Forums » Suggestions
Ummm... why?
Rogue, care to back that statement up with something concrete?
I already have. Go search for one of my MANY other posts on the subject.
roguelazer: i couldn't find any past posts on the subject. May I bother you to ask why?
thx,
-mcn
thx,
-mcn
Just have it so you can buy various premade AI sets to go with the bots.
All bots would have the ability to navigate reasonably well without crashing into stuff, like the drones we have now. All that needs to be set by the player is:
1. Who the bot attacks (factions, hostiles, whatever)
2. What the bot does (does it patrol, stay idle, seek targets)
3. How aggressive the bot is (does it back up while firing, work in a squad, keep a certain distance, etc.)
And the "stay idle until youre supposed to attack a hostile- at whatever cost (one chip to tell it to attack hostiles)" AI set would be less expensive to buy than say the "work with your 2 wingmen (one chip) and attack pilots in negative standing with Serco (one more chip), actively seek targets over the Ukari system (one more chip), and repair when necessary (another chip)" uber-expensive set.
Sure have 'em slightly user-definable (like, which faction to attack for the "attack members of X" chip) or even have the chips only available in the relavant sectors/systems
(ie. "patrol Ukari" only available in robotics/tech systems in Ukari).
And yeah, the framework is 80% in place, if you think about the difference between the AIs we've seen over the past year or so... the evil kamikaze s9 bots of yore, the furie wings, the present defenders/assaults, the defbots... all that's needed is to put the stuff in a can and sell it to players.
Hell, if you make a ship computer type thingy buyable, you might even be able to mod your own ship to autopilot with the chips. Of course, they wouldn't carry out buyback of ships, respawn, or anything like that- and you wouldn't receive any kind of exp for kills made by your chipset...
All bots would have the ability to navigate reasonably well without crashing into stuff, like the drones we have now. All that needs to be set by the player is:
1. Who the bot attacks (factions, hostiles, whatever)
2. What the bot does (does it patrol, stay idle, seek targets)
3. How aggressive the bot is (does it back up while firing, work in a squad, keep a certain distance, etc.)
And the "stay idle until youre supposed to attack a hostile- at whatever cost (one chip to tell it to attack hostiles)" AI set would be less expensive to buy than say the "work with your 2 wingmen (one chip) and attack pilots in negative standing with Serco (one more chip), actively seek targets over the Ukari system (one more chip), and repair when necessary (another chip)" uber-expensive set.
Sure have 'em slightly user-definable (like, which faction to attack for the "attack members of X" chip) or even have the chips only available in the relavant sectors/systems
(ie. "patrol Ukari" only available in robotics/tech systems in Ukari).
And yeah, the framework is 80% in place, if you think about the difference between the AIs we've seen over the past year or so... the evil kamikaze s9 bots of yore, the furie wings, the present defenders/assaults, the defbots... all that's needed is to put the stuff in a can and sell it to players.
Hell, if you make a ship computer type thingy buyable, you might even be able to mod your own ship to autopilot with the chips. Of course, they wouldn't carry out buyback of ships, respawn, or anything like that- and you wouldn't receive any kind of exp for kills made by your chipset...
I second UncleDave's idea, given we ever need them. I like the idea of PC owned/hired NPCs. But user-written scripts are a bad idea, too easily abused and broken.
I've felt the idea of this game is User Skill. And while it would be nice to have a bot of your own, it doesnt seem very relevant to the game at the moment. Petition the "Government" (AKA. Get a lot of people ot politely ask the dev's) if you feel newb hunting is too rampant. Otherwise, since there really is nothing that a player needs to defend while he or she is away, there is no reason to have user owned bots, besides to unbalance the game towards the wealthy.
Just right now, what do people need to defend while they are away. Because that is all a bot is really needed for.
I've felt the idea of this game is User Skill. And while it would be nice to have a bot of your own, it doesnt seem very relevant to the game at the moment. Petition the "Government" (AKA. Get a lot of people ot politely ask the dev's) if you feel newb hunting is too rampant. Otherwise, since there really is nothing that a player needs to defend while he or she is away, there is no reason to have user owned bots, besides to unbalance the game towards the wealthy.
Just right now, what do people need to defend while they are away. Because that is all a bot is really needed for.
"Just right now, what do people need to defend while they are away. Because that is all a bot is really needed for."
At the moment? Faction members who are too weak to defend themselves against higher-powered pirates when there aren't any higher-powered faction members around to come help out.
Granted, that's nothing the player owns themselves. Or maybe I'm just getting too involved in the group-vs-individual play mentality.
And yes, UncleDave, "store-bought" AIs for the bots would work too. I think I mentioned that as at least an option in my original idea, but it probably got lost in the noise of the rest of my post :)
--mcn
At the moment? Faction members who are too weak to defend themselves against higher-powered pirates when there aren't any higher-powered faction members around to come help out.
Granted, that's nothing the player owns themselves. Or maybe I'm just getting too involved in the group-vs-individual play mentality.
And yes, UncleDave, "store-bought" AIs for the bots would work too. I think I mentioned that as at least an option in my original idea, but it probably got lost in the noise of the rest of my post :)
--mcn