Ahoy there,
i think a lot of the trouble with how the game is presented is homebrewed.
The devs have all necessary tools at hand, to correct the most obvious flaws.
They have USSes and wing beacons, the ability to spawn NPCs tied to the BGS states
and can change the cargo lists of NPCs, while also tracking cargo transactions.
It sure is a lot of work to tune and test that, but very possible.
Example:
A player interdicts a ship, then assaults the ship.
Whether the target is a NPC (non wanted) or a player with report crimes on,
the game then should create a USS, in case of the NPC that can be found with the new exploration scan method,
stating a distress call - weapon fire.
In case of a player it should create a likely named "wing beacon", displayed to all players in the instance,
assuming they are in a wing, even if they aren't.
Should the ship be disabled as the encounter progresses, checking if drives and/or powerplant are intact,
it discards the old USS/Wing beacon, but keeps the entity ID of the object in the SC-instance
and just reworks the displayed name into "distress call" as the ship requires aid.
Should the ship be destroyed, it changes to combat aftermath and later into degraded SS or other USS types fitting the ship type.
This rather simple change would instantly make the game way more dynamic and believable,
as IMO the most problematic part of the "living, breathing galaxy" is that it is presented stale and static.
Regarding NPC cargo, it should more closely tie to the info, the system map gives,
and preferr to spawn ships with cargo fitting the production and demand of the system,
yielding a direct bgs influence per ton of ware stolen as a transaction (hatch breaker triggered ejection or jettison).
Since BM transaction changes influence of minor factions, by reinforcing criminal markets,
or decreasing the security state of a system, bypassing the cops selling stolen goods,
that part should stay as is.
However, a system that is known to produce or harvest special high value items,
should have a decent percentage of those onboard of NPCs, to create "hotzones"
that by themselves create hubs of crime and police/bounty hunter action in response.
Lastly NPCs jump around without a real destination, that is disturbing and can be adressed
by lightweight flightplans, based on the trade data traderoutes.
I hope i could lay out my concerns with the game, and what i'd like to see
improve BGS wise, to create a better game for all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit - Proposal of how communication could work:
1. Define triggers to create an event and define triggers that modify the event the player client keeps track on. (also tie in the stages and type of USS/Missions in here)
2. The events need to communicated and tracked by a "trusted authority" such as the ED server.
3. The server takes that info and creates a USS accordingly as the "destination" of where the action is.
4. Other players get a mission offer, to notify them of the ongoing event in the vicinity, by the edserver communicating with the mission server.
5. The mission leads the player to the player USS. (Option 1 visible mission target USS / Option 2 look for the prioritized USS via the new mechanics in 3.3)
6. The player accepting the mission then keeps track on what he does in the mission and is communicating triggers, changes and solving of the situation to the mission server,
which will send notifications and updates to the edserver.
7. Later that could be broadened to tie in dedicated player groups, that can affiliate their squadron to a specific gameplay aspect, like search and rescue, fuelrats or such.
Basically we have twofold comms going on.
The creator and owner of the USS instance, the one starting it,
communicates USS related stuff with EDservers.
Players joining in are communicating with the mission server,
and upon entering with the owner of the instance.
Between the servers there also is communication,
to keep track of the status of USS and if the instance needs to be
transferred in ownership, as the original creator left.
In heavy traffic areas, where multiple events are happening,
the server keeps track of a list and distributes that information,
flagged with your preferred instance (the one you were in in SC
or you have friends/wingmates in) to the instances in the same system,
if that is possible.
While that is said, if you are not on the friendslist, or not a wingman
you have lower priority down to 0 prio if you blocked the CMDR.
However, if you had not a player USS for a set time, your prio on the list increases.
The server then distributes the info of a new prioritized USS
to a set number of CMDRs striking the USS off the list to distribute,
but keeps track of the USS encounter until resolved or timed out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit 2:
Also more than the initially triggers could be designed, like the ATR zooming in.
What would be paramount is a check to see, if the player has "report crimes on",
to automatically spawn an associated USS, but also allow to manually spawn a
distress call for explorers in the void, or pirate trap laying
What about you?
