My 2 favorite excuses for the past few years to use a joystick and HOTAS have been Elite and Mechwarrior, two games that at there core are very similar when it comes to combat. Weapons/heat/modules and ship/mech sizes, is a concept both share, and does a great job at creating different classes, that have bonuses but at the same time drawbacks. Much like in Elite ships with different sizes/handling have different sizes and amount of hardpoints, mechs do to, helping curb the skill difference among players, by limiting them depending on the mech they choose, wich tends to be geared towards there playstyle. To me both of these games have a very similar feel, except one is bound by the physics on the ground, the other by space, wich makes it incredibly easy to adapt either to each others environment, with minimal changes to the way things work on ships. Even what you see on you HUD is very similar, so this brings me to my next point.
As far as building mechs goes, it is not that different from what you already do with ships, and offers endless amounts of mechs being released, in the different weight classes, as well as monetizable customization items. It also opens up another way of competitive combat in game, that can be arena based, and much like ships, mechs can be an endless time sink, of upgrading modules, engineering, etc. etc. and people will probably own plenty. Hell you could put legs on a Cobra, and it'd be a mech and it'd be awesome.
With combat being so similar, it would be easier for those that enjoy the space combat, to shift to ground when needed, and not feel like they are playing a completly different game, since other than movement being locked to the ground, it is still mechanical based, and relies on an engine to move. You are still slow to turn, you are still limited by mechanics in movement, other than what you are driving the feeling wont be that different.
Unlike FPS where there has to be a sort of respawn, or soemthing to justify people reviving, in mech combat, mechs use an escape pod similar to the ships, so there is an easy scapegoat to dying. Mechs much like space ships, have a canopy, and are completely sealed from the outside, allowing them to function on the surface in extreme conditions, or zero G environments, it can even go underwater, while keeping the operator safe.
Odyssey looks amazing, and Im sure the on foot, and possible FPS aspects will be great, but it seems odd you would venture into the most saturated market, that will force most players setup to now include a mouse, for FPS style shooting, instead of use the thargoids as an excuse for humanity to develop mechs, and move into mech based combat. Like most technology used for some higher purpose, it gets adapted and used for our own petty battles in the bubble. If you really want to one up the competition, fighting for orbital control, then landing on the ground and deploying out of a mech bay, on your machine of death to continue the fight on the ground for control of a planet in a system, or fend off a thargoid land invasion, would be a more exciting and unique experience.
Currently the mech combat market is a market, with a fiercely loyal fanbase, that has zero actual competition, much like the space sim genre was when you released this game. And who wouldnt want to battle swarms of thargoids on land, on a 2 story mech armed to the teeth with a shoulder mounted giant multicannon, and on your free time participate in competitive matches in the bubble for fame, credits, and glory.
So for all these reasons, and plenty more that I could go on and on, Id like to suggest mechanized combat as a future avenue for development, and hope that someone reads this at FDEV, gets all gitty, and spreads the gittiness across the office.
As far as building mechs goes, it is not that different from what you already do with ships, and offers endless amounts of mechs being released, in the different weight classes, as well as monetizable customization items. It also opens up another way of competitive combat in game, that can be arena based, and much like ships, mechs can be an endless time sink, of upgrading modules, engineering, etc. etc. and people will probably own plenty. Hell you could put legs on a Cobra, and it'd be a mech and it'd be awesome.
With combat being so similar, it would be easier for those that enjoy the space combat, to shift to ground when needed, and not feel like they are playing a completly different game, since other than movement being locked to the ground, it is still mechanical based, and relies on an engine to move. You are still slow to turn, you are still limited by mechanics in movement, other than what you are driving the feeling wont be that different.
Unlike FPS where there has to be a sort of respawn, or soemthing to justify people reviving, in mech combat, mechs use an escape pod similar to the ships, so there is an easy scapegoat to dying. Mechs much like space ships, have a canopy, and are completely sealed from the outside, allowing them to function on the surface in extreme conditions, or zero G environments, it can even go underwater, while keeping the operator safe.
Odyssey looks amazing, and Im sure the on foot, and possible FPS aspects will be great, but it seems odd you would venture into the most saturated market, that will force most players setup to now include a mouse, for FPS style shooting, instead of use the thargoids as an excuse for humanity to develop mechs, and move into mech based combat. Like most technology used for some higher purpose, it gets adapted and used for our own petty battles in the bubble. If you really want to one up the competition, fighting for orbital control, then landing on the ground and deploying out of a mech bay, on your machine of death to continue the fight on the ground for control of a planet in a system, or fend off a thargoid land invasion, would be a more exciting and unique experience.
Currently the mech combat market is a market, with a fiercely loyal fanbase, that has zero actual competition, much like the space sim genre was when you released this game. And who wouldnt want to battle swarms of thargoids on land, on a 2 story mech armed to the teeth with a shoulder mounted giant multicannon, and on your free time participate in competitive matches in the bubble for fame, credits, and glory.
So for all these reasons, and plenty more that I could go on and on, Id like to suggest mechanized combat as a future avenue for development, and hope that someone reads this at FDEV, gets all gitty, and spreads the gittiness across the office.
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