Server Admin Requests for Systems 2.0

[Benevolent27]

Hello! So I'm loving all the customization available in the chamber system, HOWEVER, I have a few suggestions here so that servers can start utilizing these features that you spent so much time creating for us! (Thank you by the way! :D)

As a server admin, my focus is on providing unique experiences for players, to differentiate my server from "all the rest." I strive to add new content for players to enjoy, spending a great deal of time on them. With systems 2.0, chambers were implemented alongside a system to customize them greatly. This is great news for any admin who wants to build custom content! I really do love the way you have everything all tied together here, where chambers are structured like trees, with effects that can be tied together in groups and then applied to specific chambers (or multiple chambers). However, there are a few issues I have had in attempting to create custom content for LvD. I have a few requests which would really unlock the potential of the chamber system.

1. Servers currently CANNOT implement custom effects NOR can they change the default settings for chamber effects! I'd really like to be able to do this!
The problem here is that servers currently do not transmit the EffectConfig.xml file to clients properly. Clients seem to be using their own configs right now instead of server configs and there are some very strange conflicts that happen when both server and client have changed EffectConfig.xml files (which prevents the player from logging into the server). In addition to this, whenever the game is updated, the server's EffectConfig.xml file is over-written because it is only located in the /data/config folder right now. To remedy these issues, there needs to be a "customEffectsConfig.xml" file that server admins can maintain, which is transmitted and utilized by player's clients, just like with custom block configs and custom block effect configs.

2. I'd really like the ability to use chambers to introduce custom *active*-effects that players can utilize on their ships (not just passive effects or recycling existing active-effects with different values)
Create the ability to hotkey chambers on or off (and have the chamber either allow this functionality or not). This way a person can include more chambers on their ship, but only have certain sets on at any given time. Make it so even chambers that only provided passive effects must "charge up" before they can "turned on" and have their effects then applied to a ship. This will enable a ton more customization for chambers, such as a chamber that might increase a person's shields but causes them to take more block damage (while taking power when functional). (Sound familiar?). Or perhaps another custom chamber, while enabled, greatly increases the speed of the player's jump drive, but the power usage skyrockets. To really have some creative chambers, we need to be able to allow players to turn them on and off at will, and even during combat or other sorts of situations. The players also also need to be able to afford them within the tech point structure. There is more to this suggestion, to read more, please see my first reply to this thread (on the first page): Add a "Ready" state to reactor chambers

3. Have a place where players can submit suggestions directly related to chamber effects. I think this should be of higher focus, because it would bolster the chamber system and the ability of admins to customize them.
I know that there isn't currently an API to create custom effects themselves (such as boosted AI accuracy, which is a current effect that can be attributed to a chamber), but I expect there will be an API sometime in the future that chambers will tie in nicely with. In the mean-time, however, perhaps more in-game modding can be encouraged. For example, the "AI accuracy bonus" effect is awesome for a custom chamber that I plan on adding to our server on LVD! But could I request additional effects, such as a "Shield Capacity Bonus for AI"? Or perhaps "Weapons distance bonus" (which I might then add to a chamber designed for bases only) or "Weapons Projectile Speed Bonus" (which I would also have for base-only custom chambers). Essentially, as I think of them, I think it'd be nice to have a place where I could jot down my ideas for new effect types and possibly have them put into the game as options for chambers, rather than these ideas being lost within the mix of all the other suggestions here on the forums. This would help admins who wish to create different kinds of experiences for players though the chamber system. I think it would also allow the devs to crowd-source ideas on how to apply changes to gameplay to ultimately create a better default experience.

4. I'd really like to be able to make chambers that are only usable by NPC's and admins.
So, to make this possible, add in an effect where a chamber will decay or revert to a specific block type on ship overheat OR upon the ship losing factioning. I would love to be able to make custom chambers which ONLY OPERATE on pirate, NPC ships, or admin ships. But if the ship is overheated OR the faction module is destroyed, then these very powerful chambers would not be harvested by players. This is to provide unique challenges to players who may face off versus harder AI ships than is currently possible in-game, but will not then hand them overpowered chamber blocks. (Plus, it'd be nice to have admin-only ships so we can be like gods, without worrying about these chambers falling into the hands of players inadvertently).

