[Speculation] What new game features could we see in Multiplay

[Edith_The_Hutt]

There's been a lot of discussion about the possible merits multiplay on the forums along with some separate talk about possible game features which are currently lacking in E.

I'd like to take a different approach: What new gameplay features might multiplay involve?

I'm not looking for opinion on whether multiplay is a good or bad thing or whether it will be useful to your playstyle or not, I'm looking for wild mad guessing about what features the devs have planned for multiplay.

We know that multiplay will involve more "granular" control of your ship and that a single player will be able to jump between stations at the expense of losing piloting control when they're not in the pilot seat. (https://youtu.be/G_qwOcL1PUU?t=8505)

We also know that multi-crew ships are supposed to be able to go toe-to-toe with multiple solo ships of the same class (I can't find a link for the specific newsletter that was mentioned in, can anyone help with that?)

So there will be more gameplay features unlocked by multiplay and they will make ships which use them more effective/powerful than the current solo ships we have. I'm really interested in what sort of gameplay features could achieve this and how they could be made interesting or compelling.

 

[Lateralus]

It will probably make a few traders feel less vulnerable in open play as they will be able to deploy fighters from their T7, T9 etc... Might make for some very interesting piracy encounters

 

[inkmmo]

It will probably make a few traders feel less vulnerable in open play as they will be able to deploy fighters from their T7, T9 etc... Might make for some very interesting piracy encounters

I was thinking on that but generally I end up in fear that those fighters won't bring significant difference. Why?

Let us assume it is a trading Anaconda or trading iCutter that can deploy 3 fighters at once. If such trader is interdicted by one well equipped FDL, it won't matter since those small ships won't make enough damage to FDL and FDL can focus himself on trading vessel. Essentially, we need overhauled mechanics so that defending a trader is viable (and rewarding). If FDL focuses on those small vessels, then trader can escape while they take his attention.

In case of a wing interdictng lone trader, he utterly has no chance.

 

[Edith_The_Hutt]

So my wild mad guesses are:

Power management:
I reckon we'll see a much more detailed power management interface replacing the six pips we get as a solo pilot. The ability to turn specific modules off and on on-the-fly. Ideally the ability to shift coolant between weapons systems to get certain guns firing quicker at the expense of others.

Repair:
A bit of an extension of the above, I think field repair units will become more relevant, possibly with a rebalancing of hull/module damage relevance, the ability to repair your ship mid-fight and keep it going will be important.

Electronic Warfare:
My big guess is that we'll see an Electronic Warfare role on some of the more combat-orientated ships. As an extension of power management we'll also get to see heat signature and coolant management to reduce a ships' visibility when using heat sinks and silent running. Ideally we'll also get some more detailed control over scanners to counter chaff and perhaps the ability to target enemy ships with ECM to counter missile/torpedo attacks or confuse their turrets.

Edit, I forgot to mention:

Shields:
Again, an extension of the power management but the lack of multiple shield banks has been an issue for some on these forums. Perhaps a second crewmate intelligently balancing different shield banks would be the implementation we're looking for.

Limpet Control:
I don't tend to use limpets but I'm throwing it in out of ignorance. Would having one player flying and firing with another player controlling limpets make sense? I can see that it might speed up mining or piracy with the lack of having to separately target two different systems at once.

 

[Flea King]

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[Lateralus]

I was thinking on that but generally I end up in fear that those fighters won't bring significant difference. Why?

Let us assume it is a trading Anaconda or trading iCutter that can deploy 3 fighters at once. If such trader is interdicted by one well equipped FDL, it won't matter since those small ships won't make enough damage to FDL and FDL can focus himself on trading vessel. Essentially, we need overhauled mechanics so that defending a trader is viable (and rewarding). If FDL focuses on those small vessels, then trader can escape while they take his attention.

In case of a wing interdictng lone trader, he utterly has no chance.

You're correct, but I think it will introduce some nice new scenarios to those encounters. I think a freighter and 2-3 fighters could give a piracy FDL a bit of an uncomfortable time of it - I use an FDL for pirating and because of the internal sacrifices you have to make to outfitting, you are much more vulnerable than in a combat-build FDL.

If you're trading alone and you get interdicted by a wing, you're always going to be up against it...

 

[Sentenza]

In single player, I don't think it's worth it. It made sense in FE2 with ships locked in Newtonian trajectories, it was often faster to switch to the rear gun than to rotate the ship - now you can just turn.

Multiplayer, there is a definite advantage in having separate roles for pilot and gunners - especially in a RES where the pilot can concentrate into not smashing into the damn boulders also a dedicated engineer would help.

 

[inkmmo]

You're correct, but I think it will introduce some nice new scenarios to those encounters. I think a freighter and 2-3 fighters could give a piracy FDL a bit of an uncomfortable time of it - I use an FDL for pirating and because of the internal sacrifices you have to make to outfitting, you are much more vulnerable than in a combat-build FDL.

I never thought about that type of FDL. My FDL is only combat oriented and to be honest I never did piracy so I don't know.

