Criss' Thread

[NeonSturm]

Point defenses cost money and the odds of freighters getting hit by pirates is relatively low all things considered. I mean again look at real life. Our freighters, our cargo haulers are unarmed. Even when they travel through dangerous areas (like the freighters near somalia or even military transports) they still aren't armed. Even minor things like PDs add up when you're adding several of them to potentially millions of ships. It's far cheaper and smarter to just have your freighters run away and if they do get taken you send in the actual warships to deal with it.

The way I see the TG being, based on Criss' posts, is that yeah sure their freighters are easy targets but if you hit them it wont be long until the TG sends in warships to beat you down.

As Sun Tzu said, he who tries to protect everything protects nothing. It's better to simply have a smallish but powerful military fleet that can respond to problems than to equip every single freighter with costly weapon systems.

Some of the cost of a gun is the energy supply. If you can power a big jump drive and big cargo thrusters, you should have a small gun for the case you need to convert that already existing energy into firepower.
Another thing about a Warship is defence,shielding. Again, you already have a little of it vs random impacts from free-floating bullets (IRL everything in space keeps floating) and it might be cheaper to shield against a single projectile and evade swarms than to evade every single of it.

• Of-course nothing above a faction (20-50%) of your power supply. Favouring overcharge.effected guns.

You are not seeing the big picture as well. Imagine 10 cargo ships in a convoy:

• Their weapons combined will stop a small pirate ship. A ship so small that it does not justify the cost of a destroyer jumping in and aborting it's current task (like laying sensor beacons).
• And anything bigger than that little pirate they can kill themselves is gonna worthwhile for a Destroyer to jump in (justify the costs).

How many American peoples have their own little gun at home? Even if there is a police or army? A cargo freighter captain may be no different from that.

And maybe this little gun -even if it is no real protection- can remind the pirates that there will be some revenge in form of police/military.

When there are actually defense forces coming to the rescue of shops under attack, it might not be as easy as you might think. Plus I'm sure blowing up a TG shop will put you in the bad grace of the TG, meaning their shops are now closed to you and all of their ships are hostile.

I am not a fan of "one power rules all".
Everyone cooperation that can gain profits faster from suppressing others than from growing itself is inherently promoting evil in itself.

To not become evil, you need to be a fraction of the total at all times. A fraction that cares about balance of the greatest powers.

The stick shops are manufactured near the TG homebase (not the spawn shop). From there they are launched into space and may drift for long periods of time (even millennia or more). When the station approaches it's final destination the rings on the structure activate. They act as gyroscopes and inertial dampeners that slow the station to a stop, where it will remain indefinitely. From here the stations automated shop transaction systems will begin accumulating profits from anyone that decides to trade here. Eventually civilization reaches these shops and the TG can come collect their profits.

To give a sense of scale, here is a the small freighter next to the shop.

Idea: Another reason for "stick-shops" might be jump-gates.

What if these shops are jumping to their final location through a jump-gate? They might need to fit through a tiny gate of a capital ship laying them.

 

[Criss]

What if these shops are jumping to their final location through a jump-gate

It has already been established via game mechanics that jump gates need a receiving structure already in place. Until that point, sure the stick shops could use them. But their final destination is always uncharted space.

 

[Jananton]

It has already been established via game mechanics that jump gates need a receiving structure already in place. Until that point, sure the stick shops could use them. But their final destination is always uncharted space.

In other words, to go there, and beyond the known.

I must say I do like the models shown so far, they sure will give more depth to the game and its experience, not to mention their attribution to lore, game-play options and overall possibilities.

Greets,

Jan

 

[Keptick]

To be perfectly honest, anything that isn't a $%@&! Isanth is good in my books.

 

[Nickizzy]

What will be the ship shapes for all of these factions? Will the trading guild be rectangles only, the AI abolitists having lines with a side cockpit, other factions having other unique designs. Also, certain factions (pirates) would sometimes steal an enemy factions ship(spawn in, the factions would be at war), maybe give it a paint job, or strip the interior and cargo out for weapons, to suit it to their faction? (These "stolen" ships would spawn less often and there would be selected variations for each ship and each faction- the ship in OP when stolen by pirates would have sections of grey armor replace with dark grey hull[damage patches], and the interior striped of certain items and compressed to make room for more weapons.)

 

[Lecic]

the AI abolitists having lines with a side cockpit,

I don't think that's actually a real faction.

