Ideas for crewmembers

[Screwhead]

Just thinking about those empty seats in various cockpits and I was thinking of something maybe along the lines of assigning Duty Officers in Star Trek Online.

The idea is, maybe have crew members that you can hire to fill those chairs out. There could be different types of specialties, and at that different rarity of character skill levels.

For example, say a Weapon Specialist could provide you with one extra/permanent pip in Weapons. A rare one could give you a slight damage boost on top of that.

Similarly, you might have an Engineer that at "common" level gives you 1 permanent pip in Engines, at more Rare levels could give you a boost in your thrusters handling.

Maybe some equivalent to a Warp Theorist that could give you varying percentage boosts based on rarity to your FSD range. An Electrical Engineer might be able to squeeze out a bit more power from your powerplant, or slightly increase the amount of power distributed by your Power Distributor.

To balance things out, for one you'd be limited to only one of any particular specialty crewman. I don't care how many seats your Anaconda has, only one Weapon Specialist per ship, etc..

Also, instead of a "I buy you once and you're just automatically re-bought on ship destruction", something to balance things out a little is that you not only have to buy them (for VERY not cheap), but they also take a percentage of your income as their share/salary based on their rarity. So, a "common" crewman might only set you back 5% if your income, but a "rare" one with much better abilities would set you back 20% of your income.

The rarer ones, also, would probably have to be gotten from high rep with a faction, maybe even completing specific quests to "unlock" a character for hire.

There could also be a possibility for them to get injured. Maybe not make them targetable like a subsystem, but if the shields are down and you're getting shot from the front, they might get injured, with a higher chance of injury if your canopy gets shot out. If they're injured, you lose their bonus until you get back to a station and have them healed up.

Just an idea I had while playing earlier tonight and looking over at that empty seat in my Cobra. Thoughts?

 

[Benelos]

I like it! The idea of a rare crewman setting you back 20% would be a bit hefty (what happens if you have 5 of those on your kitted out Anaconda ). A flat number per crewmember and a percentage divided amongst all could be reasonable. Maybe the naval progression mission could reward you with free crewmembers instead of giving you permits you already have. This particular crew will abandon you if you go against the faction's wishes (you have to obey orders of central command, for example).

Perhaps you should be able to train your crew as well (with enough credits and time a crewmember could perform another role or specialise further in the current one). Since we are talking about people here, personality traits could be added as well. Morale could become a thing.
Here's a list of potential types of crewmembers.

Quartermaster: keeps watch over supplies for the crew, improves morale (lowers upkeep of crew, less chance of muteny)
Medic: responsible for the physical (or mental) condition of the crew (less chance of fatalities upon death/critical damage)
Soldier: (defence against) boarding actions, bodyguards in planetary or station combat
Engineer: improves thrusters/recharge rate
Weapon specialist: improves weapons/recharge rate
Shield specialist: improves shield/recharge rate
Navigation specialist: improves jump range, allows (more options in free) plotting in advance
Communication specialist: allows advanced missions, more dialogue options with npcs
Financial expert: offers insight in market data, better prices through shrewd bartering

 

[Screwhead]

I like it! The idea of a rare crewman setting you back 20% would be a bit hefty (what happens if you have 5 of those on your kitted out Anaconda ).

It's all about managing your personnel in the same way you manage your ship modules. Load too many 8T modules and you're hardly going to be able to jump more than 8LY. Too many A-rated modules and the second you pull out your hardpoints your systems start shutting down because you're pulling 130% power and you're floating in space with no shields and on life-support.

Loading an Anaconda full of rare, mega-boosting personnel should come at a cost. Sure, Star Trek focuses on the high-level officers on the bridge, but there's always some ensigns operating comms, piloting, working the engineering console in the back, etc.

You want a major advantage, you have to pay for it, literally! Since people don't run on electricity, and their mass is negligible when it comes to jumping from system to system, there has to be SOMETHING to level the playing field out a little, and what better than profit? The temp secretary that greets people at the door doesn't make the same salary as the President or the closers, and the company doesn't run solely on closers and presidents, you need some of the lower ranks for things to run smoothly.

 

[Benelos]

I'd think money is only one of the factors that should motivate people (a big one for sure), faction reputation is another. Perhaps mission based gameplay could come around as well adding all kinds of story gameplay (you notice a stowaway on you ship who claims the current engineer is doing a bad job- if you help her get revenge on her former slavemaster she would gladly be of service).