Well, that's all I have for now. Thank you devs for all you do, it is much appreciated!

 

[therimmer96]

Mod API.

You're looking for a mod api

 

[Benevolent27]

Mod API.

You're looking for a mod api

Not to be contrary here, but though a full-fledged mod API would be great, that's not what I'm asking for here. I'm requesting that chambers be able to be turned on and off, so their passive effects can then be used to create a new active effect on player ships. And secondly, I think a specific official thread would be useful for requesting new chamber effects to be coded in by the devs. The chamber system IS moddable already. I'm suggesting we make it more so.

A full-fledged mod api, on the other hand, would be an interface with the game engine to call (or replace) the game's base java methods and/or directly impact the current memory state and base features of the game. I wouldn't consider the additional functionality for chambers I am requesting to constitute a full-fledged mod API, but it would for sure extend the functionality of the chamber system quite a bit.

 

[Maramonster]

I like the idea of more chambers, and custom ones is a neat thought. I'm curious, what sort of active abilities would you add?

 

[Benevolent27]

I like the idea of more chambers, and custom ones is a neat thought. I'm curious, what sort of active abilities would you add?

I have a ton of ideas for these. The reason I really want custom chambers is because I want to have alternatives to normal gameplay to achieve these custom blocks. So, for example a person might win regular PvP tournaments that happen daily so they get a special type of chamber block.

Chambers could vary quite a bit from ones that provide a benefit at the sacrifice of something else to others that simply cost power to have on.

Examples of effects from systems 1.0 which merely took power to operate were ION, punch-through, and piercing passive effect. But the new chamber system opens up a lot more possibilities for what the "cost" is. But where the cost is extra power:
1. Increase AI accuracy at extra power cost.
2. Increases your armor effectiveness AND armor HP pool at extra power cost. (I say both because piercing always had the problem of depleting your armor HP pool faster than it actually saved on block death)
3. Super Heat Shield - completely negates heat damage from stars, but draws a lot of energy and has a max time it can be activated (perhaps 30 seconds).

Other effects can use a different model, such as boosting one area of a ship while nerfing another. Here are a few example of potential chambers of this type:
1. Increases systems HP but decrease shields.
2. Increase turn speed and thrust but reduce weapons damage.
3. Increases your power capacity but lowers your overall regen.
4. This chamber would supplement defensive chambers for shielding, reducing the under combat shield regen time to 0, but would also reduce your total shield capacity. <-- This would require balancing, obviously.

Special chambers, might be obtainable through rare finds or a quest system (which is in operation on LvD). These chambers might include effects that are only positive, have no drawbacks, but are only available in small quantities, so they would be rare and highly desirable. Examples might include:
1. Scanner Boost - Boosts the scanner level by 1 with no extra power cost.
2. Speedy Gonzales - Boosts your acceleration speed with no extra power cost.
3. Twitchy - Boosts your turn speed.


Other chambers I would like to experiment with would require more effects to be used by chambers:
1. Power Shields - These would allow a certain amount of damage to be diverted to power damage, thus reducing damage taken by shields and blocks.

2. Scanner Addon - Navigational Array - Halves the number of sectors a person has to visit before fog of war is revealed without having to run a scan.

3. Blink Drive - This would be an expensive jump drive system that allows a person to jump as fast as the jump drive can charge. The downside is that it would reduce their jump drive level to 0, making it so ANY jump interdictor would successfully stop them from jumping. It would also force their jump distance to 3 or 4. An add-on to this system would be "auto-jump", where when the blink drive is active, the person will jump continuously till it is turned off. The blink drive automatically turns off when nobody is piloting the ship (such as if a player becomes disconnected or exits their core). When blink drive is activated, it supercedes any other jump drive chambers.

4. Gravity Level - This would be an add-on to the gravity chambers that already exist, allow varying the AMOUNT of gravity applied. For example, perhaps astronauts are only capable of jumping half as high as normal. Or maybe the gravity is set so high that even ships with decent thrust cannot leave the surface.

These are just ideas that I've come up with off the top of my head. I'd like to do more brainstorming and crowd-sourcing of ideas based on the capabilities of the game engine when server admins are able to implement custom chambers.