Forums » Suggestions

Players creating ships

Apr 09, 2008 Stemmy link
What I have in mind may be a nightmare for the game designers to implement or may not be possible but you never know.
The basic idea is to have a player who can go into a space station (any or particular place per faction) where there is a new part to the buying ships which allows them to build there own ship within certain parameters. For example the player level will determine the size and potential fire power and stats of the ship.
So when a player decides to design a ship, a simple predetermined wizard which runs through the process so no items which would be essential can be omitted.
1) To start there would be a basic shape option preset (triangular, square, spherical or templates etc) then the ability to change the shape and manipulate it into a shape they wish.
Then some separate design options which can be added, say for example wings, thrusters on the ship, cockpits which are visible, windows or ports etc. These would not affect the ship as the mass would be determined next.
2) From this a size option for the vessel (perhaps determined in scale to the players rating and ranks ie the higher the rank the more potential for change ie larger ship, small ships with better manoeuvrability etc)
The size option would have to be fairly simple to enable players to understand what sizes would affect the ships use. For example to larger the vessel the slower the ship maybe, the more sluggish manoeuvrability, however it could have a large number of ports or cargo space.
3) The next stage would be for a player to determine the percentage of the ship for cargo space and for weapons / equipment. (Obviously a battery is essential and should be included regardless.) For example the player has put in a size for the ship, they should get a choice of number of small / large ports for the ship. Depending on what they choose the cargo space would be left.
4) From what ship is designed the game should generate a value (cost) for the ship which is comparable to value of ships which are the equivalent.
5) Naming the ship could be useful and once created could allow other players of the same rank / ratings be able to purchase this ship. I realise players would need to register the craft and be checked prior to it been allowed in the game for shape and name etc.
The whole point of this would be to allow a personal touch from the players for the design of their ships and add a variety to the game. Ships players have never encountered before could bring a whole new aspect to the game rather than experienced players instantly knowing they have a superior craft before engaging in a dog fight.
Apr 09, 2008 ingoguy15 link
This is a strong suggestion, but odds are, it won't happen. The needs here are for basically, transmitting every ship design that anyone makes to every player who sees it in real time. That would mean more server load, and code to dynamically reproduce the custom models to every player. Last I checked, the models for all of the ships are stored in the application. Now, if we stored them on the server, it may be possible, but there would need to be tools to do this, but if there is enough demand, and enough player assisted development, then this may happen, who knows?
Apr 09, 2008 ryan reign link
it is a really cool idea, but as stated before....likely as not it wont happen. about as close as youll probably get to designing your own ship is here.

http://vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/9/18250#231243

still a cool idea.
Apr 14, 2008 darvud link
Maybe you do not need to define the whole new ship as a set of triangles.

If you create some standard building blocks (hulk, cockpit, engine, wings, weapon bays, etc.) then the new ships can be described with a short array of numbers.
May 20, 2008 littledag link
i think it would be a great idea. if it where miniturized, like a player couldent create their own ship from the ground up. but they could put additions to the ships that we already have, like idk stapilizer rockets for better flight preformance, larger cargo bay for more space, bigger weapons platforms for more guns, ect. it would cut down on the designers work and it would solve the problem of having to create the ship from the ground up.

on another thought, i think if a player REALLY wanted their own ship they may be able to pay for it. not to make the game a pay for everything, but i think it would realy help them out maybe hire more developers and game staff if they had another sorce of revenue. it would get 2 birds with 1 stone, better game preformance due to more game staff, and the ability to create your own ship.
May 21, 2008 Pyroman_Ace link
I think the idea of having a basic hull design and then creating your own "Variant" might be more do-able, and I do like the idea.

I think this idea would be more interesting for a Capital-class than the Sub-Capital's we have now. A Capital being able to be reconfigured would be an excellent addition. Going from a heavy assault ship bristling with weapons to a relief ship with strictly defensive weapons for example.
May 22, 2008 incarnate link
It's not technically infeasible, but it's not a simple thing to implement (at least, to implement.. well).

Our original game design called for a much lighter weight version of this.. basically that all ships were modular, and could be "upgraded" in various ways, which would also result in externally visible changes, see the original Valkyrie with "engine module" concept art, here:

http://images.vendetta-online.com/extras/ItaniSmallFighter.big.jpg

Anyway.. a more complex version (as described above) is possible. But probably not something we'll do in the short term, at least.. without having more programmers and a full-time artist. There are a lot of other features that are more feasible to implement in the shorter-term, that would have a bigger impact on the actual gameplay.
May 23, 2008 SuperMegaMynt link
But man having visible guns alone would be cool...