Forums » Suggestions
Crime and punishment
I'm stealing this idea from Grand Theft Auto, but I feel it would be actually extremely amazing if implemented in Vendetta.
In Grand Theft Auto there is a "Crime rating" represented by stars based on how much you've been an asshole to the poor undeserving populace of whatever city you're terrorizing.
A light crime like jaywalking or punching a baby gets you 1 star and any already patrolling cops come after you and try to tell what a naughty thing you've done and write you a ticket.
And a heavy crime like running over an obscene amount of cops with a hotdog truck might get you the full 5 stars and they send helicopters, SWAT vans, FBI, Starsky and Hutch, and the full might of the extremely bloated and overpowered U.S. military after you.
And once you've committed a crime, it's usually an epic chase until you get caught, killed or somehow actually evade and hide long enough from them.
I figure something similar could work very well in Vendetta.
Right now, if you do something naughty in Vendetta, some half-assed strike force might chase you for a sector or two before getting bored and going back home to play video games.
It would be a lot more interesting if they sent the appropriate response for whatever evildoings you've been doing.
For instance a "1 star" offense could be shooting (but not killing) ships within the NFZ.
And the response would be any patrolling vessels try to fine you (perhaps the devs could put in place some system where you can pay/bribe NPCs), if you refused to pay the fine they would try to kill you.
At a "2 star" offense they actively send ships to chase you around, mostly generic light fighters and maybe a warthog or two. This would be achieved by actually killing someone in monitored/guarded space, or by running away through monitored space too long from a "1 star" offense.
At a "3 star" offense they send their souped-up fighters. Basically, you've killed a few cops and now they are pissed.
At "4 stars" The turret defense grid is alerted to shoot you on sight. Whatever the hell you've just done, you might want leave nation space for a while...
"5 stars" they send cruisers after you. You've proven yourself to be more than just a criminal, but a threat to national security.
And to add a little more depth to this, if you get killed by whatever forces after you, you lose an appropriate amount of standing with the affected faction(s).
However if you manage to lose your pursuers and hide in unmonitored space long enough, the "stars" go away. And no faction standing loss since they never really got a good look at you and there is no evidence against you that would hold up in court, etc.
Now for a few additional crimes that could be committed (other than just varying degrees of murder):
-Smuggling-
Gun-running: Naturally your nation doesn't want their uber-secret weapons to be sold to the opposing nations. So if you try to sneak some out in your cargohold, they will try to stop you, sending a "2 star" patrol to chase you until they lose sight of or kill you. However sneaking weapons *into* nation space requires you to bribe a guard, else you get "2 stars" and they chase you until you die/evade them. This also requires special NPCs with cargo scanners patrolling about, along with more nation-specific items. Bonus points if cargo-blockers/spoofers nullify their scanning abilities.
Illicit items/Contraband: There are some fancy and exciting drugs out there, many of them are dangerous and addictive therefore made illegal by your nation's government. However this illegality adds a huge profit margin to these "items". If caught hauling these items, you receive "2 stars".
-Theft-
Admittedly this one is probably going to be difficult to implement.
Some pirates joke about calling themselves "miners", claiming they "mine" trade ships for their commodities.
Corvus has now developed a 'cargo beam' using mining beam technology. This beam, when the pilot is also equipped with a cargo scanner (a requirement for the weapon to 'work'), is able to cut through the hull of a trade ship and cause it to jettison a commodity at whatever rate the beam is set to. Unlike mining, this beam doesn't actually heat up the target, but also doesn't automatically beam the items into your hold, so you have to go pick up the items manually once you are done.
"1 star" If you are caught doing this in monitored nation space.
Any other ideas on potential 'crimes' or how this system could be tweaked will be appreciated.
In Grand Theft Auto there is a "Crime rating" represented by stars based on how much you've been an asshole to the poor undeserving populace of whatever city you're terrorizing.
A light crime like jaywalking or punching a baby gets you 1 star and any already patrolling cops come after you and try to tell what a naughty thing you've done and write you a ticket.
And a heavy crime like running over an obscene amount of cops with a hotdog truck might get you the full 5 stars and they send helicopters, SWAT vans, FBI, Starsky and Hutch, and the full might of the extremely bloated and overpowered U.S. military after you.
