[Suggestion] I think it's a good time for NPC crew

[han]

Horizons is coming to an end and since Elite is not going the season pass route for the next updates, it seems like a good time for NPC crew. This is one of the features I think almost everybody in the Elite dangerous community wants. And compared to most of the other features, this is a lot easier to implement into the game. Almost everything is in the game already. We have NPC crew, we have multi crew and we have holo me.

A simple way I could see it working is: we can hire different NPC crew members, and they would work kinda like engineering mods work on the ships. Like you could hire a crew member that was a heating expert and would keep your ship cooler, or one that worked with scanners, that would automatically scan the system and do planet scans in half the time, or one for engines to boost faster, maybe even an organiser that would give your ship some extra cargo racks for trading and so on.

So they would be a mix between the NPC crew we have now with level ups and salary, engineering and multi crew

This should take fairly little manpower to add compared to other stuff like atmosphere and walking, but In my opinion would add a lot to the game.

It's pretty lonely in that seat next to me in my cobra, and would also make sense to have more than one person in ships like Corvette and Conda that are the same size as skyscrapers, so please consider adding some crew in our cockpits soon.

PS, I would also like for us to be able dress them in the different suits we bought from the frontier store so we can have uniforms or make them look like raiders or whatever to match our ships and play style

 

[kingbankai]

Horizons is coming to an end and since Elite is not going the season pass route for the next updates, it seems like a good time for NPC crew. This is one of the features I think almost everybody in the Elite dangerous community wants. And compared to most of the other features, this is a lot easier to implement into the game. Almost everything is in the game already. We have NPC crew, we have multi crew and we have holo me.

A simple way I could see it working is: we can hire different NPC crew members, and they would work kinda like engineering mods work on the ships. Like you could hire a crew member that was a heating expert and would keep your ship cooler, or one that worked with scanners, that would automatically scan the system and do planet scans in half the time, or one for engines to boost faster, maybe even an organiser that would give your ship some extra cargo racks for trading and so on.

So they would be a mix between the NPC crew we have now with level ups and salary, engineering and multi crew

This should take fairly little manpower to add compared to other stuff like atmosphere and walking, but In my opinion would add a lot to the game.

It's pretty lonely in that seat next to me in my cobra, and would also make sense to have more than one person in ships like Corvette and Conda that are the same size as skyscrapers, so please consider adding some crew in our cockpits soon.

PS, I would also like for us to be able dress them in the different suits we bought from the frontier store so we can have uniforms or make them look like raiders or whatever to match our ships and play style

I have been crying for a NPC crew co-pilot and additional features for NPC wings. FDev hates us or have no idea the potential of a crew management system to this game.

 

[Anubite]

I have been crying for a NPC crew co-pilot and additional features for NPC wings. FDev hates us or have no idea the potential of a crew management system to this game.

Or they can only implement so much at one time. Many things can be something.

Careful planning of an idea means it fits in well. Careful planning of the code behind one thing means it can be used for other things, and prevents it from getting "tangled" by updates or fixes. This is often called "optimization," which when done the first pass, takes longer. TY FDEV, for not scrambling at every nice idea.

If you see a company do anything else, reconsider your investment. They will chase dollars like a child chases butterflies and always leave you with dreams unfulfilled. Took me to the age of 28 and a lot of dosh to recognize this and just be patient with the companies who show a pattern of transparency in creating real art.

 

[ZeroAi]

Horizons is coming to an end and since Elite is not going the season pass route for the next updates, it seems like a good time for NPC crew. This is one of the features I think almost everybody in the Elite dangerous community wants. And compared to most of the other features, this is a lot easier to implement into the game. Almost everything is in the game already. We have NPC crew, we have multi crew and we have holo me.

A simple way I could see it working is: we can hire different NPC crew members, and they would work kinda like engineering mods work on the ships. Like you could hire a crew member that was a heating expert and would keep your ship cooler, or one that worked with scanners, that would automatically scan the system and do planet scans in half the time, or one for engines to boost faster, maybe even an organiser that would give your ship some extra cargo racks for trading and so on.

