So what kind of things are people looking for in the First Person (Shooter) when it eventually comes? For me their are several aspects to look at, and how I personally would like to see some of it:
The look & feel
combat mechanics
Your ship
So what happens to your ship if you leave it parked on a planet?
I know I would not want someone coming along and blowing it up or stealing it. In fact this could be considered game-breaking?
So I think each ship should have some kind of stealth, that can only be activated when their is no life on board & when almost no power is being used, because science. (lethal radiation or something).
This auto activates/deactivates to the pilot owner.
Big Game Hunting
I can imagine it like this - you fly over an area and a planet scanner shows you heat signatures/other signatures of what ever life forms are around.
Your ship is a pretty scary thing to most, and as such they will run away from where ever you fly low or land. meaning that if you pinpoint something to hunt you have to land a bit away without scaring them off and journey on foot to where you think they are.
Just got to make sure you don't get bitten by mosquitoes or snakes along the way
Obviously first kills/hard kills could be rare and valuable to the right people, and trophies do look good on the inside of your ship.
Well that's it from me, hope you take time to read over this and think about it
edit: Retrac100 brought up players boarding ships. this brings a new mechanic for us to contemplate, even in space stations - gravity.
Various parts of space stations have a varying degree of gravity, which means our weight is going to be changing as we navigate around them.
We can move around with magnetic boots, but imo, this would negate the interesting nuances of moving through various degrees of gravity.
We have seen some concept art from FD with the pvp, in the image one of the combatants has a repulser style weapon in the palm of their hand (iron man style). So I would imagine some kind of repulser tech to move around in zero-g and for use in combat could be a lot of fun.
boarding:
Why would you board someones ship? Maybe you get more bounty if you kill them in person? Its more of a personal risk after all. Maybe they have data you want to steal? Or they didn't give you all the data you asked for, so you just had to disable their ship to go get the rest of it
(the obtaining data can also be expanded within space stations, espionage between factions).
But what happens to the ships that are locked in boarding process? Is there some warning sign you can get if another player gets within range? Maybe some kind of timer showing how long you have to get back to the ship before they are within weapons range? (this would ping if someone entered your instance basically).
edit2: with regards to players without the expansion and boarding. Why not give everybody a small part of the expansion, if they enable it they gain the ability to walk around their ship, and visit maybe a clothes and personal weapons store, and open themselves up to the chance of being boarded. however they cannot initiate boarding or participate in anything else within the expansion.
Why? Well they just might like what they see, enough to purchase the expansion
The look & feel
- the universe
I'd like to see influences of dune, babylon 5 & ghost in the shell when it comes to the general look and feel of some parts of the universe. They are all a bit dark and gritty, but do have a few quirks here and there that liven up the "background".
- Costume thoughts:
I must admit, I would love my char to look badass.
Space cowboy style
Dune style
- Individuality
Every planet needs to influence its wildlife/plant-life/humans to fit it, from colours/mannerisms/behaviors.
We need to be able to make our avatars "our own", and that comes down to having lots of small things to customize.
combat mechanics
- Combat style
So there are a number of ways to go here- for example - COD, Gears of War, SWTOR & Skyrim
edit: Cosmo Bozo mentioned Arma for possible combat style.
Now personally, the only one that is even a bit fitting is gears of war imo.
Using the area to gain tactical advantage through positioning and cover.
Add in some dune style shields to lengthen the combat time between players could add more depth, allowing for dueling to become more of the preferred method of players combating each other.
CoD is to much run and gun, I can't see instant respawns being a thing in elite.
Luckily David Braben is a fan of Skyrim, so I am expecting something along those lines, instead of the SWTOR/CoD route.
- Healing
So after reading a couple of the books, it seems like med-bots and the ability to regenerate limbs is a thing, with ships being able to stabilize their owners as soon as they are able to get back within.
I can imagine a whole host of drugs and sprays that you could use within the field should the need arise. (But maybe you have to visit certain places to treat certain diseases? and maybe you spread the disease elsewhere on the way? who knows).
- Death
This is the tough one for me. How do you handle death in a plausible manner?
Is your brain pattern saved at your ship? Thus allowing a hollow body to be regenerated and have you rebooted?
Does a nanite take a piece of your tissue back to the ship and have it regenerate you?
Do you have some kind of witchspace tech that warps you back to your ship instantly at the point of you becoming unconscious/near death outside of it?
Do you get KO'd, and have enough time to go make a cup of tea until your avatar wakes up?
I reckon some "witchspace lifeguard" tech could be a pretty smart way of handling it. Available to us licensed pilots only of course(players).
Usage might deduct some credits, and temporarily reduce stats and such.
Auto activating when it senses your life-signs below a certain threshold.
If the injuries are too serious we might have to go visit a hospital.
Your ship
So what happens to your ship if you leave it parked on a planet?
I know I would not want someone coming along and blowing it up or stealing it. In fact this could be considered game-breaking?
So I think each ship should have some kind of stealth, that can only be activated when their is no life on board & when almost no power is being used, because science. (lethal radiation or something).
This auto activates/deactivates to the pilot owner.
Big Game Hunting
I can imagine it like this - you fly over an area and a planet scanner shows you heat signatures/other signatures of what ever life forms are around.
Your ship is a pretty scary thing to most, and as such they will run away from where ever you fly low or land. meaning that if you pinpoint something to hunt you have to land a bit away without scaring them off and journey on foot to where you think they are.
Just got to make sure you don't get bitten by mosquitoes or snakes along the way
Obviously first kills/hard kills could be rare and valuable to the right people, and trophies do look good on the inside of your ship.
Well that's it from me, hope you take time to read over this and think about it
edit: Retrac100 brought up players boarding ships. this brings a new mechanic for us to contemplate, even in space stations - gravity.
Various parts of space stations have a varying degree of gravity, which means our weight is going to be changing as we navigate around them.
We can move around with magnetic boots, but imo, this would negate the interesting nuances of moving through various degrees of gravity.
We have seen some concept art from FD with the pvp, in the image one of the combatants has a repulser style weapon in the palm of their hand (iron man style). So I would imagine some kind of repulser tech to move around in zero-g and for use in combat could be a lot of fun.
boarding:
Why would you board someones ship? Maybe you get more bounty if you kill them in person? Its more of a personal risk after all. Maybe they have data you want to steal? Or they didn't give you all the data you asked for, so you just had to disable their ship to go get the rest of it
(the obtaining data can also be expanded within space stations, espionage between factions).
But what happens to the ships that are locked in boarding process? Is there some warning sign you can get if another player gets within range? Maybe some kind of timer showing how long you have to get back to the ship before they are within weapons range? (this would ping if someone entered your instance basically).
edit2: with regards to players without the expansion and boarding. Why not give everybody a small part of the expansion, if they enable it they gain the ability to walk around their ship, and visit maybe a clothes and personal weapons store, and open themselves up to the chance of being boarded. however they cannot initiate boarding or participate in anything else within the expansion.
Why? Well they just might like what they see, enough to purchase the expansion
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