StarMade Development Direction

    Bench

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    In your example we'd actually do the quarters first before the NPC commands as the quarters stuff create a new method of data managing the NPCs.

    The order we do things is based on dependencies, so getting the right features in first before the ones that depend on them. Either way there'll be a learning curve, we'll just implement ways to best transition, similar to the grace period with cargo.
     
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    Yeah most of that is planned :D going to be awesome
    A lot of games function just as a crew Co-Op, like Guns of Icarus and FTL. Having a system like this in Star made would be amazing, and provide days of gameplay just off that. My question is, are you guys taking inspiration from games like those? What will game play be like? More like an RPG, or FPS?
     

    Bench

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    A lot of games function just as a crew Co-Op, like Guns of Icarus and FTL. Having a system like this in Star made would be amazing, and provide days of gameplay just off that. My question is, are you guys taking inspiration from games like those? What will game play be like? More like an RPG, or FPS?
    It will have elements of both. Through objectives and rewards and different ways to customize it'll be more of an RPG, but through boarding and firefights it becomes more of an FPS.
     
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    It will have elements of both. Through objectives and rewards and different ways to customize it'll be more of an RPG, but through boarding and firefights it becomes more of an FPS.
    Damn, nice. How will ship to ship combat happen? Will we see crew running around, repairing things, manning stations, etc in a very fast-paced setting?
     

    Bench

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    Damn, nice. How will ship to ship combat happen? Will we see crew running around, repairing things, manning stations, etc in a very fast-paced setting?
    The specifics are still being planned out.
     

    Lecic

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    Damn, nice. How will ship to ship combat happen? Will we see crew running around, repairing things, manning stations, etc in a very fast-paced setting?
    Repairing things doesn't really make sense. Most of the system modules broken would be outside the interior.
     

    Ithirahad

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    It could be abstracted some, I suppose. NPC's could hit buttons on computers, hammer at nearby equipment (Deco fans, pipes, system blocks in walls...), etc. and have blocks regenerate. It would be weird, but unless we want NPCs floating through our hulls repairing things (which would be even more weird) I think it's the best way to go...
     
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    Lecic

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    It could be abstracted some, I suppose. NPC's could hit buttons on computers, hammer at nearby equipment (Deco fans, pipes, system blocks in walls...), etc. and have blocks regenerate. It would be weird, but unless we want NPCs floating through our hulls repairing things (which would be even more weird) I think it's the best way to go...
    I'd prefer to not have NPC crew repair things, is what I'm saying. The repair functions they do should just be limiting the effects of the outages you get at lower HP.
     
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    I'm pretty sure the devs aren't going to change it so the interior is full of systems.
    Yeah I edited my post.

    I'd prefer to not have NPC crew repair things, is what I'm saying. The repair functions they do should just be limiting the effects of the outages you get at lower HP.
    Why?

    Have you ever played Guns of Icarus? The gameplay I'm thinking of is like that. Not repairing lost blocks like thrusters and shields en masse, for example, but running from room to room, repairing various kinds of computers, etc. It's also fun for players, and a Co-Op experience would be pretty great.I like your idea of fixing outages. Maybe adding power, shield, and thruster computers and your crew could run around and repair them.

    But I really don't see a point why AI shouldn't be able to exit a ship and help fix your ship. In the middle of a fire fight, you could order them to exit and replace blocks. If they had enough loyalty, they'd do it.
     

    Lecic

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    Why?

    Have you ever played Guns of Icarus? The gameplay I'm thinking of is like that. Not repairing lost blocks like thrusters and shields en masse, for example, but running from room to room, repairing various kinds of computers, etc. It's also fun for players, and a Co-Op experience would be pretty great.I like your idea of fixing outages. Maybe adding power, shield, and thruster computers and your crew could run around and repair them.
    I have, and I feel that kind of gameplay would be INCREDIBLY BORING in Starmade. Not only that, you're actively debuffing you and your friends by using one big ship instead of two ships with half the blocks of your big one each.

    But I really don't see a point why AI shouldn't be able to exit a ship and help fix your ship. In the middle of a fire fight, you could order them to exit and replace blocks. If they had enough loyalty, they'd do it.
    Besides that you're decreasing your own block HP when you place blocks on a damaged ship?
     
