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These are some suggestions from Tymas, the community of people I’m part of. These are based purely on the game as it is now, and thus some will not be of much value in Schema’s grand plan. That’s fine. We do not know what Schema’s intended scale is, so some of these ideas will be flawed simply because they’re too big or too small. I have tried to keep Tymas from trying to suggest complete overhauls, if only because we just haven’t seen enough of the big picture to really comment at that level yet.
We’re looking for people to make comments and point out flaws as much as hoping to draw attention from someone who might be able to actually make use of these. Ideas that stay in vacuum do not improve, after all. I will likely update these as time goes on, based on what people say and based on further gameplay experience.
Gameplay:
Repair Ship Damage Based Off Blueprint
Current: AstroTechnobeam repairs ships with a beam in a similar way salvage lasers salvage with a beam, but only repairs blocks that are damaged and not destroyed completely. It also can only repair surface blocks.
Example: AstroTechnobeams would now check the entire entity, compare it to the catalog blueprint (or a ‘ghost’ blueprint from before combat or damage was first detected), and slowly replace each block that is missing with one from an attached chest. It would retain its current function for existing but damaged blocks. Ideally, this beam would also be able to work through the whole ship since damage can occur internally, and such damage might become more common in the future if personal weapons are implemented.
Nanobot Repair System
Current: AstroTechnobeam repairs ships with a beam in a similar way salvage lasers salvage with a beam, but only repairs blocks that are damaged and not destroyed completely. It also can only repair surface blocks.
Example: A pair of new blocks that work in conjunction like current weapon systems as well as a new ‘ammo’. The ammo would be ‘Nanobot Repair Paste’, which is manufactured through handwavium and technomagic (Factories) and is used by the system to repair damaged blocks. The Repair Control Computer determines what blueprint to attempt to maintain (user selected blueprint, and better make sure you pick the right one). Then the Nanobot Disperser ties into the Repair Control Computer like a weapons system, with more of them increasing repair rate and decreasing cooldown time, but also increasing the rate of consumption of the repair paste. If connected to a chest with ship components and blocks in it, it would use those blocks to return the ship to what the selected blueprint says it should be. This system would be temporarily disabled during combat due to power fluctuations causing malfunctions.
Shipyards
Current: AstroTechnobeam repairs ships with a beam in a similar way salvage lasers salvage with a beam, but only repairs blocks that are damaged and not destroyed completely. It also can only repair surface blocks.
Example: Possibly in conjunction with the above repair related ideas, as well as the suggestion below to cause the catalog to pull items from local shops, these shipyards could take blocks and a blueprint in order to construct a ship for a player. It would be faster than a player making a ship, but slower than just summoning one up as we do now. Potentially, if done in conjunction with the changes to the AstroTechnobeam and addition of something like the Nanobot system above, these could be player made constructions as well as NPC stations. It would also give even more reason for factions to build stationary bases.
Carrier Ships
Current: A ship can be docked and set to AI for the player, but once undocked it would have to be manually redocked.
Example: Carrier Command Block = Associate with AI blocks (in the same way you select weapon blocks for associated computers). These associated blocks would control ships which undock upon entering combat, and after x seconds of combat ending would auto redock with the carrier ship.
Truly Destroyable Planets
Current: When all the blocks of a planet are destroyed / harvested the atmosphere of the planet is left behind.
Example: When a planet 'dies' despawn the atmosphere and if necessary replace the sector which was the planet with a new empty sector.
Allow Setting Docking Orientation
Current: Docking bays seem to dock ships based purely on the location of the CPU, orientation may not be random but it feels that way at times.
Example: Allow us to set in build mode the docking orientation of a ship.
Option to Disassemble Ship or Station
Current: In-order to fully salvage a ship or station a player must have a salvage laser on the combat ship, or a separate salvage ship. Alternatively they can go into build mode and use the advanced build menu.
