Forums » Suggestions

Jump-envelope

Mar 26, 2009 Aticephyr link
NOTE: This suggestion is not meant to happen in VO's current state. Inc has mentioned that intra-sector jumps will one-day be possible. This suggestion is meant to be implemented during that time.

When a player jumps, he creates a small tunnel through space/time. There is no reason to assume that this tunnel closes immediately upon one ship going through it. When a ship jumps, that ship uses its energy to create a "jump tunnel". This tunnel (which would be marked on player's HUDs appropriately) would stay open for five or ten seconds, and be about 25m in diameter. If another player travels into this tunnel, he will warp (without any loss of energy) -- or rather follow the warp-path -- of the player who created the warp. Of course, the HUD will display where the end of the tunnel exists (same sector, different sector, etc).

Leaving such "tunnels" behind would make chases far more interesting (including intra-sector chases), as well as make convoying a lot more interesting.

This tunnel idea would not apply to wormholes (edit: personal opinion, does not need to be this way), as those wormholes are constantly open tunnels or some such.
Mar 27, 2009 Dr. Lecter link
Should apply to all jumps, WH, inter-sector, and intra-sector.

If implementation is not impossible, weapon fire should transit the tunnel while open.
Mar 27, 2009 ToastMaster_M link
It would kinda suck since Pirates could follow me with no trouble. When's a trader get a break eh?
Mar 27, 2009 incarnate link
Here's a question. Would you rather be chasing people through wormholes that stay open, or be able to prevent them from jumping?

I was going more in the latter direction. For technical reasons, it's better on the server-architecture side.. it doesn't require starting up new sectors and moving player data around as much, and it seems to serve the same general purpose.

Basically the thought was.. some sort of like.. "gravitic field dampener" addon that could be fired and would prevent anyone from opening a wormhole in a radius of X distance (1000m?). Might take a long time to recharge, and only stay active for a limited time.. I dunno.

Or perhaps some sort of flak-cannon that absorbs powercell energy from anyone within the blast-radius of its shots. Forces people to stop turboing, and potentially negates jumping. But maybe there's some countermeasure addon you can use.. upgrade your hull with "energy shielding" or something.

Dunno. Feel free to continue debating. Or create a new thread specific to this broader question, re-post what I just said there, and link it here. Whatever.
Mar 27, 2009 zak.wilson link
I like the idea of chasing people through their own wormholes, but I do have some idea what that might do to the servers.

I'm all for anti-running addons, though right now what actually seems to be a bigger problem is people running within a sector, usually in a fast ship. I think it would need to be set up so that large trade ships would have better options to defend against these hypothetical devices than fast combat ships would.
Mar 27, 2009 incarnate link
Well, thanks to grid power and such, that should be possible.
Mar 27, 2009 peytros link
Inc how would you plan to impliment hull upgrades and the sort? More ship ports and custom options? :)
Mar 28, 2009 Aticephyr link
The thing I really liked about the wormhole that stays open for a little bit is not necessarily the chasing factor, but rather the teamwork it might possibly encourage. I mean, if you can have one ship open the wormhole, and then have a few other ships (with full energy) travel through it... that is one heck of an intensive to work together.

Of course, weapons that prevent someone from jumping serves a similar purpose since the travelers would want to work in teams (in case they couldn't jump, at least one would have to fight -- or pay). It might be interesting to have a add-on that would allow one ship to open up a wormhole multiple ships could travel through (it would take full-battery charge and all that). Of course, just having one add-on that people may or may not use might not justify the developer time in getting the HUD to show everything it needs to display etc... but I still think it'd be damned cool.

and @ lecter: I don't think weaponry should travel through the opening. I don't think that because that just makes it too easy. if you want a pseudo-sci-fi explanation, its because the weapons don't have as sturdy a structure as the ships, and the shots would not be able to travel through in-tact. Of course, it would be very interesting to see the wormhole absorb the shots (so it would be possible to use it as a temporary shield of sorts if one were so inclined).