I do like the challenge of managing resources but a harsh one where a set number of crewmembers would drain 100% on all income would be a bit hefty in my eyes. Either let the elite take a flat 10% each (instead of 20) or forget the percentage completely (only a high fixed amount). Of course still all just remains speculation, I just hope FD will add this feature with plenty of interesting hooks and gameplay.

 

[madmann135]

Multi-crew-ing (sleepy and don't want to find the exact word) a ship is going to be difficult because currently all ships are optimized for a single pilot.
For instance an ASP, the pilot seat is there and the co-pilot's seat does not have much of a use. Even if there was the capability to add crew to a ship, with the current system all that would happen is that the crew would sit around doing nothing.

Crew has to do something, be it NPC or PC crew. If I want to fly in the co-pilot's seat of a friend I would need incentive to stay in the seat and have a reason to be a good co-pilot.

 

[Screwhead]

Multi-crew-ing (sleepy and don't want to find the exact word) a ship is going to be difficult because currently all ships are optimized for a single pilot.
For instance an ASP, the pilot seat is there and the co-pilot's seat does not have much of a use. Even if there was the capability to add crew to a ship, with the current system all that would happen is that the crew would sit around doing nothing.

Crew has to do something, be it NPC or PC crew. If I want to fly in the co-pilot's seat of a friend I would need incentive to stay in the seat and have a reason to be a good co-pilot.

I know I may be pulling too much from Star Trek, but all the panels and info are essentially holographic in the game. Those additional seats can really have any system display, like a specialist engineer console or whatever else. Maybe record a bunch of dialog for the different kinds of NPCs that could randomly play every once in a while when their skill is in use..

An FSD specialist that boosts your range could have their dialog replace the "FSD Charging" and countdown, maybe say something on occasion if you're pushing the "SLOW DOWN" warning. A weapon specialist might have a set of joysticks and be "helping" the aim get closer to the mark, warn you when your weapons start overheating, mention when a clip is reloading or when it's ready to fire again, maybe an occasional "YEAH! We got 'em!" when you kill a particularly tough enemy. Maybe a System Surveyor or something can highlight planets within a certain range after you've used a Discovery Scanner with a "Looks like the scanner might be picking up something over there" kind of dialog.

 

[madmann135]

I know I may be pulling too much from Star Trek, but all the panels and info are essentially holographic in the game. Those additional seats can really have any system display, like a specialist engineer console or whatever else. Maybe record a bunch of dialog for the different kinds of NPCs that could randomly play every once in a while when their skill is in use..

An FSD specialist that boosts your range could have their dialog replace the "FSD Charging" and countdown, maybe say something on occasion if you're pushing the "SLOW DOWN" warning. A weapon specialist might have a set of joysticks and be "helping" the aim get closer to the mark, warn you when your weapons start overheating, mention when a clip is reloading or when it's ready to fire again, maybe an occasional "YEAH! We got 'em!" when you kill a particularly tough enemy. Maybe a System Surveyor or something can highlight planets within a certain range after you've used a Discovery Scanner with a "Looks like the scanner might be picking up something over there" kind of dialog.

The things you suggested are for NPC crew. If you want PC crew then you are going to have to make it so that the PC co-pilot is playing an active roll and is contributing.

It is easy to add usefulness for NPC crew mates but for a PC crew mate that is not going to be easy.

 

[inkmmo]

Regarding OP I agree with the idea. Having crew members that will add extra something is a good thing. And here is why:

Let us take an example of adding crew member that don't have this feature as OP suggested. So we are filling those places just because? Seems super meh to have crew in the first place.

Now regarding big ships and big crew I think it should be a bit different than OP suggested. Let me put as an example let us use abstract ships to make things easier:

• Ship HC2 - Has Crew 2 - where 1 is player pilot and another is NPC
• Ship HC5 - Has Crew 5 - where 1 is player pilot and another 4 NPCs

HC2 can take 1 this crewman that has possibility to increase let's say 1 peep depending on NPCs specialization. Let's say NPC is specialized for Engines and hiring this NPC gives player +1 peep in engines. However this should be taken against HC2 complexity debuf and since HC2 is not big and complex ship - this debuf for HC2 is 0 so HC2 get this +1 to Engines as long as this NPC is hired!

