- Joined
- Jul 2, 2013
- Messages
- 165
- Reaction score
- 26
So I've been playing Starmade for a few weeks now and was thinking about some things I could pose to Schema for ideas. I'm going to type these as I go and delete them as I find them in the forum, everyone else can bump or rip apart as they see fit. I'm aiming primarily at ideas that I think haven't been touched upon and could improve game play.
Server Owner Faction Maker - So I watch a LOT of sci-fi and played a lot of Minecraft. When I found out about Starmade, I peed myself with all the elation of a perverted xenophile in a galactic melting pot of interplanetary tang. That being said, I started to notice something. There was really only one faction trying to vaporize my live, supple body. I started thinking “wouldn't it be cool if I could add some style to this faction?” and started making Isanth 5s and 6s. Then I went a little farther, thinking about multiple AI factions. If there was a way to name a faction and have the game create a blueprint folder for that faction in the game folder, you could just drop blueprints into folders inside the server install and essentially create a universe races and types of ship, get some immersion going on. Add similar hull designs and weapon styles that only those factions could use. (Also, making all personal BP's NOT available to your standard pirates immediately)
Beam Weapons – I am sure this has been discussed, but I've not looked at any of them, so here goes. I was pondering beam weapons as short range, low damage, fast ticking weapons. Similar to how the heal beam works, but much better at etching your name in cursive on someone's hull. Kind of like a shield deterrent. Doing minimal damage on it's own but since it is constant, no recharge until they retreat or are destroyed. Maybe a massive, direct fire weapon that has a long recharge, similar to missiles but far less fickle.
Mass Drivers – This one I would thought could be primarily a direct fire weapon with a charge up time, and you actually have to build the rails to fire this weapon. It could require a computer and also a “firing point” where the “mag rails” need to be lined up for determining power. A visual of a white streak hitting your target and the trail (relatively) slowly fading would be bitchin', and allow some alternative combat tactics to be implemented.
Ship System Blocks – I know that it's easy to bury your core inside a layer of armored hull so thick that not even a laser katana wielding T-1000 can opener couldn't retrieve it is a common tactic, but having a shield block and propulsion block gives the “stations on my bridge a purpose, and adds some more realism to the game. Maybe shield blocks have to be on the outside of the ship and once hit, your shields are down. That one I am either way with, but it sounds fun.
Station Blueprints – Really kind of self explanatory.
AI Ship Sub-Modes – The idea of a carrier is appealing. The ability to drop drones into combat is something I have seen talked about on chat many times. I was think about how this could be done. Escort/Patrol/Threat settings on the Bobby Ai ship section. Escort mode would be a mode in which the drone seeks to stay within an acceptable range of it's “Mothership”. Done by docking with a ship and then released. It would engage targets as they come into range. Patrol would be similar to escort but more useful for stations, where the ship will constantly fly around it's “Hub” (a better word than mother ship in this instance) and engage when targets come into range. Then, my favorite, Threat. Threat would be a mode where ships, upon being told to undock, would engage targets, and then 20 or 30 some odd seconds would return to their docking platform. I thought this would be able to be achieved simply by the docking blocks having a registry to whatever ship is docked on it, and then those AI's return to the block with their registry. Kind of like a digital finger print.
AI Repair – Self explanatory, though my limited understanding of programming disables me from making any helpful suggestions.
AM Cannon Laser Colors- Combining a cannon with a plex light to change the color of the laser that comes out would rule, and add an extra recipe for manufacturing. Make it so that when that cannon is selected as the output, it changes the color, so you don't have to make a million of them for a ship. Also, adding the plex beacon should make the bolts more round, just for funsies.
Warp – I'm sure methods of fast travel have been spoken on, so I will make mine brief. Outside of combat, ability to warp, cool visual, use whatever speed you think necessary. Practical.
Target Jammer – Massive power consumption, disengages AI firing on you. Primarily to be used as a retreat tactic.
Bigger Sectors – I don't know how this would affect the near flawless system in place now, but flying my star destroyer around and having sectors get all confused with me is a minor annoyance. The ability to have bigger ships and less criss-crossy sector nonsense could be beneficial. Just a thought.
Shops - The current amount of building material in the shops is abyssmal. There isn't enough for one person to build a small ship, let alone many people to build many different sizes of ships. I think a rework needs to be done there as well.
