Multi crew development visual concept. Engineer role - Lets get behind multi crew so they can develop it more in the future.

[ToCoSo]

Multi crew development visual concept. Engineer role - Lets get behind multi crew so they can develop it more in the future.

[IMGUR]a7Bql[/IMGUR]

I am looking forward to multi crew now after initially being pretty 'meh' about the idea.
The quick interaction and social play is a new angle for Elite and I think it will offer a different way to play.

But I would like to see it developed more.

This concept tries to build a dynamic interactive engineer role, where a player is balancing power/heat/repair and a new deflector shield/capacitor.
This would hopefully give a player a skillful dynamic role where they would have to be fully engaged and crew members would have to talk to eachother to get the best out of a ship.

It is also a way to give those empty chairs in the Vulture and FDL a role.

I forgot to put the power usage bar on the left of the display.

This role is open to griefing and would be for 'trusted' players that could be found from the current multi player experience.

From reddit discussions I would probably break this into the 3 panels so you could quickly access hard points or modules etc and select sub systems quickly in vr or a keypad.

But I wanted this role to be complex to feel skilful, it wouldn't be for everyone but neither is the gunner role.
I think a lot of us love building skills with a game, becoming the best at it, finding different ways to run a ship.
And I would like to yell 'I'm given you everything she's got cap'n!!'

 

[Besensec]

You put some respectable amount of work, thought and detail! Repped with a lot respect! I really appreciate what you did, and it would be awesome to see it influence the future of MC. However! I want a role to require some extra focus while in combat, as you do, but also to be able to do something while chilling away from combat. My only possible, addition, for now, is the control of some basic navigation functionalities, just to have something to do while there is no combat.

As for the deflector mechanic, we have discussed something very similar, but I sort of like your idea as much. I attach here an idea that I posted somewhere else.

Spoiler

While MC might be a three player mechanic, as opposed to four as originally planned, I dont see obvious problems to have more than three roles. One thing is to have a limit of player/seats, but another is to limit the roles and their combinations. To stay true to the vision, and to stay closer to old promises, there is at least one type of role that could be added to the game. There are many ways in which a fourth role (which is not to say a fourth member) can be done interestingly. Is not necessary to have nice graphics or special effects, I think it only requires to be able to work as a colaborative and significant member of a crew, under tension, managing multiple variants at the same time:

(1) If I remember correctly, the X-Wing series had a shield system that was divided in quadrants. That means that while your rear shields were full, your front shields could be critical. In Elite this could be done in some way in which the shield operator could control where to move the power distribution of the shields in real time, to protect the most right on where the ship is being stricken by enemy fire. This can be done in two ways; by analog control with the mouse or a gamepad, or with buttons to redirect the power a la X-Wing. The firt version would be skill base and similar to the gunner view. The second one would be more passive, but it would fit the immersion for keeping the seat point of view. Both are compatible, and it could be done in a way in which you could switch to analogue control as you will.

(2) The shield operator could also have control of the defensive systems, chaffs, point defense, and so on. And this way you have the operator controlling more than one function simultaneously during a combat situation. So, in addition to the skill based power distribution mechanic for shields, you put some stress on the operator to keep her focused on more than one thing at the time. Shield distribution plus defensive utilities.

(3) On top of that, you can let the shield operator control the heat management of the ship to keep things cool and operative. This could be done with the power control tab, prioritizing modules individually in the power management (instead of turn in them on and off as we already do at the helm).

(4) To let the operator repair broken modules while in combat, through some kind of mini game that would put some stress on the operator. Think about doing this while the ship is being shot at, and while the shields and defensive controls are being unattended in order to fix said modules, just to put some more stress on the role to make it interesting.

(5) There could also be some extra modules that are only accessible when with a crew. This could be taken as some professional tools than only the character can handle because he is the expert at that role. They could be added either at a station while docked with a crew, or it could be pretended that the crew brings the tool with them. This way ships, such as the Vulture, could equip more utilities than it normally can (so you can equip the defensive utilities from point 2 that make the role interesting, and to make the power management for the operator something that can be managed with a purpose. This could involve some administration and customization along with point (3).