HC5 is big an complex ship and as such has complexity debuf of 25%. Now let us assume all 4 NPCs are giving 1 extra peep to engines. Without debuf - they together would give 4 peeps to engines and I think that is OP! So because HC5 is a complex ship, their effectiveness is only 25% (as much is this complexity debuf). So each NPC crew member would contribute 0,25 to Engines peep. All 4 of them would contribute 1 peep.

So this complexity debuf could be used to balance things and ensure that ships won't become OP yet still hiring NPC would give initiative to the player to hire NPC in the first place. Then again, having NPC crew should be a money sink and player should pay them (as they were paid in FE2). This could be mechanic in it's own right (if player don't pay the crew he will have debt with interest!).

Complexity debuf should be balanced accordingly - maybe not 25%, maybe 33% or something. So that HC5 could have 3 NPCs giving 1 peep in Engines and 1 NPC to do other things - like increase jump range by 0,5ly or maybe always target Power Plant on enemy ship.

I would suggest NPC crew speciality features:

• +1 peep to systems
• +1 peep to engines
• +1 peep to weapons
• +0,5ly jump range
• +10% thruster speed
• +10% yaw/pitch/roll depending what player order to NPC to increase
• targeting assistant - NPC will always target a specific internal component of other ship but will not fire
• increased accuracy of gimbaled and turreted weapons
• better heat reduction
• exploration assistant (faster usage of scanners for explorers)
• repair expert - faster repairs and less consumption of Field Repair "ammo"
• negotiator assistant gives +1% better prices ratio
• wear-and tear expert - slows the progression so player will repair this less often
• fuel consumption expert - reduces fuel consumption or increases fuel scoop effect depending how player assign this NPC

I can go on with this but the point is player should get some benefits for having NPC crew. I am highly against "we need X crew to make ship even flyable" when we have computers that even simulate sound and do flight assist. So having NPC that will squeeze extra performance is better option yet player will have to pay the price in form of weekly wage.

 

[drpaul]

I'd be perfectly happy with a brain in a nutrient tank if I MUST have a crewmember, thank you very much. People with bodies talk too darn much, make smacking noises when they eat, and snore.

Seriously though - there are so many other things to implement and this would be a huge huge effort to put into the code. Are there other ways of implementing crew that won't require huge expenditures of time and beta testing by FD?

 

[herc34es]

Are you guys for real? This is not a moba or an RPG game... If you equip in your car an engine with 150mph top speed NONE in the universe can make the car with the same components engine etc to go 151... This is a space Sim. If you hire a good engineer he should be able to restore health to your engines or modules when they are under attack. No crew should be able to modify the abilities of the ship. If you want such games go play RPGs.

 

[hannibal0216]

Are you guys for real? This is not a moba or an RPG game... If you equip in your car an engine with 150mph top speed NONE in the universe can make the car with the same components engine etc to go 151... This is a space Sim. If you hire a good engineer he should be able to restore health to your engines or modules when they are under attack. No crew should be able to modify the abilities of the ship. If you want such games go play RPGs.

I play Elite like an RPG, as I'm sure others do too. Any problem with that?

 

[Daynen]

I love the idea of having actual crew, but I realize it means co-pilots or other bridge crew are going to need other functions that a pilot can't reasonably be expected to fulfill. One possibility assigns some of the more automated features to an active controller. Examples include refinery management, scanners, comms with other players/NPCs/stations, gunnery on turreted weapons, or repairs/active power distribution. As it is, a lot of things are delegated to point-and-click duties so a single pilot CAN do them; this isn't a bad thing. However, without adding layers of gameplay that the pilot can't manage alone (at least while in combat,) other crew members will feel very much like freeloaders who just get to come along for the ride and wave their hands in the air going 'WHEEEEE!' during dogfights.

On the other hand, that could also mean players don't always have to have a ship...imagine them taking away the free sidewinder on respawn, driving you into debt and stranding you at the nearest station until you can find a ride and earn some money as a copilot. This is an unlikely direction for the game, but not impossible.

Perhaps they could be assigned to limpet control? Automated limpets seem too easy; letting your copilot handle the collection while you blast rocks would be interesting.

 

[Miccey]

I agree with OP that adding a crew should have some BUFFING
consequenses(spelling?)..
But i belive that the ships in game NOW should stay as they are.
Maybe they could a dd the copilot and maybe some more. But i think
their roles should be like a minigame within the game.. As with the
enginere, the role should be to keep drives end energy levels at
a constant state, routing power and such. Tactical and Weapons
could be to aquire locking at targets, swithing between weapons
and such...

