Faction Supply System:
This loose system idea will hopefully address many of the problems with current multiplayer gameplay and add some depth and strategy to faction warfare.
CONS:
- Annoying to learn, the game is already very complicated to learn for newbies
- Performance with more virtual sectors on servers might be bad?
- Currently don't have a good idea for allowing the dunking of homebases, although 95% of SM players won't play on a server with the possibility of their homebase being vulnerable.
- This is a sandbox not an RTS, IDIOT
This loose system idea will hopefully address many of the problems with current multiplayer gameplay and add some depth and strategy to faction warfare.
- Current Faction Point system goes away.
- Stations can install supply blocks, which cost a high amount of energy per tick. They do not function on Home Bases. Energy draw on supply blocks is on an increasing curve, so more bases is more efficient energy wise.
- This system counts for total faction SHIP mass
- Points are all ACTIVE, not accumulated. So you're hurting the moment a supply base gets dunked
- Non-HB stations with supply blocks get credits and parts for free in their shop module cargo area from the trading guild via normal cycles. (Kind of like how TG use to visit player shops and stock a small amount of everything per visit, was extremely useful for decorative parts and other shit which is used in small quantities but is a complete TEDIOUS pain in the ass to manufacture for ships)
- Faction AI controlled ships consume a constant supply amount based on mass of ship entities under AI control. Same with player ships, but AI ships should cost double supply per mass point. Anything under AI control (including all stations) will have to be accounted for in virtual sectors.
- Your faction ships get a performance penalty on all systems based on current faction supply rate if you're over supply. When you're deepest in the red, MAX , like 150% over max supply, all systems perform at 50% normal rate. Being into the green of the supply used/available supply ratio will not grant you over 100% of current systems specs, but is useful to have spare supply in case your supply bases start eating heavy losses.
- There could be a mechanic where you can draw in the parts stored in supply bases in blueprints in your HB shipyards.
- Credit sink = ability to order parts from TG, takes a while to arrive. More parts = higher delivery fee. Possibly even overpriced (per block compared to individually sourcing them yourself) BP designs automatically AI factioned on your position?
- Supply cap increases with more ACTIVE players in faction. Need to do more than just log on for 2 seconds to be counted as active with this system. This amount is debatable.
- I've always felt blocks installed on stations needed a buff to help out with their static and griefable nature, without HB protection. Perhaps they can get a flat bonus on all of their systems, making them superior compared to the same block's usage on a ship entity. Naturally, game design systems need to be in place to restore a station to BP specs, like they are always in their own little shipyard. Repairing a station by hand is unacceptable. This restoration needs to happen fairly slowly though.
- Stations can install supply blocks, which cost a high amount of energy per tick. They do not function on Home Bases. Energy draw on supply blocks is on an increasing curve, so more bases is more efficient energy wise.
- This system counts for total faction SHIP mass
- Points are all ACTIVE, not accumulated. So you're hurting the moment a supply base gets dunked
- Non-HB stations with supply blocks get credits and parts for free in their shop module cargo area from the trading guild via normal cycles. (Kind of like how TG use to visit player shops and stock a small amount of everything per visit, was extremely useful for decorative parts and other shit which is used in small quantities but is a complete TEDIOUS pain in the ass to manufacture for ships)
- Faction AI controlled ships consume a constant supply amount based on mass of ship entities under AI control. Same with player ships, but AI ships should cost double supply per mass point. Anything under AI control (including all stations) will have to be accounted for in virtual sectors.
- Your faction ships get a performance penalty on all systems based on current faction supply rate if you're over supply. When you're deepest in the red, MAX , like 150% over max supply, all systems perform at 50% normal rate. Being into the green of the supply used/available supply ratio will not grant you over 100% of current systems specs, but is useful to have spare supply in case your supply bases start eating heavy losses.
- There could be a mechanic where you can draw in the parts stored in supply bases in blueprints in your HB shipyards.
- Credit sink = ability to order parts from TG, takes a while to arrive. More parts = higher delivery fee. Possibly even overpriced (per block compared to individually sourcing them yourself) BP designs automatically AI factioned on your position?
- Supply cap increases with more ACTIVE players in faction. Need to do more than just log on for 2 seconds to be counted as active with this system. This amount is debatable.
- I've always felt blocks installed on stations needed a buff to help out with their static and griefable nature, without HB protection. Perhaps they can get a flat bonus on all of their systems, making them superior compared to the same block's usage on a ship entity. Naturally, game design systems need to be in place to restore a station to BP specs, like they are always in their own little shipyard. Repairing a station by hand is unacceptable. This restoration needs to happen fairly slowly though.
CONS:
- Annoying to learn, the game is already very complicated to learn for newbies
- Performance with more virtual sectors on servers might be bad?
- Currently don't have a good idea for allowing the dunking of homebases, although 95% of SM players won't play on a server with the possibility of their homebase being vulnerable.
- This is a sandbox not an RTS, IDIOT