Dev Blog : December 6th

[DrTarDIS]

Good thing we did then!

Guide to NPC faction directory structure

In the npcFactions folder you will find...

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The "npcConfigDefault.xml" has all the default config values for a npcFaction.
The "npcSpawnConfig.xml" handles the selecting and spawning of factions for the server.

Each of the folders is a faction, doing into a folder gives us...

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So we have the same config file as the default one listed above, only with the default removed. This xml file called "npcConfig.xml" handles all the configurations for the NPC faction.

There's also the blueprints zip, this contains all the ships and stations for the faction...

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Now these aren't the compressed sment files, they're straight from the blueprints folder of the game and then zipped into a blueprints.zip file included in a faction's folder.

All the blueprints you are using need to have a classification when the blueprint is saved, so the NPC faction config has the right ones load for the right reasons. You will find this as a setting in-game when you go to save your blueprints...

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I wish these screenshots worked for me

 

[Ultragamer2000]

will the NPC facs have supply lines, for example point a is an mine point b is a factory station.? and will we get to make our own supply lines?

 

[DrTarDIS]

will the NPC facs have supply lines, for example point a is an mine point b is a factory station.? and will we get to make our own supply lines?

AFAICT so far they do set up trade routs(unsure if it's only temporary and/or admin mode that gets to see them on the map) And their fleets seem to like to "hang out" near the first player that loads up the system. Can't say I've actually seen them mining or transfering resources though. I will say their "derp me defending" and crashing nose-first into stations looks vaguely like docking/transfering, in a Daedalus maneuver kinda way.

 

[Criss]

I believe miners will actually return to a station to unload their haul. I have also witnessed them mining. Trade Routes seem to happen only when they need things from another faction. I did not see them constantly trading.

 

[LoSboccacc]

I believe miners will actually return to a station to unload their haul. I have also witnessed them mining. Trade Routes seem to happen only when they need things from another faction. I did not see them constantly trading.

can you blow to pieces all their threns asteroids to have them start importing that or missile modules?

 

[MacThule]

I believe miners will actually return to a station to unload their haul. I have also witnessed them mining. Trade Routes seem to happen only when they need things from another faction. I did not see them constantly trading.

With the advent of AI capable of sending out miners, mining fields, then returning the resources, please tell me that this functionality will soon also find itself incorporated into our player fleet mining options!

 

[Criss]

With the advent of AI capable of sending out miners, mining fields, then returning the resources, please tell me that this functionality will soon also find itself incorporated into our player fleet mining options!

Well it's already sort of a feature. It's just broken right now.

 

[Ithirahad]

Well it's already sort of a feature. It's just broken right now.

Um, no? The broken feature lets you fly somewhere with your fleet and then have them mine in the sector you're in. It does not allow you to send out fleets to unloaded space and mine stuff.

 

[Criss]

Um, no? The broken feature lets you fly somewhere with your fleet and then have them mine in the sector you're in. It does not allow you to send out fleets to unloaded space and mine stuff.

Well we have another option for telling the fleet to defend a specific sector without your presence. It shouldn't be too much work getting the same functionality for mining. I imagine NPC mechanics come into play here as they currently send out fleets and mine virtually and hold a virtual storage until they are loaded.

 

[Ithirahad]

Well we have another option for telling the fleet to defend a specific sector without your presence. It shouldn't be too much work getting the same functionality for mining. I imagine NPC mechanics come into play here as they currently send out fleets and mine virtually and hold a virtual storage until they are loaded.

Yes, but the point is that it's not "sort of" a feature; it's just not a thing yet.

With the advent of AI capable of sending out miners, mining fields, then returning the resources, please tell me that this functionality will soon also find itself incorporated into our player fleet mining options!

 

[LoSboccacc]

Well we have another option for telling the fleet to defend a specific sector without your presence. It shouldn't be too much work getting the same functionality for mining. I imagine NPC mechanics come into play here as they currently send out fleets and mine virtually and hold a virtual storage until they are loaded.

was kinda hoping for the player getting a chance of being what amount to the decision maker part of the faction AI, with the faction automation largely working the same between npc and player driven.

 

[xxpowerofsoundxx]

With the anticipation of the update and the scale of it, has it been looked at to release it in parts?

We all realize this game is still in Alpha and not everything is going to be perfect but if, say, Update Part #1 was just the integration of the NPC factions into the galaxy and they just sit there and defend their systems and give players something to shoot at/look at. After that there can be other updates that incorporate all the freaking amazing features of the factions. Doing this in my opinion would get all of us past this nail biting, not optional, server reset that everyone is now playing SP in anticipation of.

just download the dev branch and help bug track. the npc's are already there.

 

[DragonSoul9000]

Um, no? The broken feature lets you fly somewhere with your fleet and then have them mine in the sector you're in. It does not allow you to send out fleets to unloaded space and mine stuff.

