crew members to one ship.
For example, the Anaconda could require 3 crew, in order to be available for "Request Assistance", a Python would require 2, and so on.
You could also assign multiple crew to your own ship, and be able to launch multiple NPC SLFs at once (Not available with MC or Wings).
The risk being you stand to lose more crew on destruction. But the reward is greater firepower. And it will dent your income quite hard.
Crew on Non-SLF Capable Ships
You can still assign crew to any ship with a spare seat. (It'd be nice if they appeared in it). Your crew can effect various things by being onboard.
Turret control is more precise, more so the higher rank they are. Chaff effect is also reduced based on rank. Crew in control of turrets will also attempt to shoot down missiles, torpedoes and mines.
Crew will also do a baisc scan on random ships in a 360 degree zone. No data is given for these.
Crew can be left in charge of defences, such as PD, Chaff, ECM, SCBs, etc. Higher ranking crew will be very effective with them.
New IdeaThis could also allow you to perform an 'SRV drop' by ordering your crew to fly straight and level, while you board your SRV. Then order them to release you, to drop in to your target area (or cancel and come back in). Your crew will then fly in to orbit.
You can also order an extraction, where they will fly down and attempt to hover above you, even if you're moving, and scoop you up.
Crew Death, and Rescue
Crew no longer die a horrible death, or atleast not always.
When your ship, with a crew member on board, or a crewed ship is destroyed, their chances of survival go through an RNG filter, based on their combat rank, system security, and state, and if you, or they were wanted at the time. Low ranked crew are more likely to not make it. Multiple crew loss may end up in various locations at once. But there are multiple outcomes;
- Death. Obviously, they can still die. You lose said crew member(s) forever. Likelihood is based more or less on their combat rank.
- Escape Pod. This comes in many versions. Your crewed ships crew eject, and occupied escape pods will spawn, and are available for immediate pickup, if you are in the instance with them. Leaving the instance re-rolls their survival. If your ship explodes, you may receive a message with a rough location to pick up your crew member(s), this could include surfaces, or space. It'll appear as a search zone on a planet, or mission USS in space, usually near where you died. Rescue Missions have a short timer of just a few hours at most.
- Rescued. They will simply inform you of which station they ended up in. Simply dock and pick them up. Will usually be the nearest station or port. More likely in medium or high security systems, when clean.
- Imprisoned. If you, or your crew were wanted on death, there's a high chance they'll be imprisoned in a prison outpost. You'll need to dock and pay their bail to get them back. More likely if wanted.
- Captured. There's a chance your crew could be captured by pirates or other ships (opposing military or PowerPlay), you will receive a mission to liberate them from a ship. Or, pay a ransom fee to retrieve them. More likely if in low security, anarchy, or hostile systems.
Should any versions involve an occupied escape pod, and that pod is destroyed, you will 100% lose that crew member.
All information on crew status would be available in the crew lounge.
RPG Style Crew
Crew could be expanded to have many RPG Style elements to them, they already have vague back stories. But they don't mean much.
- Personality: Each crew member could have their own unique personality, with varying traits. Some traits may not mix well with other crews traits, such as having a law abiding crew member and a criminal together, or crew from opposing major factions/PP.
- Classes and Skill Sets: Each crew member has a skill set, that can effect your ship slightly, just be being active onboard (but not when they're using an SLF). A Combat Pilots could improve various weapon or defence related stats slightly. A Scientist can improve various sensors stats. A Miner could improve yields and refinery efficiency, and so on. All classes can do all jobs, just some better than others. All buffs and debuffs are unique and random, and improve slightly as their rank increases. The type of crew you will find is based on the system they're from.
- Crew Status: Its important to keep your crew happy and healthy. Crew can become injured if the ship they're in is destroyed, but they survive (see crew death section above). Injured crew require rest time (being inactive) to recover. Crew can also become unhappy if they're neglected to long (never used), mixed with incompatible crew or asked to go against their morals. Crew only become unhappy from being mixed with incompatible crew when active onboard the same ship. So you can safely assign criminal crew onboard one ship together, and law abiding crew on another, and they'll both be fine. If crew become too unhappy they may demand a pay rise, or threaten to quit. To increase crew happiness, place them in an active role they're suited too, separate incompatible crew, or give them a pay rise.
(Due to vastly different play times, crews status only change while online, so you can safely go on away on holiday, and not come back to mass protests) - Your Reputation With Your Crew: Your Reputation will effect all crew, criminals will become happier if your are wanted, and law abiding crew will become unhappy. Attacking empire ships, with an empire fanatic onboard will make them very unhappy with you very quickly. The game will also keep track of your crew retention rate, and death rate. If you, hire and fire or kill a lot of crew, less people will be willing to work for you, or simply demand higher pay.
- Crew Stories and Missions: Crew already have back stories, but they don't I mean much. Their story should be based upon their traits and personality. Crew may ask you for help with their personal life's, based on their back story. These missions will drastically increase their happiness, unless you fail or abandon it. The missions will generally perform a basic multi part story.
That's about it for now.
Thoughts?
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
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