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    I have, and I feel that kind of gameplay would be INCREDIBLY BORING in Starmade. Not only that, you're actively debuffing you and your friends by using one big ship instead of two ships with half the blocks of your big one each.



    Besides that you're decreasing your own block HP when you place blocks on a damaged ship?
    That's a complete matter of opinion, personally, I'd find it pretty goddam fun. You do you, I guess. As for the ships, well - that can be changed with tweaking the game mechanics.

    As for the blocks, I guess it wouldn't work on the middle of a fight. You should still have the option to do so afterwards
     
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    Awesome! As a newish player to Starmade I was a little concerned I was coming in on the wrong side of the bell curve. I'm relieved to know big plans are on the way!
     

    Ithirahad

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    Awesome! As a newish player to Starmade I was a little concerned I was coming in on the wrong side of the bell curve. I'm relieved to know big plans are on the way!
    Haha... You wouldn't be on the wrong side for another 3 years or so, the way things're going.
     
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    Awesome! As a newish player to Starmade I was a little concerned I was coming in on the wrong side of the bell curve. I'm relieved to know big plans are on the way!
    Welcome to the forums. :)

    Please, keep a few things in mind.
    This game is in Alpha. As such, it is feature incomplete and your ship/station builds can break from update to update. Do not get overly attached. (seriously, some people have a big problem with this. we have multiple rant threads which I am not going to link to)
    The development team is relatively small and do not have magic wands. Some things take a while to happen and minor bug fixes are not really a priority. (it's better to get all the pieces in first instead of fixing things 4 dozen times)
    The devs in general, and schema in particular, like to keep details to a minimum. Quite often you have no idea what the guys at Schine are really working on. And then Schema will ninja some long awaited feature without even telling the rest of the team. Sometimes you want to scream at the heavens, other times it's christmas morning.
    Updates are every other week. We expect the next one this coming weekend. It can take up to 12 hours after the announcement before the update actually becomes available. They are usually good at keeping to schedule, but cut them some slack if they delay to fix some serious bugs.

    Some useful links.

    The roadmap - another source of info about future development. A more long term list.
    The wiki - Not always up to date, but Crimson-Artist works diligently and will welcome help once you are up to speed.
    The bug tracker - Check this out to see what is wrong with the game and to let the devs know when it's not working right.

    Bench is the guy who keeps us up to date on what's happening. When you want to dive into logic, check out his videos.
    Another source of videos is the Twitch channel. I think this is usually Criss, but others may pop in. Dig up the Q&A and twitchcon videos for more info on the game. And don't forget to check out Criss's thread, where he shows off all the ships and stuff that will eventually be in game.

    Player suggestions and idea that have made it into the game have a 'Planned' tag on them. There are other tags as well, it would be a good idea to get to know what they mean.

    We are currently in between council sessions, so those links are down. But basically, it's a bunch of players that have volunteered their time and got voted into office to act as information conduits between the developers and the community. Remember, they are players. They don't always know the answer and they don't get to make any decisions. But they can ask. Keep an eye out for an announcement about who these people are (any day now).

    I'm sure I've missed a few things. But be patient with Schine and remember some key facts. They don't have to let us play their game. It's nice of them to listen to our feedback, but we don't really know what the code looks like. In the end, the decisions are theirs. Unfortunately, this is also a second job for most of them. They aren't making a lot of money yet and some of them waste time eating and having families and doing other things so they can pay rent. We try to cut them some slack for stuff like that. :p
     

    Bench

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    Such a concise introduction of everything kiraen, love it!
     
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    As for the blocks, I guess it wouldn't work on the middle of a fight. You should still have the option to do so afterwards
    I would love that option. I would like it if one could get a blueprint meta item of the ship, give it to an NPC, and they will use that to replace the blocks on your ship exactly as they were before the fight, taking the blocks they need from a cargo space on board the ship. Or for larger ships, give it to one NPC who would be an overseer. The overseer would tell the other NPCs which blocks go where. That way, you wouldn't need a shipyard for the repairs, but you won't need a blueprint for every single NPC you want to repair the ship.

    Bench, is anything like this planned? If not, please consider it. It would be a great alternative to having to return to a shipyard for major repairs you don't want to or can't do yourself.