Forums » Suggestions
Well, I haven't been in-game in a while, and never got really good at it, but one of the reasons was that no RPG was in the game hardly at all - a very popular topic on all of the forums.
Anyhow, my suggestion is that Spaceports not be just spaceports anymore - but infact minor cities with bars and hotel rooms and such. I think that it would be cool to see multiple "rooms" inside a spaceport where players could "sit down" and chat in an IC fashion, unlike all of the channels.
Obviously there would be a market room, and probably a bar to every spaceport, but the possibilities are endless. The main thing here is to add chatting to the spaceports, and it would definently give the game a lot of RP options. I'm not talking fancy either with player sprites or anything - maybe a button on the side of the normal spaceport menu that says "bar", which leads to a simple chatroom, displaying the players name on the side, with an input window at the bottom. It would also be cool if an "emote" function was built into the rooms - that is a function common to text-based games that allows players to type in:
"Emote sits down and orders a drink."
And have everybody else in the chat see:
"Player's Name sits down and orders a drink."
I also think that perhaps this style of RP should be neccessitated. Maybe each cargo unit should take a minute to be packed or unpacked, so that it makes it convenient to sit down and RP at the bar. Obviously this isn't too bad as the max time to wait would be only 10 minutes or so, asuming cargo holds are still the same as they were before.
Well, that's my thoughts, let me know what you think.
-Oranus
Anyhow, my suggestion is that Spaceports not be just spaceports anymore - but infact minor cities with bars and hotel rooms and such. I think that it would be cool to see multiple "rooms" inside a spaceport where players could "sit down" and chat in an IC fashion, unlike all of the channels.
Obviously there would be a market room, and probably a bar to every spaceport, but the possibilities are endless. The main thing here is to add chatting to the spaceports, and it would definently give the game a lot of RP options. I'm not talking fancy either with player sprites or anything - maybe a button on the side of the normal spaceport menu that says "bar", which leads to a simple chatroom, displaying the players name on the side, with an input window at the bottom. It would also be cool if an "emote" function was built into the rooms - that is a function common to text-based games that allows players to type in:
"Emote sits down and orders a drink."
And have everybody else in the chat see:
"Player's Name sits down and orders a drink."
I also think that perhaps this style of RP should be neccessitated. Maybe each cargo unit should take a minute to be packed or unpacked, so that it makes it convenient to sit down and RP at the bar. Obviously this isn't too bad as the max time to wait would be only 10 minutes or so, asuming cargo holds are still the same as they were before.
Well, that's my thoughts, let me know what you think.
-Oranus
Emote has been ingame since before I started in 3.0.8. It's "/me".
Cargo holds are different for different ships, with 16 being the max (on a Centaur or Maurauder).
Cargo holds are different for different ships, with 16 being the max (on a Centaur or Maurauder).
This idea/suggestion has been mentioned and brought up in many different incarnations to all of which the devs nonchalantly replied:
"nay."
Reason behind it being that it requires a whole 'nother fuggin game engine, and the devs are having enough trouble with WGAF. (first time i've seen the name of the engine used on this board in a looooong time, btw...)
However, yours is slightly different. And technically, there is a bar in the game. Just ask around, they'll tell you were it is. >;)
"nay."
Reason behind it being that it requires a whole 'nother fuggin game engine, and the devs are having enough trouble with WGAF. (first time i've seen the name of the engine used on this board in a looooong time, btw...)
However, yours is slightly different. And technically, there is a bar in the game. Just ask around, they'll tell you were it is. >;)
he didn't say he wanted a 3d FPS interface to this.
I actually like this idea, just another tab on the station menu with options to go to. bit like MUD in old days or choose your own adventure ;)
seriously though, moving global chat to station only and adding things like bars and intersector trading between peeps will do wonders to current situation. Especially if weapons and ships and ship parts are in LIMITED supply and have dynamic price.
I actually like this idea, just another tab on the station menu with options to go to. bit like MUD in old days or choose your own adventure ;)
seriously though, moving global chat to station only and adding things like bars and intersector trading between peeps will do wonders to current situation. Especially if weapons and ships and ship parts are in LIMITED supply and have dynamic price.
