I'm sure we've all seen forum posts lamenting the state of multicrew at present, whether it be due to poor connectivity or simply that it's lacking something. Quite a few of us were quite cynical when more details of the implementation became known. In particular the absence of non-combat multicrew roles has certainly been a sore point for many.
Presumably we will see some improvement of multicrew as part of the post-2.4 update cycle...I'm certainly hopeful that will be the case. In addition to non-combat roles like science and engineering, I would like to see an NPC component to multicrew and I've some ideas as to how this might be implemented.
However, it is true we can already achieve some measure of multicrew without needing another player - turrets already autotarget (albeit countered by chaff) and our existing crew can already fly our SLFs. Of course, it's still not the same though - there's no-one sitting in the seats and there remains the question of the additional power pips that multicrew provides.
That said, including NPCs within the multicrew construct would have had the advantage of basically making it usable by all, even in solo mode.
My proposal for the inclusion of NPCs to fill multicrew stations is:
Crew specialisations
Basically retain the existing crew recruitment at stations, but in addition to combat rating, include a primary and secondary specialisation for each NPC. Therefore, when selecting the crew, you're also considering the benefits of their specialisations, not just combat rating. I would see the specialisations as being
- marksmanship
- piloting
- science
- engineering
An example of how this might work is that an NPC with a primary specialisation of marksmanship might result in turrets not being affected by chaff, much the same as a player gunner now. An NPC with a primary specialisation of piloting might be really effective at flying the SLF, but if his/her secondary is science, they might be less effective with firing weapons in the SLF than if their secondary was marksmanship. Likewise, an NPC with a primary of marksmanship and piloting as the secondary might mean they're highly effective at employing their SLF weapons, but they are less effective at flying the SLF. Of course, an SLF pilot with a specialisation mix of science and engineering would be even less effective at employing the SLF, regardless of combat rank. And so on - the ability to mix and match crew with different specialisations would create opportunities for greater diversity and crew management.
Crew stations as modules
Treat the crew stations as modules, with four options: gunnery, SLF, science, engineering. We know we can currently only have two crewmembers aboard in addition to ourselves as the CMDR. With four module options, this enables diversity of ship capability as you can swap out the stations (and use crew with appropriate specialisations) to better suit particular roles - for example, an Asp might simply have a science station (with a crew member with primary specialisation of science) if exploring, a Cutter might run with a SLF and engineering station (with appropriate crew specialisations) rather than gunner and SLF, and so on. Mix this with the crew specialisation aspect and it would result in a lot of potential diversity in ship and crew fitout. What combination does that ship you're attacking have and as a result, how does that affect your strategy or theirs?
This of course requires the addition of non-combat roles in terms of science and engineering, which might be difficult for Frontier to develop engaging gameplay for. But from an NPC crew perspective, it would be pretty simple. An NPC science or engineering crewmember might simply have benefits in terms of scanner or engine efficiency, or other inherent benefits - manoeuvrability, shield efficiency, ability to detect and identify particular anomalies and so on.
Oh and of course, add one extra power pip for each crew station manned by an NPC, in the same way as if a player does.
Just some thoughts that I think could be an interesting direction for an NPC implementation of multicrew. There's probably some issues with it, but I'm always open to suggestions.
Presumably we will see some improvement of multicrew as part of the post-2.4 update cycle...I'm certainly hopeful that will be the case. In addition to non-combat roles like science and engineering, I would like to see an NPC component to multicrew and I've some ideas as to how this might be implemented.
However, it is true we can already achieve some measure of multicrew without needing another player - turrets already autotarget (albeit countered by chaff) and our existing crew can already fly our SLFs. Of course, it's still not the same though - there's no-one sitting in the seats and there remains the question of the additional power pips that multicrew provides.
That said, including NPCs within the multicrew construct would have had the advantage of basically making it usable by all, even in solo mode.
My proposal for the inclusion of NPCs to fill multicrew stations is:
Crew specialisations
Basically retain the existing crew recruitment at stations, but in addition to combat rating, include a primary and secondary specialisation for each NPC. Therefore, when selecting the crew, you're also considering the benefits of their specialisations, not just combat rating. I would see the specialisations as being
- marksmanship
- piloting
- science
- engineering
An example of how this might work is that an NPC with a primary specialisation of marksmanship might result in turrets not being affected by chaff, much the same as a player gunner now. An NPC with a primary specialisation of piloting might be really effective at flying the SLF, but if his/her secondary is science, they might be less effective with firing weapons in the SLF than if their secondary was marksmanship. Likewise, an NPC with a primary of marksmanship and piloting as the secondary might mean they're highly effective at employing their SLF weapons, but they are less effective at flying the SLF. Of course, an SLF pilot with a specialisation mix of science and engineering would be even less effective at employing the SLF, regardless of combat rank. And so on - the ability to mix and match crew with different specialisations would create opportunities for greater diversity and crew management.
Crew stations as modules
Treat the crew stations as modules, with four options: gunnery, SLF, science, engineering. We know we can currently only have two crewmembers aboard in addition to ourselves as the CMDR. With four module options, this enables diversity of ship capability as you can swap out the stations (and use crew with appropriate specialisations) to better suit particular roles - for example, an Asp might simply have a science station (with a crew member with primary specialisation of science) if exploring, a Cutter might run with a SLF and engineering station (with appropriate crew specialisations) rather than gunner and SLF, and so on. Mix this with the crew specialisation aspect and it would result in a lot of potential diversity in ship and crew fitout. What combination does that ship you're attacking have and as a result, how does that affect your strategy or theirs?
This of course requires the addition of non-combat roles in terms of science and engineering, which might be difficult for Frontier to develop engaging gameplay for. But from an NPC crew perspective, it would be pretty simple. An NPC science or engineering crewmember might simply have benefits in terms of scanner or engine efficiency, or other inherent benefits - manoeuvrability, shield efficiency, ability to detect and identify particular anomalies and so on.
Oh and of course, add one extra power pip for each crew station manned by an NPC, in the same way as if a player does.
Just some thoughts that I think could be an interesting direction for an NPC implementation of multicrew. There's probably some issues with it, but I'm always open to suggestions.
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