So they would be a mix between the NPC crew we have now with level ups and salary, engineering and multi crew

This should take fairly little manpower to add compared to other stuff like atmosphere and walking, but In my opinion would add a lot to the game.

It's pretty lonely in that seat next to me in my cobra, and would also make sense to have more than one person in ships like Corvette and Conda that are the same size as skyscrapers, so please consider adding some crew in our cockpits soon.

PS, I would also like for us to be able dress them in the different suits we bought from the frontier store so we can have uniforms or make them look like raiders or whatever to match our ships and play style

I like it!

 

[Gunnet]

+1

NPC crew would be huge for the game. Especially for being comparatively simple additions next to things like space legs and atmospheric flight.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

Horizons is coming to an end and since Elite is not going the season pass route for the next updates, it seems like a good time for NPC crew. This is one of the features I think almost everybody in the Elite dangerous community wants. And compared to most of the other features, this is a lot easier to implement into the game. Almost everything is in the game already. We have NPC crew, we have multi crew and we have holo me.

A simple way I could see it working is: we can hire different NPC crew members, and they would work kinda like engineering mods work on the ships. Like you could hire a crew member that was a heating expert and would keep your ship cooler, or one that worked with scanners, that would automatically scan the system and do planet scans in half the time, or one for engines to boost faster, maybe even an organiser that would give your ship some extra cargo racks for trading and so on.

So they would be a mix between the NPC crew we have now with level ups and salary, engineering and multi crew

This should take fairly little manpower to add compared to other stuff like atmosphere and walking, but In my opinion would add a lot to the game.

It's pretty lonely in that seat next to me in my cobra, and would also make sense to have more than one person in ships like Corvette and Conda that are the same size as skyscrapers, so please consider adding some crew in our cockpits soon.

PS, I would also like for us to be able dress them in the different suits we bought from the frontier store so we can have uniforms or make them look like raiders or whatever to match our ships and play style

Even if NPC crew offered nothing beyond "eye candy", it would still be worth having IMHO.

 

[Marc_Hicks]

+1

NPC crew would be huge for the game. Especially for being comparatively simple additions next to things like space legs and atmospheric flight.

Thing is, we already have NPC crew for SLF's. Why can't they be moved into our cockpits.....as a starting point? Then go from there.

I could also see NPC crew mates being able to handle turret weapons & auxillary systems, or obeying simple commands to "plot course to $Station_Name" or "plot course to nearest Station/Outpost/Settlement". Lastly, you could put them in charge of requesting docking and/or coming in on silent running.

 

[Allchemyst]

Since my homegrown, elite free-range crewman billy-whatever from InbredWorld station has already siphoned about 95 millions from my various earnings, you can bet I'd like to be able to assign him to other places.

For solo players, the ability to employ all of our 3 potential NPCs would be brilliant.

2 on the SLFs, and 1 as a gunner. FD could even make it so NPC manned turrets have increasingly greater accuracy depending on their level.

I mean, FD did say the game's gotta get pretty much the same functionality both in solo and MP, right? Not adding NPC crew for solo would be a pretty damning move for them.

 

[han]

Even if NPC crew offered nothing beyond "eye candy", it would still be worth having IMHO.

yeah completely agree!

 

[Robert Maynard]

There was a DDF proposal for Ships Crew:

So this one was originally written by Sandy, but I'm posting it since he has the day off... *cough* In my best Sandro Sammarco voice:

Hello you lovely backers!

Time for a slightly more speculative and lightweight topic: ship crews. I say speculative because it’s not a critical path feature that is also fairly modular; the backbone ships are all meant to be capable of being flown by a single pilot.