Do you see the same problems at the core gameplay?
i think a lot of the trouble with how the game is presented is homebrewed.
The devs have all necessary tools at hand, to correct the most obvious flaws.
They have USSes and wing beacons, the ability to spawn NPCs tied to the BGS states
and can change the cargo lists of NPCs, while also tracking cargo transactions.
It sure is a lot of work to tune and test that, but very possible.
Example:
A player interdicts a ship, then assaults the ship.
Whether the target is a NPC (non wanted) or a player with report crimes on,
the game then should create a USS, in case of the NPC that can be found with the new exploration scan method,
stating a distress call - weapon fire.
In case of a player it should create a likely named "wing beacon", displayed to all players in the instance,
assuming they are in a wing, even if they aren't.
Should the ship be disabled as the encounter progresses, checking if drives and/or powerplant are intact,
it discards the old USS/Wing beacon, but keeps the entity ID of the object in the SC-instance
and just reworks the displayed name into "distress call" as the ship requires aid.
Should the ship be destroyed, it changes to combat aftermath and later into degraded SS or other USS types fitting the ship type.
This rather simple change would instantly make the game way more dynamic and believable,
as IMO the most problematic part of the "living, breathing galaxy" is that it is presented stale and static.
Regarding NPC cargo, it should more closely tie to the info, the system map gives,
and preferr to spawn ships with cargo fitting the production and demand of the system,
yielding a direct bgs influence per ton of ware stolen as a transaction (hatch breaker triggered ejection or jettison).
Since BM transaction changes influence of minor factions, by reinforcing criminal markets,
or decreasing the security state of a system, bypassing the cops selling stolen goods,
that part should stay as is.
However, a system that is known to produce or harvest special high value items,
should have a decent percentage of those onboard of NPCs, to create "hotzones"
that by themselves create hubs of crime and police/bounty hunter action in response.
Lastly NPCs jump around without a real destination, that is disturbing and can be adressed
by lightweight flightplans, based on the trade data traderoutes.
I hope i could lay out my concerns with the game, and what i'd like to see
improve BGS wise, to create a better game for all.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit - Proposal of how communication could work:
1. Define triggers to create an event and define triggers that modify the event the player client keeps track on. (also tie in the stages and type of USS/Missions in here)
2. The events need to communicated and tracked by a "trusted authority" such as the ED server.
3. The server takes that info and creates a USS accordingly as the "destination" of where the action is.
4. Other players get a mission offer, to notify them of the ongoing event in the vicinity, by the edserver communicating with the mission server.
5. The mission leads the player to the player USS. (Option 1 visible mission target USS / Option 2 look for the prioritized USS via the new mechanics in 3.3)
6. The player accepting the mission then keeps track on what he does in the mission and is communicating triggers, changes and solving of the situation to the mission server,
which will send notifications and updates to the edserver.
7. Later that could be broadened to tie in dedicated player groups, that can affiliate their squadron to a specific gameplay aspect, like search and rescue, fuelrats or such.
Basically we have twofold comms going on.
The creator and owner of the USS instance, the one starting it,
communicates USS related stuff with EDservers.
Players joining in are communicating with the mission server,
and upon entering with the owner of the instance.
Between the servers there also is communication,
to keep track of the status of USS and if the instance needs to be
transferred in ownership, as the original creator left.
In heavy traffic areas, where multiple events are happening,
the server keeps track of a list and distributes that information,
flagged with your preferred instance (the one you were in in SC
or you have friends/wingmates in) to the instances in the same system,
if that is possible.
While that is said, if you are not on the friendslist, or not a wingman
you have lower priority down to 0 prio if you blocked the CMDR.
However, if you had not a player USS for a set time, your prio on the list increases.
The server then distributes the info of a new prioritized USS
to a set number of CMDRs striking the USS off the list to distribute,
but keeps track of the USS encounter until resolved or timed out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit 2:
Also more than the initially triggers could be designed, like the ATR zooming in.
What would be paramount is a check to see, if the player has "report crimes on",
to automatically spawn an associated USS, but also allow to manually spawn a
distress call for explorers in the void, or pirate trap laying
What about you?
Do you see the same problems at the core gameplay?
Last edited: