Community Event / Creation Rough guide to bringing game play to fiction

[Cmdr Andy B]

I've called this thread a 'Rough guide' as i understand that until the game is out, a lot of the details of the universe will be kept under wraps and not made public.

rather than a way of trying to squeeze that information into wide circulation this thread is intended to be a bit more 'what if'

the premise is that if someone comes up with a way of translating game-play to fiction they post the method here and those 'in the know' say yes or no. in this thread people would explain the method, Not post their work.

yes, it could be used without Major rewrites or no it can't be used because it would never fit the cannon without a complete overhaul.

The definition of major is up to you, but to give you an idea if someone was to put forward a plot line or device that would require a hyperspace engine capable of a 1000+ light-year jump your reply may be along the lines of 'way too far for the hyperspace engines being suggested' but if someone gave a figure of 50 light-years your answer would be 'that could be made to fit'

nothing that gives enough info to breach the secrecy of the project, just enough to enable Fan fiction hacks like me to avoid any major blunders.

the sort of things that would bring a carefully constructed plot crashing to the ground, for want of one simple correction.

This could be a useful reference for the Elite Chronicles writers who don't have access to the level of information the writers pack entitles.

without marking anything as confirmed it will give them/us a smaller ballpark to aim for with our writing. it may also save lots of time being lost to rewrites of things that just don't work.

I'll post a continuation under this to use to update with idea's confirmed to be in the ballpark and kick off with my idea's for fictionalizing the 'return to last save point' part of the game. (once I've collated it from the 15 or so threads it's scattered across.)

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

Placeholder for confirmed methods

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

Edited down from mine and several other peoples posts:

To explain the in-game death scenario in fiction the idea is for an escape pod that deploys automatically, it destroys your ship as it does so hiding your escape and returning you in safety to the last station you visited. After filling out the insurance claim forms, you collect your replacement ship and you’re on your way again.

The escape pod is not described as indestructible (as how could it be) but simply that it's never seen, disappearing as it does with the destruction of the ship.

it uses the destruction of the ship (overloading the engines, or whatever) to power itself rather than having its own hyperdrive. A "push" system so it needs a much smaller drive for the final coast into station.

The destruction although not complete would explain the inability to salvage ships systems as they would be damaged beyond repair (if this inability should be in the game)

It’s also suggested that there be a manual override for the automatic ejection system (perma-death mode) this would explained by the automatic systems being too chicken for most pilots, launching when combat wasn't quite decided instead of the last possible second.

in fiction the manual launch becomes an override or 'hack' to the original safely systems, like cross wiring the seat pressure sensors in a car so you can drive without a seat belt and not get hassle from the on-board systems.
The only in-game issue I can see is an escape pod would need to be standard equipment carrying with it the basic insurance, the pod in the game would then become an insurance upgrade to mitigate against loss of earnings and cargo.

As a bonus this method also works in game with NPC's, they will be easy to kill compared to a reasonably good human pilot and this would explain why.

It works for bounty as killing the ship would result in the pirate/offender being forced into the nearest station by use of the escape pod, when it arrives its on-board flight recorder confirms who destroyed the ship and gets the bounty pay-out.

The same goes for combat rating, works a lot better than some unsupportable system of every encounter being transmitted to the cops/whoever to add to your combat rank.

IMO it’s an all-round winner take all proposition that covers a lot of ground without deviating wildly from established back story, and as jabokai, one of the other main contributors to this concept put it

As ED will be set later than the other games there could be a humorous story about how it was invented after numerous customer complaints were received from people using previous versions and ending up as slaves!

I think this will work without any issues, over to you....

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

no reply? oh well, the first page of the death discussion in the DDF was almost a quote of this thread so it looks like this may be the way things are going

 

[Ian Phillips]

The escape pod would most probably be the actual cockpit of the ship. A module that is part of the ship design.

That would be the most safe and efficient solution, I think, as you would already be in the escape pod if the ship is terminally damaged. no running around an exploding ship to get to the temporary safety of your emergency pod.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

The escape pod would most probably be the actual cockpit of the ship. A module that is part of the ship design.

That would be the most safe and efficient solution, I think, as you would already be in the escape pod if the ship is terminally damaged. no running around an exploding ship to get to the temporary safety of your emergency pod.

yea, that was my thinking - why take the time to swap seats when you need to get out NOW.

 

[Ian Phillips]

yea, that was my thinking - why take the time to swap seats when you need to get out NOW.

There is also this:

Artificial gravity wouldn't change that though. If you're standing up in a bus (can you do that nowadays?), and it comes to a screeching halt, then you tend to go flying. So inertial dampeners would be the only method to prevent that.

That said, I think it would be good if you couldn't move around the ship while it's pulling crazy manoeuvres. It would seem silly to me if, while the ship is rolling and looping and swerving violently, someone could be pottering about watering the petunias.

In a fight, complete with crazy manoeuvers, and in a case of hull breach, would YOU like to "velcro" your way to the nearest escape pod?

 

[Selezen]

Escape pods would almost have to be the cockpit, really. In the middle of a combat in zero-g there would be no way to quickly get to an escape pod, and health and safety officials would have a field day with that!

There are three realistic concepts for escape pods:
- you're sitting in it at all times (the only really good one)
- you get automatically thrown or dropped into it when you hit the launch button
- you have to get to it on your own, in zero-g, whilst your ship is getting hammered.

I know which one I'd go for.

Maybe there are options for each in the ED universe. Bigger ships may have remote pods that you have to get to under your own steam. Medium size ships have ones that you get dropped into, and small fighters have the cockpit as the escape pod.

 

[Cmdr Andy B]

Escape pods would almost have to be the cockpit, really. In the middle of a combat in zero-g there would be no way to quickly get to an escape pod, and health and safety officials would have a field day with that!

There are three realistic concepts for escape pods:
- you're sitting in it at all times (the only really good one)
- you get automatically thrown or dropped into it when you hit the launch button
- you have to get to it on your own, in zero-g, whilst your ship is getting hammered.

I know which one I'd go for.

Maybe there are options for each in the ED universe. Bigger ships may have remote pods that you have to get to under your own steam. Medium size ships have ones that you get dropped into, and small fighters have the cockpit as the escape pod.

sounds about right, for the cobra 3 I'd expect it to be half n half, the pilots chair dropping down onto the drive section of the pod and the top forming around them.