Example: Under Advanced options in the build menu - Add disassemble (Breaks the ship down into base blocks at a set rate - x blocks per second (Potentially at cost or faster option with cost)). Alternatively, allow salvage lasers to function in an automated turret or similar, preferably with target data fed to it externally by the player through a Target Acquisition Terminal block, or something akin to that.
Drag Control Block
Current: Drag is controlled via server.cfg.
Example: A new block, possibly ‘Inertial Dampener’ or similar, that enables player control of the effect of drag on their ship. The default level of drag in the universe could still be controlled from the server.cfg file, but this block would allow individual ships to enable or disable it.
Factories:
Selectable list of buildable products for each factory block
Currently: Hulls require rock and plextanium. Using bulk resources generates hull, science bottles, and flux coils.
Example: Placing 25 Plextanium and 625 Rock in a particle press and selecting hull would generate 25 hull while maintaining the same time per hull as the previous method.
Configuration:
Method to Determine Loot Drop Items
Current: Loot from ships and containers are all random and unconfigurable. (Cannot remove a block from the drop table)
Example: One option is to add a new tag to each item in BlockConfig.xml (YES/NO/PIRATE/CHEST) This could also potentially be expanded to let configuration set a rarity/minimum ship mass/block count per item, for even finer control of how hard it is to get some loot drops.
Configurable Missile Speeds
Current: If the speed of ships on a server has been increased, missiles become proportionately less effective.
Example: Add a configuration option to increase / decrease missile speeds.
Configurable Asteroids
Current: Ore percentage in asteroids, as well as type, are preconfigured / unmodifiable.
Example: Option inside Server.cfg / Settings (or wherever is applicable) - L1 x% L2 x% etc - Rarity of Asteroids 1 to 10 with 5 being default
Option to Cause Catalog to pull items from local shops.
Current: Ships bough through the catalog have blocks 'magically' created out of thin area for whatever the cost of the ship is.
Example: Add an option in the configuration for the server to cause the catalog to pull the blocks used to build the summoned ship from specified player chests, player inventory, and/or local shops at current price values, with an optional maximum distance. It should give an error or message if there are not enough blocks of the necessary types available.
Pirate Base Effect on Trader AI
Since having catalog purchases pull from shops will rapidly and drastically drain shops in populated areas, the AI trade faction should notice when severe demand is placed on a shop or especially a cluster of shops, and make extra effort to reach those shops. They shouldn’t be so aggressive as to stop player trading, but should still make more effort for the affected area. This will also help to stop players scattering so far apart that there’s no reason for player interaction.
Pirate Activity Effect on Trader AI
Current: Outside of traders occasionally being blown up by pirates, there seems to be no actual effect on how the AI works.
Example: Trader AI should depend heavily upon pirate activity. If the trade faction detects/locates a pirate base within X sectors of a shop, then they will avoid that shop. Another way to view it is to have a ‘no trade’ zone for X sectors around a pirate base. Additionally, if pirate activity is heavy for extended periods of time in a certain area, the AI traders will stay away. If you clear it out and wipe out bases, and keep it clean, trade increases. This gives us more reason than just getting loot to go after pirates.
Option for Pirate Ships: Damage Based on Value
Current: Any pirate ship will spawn with complete ships / no damage to blocks
Example: Provide an option in the server cfg where ships with a value greater than x will either spawn with damaged blocks, or parts of the ship missing. Large capital ships would spawn with segments of the ship missing, as though the pirates hijacked the ship and began using it. This would allow for some balance with regards to firepower, and cost of the pirate ships, and also add a bit of atmosphere and make it more reasonable to see pirates with dreadnaughts and battleships.
Weapons:
Bulk configuration of weapons on the same controller
Current: Manual configuration of every weapon group attached to the same console (Checkerboard weapons are a good example)
Example: Additional option to configure all weapons with the same percentages toward each stat, followed by a sub menu to configure each individually.
Configurable weapon patterns
Current: Any group of weapon blocks directly connected, fire as a single shot / missile.