To Randomize: EXACTLY like an old MUD, actually, except only one "room", not multiple ones. Allows for simple text-based RP in a multiple SINGLE locations only, not across global channels, which is I think what you had in mind.
To Celkan: Not a whole nother fuggin game engine - just a simple text-based chatroom. Should be very simple to implement. Also, so as not to confuse people, this chatroom is not global - it just applies to people who have clicked on the "bar" link on ONE SPECIFIC STATION. This makes it so that all stations have their own private chat place, and makes location-specific RP available.
To Roguelazer: Okay, so if you make it so that cargo has load/unload time, the max is 16-minutes. And if that's too much, make the load time per cargo unit 30 secs or 15 instead. Also, the emote idea referred to those STATION-SPECIFIC chatrooms, not to global chat. But what you bring up is just another reason why it's not a whole 'nother fuggin engine.
Well, love to hear what you have to say in reply to my replies,
-Oranus
To Celkan: Not a whole nother fuggin game engine - just a simple text-based chatroom. Should be very simple to implement. Also, so as not to confuse people, this chatroom is not global - it just applies to people who have clicked on the "bar" link on ONE SPECIFIC STATION. This makes it so that all stations have their own private chat place, and makes location-specific RP available.
To Roguelazer: Okay, so if you make it so that cargo has load/unload time, the max is 16-minutes. And if that's too much, make the load time per cargo unit 30 secs or 15 instead. Also, the emote idea referred to those STATION-SPECIFIC chatrooms, not to global chat. But what you bring up is just another reason why it's not a whole 'nother fuggin engine.
Well, love to hear what you have to say in reply to my replies,
-Oranus
Here's one concern. It's sort of a 'bandaid' problem, but relevant. At present, there are no where nearly enough people online at any given time to even manage to get two people in the same bar. I like the idea, but for present I think we should stick with global chat. Eventually, perhaps we could create both a station bar and a global chat interface, but I don't think we could sufficiently man the bars to justify a unique one in each sector. Then again, I may be wrong.
I think that you'd also have all the centaur traders breathing down your neck if you tried to keep them docked for eight minutes even. ANother consideration here is that we already have very few people trading. It's just not exciting enough for a lot of the 'SpaceQuakers.' Making it even more time consuming at this point would be a poor choice.
So here's another possibility: Post the missions in the bar, or somehow make it so you have to walk through the bar to get to the missions. Then, the players will already be there, and perhaps we could then impliment a loading time for certain trading missions...
FInally, I would love to have the option of buying/renting a room on the station and being able to set up a trading post, guild headquarters, or bar. This might get a little interesting, but should be possible if the interfaces are already being used for the public sections of the port.
I think that you'd also have all the centaur traders breathing down your neck if you tried to keep them docked for eight minutes even. ANother consideration here is that we already have very few people trading. It's just not exciting enough for a lot of the 'SpaceQuakers.' Making it even more time consuming at this point would be a poor choice.
So here's another possibility: Post the missions in the bar, or somehow make it so you have to walk through the bar to get to the missions. Then, the players will already be there, and perhaps we could then impliment a loading time for certain trading missions...
FInally, I would love to have the option of buying/renting a room on the station and being able to set up a trading post, guild headquarters, or bar. This might get a little interesting, but should be possible if the interfaces are already being used for the public sections of the port.
I think even if there isn't enough people for the bars now, it won't take a lot to implement a simple chat-room, and eventually we'll have the people to do it.
I do like the "missions" in the bar idea a lot. Don't even need loading time for the missions really, if we hold to strict RP standards in the bars. Meaning that by moral law one isn't able to just walk into a bar and check the missions, and not say something like "Oranus walks in, staggering a little from the almost consistent weightlessness he's been experiencing for the past few hours."
This way missions wouldn't have load time, but you'd have to put some effort into getting them.
Finally, I like the guild/trading post idea in the stations as a rent-a-room, but that WOULD require a new game engine to be built in, which is something that the admins apparently aren't willing to set up, which I understand.