 

[Nickizzy]

I know, but people talked about it earlier. My point isn't so much the factions, but(like their colorings and logos) should have unique shapes. The "stolen ship" idea was about one faction taking over another's ship, a sort of hijacking.

 

[Sven_The_Slayer]

I know, but people talked about it earlier. My point isn't so much the factions, but(like their colorings and logos) should have unique shapes. The "stolen ship" idea was about one faction taking over another's ship, a sort of hijacking.

I'm a big fan of the stolen ship idea. They are going to be scavengers after all so it makes sense that they steal ships. I've mentioned it to Criss at least once before.

 

[Criss]

What will be the ship shapes for all of these factions

You will see as these reveals are posted here. I cant talk about something that hasn't been built yet. As for the TG you can see they are quite boxy and grey. They will remain that way. I am looking at Dalmont and Skylord for inspiration on these builds. They have a similar aesthetic although a bit exaggerated in some detailing so I am toning it down a bit.

I am hoping the scavengers are very exposed. They will have weaker looking scrappier hulls however quite sharp and angular Some of their ships will be built from many different parts and appear inconsistent. Others will be more complete hulls that are patched up. And yes some will be stolen vessels in disguise. From afar you may not be able to tell. Unfortunately these are the ships that I likely won't be revealing here. Once the mechanics are in I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise if you come across one.

The outcasts are hopefully going to be somewhere in between. They will have white hulls with brown orange and black details. They will be asymmetrical more than the TG but not as scrappy as the Scavengers. Kinda like Firefly ships. Never watched the show (I know I am a heathen) but that is what they were compared to.

 

[Mr.Steam]

Maybe you don't want to reveal this but will scavengers be smart enough to loot ships and use their newly acquired stuff to build new ships or perhaps incorporate stolen ships into their own designs?

 

[Criss]

Maybe you don't want to reveal this but will scavengers be smart enough to loot ships and use their newly acquired stuff to build new ships or perhaps incorporate stolen ships into their own designs?

To an extent. Now idk how or if it will be calculated but there will be some simulation in the universe once factions are strewn about. The weaker a faction the less of them you will see. If they are left alone for a while perhaps they have built some new ships. It will probably be very simplified. It might work if passive regen on resources becomes a thing. As for looting and stealing, again that might be simplified. They might blow up a ship, chalk it up as a success and spawn a ship back home with the loot they "acquired". That is the goal at least.

 

[Mr.Steam]

The reason I asked is I wondered if NPC's will physically travel on patrol routes to and from their home bases thus allowing us to track them back to their homes. I would love stealth missions where I need to secretly track an NPC to find their secret base.

 

[Nickizzy]

NPC homebases would be cool, maybe having a chace to spawn on planets? I was thinking that if one faction had a bad enough relationship with another faction it would start stealing ships, and ships would spawn in stolen, instead of having to be actively caught(you wouldnt have to simulate every battle and capture)but being able to find two ships, one in the process of capturing the other, would be really cool.

Ships captured could have partially reconfugured interiors, like adding orntaking away decorations and armor. They could also have different system statistics, some captured TG ships would lose the jump drive in favor of greater engine or weapon power.

 

[StormWing0]

Well there are a few ways the TG could get around turret costs for their stations and ships. For stations there could be public turret docking points where people could dock turrets of their own too. As for ships why not have a storage on the stations where someone could drop off finished BPs to stock up the TG on turrets and let them add them to their spawned ships in the area on a as needed/able basis.

 

[Lecic]

The outcasts are hopefully going to be somewhere in between. They will have white hulls with brown orange and black details.

NFD confirmed for outcasts

 

[NeonSturm]

The trading guild is not especially hiding themselves.

They are a faction of "the public" and perhaps their ships can represent that.
I would make their faction-symbol shiny blue/white. At least one glowing part seen from every direction.​

Outcasts and scavengers would probably jam / not-cloak their ships (or not?) to not be detected by the navy and run surprise attacks or just disappear when big danger comes (scavengers).

but cloakers would be high-end equipment for the "mafia-bosses" and "navy-special-ops" or perhaps "slave-smugglers".​

Scavenger design could have their biggest 2 designs <40% of the hull while
Outlaws could have 60% of their hull in 1 design, 40% being patches?

or 60% and 80%? Just suggestions, but I think there should be a distinguishable gap.​

But having outlaws between 60% and 80% would be nice to show the wealth of their repairing station or the amount of organisation in the criminal organisation.

 

[Criss]

Hello! I almost forgot to post this week. I am a day late. Buckle up because this is a big post!