Example: If a 3x3x3 block was placed on a ship, it could be configured to fire 1-9 projectiles from the face of the group of blocks. Each projectile should be less powerful based on the number of shots configured. Additionally/alternatively, a group of blocks can be set to emit a specific type of projectile / area of effect. Beam, cone, scatter, penetrating, warbled, wave, etc.
Micro Missiles
Example: Small missile which does a relatively low amount of damage, but prioritizes small targets and has higher speed than other missiles to us as an anti-fighter weapon.
Missiles Bypass Shields, require point defense to stop
Current: Missiles are stopped by shielding, just like all other weapons systems
Example: Some or even all missiles would bypass shielding (because of handwavium), and require point defense to destroy. Turrets would need to have a setting for PD mode, which would tell them to track and fire on missiles and similar very small and fast target. To head off some comments, I will say that this would almost require some of the modifications to how repair lasers work before it’s reasonable to implement.
Third Type of Hull/Armor
Current: We have two types of hull/armor. Both are completely static and not easy at all to replace, which is why shields are so much more useful.
Example: A third type of hull would allow for a smooth progression of hull types, and then to shielding. Normal hull, which is of only minimal protection value. Hardened/Power hull, which is stronger but harder to source. Then Energized Hull, which is around the same raw defensive power as Hardened hull but is capable of pulling power from the ship’s power system in order to improve its defensive capabilities temporarily. It would also lead very nicely into shields.
Composite (modifiable) Armor
Current: We have two types of hull/armor. Both are completely static and not easy at all to replace, which is why shields are so much more useful.
Example: Instead of or in addition to the ‘Energized Hull’ concept, we could have a composite armor. Instead of drawing on the ship’s energy, this armor type would be adjustable during manufacture or creation by the user, with values for protection from different weapon categories, so that a player could specialize for defense against known threats. Improving specific defenses would increase weight and also decrease defense against another type of weapon, so stronger anti-laser systems would reduce defense against missile strikes while also making the armor weigh more, and thus slow the ship down faster.
Map:
Option to add bookmarks / waypoints.
Current: Have to keep an out of game record of where you placed things.
Example: Bookmarks / waypoints menu where you can add a user defined name followed by the sector the object is located in. Battleship_Wreckage(6,8,10)
Viewable list of faction owned ships and the sectors they are in.
Current: If a faction owns a ship and abandons it in a random location there is no way to find where that ship is unless a player marked its location.
Example: Inside the faction tab would be a list of all player owned ships and the sector co-ordinance for each ship. This could also include faction owned station and planets. Each category could have its own expandable section inside the tracking/property tab of faction.
Combat:
Toggle Mouse Follow
Current: Ship tries to follow the mouse wherever it goes, even during combat
Example: Left Shift / Left Alt (or single button toggle on/off) Ship stays stationary / moves with arrow keys while the player aims at an entity. In addition, an optional mode where the ship turns towards the reticle but the reticle stays the same distance away, so you don’t have to constantly pick up the mouse. Basically Freelancer Mouse Mode.
Target Lead Indicator
Current: Player has to assess where the target ship and their own ship is heading, and fire accordingly.
Example: Either add a ship component (Targeting Computer) or a configuration option which adds an indicator lead to the target. Either of these will make it optional, which is good since not all servers will want this.
Directional Thruster
Current: Turning seems to be controlled almost purely by the size of a ship
Example: A new directional thruster block that can improve ship turning speed based on placement across the ship. The more placed over a widely dispersed area, the better the ship turns (simplified from having each thruster actually affect ship turning in the direction it faces). There could still be a maximum turn rate based on ship size/mass/block count, but that max could be higher with the default turn rate much lower until thrusters are applied.
Admin Tools:
Starmote entity search interface
Current: Prints results in chat area
Example: Function / print results to the entity tab, or switch to entity tab and select the searched for entity if only one result is returned.
Destroy Entity Command
Current: Accepts Entity ID
Example: Accept both Entity ID and Unique name. Alternatively, could merge destroy_entity and kill_character into something like kill_entity entityID OR entityName
List Players Command
Current: No such command, must use tab ingame or Starmote tool.