(6) To let the operator put some duck tape on compromised canopies.

(7) And the obvious route plotting, module targeting, etc, etc.

To which somebody replied:

Spoiler

Rather than a system of discrete shield quadrants, a fun way to perform 'active defence' would be to allow the shield operator to orient 'shield focus' point(s) around the ship to face incoming fire. In this way they would be a kind of inverse turret gunner.

This would also have the advantage for Frontier of not having to completely redo the shield system, UIs, hit checking etc to divide shields into discrete zones, but just instead compare the angle between the shield focus and the hit location and modify the shield effect dependent on that.

It could be done using analogue controls, but what would really rock is allowing VR users to use motion controllers to reorient shield focus with their hands, like blocking beats in the music game Audioshield: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqwclgmh8RI.

EDIT: image as a referece. The original X-Wing serioes didnt have quadrants as I recalled, but it had rear shields and back shields. The shield monitor is to the left of the cockpit, in green.

Spoiler

 

[ToCoSo]

but also to be able to do something while chilling away from combat.QUOTE]

Yeah am working on a nav role, I think it would be great to offer a role for exploring/searching/plotting/scanning and a bit of science too!
I like the immediacy of the current roles but it would be amazing to have more in depth roles that would augment a ship rather than taking things away from cmdrs

 

[Martian Successor]

[IMGUR]a7Bql[/IMGUR]

I am looking forward to multi crew now after initially being pretty 'meh' about the idea.
The quick interaction and social play is a new angle for Elite and I think it will offer a different way to play.

But I would like to see it developed more.

This concept tries to build a dynamic interactive engineer role, where a player is balancing power/heat/repair and a new deflector shield/capacitor.
This would hopefully give a player a skillful dynamic role where they would have to be fully engaged and crew members would have to talk to eachother to get the best out of a ship.

It is also a way to give those empty chairs in the Vulture and FDL a role.

I forgot to put the power usage bar on the left of the display.

This role is open to griefing and would be for 'trusted' players that could be found from the current multi player experience.

From reddit discussions I would probably break this into the 3 panels so you could quickly access hard points or modules etc and select sub systems quickly in vr or a keypad.

But I wanted this role to be complex to feel skilful, it wouldn't be for everyone but neither is the gunner role.
I think a lot of us love building skills with a game, becoming the best at it, finding different ways to run a ship.
And I would like to yell 'I'm given you everything she's got cap'n!!'

This is great! I really like how've thought about it and the visuals you created explain it very well. I'd be up for supporting this as the way the Engineer should work if/when that role is added.

 

[Terry Bruge-Hiplo]

+1 for the effort mate, nicely done.

Only feedback would be that, while having everything under your control would be nice, a UI like that is way too busy and wouldn't be practical for anything other than a mouse. If you're going to refine it further, I would go down the route of simplifying it where possible both for its visual information but also the accessibility. It's gotta be newbie friendly too

(I know that's not what you were aiming for...)

Edit: wanted to add how great the deflector concept is. Love it.

 

[Besensec]

For now, the navigation role can be something secondary. Something the gunner and the engineer could do while there is nothing else to do. This would be important for the SLF role, whose player has nothing to do as an actual crew member. One of the possible problems for making to many roles is taking away functionalities that could make other roles more engaging in other situations. So instead of making 4 roles that are superficial, it might be better to make 3 that are deeper. Things as they are now, make the second player nearly useless and mostly idle in most two seaters. It is sad that now if the ship is not equipped for a gunner role, the gunner has almost nothing to do. It would be nice to have the possibility to choose a role regardless of the modules fitted in a ship; I think the idea of having more roles than seats can give players more space for adapting to play styles.

 

[ToCoSo]

+1 for the effort mate, nicely done.

Only feedback would be that, while having everything under your control would be nice, a UI like that is way too busy and wouldn't be practical for anything other than a mouse. If you're going to refine it further, I would go down the route of simplifying it where possible both for its visual information but also the accessibility. It's gotta be newbie friendly too

(I know that's not what you were aiming for...)

Edit: wanted to add how great the deflector concept is. Love it.

yeah streamlining it to use the three panels we usually have and making it so you can select any module within 3 clicks would be the ideal situation and then having 4 buttons that always trigger the possible states for each module could work.