Ithirahad I have personally sent miners to up to 2 systems away to mine while I was not in the same system or sector as them. I think what they are talking about is the automated unload when you are full and then return to the asteroid you were mining feature. I personally have a automated mining fleet that I only have to tell them to return to the mothership and Launch them again with inner ship remote from the ship I am on. So I don't have to be anywhere near them. Oh this is on the latest Release Ver. not the Dev Build
[doublepost=1481864800,1481864272][/doublepost]Oh and by the way Criss that system has been working so far for me. I tell the fleet what sector to goto wait for them to get there and the fleet status to indicate they are all idle. Then I use the mine sector command. Only thing I have to watch them on is how much time they are mining then when to dock and undock them. yeah the docking needs a little tweeking but other than that the system works fine for me.

 

[MrFURB]

I have personally sent miners to up to 2 systems away to mine while I was not in the same system or sector as them

Are you 100% sure they actually mined things and had stuff in their cargo hold? According to patch notes they and the sector they are in both have to be loaded (within view range of a player) in order to mine. I doubt Schema would have added unloaded fleet mining without anyone knowing, but if he did then I can see a huge number of us switching to that overnight.

 

[DragonSoul9000]

I have checked the cargo hold of my main carrier that is the mothership for that fleet. Empty when sent Full when checked. Version 199.253. I'll try it out on the Dev Build in a little while and letyou know what I find out. I'll see if I did anything special to my fleet or settings forit to work but I don't remember doing anything special.

 

[DragonSoul9000]

my apologies to everyone, I was wrong. I had logged out to go cook something to eat and when I logged back in the cargo spaces where still showing full and I had forgotten I had put all my inventory in there to keep from getting the penalty for being over capacity. Again I apologize.

 

[Zarth]

the factions should spread out among the galaxy a little faster, to be honest. The way it is right now, and once they've claimed a certain number of systems, they just suddenly stop expanding. This leaves thing vulnerable for attack by other players. Once players are strong enough, factions will just start to lose ground, and eventually disappear from the galaxy as players just systematically erase them from the server. They I don't know if they'll prioritize larger, one million+ block ships over a station if their blueprints are edited by a server owner. But the way it seems to stand now if it stays this way, factions are nothing more than just some fun little challenge or object to loot resources from. They'll hold no significant position for End game players who are running around in 1-4 million block ships.... Because they'll all be whipped out by them. the ships they build won't be large enough, and they just suddenly stop collecting resources once they've claimed a certain number of systems.

 

[MacThule]

So, Bench, I'm super curious about whether the oncoming change in dynamic from NPC empires presages a change in the way player factions function as well.

We're seeing these large, sometimes massive NPC empires on the maps in the Dev build, but under current Faction Points (FP) dynamics, most Player factions even with 2+ active players will be limited to controlling maybe 3-4 sectors (safely, without running the risk of dangerously depleting FP if one of their actives unexpectedly goes on vacation). This is dwarf status compared to the NPC territories I've been seeing in the test server.

Will we soon be seeing a revision of the FP system that allows player factions to compete for and hold territory on the level the NPCs will be, or will player empires remain inherently smaller and weaker than the NPCs?

(You may be aware that I am a big fan of the 'inverted' FP mods some servers have used, where player factions earn FP through claiming - and holding - territory and pay a flat maintenance cost essentially for the privilege of having an invulnerable Home Base (the most OP buff/effect in the whole game). I think a Dev-nuanced version of this would not only allow players to create empires along the scales we see NPCs doing in the Dev Server, but has also been shown to drive some interesting politics and more complex, active interaction between players in MP - both cooperative and competitive - because they are forced to either 1) compete for territory if they want a private HB on an MP server, or 2) join a team that already has a good claim and HB with room to accommodate more players. As opposed to the current dynamic of basically penalizing players for expanding at all beyond the single home system they claim with their invulnerable HB and seeing them weaken rather than strengthen with each additional system claimed.)

 

[kiddan]

MacThule I could definitely see a crew update helping to improve the current system. Allowing NPC crew to also earn you FP could be useful. Last I heard, the FP system is going to be overhauled at some point, though.

 

[godmars]

I think NPCs start at the size they are to simulate having been established already for some time. I'm guessing NPCs will be used to increase FP otherwise you'd be SOL in SP

They'll hold no significant position for End game players who are running around in 1-4 million block ships.... Because they'll all be whipped out by them

IMO they shouldn't be a threat at least right out of the gate.
the default 3 factions are a bunch of traders, people who build ships out of literal scrap, and (whatever the outcasts are). why would they be a threat? there can be other factions that suit that role, otherwise new players or people who prefer to stick to smaller ships won't stand a chance against them at all. If anything some sort of galactic police or advanced race that doesn't like it when you advance past a certain point or are too aggressive/bully weaker factions would be neat. though it would be nice if NPCs could field ships depending on situation, so they don't send their entire sectors ships after a single corvette or a couple fighters against a 1 mil block ship and they had at least some capability to 'improve'. Maybe giving them better versions of the blueprints they start out with every time the reach a certain # of sectors held, or something