Forums » Suggestions

Priority Escorts

Mar 23, 2007 drazed link
Guess this is more for someone in the PCC then anything else.

Much like the current escort missions but with a slight twist. The mission spawns a Trident or 2 (or a Constellation). They have super important cargo, thus they plot around asteroid sectors into empty sectors. Occasionally (not every time), they jump to an empty sector with something very interesting (eg. Pirate Teradons or angry queens) and you have a real battle on your hands. This could be how we get Avalons in the future, drops from the pirate cappies or even from the important cargo ship (eg. you fail the mission but you get an Avalon?).

Anyhow, I just want something that gives me an excuse to take the silly missions ;) Please post your thoughts below =)

EDIT: maybe have anti-priority escort missions at Corvus stations?
Mar 23, 2007 LeberMac link
Currently we cannot control HOW ships plot unless we make a separate mission leg for each jump. Someone else from PCC correct me if I'm wrong.

We give a destination, and that's all we can do. Being able to load /navroutes for NPC's would be nice.
Mar 23, 2007 drazed link
Can you give multiple destinations? Or lead one mission into another? (eg. first destination empty sector... not so empty, battle ensues, new mission back on course to station)
Mar 23, 2007 LeberMac link
Yeah, but that's "non-optimal" and would be a PITA.

You can set a flag when you've reached the end of one leg and move on from there, I suppose. But plotting a whole course which is the same every time would quickly get boring and predictable.

That kind of thing is great and works well in single-player games like EV:Nova; but due to the multiplayer nature of VO, that kind of preplanning is not feasible.

Imagine:

You have a "Find the hidden Connie" mission, and you've made this intricate navroute for the Connie. The first person that takes the mission will evetually find the connie in, say, Sedina K-14. Since you've hardcoded the navroute, the mission will be "cracked" since every other person who takes the mission will be able to ask (or go on the wiki) and see where to find the hidden Connie.

Some randomization needs to be built-in, otherwise all of the missions will be cracked, and the results posted.

Again, someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong...
Mar 24, 2007 PsyRa link
Well Leber is correct. Additionally, the PCC does not allow us to pick sectors, so as to avoid the predictability problem. We can pick Newb sectors, sectors with roids, and sectors without.

We can do this by system, and we can select stations, so standard nav routes station to stations are possible. As it now sits, there is no way for PCC to build a complex nav route that makes sense. It would just criss cross pointlessly around a sector before going to the WH.

Additionally, Inc has been very clear that PCC missions need to be rather general in nature ATM, as we need content for groups of people, and not just people who have a thing for say Corvus, or Axia.