Now the BIG crewed ship imho would have to be NEW ships...
Frigates, Corvettes, Destroyers, Battleships, Carriers..
With multicrews:
Bridge, Enginering, Medical, Science(some variant ships),
Military(Fighterpilots, Landingpartys etc)

Why would anyone want to serve on a friends ship when they
can have thier own...?!?!?

Cost!

These ships would be VERY expensive. They would REQUIRE a crew,
NPC or Player. Player crew should give advantage over NPC. And its not
about having the ship be able to do 151 when its built for 150. Its about
need...You cant operate the ship without the crew. But the ships would be
as should, MORE powerful in all aspects..

With these new ships there would be new missions in
Escort, Transport, Military, Colonisation, Trade,
Science, Exploration

Well, i could go on about this, but ill leave it at that...

 

[dxm55]

All we have to do is look back in time at Frontier Elite II.

Back then, the larger ships which needed multiple crews would not be able to be launched until you had hired the prerequisite number of NPC crews off the Bulletin Board. And those crews had to be paid a weekly stipend.

One implementation that can be done here would be to have various crew ratings or statistics in a particular field.

For eg, a crew member with a high rating in engineering might be able to give your ship a bonus in power such that he would be able to make a C rated power plant output as much power as a B rater.

Just some ideas to take home.

 

[Miccey]

Mmmm... I dont think having one module be able to perform
better is the answer... But ratings of NPC´s is a good idea..
Maybe the NPC value could be in speed and effectiveness.
The higher rank the faster and more effective. Lets say
you have a module that regulates power. Instead of NPC
making that module MORE powerful, the rank of the npc
could be limiting the module. Lets say rank A to D, were
A is 90% effective, and D is like 75. A Player would be able
to push it up to 100%...

Or if we have a "Gunner" position.. NPC would be only at A
90% accurate, D would be at 75%.. A player would vary but
at least be able to get to 100% accurate... With a bit of
training .....

But if you follow me, NPC cant be better than Player...

 

[dxm55]

But if you follow me, NPC cant be better than Player...

I'm not so hot about the idea of player multi-crew simply for the fact that a single pilot is more than enough for any of the existing ships.
What else can a second player do on a ship? Man the turrets?

And what if it's just a ferry or cargo mission? Will he then twiddle with the right or left panel?

Keeping it strictly NPC is the way to go, IMHO.

 

[Miccey]

Well i cant do anything about YOUR imagination
but mine is just fine.. For existing ships yes.
Pilot only is just fine, but for the ships i suggest
you would NEED a crew..
Sure you can have the ships in different configs
like a frigate miner, with Captain, navigator, coms,
enginering, but you also would need a crew to
manage the mining itself. Im talking about a ship
that could stripmine an asteroid the size of a
small moon. But then youd need a second ship.
With its crew, could "ferry" the mined matrl.
Capable to hold massive amounts...

See, i have NOTHING against a game developing
for ever... If it stops, it will stop getting more
players... The more players the more money.
The more it develops the longer i stay with it...

I played a certain other spacesim for years..
It had its apeal so i had multiple accaounts..
It started to stagnate so i only played casual
at the end... Then one day devs said they
were working on Walking In Stations...
I was like....WoooooW... I stayed with the
game a while longer... Sure WIS was implemented....
But only YOUR own quarter, and thats the end of that....
Im still waiting for it.... And this was years ago....

As i said, the moment you stop developing
is the moment the game starts to die.....

EDIT: Sorry just have to add this.....
IF the devs see the need for it
i would even be willing to pay
a subscription... BUT, only if they
are honest and acctually stay with
development, adding new features
expanding on existing ones, fixing
bugs and letting the game grow...

 

[G in the Fl]

I think that FD should consider making some large ships in the style of the game Artemis(I think that's right). You have separate stations that have fixed abilities to control the ship, such as pilot, gunner, nav, engineer, comms, commander, and systems.

Engineer manages power to the whole ship, along with repair. So if the pilot wanted more speed, they would request the engineer to prioritize.

Gunner has control of weapons, nav works with the pilot or can also be the pilot, comms communicates with contacts, systems scans ships and objects, along with managing shields, and the commander gives the final say on what the ship is doing.

All these jobs can be multi tasked, but one person trying to manage it gets over whelmed.

 

[Miccey]

My thoughts too....
Hope is the last to die.....