As you all know we have a new spawn station being built for the new players to arrive in. Of course anyone that creates a new world will see one. This structure was initially built with one purpose, sell the player on the game within 30 seconds. I've often heard new players in awe of my own smaller ships, let alone something over 700 meters in height. We figured a structure this large and detailed would show them what the game is capable of.

Many of you have seen or explored this on your own already but for those few that haven't I will go over the basics of it's major features. The player starts on board the permanently docked freighter, recently awoken from cryogenic sleep. With no idea who you are or why you are here, this universe is ready for you to create your own journey. IF and when we add in more of a story it will be something optional to partake in. We want the player to be free of any single experience.

Upon entering the station you will discover four major quarters of the city and a large platform above. This is where plenty of NPC interaction will take place. This is the Trading Guild's permanent base in the region. This is not their Homebase in terms of lore, only in terms of gameplay and what we see. This is a central hub for them to conduct their actives from. As such it was built to be a bit more comfortable than their other installations.

After walking in you will find the yellow quarter to your right. Here you will find a hospital, bounty office, security center and a few shops. Above on the terrace are the luxury apartments available to some of the wealthier bureaucrats of the TG.

Moving clockwise we end up in the blue quarter. From here the TG controls the station and conducts it's business in the region. You will find a large control building, a bank, a stock market and a logistics building. You will notice the buildings here are bit more polished than the rest.

Next we have the red quarter. This is the densest section of the station. Here you will find many shops and services. Recreational facilities can be found here and the player could set up their own shop here at a stall if they wanted.

The last quarter is the green quarter. Here we have a large park. So as to not appear entirely boring and devoid of life the TG opted to spend more money on this station on such amenities. It's worthwhile when attracting new potential customers. Here you will find miniature planetary and asteroid displays as well.

In the center of the main floor suspended above these four quarters you will find the Information Center. This is an open area that will house NPC's specifically intended to teach anyone about the relative systems at each "booth" similar to the tutorial station. Additionally there are smaller apartments located directly below. All of this can be accessed by elevator or stair.

Moving to the outer edges of the this floor you will find access tubes with a USD style dock or larger ones meant to accommodate entire station additions. You may also use one of the four shipyards located here as well. They should be able to accommodate the first vessel a new player builds. In this image you can also see some limited defenses on the station (it will be invulnerable anyway) as well as emergency docks leading to the hospital and security buildings.

Now we descend into the cargo bay. Here the TG stores many goods. There are some cranes that can be interacted with (although in a limited sense due to wireless logic bugs). On each wall you will find an array of factories that should be sufficient for any new players, although still quite limited to an experienced player. There are four landing pads that can accommodate some of the smaller ships in the game such as the shuttles we will be building or an Isanth.

Lastly you will find at the very bottom of the station a control room. This room is cut off to the public to avoid trolling. Here you can send elevators where they are needed and reset the logic if it ever gets stuck. There are also two build blocks in these rooms. There may also be controls for the rotating parts of the station in the future.

That's all for now. There are probably things I forgot to mention and plenty of secret areas that you can discover on your own.

As for future peeks, I will be working a lot more daily on these builds. There are already plenty of ships to reveal, a new TG station being built and refits of the old TG stations. Those will be revealed next. Currently Zeno's station has been refit (he was absent from the forums when we started) and I am also working on my own station that was in the contest from a year ago. For legal reasons we need to make sure that any refits done by the original creators is handled properly. They should be fine, however I will be double checking.

We want to keep some of these a secret still. Part of what makes space special is discovering these structures. We shouldn't ruin all the surprises. I suspect I will have to end these peeks once we replace the pirates with their new builds.

 

[Ithirahad]

Won't everything be in the game files in the end, though? Once the pirates get released, couldn't any schmuck go into SP, spawn in all the pirates, and put up screenshots? :P

I see why you wouldn't want to show all the pirates regardless, but I don't see why we couldn't see one (perhaps the first, smallest one) to get an idea of the style.

 

[therimmer96]

Won't everything be in the game files in the end, though? Once the pirates get released, couldn't any schmuck go into SP, spawn in all the pirates, and put up screenshots? :p

I see why you wouldn't want to show all the pirates regardless, but I don't see why we couldn't see one (perhaps the first, smallest one) to get an idea of the style.

Well, they could be dicks and have them in the jar file rather than in the files, but yeah

 

[Ithirahad]

Well, they could be dicks and have them in the jar file rather than in the files, but yeah

Which would be awkward but not exactly hard to get past either :P