A few ideas (characters, ships and personal weapons) long detailed read - Last Edit 23/07/2013

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    Firstly :

    I would like to say thanks for this amazing game, It has brought me the most fun I've had ina VERY long time. I can't wait to see where it goes.

    credit for all of these ideas is not mine to take, many of them I have seen on the forums (or I may not have
    seen but do exist) but I wanted to give my ideas and thoughts on these subjects in one place

    NOTE: The weapons/ship weapons are major points in this post, please discuss, thank you!
    keep an eye on the bottom of the post, any new ideas go there.

    Ships :

    • Combat : In EVE Online, The bigger the guns, the more effective they are at destroying larger ships, but less effective at destroying small ships. This is mainly due to them turning far slower. I know this is already in, but It could maybe use a few tweaks.

      A system could be implemented as well as "> mass = < turn rate" . So that as the number of weapon modules increases a VERY VERY small spread would get introduced (and I mean VERY VERY small) So that large turrets and ship weapons would not be capable of sniping small ships in one blast at long ranges. This would also mean it is very slightly harder to dig a perfect tunnel to the core of a ship due to slight projectile deviation. I think this would also feel better from a gameplay perspective.

      If This sort of concept could be implemented it would greatly improve "ship class definition" by that i mean, every size of ship, and every type of weapon will be viable in combat as they will provide different rolls.



    ???

    • Additional Systems : I was thinking that afterburners and warp cores could be implemented.


      Warp cores - These would be blocks that allow "warp" this would appear in the sselection menu with other weapons. For the warp core block to not overload it would require 30 power blocks (5 spanning out from each space, streight, can not be boxed around the core) and would generate 1 warp speed (500m/s) per block to a maximum of warp 8 (4000m/s). The ship would be on a streight course and would not be able to manouver. The warp core would also auto-drop warp if there are obstructions. Warp would also take 5seceonds to activate (to prevent insta-warp from battle)

      Afterburners - These blocks would have to e connected to an engine block in order to be active. One block would generate "+2.5%" engine thrust when active, so that if your main thrust is 1000 you would gain 25 thrust from a single block. This benefit would be stackable up to 100% (note that this would require a massive amount of power, and would most likely render most ships weapon systems useless while afterburners are in use)
      The afterburners would last a set duration, say 5seconds. The ship would be a lot harder to maneuver while afterburners are active, so that these would be ideal for running away from combat or short distance travelling. They would have very minor use in combat.



    • Hulls : Hulls are FAR too weak as they are now, the are almsost entirely aesthetic. In stead of just making Hulls stronger I have another suggestion (already mentioned somewhere else by someone else i believe!), Different types of hull.
      So Minerals could be used to make hull, each type of mineral would create a hull with it's own unique attributes :
      - HP
      - Damage reduction bonuses (-5% kinetic damage etc.)
      - Weight
      - Colour ( paint can be apllied to change this though )


      Each Level of the mineral would produce a hull block with enhanced properties e.g. L1 = 500HP, -1% kinetic damage L2 = 550HP, -2% kinetic damage (this is ust an example of how it would work, not decided values)
      This would mean that L1 of mineral X would be better than L1 of mineral Y, however, L1 of mineral X is weaker than L2 of mineral Y.


    • Additional Weapons : A few new weapons to make ships more diverse.


      Gauss Cannon : This weapon would standardly have a very long reload rate, an AOE effect (1 block radius) but high speed, damage and distance, however would require a large portion of energy to use. The high energy consumption would make this weapon undesirable for in-combat use as it would deminish the effectiveness of other systems that are needed.
      The interesting thing about this weapon, is that the damage of the projectile also acts as it's "HP" which can be deminished by it hitting blocks e.g. the weapon deals 2000dmg, It is fired at 4 500HP hull blocks, It would hit the first and then deal 1500 damage, and after the fourth block the projectile would be destroyed. This would fire kinetic slugs that look like rockets at super-speed.
      This weapon would be ideal for capital ships and battle stations to house, as its effectiveness would only truly show in high numbers with a massive energy supply.

      Howitzer : This is what is produced when the anti-matter cannon and missile launcher have a baby. It would standardly deal a small AOE damage (3 block radius), would have slightly more damage than an anti-matter cannon, a slower rate of fire than the anti-matter cannon, a slower projectile speed than the anti-matter cannon and a further range than the anti-matter cannon. This would fire kinetic shells that would be visable by the small flame trail behind teh shell. These would deal +5% damage to hull.