Example: A command such as /list or /list_players to list off the people currently on the server. This would primarily be useful for operating purely from the server console directly.
We’re looking for people to make comments and point out flaws as much as hoping to draw attention from someone who might be able to actually make use of these. Ideas that stay in vacuum do not improve, after all. I will likely update these as time goes on, based on what people say and based on further gameplay experience.
Gameplay:
Repair Ship Damage Based Off Blueprint
Current: AstroTechnobeam repairs ships with a beam in a similar way salvage lasers salvage with a beam, but only repairs blocks that are damaged and not destroyed completely. It also can only repair surface blocks.
Example: AstroTechnobeams would now check the entire entity, compare it to the catalog blueprint (or a ‘ghost’ blueprint from before combat or damage was first detected), and slowly replace each block that is missing with one from an attached chest. It would retain its current function for existing but damaged blocks. Ideally, this beam would also be able to work through the whole ship since damage can occur internally, and such damage might become more common in the future if personal weapons are implemented.
Nanobot Repair System
Current: AstroTechnobeam repairs ships with a beam in a similar way salvage lasers salvage with a beam, but only repairs blocks that are damaged and not destroyed completely. It also can only repair surface blocks.
Example: A pair of new blocks that work in conjunction like current weapon systems as well as a new ‘ammo’. The ammo would be ‘Nanobot Repair Paste’, which is manufactured through handwavium and technomagic (Factories) and is used by the system to repair damaged blocks. The Repair Control Computer determines what blueprint to attempt to maintain (user selected blueprint, and better make sure you pick the right one). Then the Nanobot Disperser ties into the Repair Control Computer like a weapons system, with more of them increasing repair rate and decreasing cooldown time, but also increasing the rate of consumption of the repair paste. If connected to a chest with ship components and blocks in it, it would use those blocks to return the ship to what the selected blueprint says it should be. This system would be temporarily disabled during combat due to power fluctuations causing malfunctions.
Shipyards
Current: AstroTechnobeam repairs ships with a beam in a similar way salvage lasers salvage with a beam, but only repairs blocks that are damaged and not destroyed completely. It also can only repair surface blocks.
Example: Possibly in conjunction with the above repair related ideas, as well as the suggestion below to cause the catalog to pull items from local shops, these shipyards could take blocks and a blueprint in order to construct a ship for a player. It would be faster than a player making a ship, but slower than just summoning one up as we do now. Potentially, if done in conjunction with the changes to the AstroTechnobeam and addition of something like the Nanobot system above, these could be player made constructions as well as NPC stations. It would also give even more reason for factions to build stationary bases.
Carrier Ships
Current: A ship can be docked and set to AI for the player, but once undocked it would have to be manually redocked.
Example: Carrier Command Block = Associate with AI blocks (in the same way you select weapon blocks for associated computers). These associated blocks would control ships which undock upon entering combat, and after x seconds of combat ending would auto redock with the carrier ship.
Truly Destroyable Planets
Current: When all the blocks of a planet are destroyed / harvested the atmosphere of the planet is left behind.
Example: When a planet 'dies' despawn the atmosphere and if necessary replace the sector which was the planet with a new empty sector.
Allow Setting Docking Orientation
Current: Docking bays seem to dock ships based purely on the location of the CPU, orientation may not be random but it feels that way at times.
Example: Allow us to set in build mode the docking orientation of a ship.
Option to Disassemble Ship or Station
Current: In-order to fully salvage a ship or station a player must have a salvage laser on the combat ship, or a separate salvage ship. Alternatively they can go into build mode and use the advanced build menu.
Example: Under Advanced options in the build menu - Add disassemble (Breaks the ship down into base blocks at a set rate - x blocks per second (Potentially at cost or faster option with cost)). Alternatively, allow salvage lasers to function in an automated turret or similar, preferably with target data fed to it externally by the player through a Target Acquisition Terminal block, or something akin to that.
