What would you like to see in a ship designed for multiple people?

[TheFloorMatt]

So as most of you have probably figured out, you can't really fit two people in a ship core. So this brings up a question in my head, how does one make a ship that would be fun for 2+ friends to fly together?

Here are some of my ideas:

1. Turret(s) for your friends to shoot while you fly the thing.
2. Logic! As an example, one of the ships I've made has bombs (disintegrators) launched by logic. Maybe it could be fun to have a friend act as a gunner, dropping the bombs for you when you tell him/her to.
3. Fighter(s) for your friend(s) to fly. The best example being a carrier, someone flies the carrier and the rest all have fun being launched out in a fighter!

What are your ideas for a ship designed for friends and cooperative play?

 

[ToyotaSupra]

Oh yes, I'd love to see player-controlled turrets. That would be very fun. Maybe you could have a separate computer that the turret gunner enters, just like a core?

I had a sort of aircraft carrier, with 2 pilots and a commander that launched them. This game focuses too much on 'one man army', I'd like to see more, especially as the game is multiplayer focused.

 

[TheFloorMatt]

Oh yes, I'd love to see player-controlled turrets. That would be very fun. Maybe you could have a separate computer that the turret gunner enters, just like a core?

Players can get in normal turrets and operate them just fine :P

 

[ToyotaSupra]

Players can get in normal turrets and operate them just fine :p

Yeah, but it isn't really viable, you'd have to have the core exposed to the top for the player to access it. It would be better if there was a button you could press that lets you 'enter' the docking module that is on the ship (so it isn't separate entity, it's complicated) then that would be easier access!

Hell this could be used for remote control ships as well. Suicide ships! Allah Ackbar! Kamikaze!

 

[Timrath]

Yeah, but it isn't really viable, you'd have to have the core exposed to the top for the player to access it.

The core doesn't have to be exposed. You can leave an opening around the docking module so that the core can be accessed from inside the ship.

 

[TheFloorMatt]

Yeah, but it isn't really viable, you'd have to have the core exposed to the top for the player to access it. It would be better if there was a button you could press that lets you 'enter' the docking module that is on the ship (so it isn't separate entity, it's complicated) then that would be easier access!

Use your up/down arrow key when in your ship core, it will cycle you through everything docked to it. Don't even need a special way to get in the turret core!

 

[ToyotaSupra]

Use your up/down arrow key when in your ship core, it will cycle you through everything docked to it. Don't even need a special way to get in the turret core!

Hot diggety damn, that's good. But can multiple people enter one core? And let's be honest, It'd be easier to just have a gunner computer rather than everyone gunning to the core, right?

 

[Ithirahad]

Yeah, but it isn't really viable, you'd have to have the core exposed to the top for the player to access it. It would be better if there was a button you could press that lets you 'enter' the docking module that is on the ship (so it isn't separate entity, it's complicated) then that would be easier access!

Hell this could be used for remote control ships as well. Suicide ships! Allah Ackbar! Kamikaze!

It's not suicide if you don't actually die; that's cheap. But yeah, it could be used for 'piloting' disintegrator missiles, making them a lot more effective...

 

[jayman38]

We need several things to make multi-player ships more fun.
1. Players and NPCs locked to the ship, so that they don't fall out an airlock during sudden maneuvers and fast speed. (This is critical.)
2. Blocks that work like cores, which can be linked to multiple systems so that secondary players can have their own "core", accessing specific systems. (Being able to switch easily between their regular station, and one of multiple turrets) I originally thought the linking could be done by the builder, but ship captains need to be able to change roles on the fly. Especially if a lucky hit kills one of the copilots, and the captain suddenly needs to redistribute the workload among the remaining pilots.
3. Voice chat integration, so that the player's hands can be used for game play instead of chat. Maybe encourage more use of third-party voice chat like Mumble.

 

[TheFloorMatt]

We need several things to make multi-player ships more fun.
1. Players and NPCs locked to the ship, so that they don't fall out an airlock during sudden maneuvers and fast speed. (This is critical.)

This is critical, and that's why it's already in. If you're in the gravity of the ship, it'll even take you with it in warps

 

[Snk]

Oh man! I'm so glad this thread has popped up! I've been designing crewable systems for a year and a half. ere is what I've come up with:

Crewable system mark 1:

The very first. There are two positions that come here: Engineer and tactical officer. Weapon computers placed on a bridge, where the tactical officers can aim and fire the weapons. Engineers modify long, empty hallways with anything the situation demands. The Figurehead in this thread uses the mark 1:
http://starmadedock.net/threads/the-figurehead-captains-log.1363/

Crewable system mark 2:
Mainly uses externally docked ships the player can interact with. There are several positions on this one:

1. Tactical officer. Same as above.
2. Operations officer. The ship has docked drones, probes, and missiles. This person's job is to make sure they hit their mark. He uses the bridge to activate logic that is connected to docking and push pulses.
3. Engineer: Manages docked power tanks that have power supply beams. There are logic clocks attached to power supply computers, and it's this persons job to regulate them.

This system is really new, but the few times I've had someone aboard people really enjoy it. If you want to experience it, go to ragnarokgalaxy.com - that is the server I play on.

Any questions?

 

[TheFloorMatt]

Crewable system mark 1:

The very first. There are two positions that come here: Engineer and tactical officer. Weapon computers placed on a bridge, where the tactical officers can aim and fire the weapons. Engineers modify long, empty hallways with anything the situation demands. The Figurehead in this thread uses the mark 1:
http://starmadedock.net/threads/the-figurehead-captains-log.1363/

Love the positioning of the weapons computers, a ship designed around all systems being able to be fired at once is definitely an idea for a ship requiring multiple crew

 

[Snk]

Love the positioning of the weapons computers, a ship designed around all systems being able to be fired at once is definitely an idea for a ship requiring multiple crew

Thanks! There are a lot of other advantages to. You can point your ship one way, and fire the cannons the other way. It frees up the helmsman to focus on other tasks.

 

[Zerefette]

Controllable armor plates, so the crew can patch holes if needed.

 

[Nauvran]

Controllable armor plates, so the crew can patch holes if needed.

what a necro, last post was almost a year ago.
Nice idea though, would be handy if your crew could focus on patching up the ship instead of focusing on weapons functions

 

[Zerefette]

Oh sorry I didn't notice the time. I wonder why I did see this one as the top posts anyway.

 

[Edymnion]

I think it already works this way, but I never fly with other people so don't know for sure.

Can't you already have someone enter a weapon computer and take control of that weapon system? As in say you had forwards and aft facing fixed cannons or lasers, you could have one person in the fore computer, one person in the aft, and then one person in the core handling the maneuvering.