      EMP Repeater : This would be a cross between a combat and support tool. This would standardly sport a 3 shot burst fire (very high ROF per burst), a similer ROF to the howitzer, A small AOE effect per bolt (1 block radius), each bolt dealing about 25% of an anti-matter cannon, a fast projectile speed, a lower range than the anti-matter cannon and each bolt would reduce effectiveness of systems within the AOE (this is not stackable e.g. firing 6 bolts at a single turret will not disable it)
      These woudl deal +5% to shields
      These would fire purple-blue plasma emp bolts.

      Gatling Cannons : These would be similer to the anti-matter cannon. They would come standard with a very high rate of fire (more than the anti-matter cannon), a range slightly smaller than that of the anti-matter cannon, a faster projectile speed than the anti-matter cannon and deal less damage than the anti-matter cannon (to balance the ROF).
      These would fire kinetic slugs (similer to the howitzer but smaller)

      Plasma Bomb : These would be similer to modern day bombs... but in space... and made of plasma!!
      These would only stack effect up to 20 blocks as they are primarily a fighter/bomber weapon. They would have a slow rate of fire, a moderate AOE ( 5 Block radius ), a slow projectile speed, a short range (100m) but have high damage. These projectiles would also be affected my planet gravity.
      These would be equipped on fighter/bomber ships to strafe larger ships primarily ( giving smaller ships more of a role ) and could be used for taking out base turrets or any other important systems. Well timed bombing runs as a ships shields go down would be devastating! Dealing -5% damage to shields.
      The projectile would look like a blue ball of energy.

      Incinerator : This would resemble "phasers" in Star Trek, a red sustained laser basicly.
      This would have a range farther that of the anti-matter cannons, an instant projectile speed (It's like the mining laser), an AOE effect (2 blocks, massive damage reduction per block, so weakens surrounding blocks but would take a while to actually destroy anything with the AOE), a high damage output to burn through blocks but would consume a a substantial portion more power than conventional weapons due the focused energy it requires. This weapon would deal +5% damage to shields.



    NOTE :- all of these weapons would be affected by the projectile spread (as previously mentioned) but again, the spread is very minimal and weapons with higher ROF would have increased spread (only minorly).




    ?Characters :
    - I feel that character models should be made into proportion (a bit more human-like). Each character would also have a very weak standard personal shield (REALLY weak) that simply protects them from space and a bullet or two (but they still require masks to breath )Characters should start in "normal" attire, such as that of star trek/halo (but a bit thicker with a littel padding) such that colour represents the postion (everyone would obviously start the same, maybe a grey?). This would lead to a few new additions being possible :

    - O2 Generators in ships (so crew can walk around without breathing equipment)
    - Breathing mask (equippable if oxygen is not present, this would be standard start equipment)
    ?- Different armour suits (similer to halo marines and spartans? Planetside? cos they look a badass)
    - Hacking tool (e.g. infiltrate the enemy ship and take down life support (O2 generator)



    • More tools :
      - Tracking device - player can attach this to an enemy ship to be able to track it for a set amount of time ( this would be perfect for small cloacked craft to drop someone onto a larger ship to plant a tracking device )
      - Mining laser - player can use this to mine on planets/asteroids at a faster pace ( this obviously wouldnt work in teh current insta-destroy everythinga nd anything )



    Personal Weapons : - My idea of how this would work is like this. You can buy/manufacture different parts (better/bigger parts would be more expensive and rarer, we don't want everyone with mini-guns). You start by activating the reciever/energy core (just like a ship core) a menu pops up with a selection of weapons e.g. SMG, LMG, HMG, Sidarm, Mounted weapon etc.
    when you choose, you get given a set of dimenstions to work with (so no 10m long pistols).
    The system would work just like ship building although the blocks would be tiny in comparison (1cm per block) and some blocks would take up more than 1cm e.g. barrel would be 2cm cubed (8 blocks) but casing would be just 1 block.

    • some of the components could be:
      - Reciever/energy core (creation piece, would be maybe 3x2x2 blocks)
      - magazine/ energy cell (1 block, stacking creates larger ammo cap)
      - casing (similer to hull, 1 block)
      - Sights (varying size depending on sight)
      - Barrel (2x2x2 blocks, stacking decreases sustained fire spread and increases range)
      - suppresser (2x2x2 blocks, stacking decreases sound of weapon further)
      - Muzzle break (2x2x2 blocks, Decreases spread of sustained fire)
      - Forward grip (2x1x1 blocks, decreases spread of sustained fire)
      - Flashlight (3x1x1 blocks, for seeing in dark places... )


    Each weapon would have tweakable stats much like ship weapons, they would all standardly have realistic stats for each class of weapon (slight variations dure to weapon build)



    • Edit:

      "Center of mass ship indicator"
      Make it so that the ships HUD icon is centre of mass rather than at the core. This would mean players don't just fire directly at your core and bore a nice hole through your ship.



