Co-pilots?

Krepose Gavayne

Krepose Gavayne
I was wondering if it was something that has been promised to be introduced. If yes, then for Solo to remain an equally valid option to Open those co-pilots must have computer-controlled counterparts to any humans we take along for the ride. But... if we have non-human co-pilots just what is it that they can do for us? Sure, we can say that they can automate some stuff and we pay a price (maybe a fixed amount being deducted from our balance via ACT every day) but that still leaves the question of what can they do?


  • They could fire our weapons for us, but we already have turrets for that, and fixed or gimballed would need us to point the craft towards the enemy anyway (so we might as well pull our own triggers).
  • They could handle venting unwanted mining chunks, but if the refinery module got the right fixes this would be unnecessary.
  • They could handle course corrections in SC, but then we stray into the "might as well let a bot play your game for you" territory.
  • They could dock for us but we have the docking computer for that, and launching is not very difficult.
  • What if we're exploring? I am at a loss to understand why we'd need someone else there to do any tasks on our behalf.

So... shall we ever see other bodies in the empty seats? If they do come, shall they be of any use or just window dressing? Even for human co-pilots I am struggling to find a role for them. They could type out text comms demands if we are pirates, but there are 3rd party sw solutions for this already.
 

thehairymob

T
Ity is a fearure that has been mentioned. As has passengers. Both have been in previous versions of the franchise so I would expect them to be implemented at some stage. I think co pilots will be computer controlled as I don't believe many would want to take the chance with a real player. After all what would stop them from kicking you pout the airlock :)
 

Jan Eppendorf

Jan Eppendorf
I don't think that the sim aspect of E:D is deep enough to warrant a human copilot, but I sure hope that we will get some for flavor aspects. Maybe the virtual crew could come with some benefits such as fuel consumption, maintenance or a bit of cargo capacity with a skilled loadmaster, or reduced turret/gimbal spread with a gunner. It would be awesome if you had a part on the bulletin board with a 'job market' where good/average/bad virtual copilots/engineers/gunners/loadmasters periodically appear.
 

Kirk-Fu

Banned
K
If they handle crew like that FTL game I can see it working. Hire a crewman (who comes with their own specific strengths and weaknesses), assign them to a station (helm, weapons, shields, engines, etc) and they'll increase the efficiency of that part of the ship. This could be expressed with things like faster capacitor charge times, less weapon spread on gimbals and turrets, resistance to countermeasures, shields that recover quicker, better boost acceleration, etc.
Any crewman can handle repairs in a pinch too, but that would mean taking them off their assigned station and temporarily removing their bonuses. Crewmen that do more repairs would get more efficient at it over time too.
Crewmen could level up with experience in their specific field, so you could train a crewman to pull double duty if you need to. There's a lot of room for expansion with the core idea, and it's mostly RPG-like stats and number fudging so it should be right up frontier's alley.
 
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[VR] Deggial

[VR] Deggial
Kirk-Fu said:
... Crewmen could level up with experience in their specific field, ...
Click to expand...

Exactly this! I started another post with a lengthy OP about this quite some time ago. Without the ability to learn and increase efficiency in what they are doing, crewmen would just be another sort of ship equipment. Which would be a terrible waste of opportunity!

There sould be some limits, of course. No crewman should be able to excel in all fields. Training crewmen for exactly what you need (and changing them if necessary) would be an additional interesting game experience.

If a new crew member is needed, you could hire an already trained, but expensive specialist at a space station. Or you could just get a rookie fresh from the space academy and train her/him yourself - with possibly a higher final "level" than the veteran could ever reach.

And for what they could do, Krik-Fu mentioned some nice possibilities. His "ect." could be larger jump ranges or less fuel consumption (due to an experienced engineer) and higher damage on weapons (skilled targeting of weak structures). There really are plenty of possibilities! :)
 
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