Basic Ship Crew Functionality

• Crew are either human or mechanical
  • Mechanical crew are not sentient – they are basically specialised robots capable of carrying out specific activities
• Crew have a service contract
  • The service contract describes the remuneration package
  • Remuneration is defined as a credit salary (which may be zero based on circumstance) per time period
  • In the case of mechanical crew the remuneration package describes the maintenance schedule which must be paid for and carried out when docked
• Crew can be acquired at docks or through missions and events
• Once obtained, a remuneration package is automatically deducted from the commander’s credit account at the beginning of each time period; pay is in advance
• At any time crew service contracts can be terminated
  • Terminated crew will disembark at the next habitable dock; the commander is reimbursed for any time not served
  • Mechanical crew that are terminated will become cargo canisters
    • If no cargo space is available they will be dismantled (the commander will be warned)
    • Mechanical crew in cargo-form do not require maintenance, and can be activated (re-hired) at any time
    • Failure to follow the maintenance schedule for mechanical crew increases the chance of malfunction
• Crew have a type that determines how they may be used:
  • Gunner: rated to operate turret weaponry
  • Engineer: rated to repair internal modules
  • Pilot: rated to pilot vessels
  • Marine: rated to repel boarders (requires ship internals update)
• Each ship has a maximum number of crew slots for each type
  • When crew slots are filled the commander has access to a number of benefits based on crew type:
  • Gunner: turret weapons are more accurate and can switch targets to make opportune attacks; the more gunners available, the more turret weapons can gain these benefits at the same time
  • Engineer: damaged modules will be repaired; the more engineers available the more modules can be repaired at the same time.
  • Pilot: the commander can initiate defensive manoeuvres, chase target and travel to location orders
  • Marine: marines will automatically engage ship invaders (requires ship internals update)
• Crew have an ability level; this determines the effectiveness of their actions:
  • Gunner: ability determines the accuracy increase
  • Engineer: ability determines the speed of repair
  • Pilot: ability determines the quality of flying
  • Marine: ability determines combat effectiveness (requires ship internals update)

We think this covers at a very basic level what a commander should expect to get from a crew. However, this feature has lots of potential for increased scope should it be deemed worthwhile.

The proposal is also purposefully abstract in terms of player experience. And this is where you guys come in!

As well as the standard requests: does it make sense, what are the pitfalls, what obvious core rules are we missing and so on, I’d also like to know if you think that expanding the system has merit, and if so, what expansion should occur.

For example, one thing that’s been left out is: should crew have some sort of moral standpoint in terms of legal and illegal activities, and if so, what can they do about them? There’s no doubt that such an addition opens up a host of interesting questions, both in terms of what cool game play it might evince, and what complications it might add to implementing the feature.

Another potential investigation would be looking at ways that crew could be part of missions/events and the meta-game, potentially even with their own agendas. Could crew even use or betray you, and if so, why and how?

There’s also another big question of how the feature might change and adapt to the ability to walk around ships. How would their duties be represented to the commander? What additional duties might they be able to perform? What interesting game play might they open up, and what conundrums they would bring with them?

Basically, this is a very interesting topic in my opinion, as ship crews have the potential to be streamlined, tiny (or even non-existent) feature, to a large game play pillar.

That’s enough preamble from me – time for the DDF crew to sound off (and have a great weekend)!

 

[kingbankai]

Or they can only implement so much at one time. Many things can be something.

Careful planning of an idea means it fits in well. Careful planning of the code behind one thing means it can be used for other things, and prevents it from getting "tangled" by updates or fixes. This is often called "optimization," which when done the first pass, takes longer. TY FDEV, for not scrambling at every nice idea.

If you see a company do anything else, reconsider your investment. They will chase dollars like a child chases butterflies and always leave you with dreams unfulfilled. Took me to the age of 28 and a lot of dosh to recognize this and just be patient with the companies who show a pattern of transparency in creating real art.

Normally I would pull the patient card myself and agree. But NPC wings has been something demanded long before Multi-Crew ships.