And once you've committed a crime, it's usually an epic chase until you get caught, killed or somehow actually evade and hide long enough from them.
I figure something similar could work very well in Vendetta.
Right now, if you do something naughty in Vendetta, some half-assed strike force might chase you for a sector or two before getting bored and going back home to play video games.
It would be a lot more interesting if they sent the appropriate response for whatever evildoings you've been doing.
For instance a "1 star" offense could be shooting (but not killing) ships within the NFZ.
And the response would be any patrolling vessels try to fine you (perhaps the devs could put in place some system where you can pay/bribe NPCs), if you refused to pay the fine they would try to kill you.
At a "2 star" offense they actively send ships to chase you around, mostly generic light fighters and maybe a warthog or two. This would be achieved by actually killing someone in monitored/guarded space, or by running away through monitored space too long from a "1 star" offense.
At a "3 star" offense they send their souped-up fighters. Basically, you've killed a few cops and now they are pissed.
At "4 stars" The turret defense grid is alerted to shoot you on sight. Whatever the hell you've just done, you might want leave nation space for a while...
"5 stars" they send cruisers after you. You've proven yourself to be more than just a criminal, but a threat to national security.
And to add a little more depth to this, if you get killed by whatever forces after you, you lose an appropriate amount of standing with the affected faction(s).
However if you manage to lose your pursuers and hide in unmonitored space long enough, the "stars" go away. And no faction standing loss since they never really got a good look at you and there is no evidence against you that would hold up in court, etc.
Now for a few additional crimes that could be committed (other than just varying degrees of murder):
-Smuggling-
Gun-running: Naturally your nation doesn't want their uber-secret weapons to be sold to the opposing nations. So if you try to sneak some out in your cargohold, they will try to stop you, sending a "2 star" patrol to chase you until they lose sight of or kill you. However sneaking weapons *into* nation space requires you to bribe a guard, else you get "2 stars" and they chase you until you die/evade them. This also requires special NPCs with cargo scanners patrolling about, along with more nation-specific items. Bonus points if cargo-blockers/spoofers nullify their scanning abilities.
Illicit items/Contraband: There are some fancy and exciting drugs out there, many of them are dangerous and addictive therefore made illegal by your nation's government. However this illegality adds a huge profit margin to these "items". If caught hauling these items, you receive "2 stars".
-Theft-
Admittedly this one is probably going to be difficult to implement.
Some pirates joke about calling themselves "miners", claiming they "mine" trade ships for their commodities.
Corvus has now developed a 'cargo beam' using mining beam technology. This beam, when the pilot is also equipped with a cargo scanner (a requirement for the weapon to 'work'), is able to cut through the hull of a trade ship and cause it to jettison a commodity at whatever rate the beam is set to. Unlike mining, this beam doesn't actually heat up the target, but also doesn't automatically beam the items into your hold, so you have to go pick up the items manually once you are done.
"1 star" If you are caught doing this in monitored nation space.
Any other ideas on potential 'crimes' or how this system could be tweaked will be appreciated.
lol, the cargo beam should also cause some small amount of damage to the ship per cu "mined". A non-lethal way of stealing could be handy, for looting people in monitored space... It would fit nicely in the small port of a hound. The beam would have to be fast enough to be able to liberate a sizable portion of their cargo hold before they manage to dock or jump out though, and have a bigger range than mining beams since the target is moving and possibly shooting back. (Not that I'm asking for it to be *too* easy, mind you. But staying w/i 100m of a fleeing ship is not easy. Easier to just kill it.)
FYI, the SF will chase you for much more than one or two sectors, unless you intentionally take measures to evade. I've had them chase me through dozens of sectors at a time while hunting in Dau.
FYI, the SF will chase you for much more than one or two sectors, unless you intentionally take measures to evade. I've had them chase me through dozens of sectors at a time while hunting in Dau.
Aye I remember good old GTA system.. in general it might be fun ;)
+1 to improve nation's defenses... and that 1...5 stars "crimes" and corresponding response seems a good approach. Needs polishing, but seems promissing.