Drag Control Block
Current: Drag is controlled via server.cfg.
Example: A new block, possibly ‘Inertial Dampener’ or similar, that enables player control of the effect of drag on their ship. The default level of drag in the universe could still be controlled from the server.cfg file, but this block would allow individual ships to enable or disable it.
Factories:
Selectable list of buildable products for each factory block
Currently: Hulls require rock and plextanium. Using bulk resources generates hull, science bottles, and flux coils.
Example: Placing 25 Plextanium and 625 Rock in a particle press and selecting hull would generate 25 hull while maintaining the same time per hull as the previous method.
Configuration:
Method to Determine Loot Drop Items
Current: Loot from ships and containers are all random and unconfigurable. (Cannot remove a block from the drop table)
Example: One option is to add a new tag to each item in BlockConfig.xml (YES/NO/PIRATE/CHEST) This could also potentially be expanded to let configuration set a rarity/minimum ship mass/block count per item, for even finer control of how hard it is to get some loot drops.
Configurable Missile Speeds
Current: If the speed of ships on a server has been increased, missiles become proportionately less effective.
Example: Add a configuration option to increase / decrease missile speeds.
Configurable Asteroids
Current: Ore percentage in asteroids, as well as type, are preconfigured / unmodifiable.
Example: Option inside Server.cfg / Settings (or wherever is applicable) - L1 x% L2 x% etc - Rarity of Asteroids 1 to 10 with 5 being default
Option to Cause Catalog to pull items from local shops.
Current: Ships bough through the catalog have blocks 'magically' created out of thin area for whatever the cost of the ship is.
Example: Add an option in the configuration for the server to cause the catalog to pull the blocks used to build the summoned ship from specified player chests, player inventory, and/or local shops at current price values, with an optional maximum distance. It should give an error or message if there are not enough blocks of the necessary types available.
Pirate Base Effect on Trader AI
Since having catalog purchases pull from shops will rapidly and drastically drain shops in populated areas, the AI trade faction should notice when severe demand is placed on a shop or especially a cluster of shops, and make extra effort to reach those shops. They shouldn’t be so aggressive as to stop player trading, but should still make more effort for the affected area. This will also help to stop players scattering so far apart that there’s no reason for player interaction.
Pirate Activity Effect on Trader AI
Current: Outside of traders occasionally being blown up by pirates, there seems to be no actual effect on how the AI works.
Example: Trader AI should depend heavily upon pirate activity. If the trade faction detects/locates a pirate base within X sectors of a shop, then they will avoid that shop. Another way to view it is to have a ‘no trade’ zone for X sectors around a pirate base. Additionally, if pirate activity is heavy for extended periods of time in a certain area, the AI traders will stay away. If you clear it out and wipe out bases, and keep it clean, trade increases. This gives us more reason than just getting loot to go after pirates.
Option for Pirate Ships: Damage Based on Value
Current: Any pirate ship will spawn with complete ships / no damage to blocks
Example: Provide an option in the server cfg where ships with a value greater than x will either spawn with damaged blocks, or parts of the ship missing. Large capital ships would spawn with segments of the ship missing, as though the pirates hijacked the ship and began using it. This would allow for some balance with regards to firepower, and cost of the pirate ships, and also add a bit of atmosphere and make it more reasonable to see pirates with dreadnaughts and battleships.
Weapons:
Bulk configuration of weapons on the same controller
Current: Manual configuration of every weapon group attached to the same console (Checkerboard weapons are a good example)
Example: Additional option to configure all weapons with the same percentages toward each stat, followed by a sub menu to configure each individually.
Configurable weapon patterns
Current: Any group of weapon blocks directly connected, fire as a single shot / missile.
Example: If a 3x3x3 block was placed on a ship, it could be configured to fire 1-9 projectiles from the face of the group of blocks. Each projectile should be less powerful based on the number of shots configured. Additionally/alternatively, a group of blocks can be set to emit a specific type of projectile / area of effect. Beam, cone, scatter, penetrating, warbled, wave, etc.