Well, let's hear more ideas,
-Oranus
I do like the "missions" in the bar idea a lot. Don't even need loading time for the missions really, if we hold to strict RP standards in the bars. Meaning that by moral law one isn't able to just walk into a bar and check the missions, and not say something like "Oranus walks in, staggering a little from the almost consistent weightlessness he's been experiencing for the past few hours."
This way missions wouldn't have load time, but you'd have to put some effort into getting them.
Finally, I like the guild/trading post idea in the stations as a rent-a-room, but that WOULD require a new game engine to be built in, which is something that the admins apparently aren't willing to set up, which I understand.
Well, let's hear more ideas,
-Oranus
i ask you: why does this need another engine?
if anyone here knows VegaStrike, you might know what i am talking about (yes, the game crashes every half minute, but that is beside the point here).
they have a pseudo-realistic station interface. you can't walk around in it, but it looks a bit like a hangar.
why don't we have a picture loaded in station that represents the inside and has "buttons" you can click (outfitter, bar, trading post, player owned shops, hangar), represented by mouse-over areas?
even this would provide for a more rpg-like feel. take privateer, or wing commander, for instance. those games used exactly those means to create a certain cyberpunk flair, and it worked for me (yes, i'm not very demanding).
if anyone here knows VegaStrike, you might know what i am talking about (yes, the game crashes every half minute, but that is beside the point here).
they have a pseudo-realistic station interface. you can't walk around in it, but it looks a bit like a hangar.
why don't we have a picture loaded in station that represents the inside and has "buttons" you can click (outfitter, bar, trading post, player owned shops, hangar), represented by mouse-over areas?
even this would provide for a more rpg-like feel. take privateer, or wing commander, for instance. those games used exactly those means to create a certain cyberpunk flair, and it worked for me (yes, i'm not very demanding).
"The main thing here is to add chatting to the spaceports"
Already implemented. ` key opens up console and you can chat in the stations.
Already implemented. ` key opens up console and you can chat in the stations.
Toshiro: I like the idea, but we'll see about how much work that actually is. You still have to build the mechanism of allowing players to buy their own posts, lots of stuff. Yeah, VegaStrike (total crap game, but whatever) is a good example. They have specific chats inside every room in the space-station, and lots of different rooms in all the stations, including a bar.
Phoenix: No. This is not about adding the GLOBAL chat to the stations. Obviously you haven't read this topic thoroughly. Please do, because when that happens, you'll realize that this is all about adding PLACE-SPECIFIC chat to spaceports that allows players to RP in a "bar" which is SPECIFIC to ONE space-station.
-Oranus
Phoenix: No. This is not about adding the GLOBAL chat to the stations. Obviously you haven't read this topic thoroughly. Please do, because when that happens, you'll realize that this is all about adding PLACE-SPECIFIC chat to spaceports that allows players to RP in a "bar" which is SPECIFIC to ONE space-station.
-Oranus
An easy way to solve the problem of having your ship stuck at the dock... just have two ships and have one load while you're flying to another station. Obviously it wouldn't work for newbies with no cash but that would further the RP for "seasoned" traders.
As for the chatroom/bar in a station, I think it's a great idea. It gives people an opportunity to RP (even if it's just two people)... and it doesn't _have_ to be used, so not having enough players isn't an issue. Just find one person to RP with and you'd be happy (at least the option would be there)
Another thought, if this "bar" were to be implemented, it'd be really handy (and I think this could be put in even without the bar) to have some sort of a status thing in the dock, telling you which ships are docked. Having the ability to know who's docked would be really handy.
-outrider
As for the chatroom/bar in a station, I think it's a great idea. It gives people an opportunity to RP (even if it's just two people)... and it doesn't _have_ to be used, so not having enough players isn't an issue. Just find one person to RP with and you'd be happy (at least the option would be there)
Another thought, if this "bar" were to be implemented, it'd be really handy (and I think this could be put in even without the bar) to have some sort of a status thing in the dock, telling you which ships are docked. Having the ability to know who's docked would be really handy.
-outrider
Alright, this idea sounds very nice if we keep it simple.