Docking - found this looking through the forums. http://star-made.org/content/advanced-docking-proposal
This is it. Hope you guys agree.
p.s. please ignore any grammatical errors or misplaced words. I am fairly tired, and wanted to get this done before sleeping.
Server Owner Faction Maker - So I watch a LOT of sci-fi and played a lot of Minecraft. When I found out about Starmade, I peed myself with all the elation of a perverted xenophile in a galactic melting pot of interplanetary tang. That being said, I started to notice something. There was really only one faction trying to vaporize my live, supple body. I started thinking “wouldn't it be cool if I could add some style to this faction?” and started making Isanth 5s and 6s. Then I went a little farther, thinking about multiple AI factions. If there was a way to name a faction and have the game create a blueprint folder for that faction in the game folder, you could just drop blueprints into folders inside the server install and essentially create a universe races and types of ship, get some immersion going on. Add similar hull designs and weapon styles that only those factions could use. (Also, making all personal BP's NOT available to your standard pirates immediately)
Beam Weapons – I am sure this has been discussed, but I've not looked at any of them, so here goes. I was pondering beam weapons as short range, low damage, fast ticking weapons. Similar to how the heal beam works, but much better at etching your name in cursive on someone's hull. Kind of like a shield deterrent. Doing minimal damage on it's own but since it is constant, no recharge until they retreat or are destroyed. Maybe a massive, direct fire weapon that has a long recharge, similar to missiles but far less fickle.
Mass Drivers – This one I would thought could be primarily a direct fire weapon with a charge up time, and you actually have to build the rails to fire this weapon. It could require a computer and also a “firing point” where the “mag rails” need to be lined up for determining power. A visual of a white streak hitting your target and the trail (relatively) slowly fading would be bitchin', and allow some alternative combat tactics to be implemented.
Ship System Blocks – I know that it's easy to bury your core inside a layer of armored hull so thick that not even a laser katana wielding T-1000 can opener couldn't retrieve it is a common tactic, but having a shield block and propulsion block gives the “stations on my bridge a purpose, and adds some more realism to the game. Maybe shield blocks have to be on the outside of the ship and once hit, your shields are down. That one I am either way with, but it sounds fun.
Station Blueprints – Really kind of self explanatory.
AI Ship Sub-Modes – The idea of a carrier is appealing. The ability to drop drones into combat is something I have seen talked about on chat many times. I was think about how this could be done. Escort/Patrol/Threat settings on the Bobby Ai ship section. Escort mode would be a mode in which the drone seeks to stay within an acceptable range of it's “Mothership”. Done by docking with a ship and then released. It would engage targets as they come into range. Patrol would be similar to escort but more useful for stations, where the ship will constantly fly around it's “Hub” (a better word than mother ship in this instance) and engage when targets come into range. Then, my favorite, Threat. Threat would be a mode where ships, upon being told to undock, would engage targets, and then 20 or 30 some odd seconds would return to their docking platform. I thought this would be able to be achieved simply by the docking blocks having a registry to whatever ship is docked on it, and then those AI's return to the block with their registry. Kind of like a digital finger print.
AI Repair – Self explanatory, though my limited understanding of programming disables me from making any helpful suggestions.
AM Cannon Laser Colors- Combining a cannon with a plex light to change the color of the laser that comes out would rule, and add an extra recipe for manufacturing. Make it so that when that cannon is selected as the output, it changes the color, so you don't have to make a million of them for a ship. Also, adding the plex beacon should make the bolts more round, just for funsies.
Warp – I'm sure methods of fast travel have been spoken on, so I will make mine brief. Outside of combat, ability to warp, cool visual, use whatever speed you think necessary. Practical.
Target Jammer – Massive power consumption, disengages AI firing on you. Primarily to be used as a retreat tactic.
Bigger Sectors – I don't know how this would affect the near flawless system in place now, but flying my star destroyer around and having sectors get all confused with me is a minor annoyance. The ability to have bigger ships and less criss-crossy sector nonsense could be beneficial. Just a thought.
Shops - The current amount of building material in the shops is abyssmal. There isn't enough for one person to build a small ship, let alone many people to build many different sizes of ships. I think a rework needs to be done there as well.
Docking - found this looking through the forums. http://star-made.org/content/advanced-docking-proposal
This is it. Hope you guys agree.
p.s. please ignore any grammatical errors or misplaced words. I am fairly tired, and wanted to get this done before sleeping.