    • Edit 2: More Ideas

      "Ship energy state lighting"
      This would mean that once your ships energy reaches 30% all lights within your ship turn yellow (warning light) and when your energy is
     
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    I like all the ideas and think it would be cool to make your own gun
     
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    Yeah, I thought it would be cool as well, especially as it would provide more variety in the game world.
    If a small faction block could be added too, it would mean that factions could fight with an arsenal noone else has, and issue every new member with a standard sidearm of their faction (or whatever they want to do)
     
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    • Legacy Citizen 2
    • Legacy Citizen
    i think think this is a great idea but they should add stuff like beds premade ships melee weapons other than that its your ideas are awsome
     
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    • Legacy Citizen 2
    • Legacy Citizen
    These are some excellent ideas! I had the same thought on the weapon system, and made a detailed post about it elsewhere:

    WARNING: lots of stuff here!


    Modular Combat





    Here are some ideas of how a weapon system could be implemented that would be very in line with the spirit of the game. Star-Made is about freedom, and I feel like the weapon system should mirror that by making everything modular in design. The player gets to decide what thier gun looks like, what it does, and how heavy it is.

    The idea is that there would be a new block added: the Weapon Design Module. The player would press R and an interface with a grid would come up. At the top, a drop down menu would be available to determine what type of weapon this will be. The grid will change shapes depending on what is selected. For expample, A secondary weapon would be given less grid space than a primary weapon, and a melee weapon would be more elongated horizantally. Grenades could be modularly based, with added functions like \"limited player tracking\" or sticky proporties. See below for diagram:

    Also available on this interface would be the ability to change module colors, so that different parts would still blend together. All of these parts can be crafted out of parts available in shops or found on planetary bodies or loot chests. Gun modules would be rare suprises for the player, and the more powerful/better a part is, the harder it is to make or find. This system would keep the game balenced, so that players who are new can create basic weapons for self defence, while advanced players can build weapon stockpiles and craft better weapons.

    I do not feel like this is making a simple matter more complicated, just more fun. Everyone knows what a gun needs to function: A barrel, a handle/trigger, and ammunition. After that, each part would add functionallity/asthetics to the gun. This system lets even a beginner with no tutorial create weapons for basic functions. After they find more items, they can add things like a second output barrel, scopes, balencing grips. If they make an energy weapon, they can add power to it by adding charge modules or something like that. It might take a little extra work to put all this together, but it will make the game much more fun and add an intuitive system for the player to control.

    Here is a little diagram of what I mean:



    The armor system, while not quite as modular, should still be controlable by the player and increase creativity. Each section of the player model can hold ONE of the above mentioned items. Each item adds weight, which means that it is impractical to have all the \"biggest best\" items equipped. Space combat would make weight irrelivent unless the player chooses to activate a gravity module. In these cases the player could equip all the biggest items and larger guns, at the expense of orientation and control. I actually find my larger ship interiors difficult to navigate without the aid of gravity modules. Maybe its just me... oh well :)

    Here items would help increase player defense, like a shield unit that deflects energy beams, or a balistic vest for projectile damage. Perhaps the shield would need the player to wear a energy recharge unit in the secondary weapon slot (belt) in order to recover from an attack. Keeping it balenced like this makes the player choose if they want to be heavy tank, with shields and large primary weapons, or a light unit with multiple guns or a melee sword... really the posibilities are endless. And that would just be in the core game. Imagine what modders could do with a system already implemented like this...

    Hope you like this idea! I used a lot of what was already said on in the posts here, so i\'m sorry for not giving credit properly. I just wanted to combine the best parts into an actual working system schema might impement! Thanks!
     
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    It\'s nice to have some detailed posts about these things. I have never seen your post before :)
    Overall it all sounds great!

    Edit: thinking a bit more on the modular armour, weapon specific holsters could be made when creating armour so that no inventory slots are used, so if an enemy uses your weapon he uses more of his personal space, this is just a quick idea, would need to think a bit more of how this would work properly.
     
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    I love it, especially the \"damage is projectile HP\" thing, would be a really awesome weapon imo.
     
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    I thought about it for a while, as to how it could be balanced. Maybe even make it weigh a lot too to slow turning speeds.
    Imagine halo-esque battle platforms that are based around one massive gauss cannon that float around near your homebase :)
     
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    • Legacy Citizen 2
    • Legacy Citizen
    On the topic of warp cores, I think this should be a computer system called the \"2D Phase Initiator\", with blocks that connect to it called \"2D Phase Capacitors\".