And yeah this is with the biggest ship I could find to show the max loadout! A cobra would be a lot easier. I don't have VR so I don't know how they do anything especially the galaxy map!?!?

 

[Barking_Mad]

Excellent work. Genuine question, as I have no idea if this is in other games in as similar way.... Is it, or would it be fun? And for how long?

 

[Besensec]

This is great! I really like how've thought about it and the visuals you created explain it very well. I'd be up for supporting this as the way the Engineer should work if/when that role is added.

I sort of like the idea of individual roles being complex and skill based, as opposed to something more 'newbie friendly' (although I am not rejecting the validity of such approach). As OP suggested, it would be nice to play something in which you can actually get better at, for instance, to be the best engineer around. I don't mean to say I would reject a bit of 'arcadeness', since at this point I would welcome almost any addition to MC. But complexity suits the nature of the role; engineering. The gunner can remain simple as it is, but an engineering and a science role could use some degree of intricacy, and to require actually some studying for the role. Or at least to have to study in order to take the most advantage of it.

 

[Ignition]

This is what I was expecting for multicrew.

FD get ashamed again by the community?

Is FD not capable of doing mature gameplay?

 

[IronBadger]

Excellent work. Genuine question, as I have no idea if this is in other games in as similar way.... Is it, or would it be fun? And for how long?

That really comes down to personal preference. Much like a healer/support class in an MMO or FPS, the fun comes from carrying your crew through a battle rather than shooting your way through it. It also allows players who may have good gamesense, but may not have the specific dexterity to be a crack shot, still participate and rise through the challenge of battle. The reward is in your performance boosting your crew's performance.

 

[ToCoSo]

Excellent work. Genuine question, as I have no idea if this is in other games in as similar way.... Is it, or would it be fun? And for how long?

I suppose it would be fun if it made you feel vital, important, part of a crew, challenged and then skilled.
Is moving pips around and flying a ship using thrusters whilst aiming and shooting fun? yes for people who like flight/combat sims.

I think it would be fun for people who like this strategic style. if it could help win or lose a battle then that would be fun.

 

[RwD]

Would be amazing to have roles that actually have a learning curve of some sort, like classes in mmorpgs.
Could be the Helmsman dream to build a perfect crew for his ship. With skilled and thrustworthy teammates.

 

[Ignition]

Excellent work. Genuine question, as I have no idea if this is in other games in as similar way.... Is it, or would it be fun? And for how long?

It will be fun if there's enough complexity in the role with a learning curve and multiple variables.

It should be the opposite of the 3rd person camera to shoot from the gunner right now which is simple a point and click activity.

 

[epoch71]

Is FD not capable of doing mature gameplay?

Have you seen their portfolio of games?

 

[Besensec]

Lets keep the thread focused on how to improve MC!

 

[DefiledDragon]

Lets keep the thread focused on how to improve MC!

The mods don't like it when users try to do their job for them, just fyi.

 

[ToCoSo]

I get how this iteration of multi crew works how it offers a different gamestyle, sometimes I log on and don't want to be alone in the universe, group play can be really fun but yeah I hope we will get the detailed roles that are as demanding as the current cmdr role.

 

[Besensec]

The mods don't like it when users try to do their job for them, just fyi.

Fair enough!

 

[c00ky1970]

As ever ToCoSo great idea and well presented!

Important note Gunnar is one of Rogue compadres, Gunner is what you actually wanted to spell ;-)

I really agree that development of MC is going to be an interesting progression.

Navigator role, again I can see some simple and then possibly deep development there...

Simple, Galaxy Map and System map control, setting destinations, plotting multihop courses (!!), interaction with system based orrery (!!) to improve system navigation time. Even requesting docking when you drop into a station...

This sharing of roles, blurs the game from single player into true Multiplayer, not MMO, but crews working together to traverse the galaxy, complete missions, share in rewards and be a ship to be reckoned with.

In the mean time I am going to enjoy MC when it drops and hook up with my Bro and go Bounty Hunting together!

Looking forward to what the future brings!!!