Micro Missiles
Example: Small missile which does a relatively low amount of damage, but prioritizes small targets and has higher speed than other missiles to us as an anti-fighter weapon.
Missiles Bypass Shields, require point defense to stop
Current: Missiles are stopped by shielding, just like all other weapons systems
Example: Some or even all missiles would bypass shielding (because of handwavium), and require point defense to destroy. Turrets would need to have a setting for PD mode, which would tell them to track and fire on missiles and similar very small and fast target. To head off some comments, I will say that this would almost require some of the modifications to how repair lasers work before it’s reasonable to implement.
Third Type of Hull/Armor
Current: We have two types of hull/armor. Both are completely static and not easy at all to replace, which is why shields are so much more useful.
Example: A third type of hull would allow for a smooth progression of hull types, and then to shielding. Normal hull, which is of only minimal protection value. Hardened/Power hull, which is stronger but harder to source. Then Energized Hull, which is around the same raw defensive power as Hardened hull but is capable of pulling power from the ship’s power system in order to improve its defensive capabilities temporarily. It would also lead very nicely into shields.
Composite (modifiable) Armor
Current: We have two types of hull/armor. Both are completely static and not easy at all to replace, which is why shields are so much more useful.
Example: Instead of or in addition to the ‘Energized Hull’ concept, we could have a composite armor. Instead of drawing on the ship’s energy, this armor type would be adjustable during manufacture or creation by the user, with values for protection from different weapon categories, so that a player could specialize for defense against known threats. Improving specific defenses would increase weight and also decrease defense against another type of weapon, so stronger anti-laser systems would reduce defense against missile strikes while also making the armor weigh more, and thus slow the ship down faster.
Map:
Option to add bookmarks / waypoints.
Current: Have to keep an out of game record of where you placed things.
Example: Bookmarks / waypoints menu where you can add a user defined name followed by the sector the object is located in. Battleship_Wreckage(6,8,10)
Viewable list of faction owned ships and the sectors they are in.
Current: If a faction owns a ship and abandons it in a random location there is no way to find where that ship is unless a player marked its location.
Example: Inside the faction tab would be a list of all player owned ships and the sector co-ordinance for each ship. This could also include faction owned station and planets. Each category could have its own expandable section inside the tracking/property tab of faction.
Combat:
Toggle Mouse Follow
Current: Ship tries to follow the mouse wherever it goes, even during combat
Example: Left Shift / Left Alt (or single button toggle on/off) Ship stays stationary / moves with arrow keys while the player aims at an entity. In addition, an optional mode where the ship turns towards the reticle but the reticle stays the same distance away, so you don’t have to constantly pick up the mouse. Basically Freelancer Mouse Mode.
Target Lead Indicator
Current: Player has to assess where the target ship and their own ship is heading, and fire accordingly.
Example: Either add a ship component (Targeting Computer) or a configuration option which adds an indicator lead to the target. Either of these will make it optional, which is good since not all servers will want this.
Directional Thruster
Current: Turning seems to be controlled almost purely by the size of a ship
Example: A new directional thruster block that can improve ship turning speed based on placement across the ship. The more placed over a widely dispersed area, the better the ship turns (simplified from having each thruster actually affect ship turning in the direction it faces). There could still be a maximum turn rate based on ship size/mass/block count, but that max could be higher with the default turn rate much lower until thrusters are applied.
Admin Tools:
Starmote entity search interface
Current: Prints results in chat area
Example: Function / print results to the entity tab, or switch to entity tab and select the searched for entity if only one result is returned.
Destroy Entity Command
Current: Accepts Entity ID
Example: Accept both Entity ID and Unique name. Alternatively, could merge destroy_entity and kill_character into something like kill_entity entityID OR entityName
List Players Command
Current: No such command, must use tab ingame or Starmote tool.
Example: A command such as /list or /list_players to list off the people currently on the server. This would primarily be useful for operating purely from the server console directly.