    How this works in-game:

    What these would do is actually \"flatten\" the ship into a 2D object. On the map UI, your ship is already represented by a flat icon. What I propose, to keep FTL matters simple, is to allow the player to go into the map UI, and if thier ship has a Phase Initiator on it, the map would show flashing green squares in an area around your current sector. these represent the areas the ship can FTL travel too, which, since distance is basically tiny, (50kmh = 80mph... not fast at all) the FTL ability would intantly transport your ship to that sector, and place you in the closest outside edge, in the nearest available space. The number of sectors a ship could travel would depend purely on how many 2D Phase Capacitors are connected to the computer.

    In essance, true 2D objects in our universe would have no mass, and since the limit on traveling faster than the speed of light mathmatically has to do with mass, objects having none would be able to break this universal constant. When the player pulls up the interface, they may sellect one of the green squares to travel to, and would almost intantly be transported there. A few interesting game machanics could be introduced at this point.

    1: A message goes out to all players in the same sector that a ship is about to make an FTL jump.

    2: The ship would then take 15-20 secs to actually jump to the selected sector, providing a window to attack it by enemies and discouraging FTL jumps in the midst of a firefight. Also, perhaps because of the power required to jump, ships shields might drop for the 20 secs, or engines and weapons might be disabled, enabling massive attacks and further discouraging flight from a battle in this method.

    3: A new block called the 2D Phase Inihibitor could be activated to dissalow a ship from activating a jump. Also, power drain beams might be used to stop a ship by draining below the neccisarry power needed to perform the jump.

    How it might work IRL:

    when FTL is first initiated, there would be some wait time for the player, lets say 15-20 secs. During this time, the player may deactivate the jump, or it may be deactivated by an admin or the above described weapons.

    While the ship is waiting, the server will perform several checks, as well as saving the ship and all docked vessels temporarily as a backup. This could be maintained up to three jumps back, and could be retrieved server side by draging files between folders. The server will then check the output sector and find th nearest edge to the player position. It will select an area to place the ship with no objects in it, just as it does now. Once all checks have passed and the timer has ticked down, the ship jumps.

    If a check fails at any time, like say a ship passes through the target area, the jump will be canceled and a message will appear that says something like \"jump failed, target location unsafe!\" this encourages players to jump into lower density sectors with few players.

    Tell me what you think! I took ideas from a few different places... don\'t judge!
     
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    I thought that enough of this was new that I should create a thread :)
    Sorry anyway!

    Edit: I will be adding more things i think up as well.
     
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    How about bean weaponry? Call them lasers, ion cannons, or whatever, but a space battle is not the same without certified Space Beam Spam.

    Apart from that, I like your suggestions. This game may be in alpha, but it needs a little more complexity in the near future.
     
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    Yes, More energy weapons. With different coloured lasers.
    These are only a few ideaas, I am sure I can come up with plenty more, this whole post was written on the spot and took about 10-15mins to think up and write! :)
     
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    • Legacy Citizen 2
    • Legacy Citizen
    I really like the modular gun system. I can see youtube videos being entirely on \"efficient star-made blaster builds\". And their should be a build your own clip/magazine, and you have to make several on your own (or catalog them) to refill your ammo.



    A lot of good suggestions here, i agreed with most of them.
     
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    • Legacy Citizen 2
    • Legacy Citizen
    2 more ideas: Docking modules that allow your ship to swing freely with inertia (so you could have segmented ships... or tails). And a button + click activated placement system so you can place blocks in mid air near you at a set distance and not need them to be connected to a core. Then you can build off of that block. I really want to make a space chain made of hardened hulls without ship cores in a ton of segments so that ships can\'t fly through as easily.
     
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    Giant space worms is what i thaught reading your post xD
    you could create debris fields (all connected up, it would be like a spiders web! catching prey) with turrets/bombs in your home sector, kinda like a space mine-field.
     
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    There are some interesting ideas in here that could work!
    I was trying to think of ways to prevent in combat jumps too :)
     
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    • Legacy Citizen 2
    • Legacy Citizen
    SCHEMA! i demand you to look at the weapon section of this post, RIGHT NOW!

    i want my handgun with scope, and mini antimatter cannons NOW!

    -also i want everything in CorneliousCrowe\'s Reply to this. (mainly the armour and, well, everything in that picture.)

    GREAT SUGGESTION!
     
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    Does anyone else have anything they can say? I was hopeing for some disussion on these subjects. thanks.