When your in a station, you get the option to click a button to go a bar. Really, the bar is just a chat room. If we could, somehow, it would be nice to link the bar-chat rooms into an IRC server, so that people outside the game could log in for a few drinks and a chat while they're doing something else, this would keep the population up higher in the bars too.
One other thing to add, 9if we are limiting it to chat just within the bar/station that you are currently in it would be nice to be able to make a phone call to a ship out in the game and link them into the chat?
When your in a station, you get the option to click a button to go a bar. Really, the bar is just a chat room. If we could, somehow, it would be nice to link the bar-chat rooms into an IRC server, so that people outside the game could log in for a few drinks and a chat while they're doing something else, this would keep the population up higher in the bars too.
One other thing to add, 9if we are limiting it to chat just within the bar/station that you are currently in it would be nice to be able to make a phone call to a ship out in the game and link them into the chat?
It might be nice... though I don't think it's really practical. Think about a real bar... they aren't going to have a speaker system set up so people outside can call in on their cell phones and chat with the people in the bar.
-outrider
-outrider
" Think about a real bar."
I was. They do have phones. And they are normally very noisy. So just send the text like people are shouting at you over the phone, and not the emotes...
It was also a way for you to have a conversation with someone "outside" the bar, without actually leaving the bar or needing two different chat interfaces or having to type /msg name every time.
I was. They do have phones. And they are normally very noisy. So just send the text like people are shouting at you over the phone, and not the emotes...
It was also a way for you to have a conversation with someone "outside" the bar, without actually leaving the bar or needing two different chat interfaces or having to type /msg name every time.
that would be an elegant solution to the station->space communication prob :)
"Think about a real bar... they aren't going to have a speaker system set up so people outside can call in on their cell phones and chat with the people in the bar."
-They would if they could afford it. Besides, this is the future, anything is possible. To make no mention of the fact that it is a game, and reality takes the back-seat, fun takes the wheel.
-They would if they could afford it. Besides, this is the future, anything is possible. To make no mention of the fact that it is a game, and reality takes the back-seat, fun takes the wheel.
I conceed the point, go for it
-outrider
-outrider
Didn't read earlier about the possible interfaces.
I think the most logical interface would be one similar to EV:nova. Just a little picture of the planet or hangar with buttons that work basically like our tabs now.
If they wanted to get really ambitious, it would be awesome to have an interface that looks like the breifing rooms in Starcraft.
I think the most logical interface would be one similar to EV:nova. Just a little picture of the planet or hangar with buttons that work basically like our tabs now.
If they wanted to get really ambitious, it would be awesome to have an interface that looks like the breifing rooms in Starcraft.
Love all these ideas, and I think it is very elegant and simple indeed, plus simple to put in - it's just a basic chat-room.
As for IRC, it would be nice, but you'd have to have multiple IRC rooms for each Space-Station and then it wouldn't really be good RP if a person was RPing at a spacestation but their ship wasn't docked their, or if when they logged into the actual game their ship was 10 sectors away. Not very good RP at all, but a good idea on paper...
I do like the calling someone's ship on a telephone or whatever from inside the bar. That would be cool.
Anyhow, great ideas.
I hope to see them implemented at some point.
-Oranus
As for IRC, it would be nice, but you'd have to have multiple IRC rooms for each Space-Station and then it wouldn't really be good RP if a person was RPing at a spacestation but their ship wasn't docked their, or if when they logged into the actual game their ship was 10 sectors away. Not very good RP at all, but a good idea on paper...
I do like the calling someone's ship on a telephone or whatever from inside the bar. That would be cool.
Anyhow, great ideas.
I hope to see them implemented at some point.
-Oranus
Oranus, your idea's great, but as outrider mentioned, who's gonna enforce these strict RP laws? People get off on being assholes, so these people are gonna come in and mess it all up. It wouldn't be a problem if we had more guides, but we don't, so enforcement isn't practical (or possible). I'd have to agree with Phoenix, more bugfixes and engine testing, RP and stuff comes later, but I think the Devs should take note if this isn't in the works...