What bothers me is the fact that crewmates are taking wing slots! This means if we take crew of 3 extra players - that is full wing. I was hopping that there will be standard 4 ships wing and in some ships we could have more players. Adding some escort missions to that would be amazing experience. For example, mission could ask for a wing and to transport 300 tons of something. That would require at least Anaconda but she could not defend on it's own and there come wingmates in play + those small ships. Of course there should be a hefty reward for all participants.

 

[bamber]

Looking at the seating arrangements I'm sure there will be one seat dedicated to the wife to tell me I'm going the wrong way/too fast/have to stop for the loos

 

[Lateralus]

I never thought about that type of FDL. My FDL is only combat oriented and to be honest I never did piracy so I don't know.

It's not bad for robbing about 25-30 tonnes, but when you allow space for things like collectors and hatch-breakers you can't fit things like shield cell banks. You also need to fit a smaller shield generator to get the larger internal slot for cargo which is a bit of a pain.

What bothers me is the fact that crewmates are taking wing slots! This means if we take crew of 3 extra players - that is full wing. I was hopping that there will be standard 4 ships wing and in some ships we could have more players. Adding some escort missions to that would be amazing experience. For example, mission could ask for a wing and to transport 300 tons of something. That would require at least Anaconda but she could not defend on it's own and there come wingmates in play + those small ships. Of course there should be a hefty reward for all participants.

Yeah it's a shame, but they would have to expand wings to make it viable. Previously in one of my ideas threads I suggested 'squadrons' - wings linking together so friendly players in different wings would know who's who and could share beacons etc. This idea could be beneficial to multi-crew I think.

 

[Sentenza]

I was thinking on that but generally I end up in fear that those fighters won't bring significant difference. Why?

Let us assume it is a trading Anaconda or trading iCutter that can deploy 3 fighters at once. If such trader is interdicted by one well equipped FDL, it won't matter since those small ships won't make enough damage to FDL and FDL can focus himself on trading vessel. Essentially, we need overhauled mechanics so that defending a trader is viable (and rewarding). If FDL focuses on those small vessels, then trader can escape while they take his attention.

In case of a wing interdictng lone trader, he utterly has no chance.

In fact, what you really want with multi-crew is new ships. A multi-crew trading ship should be built like a B-17, with combat stations on flanks and rear to cover escape (obviously, you don't want to stay and fight).

 

[inkmmo]

Yeah it's a shame, but they would have to expand wings to make it viable. Previously in one of my ideas threads I suggested 'squadrons' - wings linking together so friendly players in different wings would know who's who and could share beacons etc. This idea could be beneficial to multi-crew I think.

To me, these squadrons as you call it seem like 100% logical idea. Did you got any reasonable reply why this is not implemented? Or is it just gaming mechanic for the sake of gaming to make it artificially harder to join into same low wake? Or maybe it is too difficult for current peer-to-peer technology?

Even without this feature you proposed, I think that crew should be treated as separate entity within the game - a crew. In such situations, wing mates would be wing mates and crew mates will be crew mates and not occupy wing slots.

In fact, what you really want with multi-crew is new ships. A multi-crew trading ship should be built like a B-17, with combat stations on flanks and rear to cover escape (obviously, you don't want to stay and fight).

To me, Anaconda, fCorvette and iCutter seems like they could be "B-17". Maybe crafting will add something to it (at least I hope it will).

 

[Lateralus]

To me, these squadrons as you call it seem like 100% logical idea. Did you got any reasonable reply why this is not implemented? Or is it just gaming mechanic for the sake of gaming to make it artificially harder to join into same low wake? Or maybe it is too difficult for current peer-to-peer technology?

Even without this feature you proposed, I think that crew should be treated as separate entity within the game - a crew. In such situations, wing mates would be wing mates and crew mates will be crew mates and not occupy wing slots.

I didn't receive any official response, although a few people seemed to be afraid that having wings linking together would make 'ganking' more common. But to me it makes sense as player-groups often fly in groups of more than four (will so even more with multi-crew) and there needs to be a way in which multiple wings can coordinate with each other (even if it is just a text chat channel, green-coloured scanner contacts and beacon sharing).

 

[inkmmo]

But to me it makes sense as player-groups often fly in groups of more than four (will so even more with multi-crew) and there needs to be a way in which multiple wings can coordinate with each other (even if it is just a text chat channel, green-coloured scanner contacts and beacon sharing).

I can confirm that within my guild we do that when there are multiple wings. Current inability to access other wing is more of an annoyance than prevention of being OP or whatever.

Regarding this concern of "more ganking" - I am not a fan of ganking but it would definitely bring more player driven aspects into the game. Let us assume there is some system that is good for making money. And of course these pirates/gankers want their piece of cake. Other players would flow naturally into 2 categories: 1) defenders of system 2) those who would use small and fast ships (i.e. Cobra MK3) to outrun pirates in heavier ships thus creating more engaging mechanic.