OK so I have some odds and ends I'd like to contribute to the idea-pool. DISCLAIMER: some of these may only be relevant to the finished product, or indeed the expansion pack. Some are nicked from other games I played. Some may have been suggested before - I am lazy. None of the suggestions are meant as criticism in any way. All resemblance to real people or places is coincidental. The expressed opinions are not necessarily mine or those of my employer.

Now that's over with, first some technical issues.

- Chat window. -

First of all, it should be possible to set the font size of the text. I tend to run Vendetta in higher resolutions (1280x1024) and the font looks huge and ugly in those resolutions. Besides, with smaller text I would get more info per screenful of text.

Which brings us to my next point - I have not yet figured out how to scroll text in the chat window while in flight. This may be possible and I'm stupid, but it would be nice to be able to assign "scroll text up/down" to pgup/pgdn or the mouse wheel.

In-flight it would also be nice to have different "tabs" for different channels - or at least one for "system" messages (battle spam, nav info etc), one for mission info and one for chat. These may be accessible by leaving mouselook mode and clicking on them or via keyboard shortcut (F* or a number key?).

- Audio -

We need a catchy soundtrack. I've played Parsec for a while and find myself often playing it just for the cool soundtrack it has! Of course, tastes differ - so one solution could be just having a .m3u playlist in the .vendetta folder containing mp3s/oggs we want as background music.

Also, I think a lot of the "chat spam" caused by system messages could be eliminated with audio feedback. This would have two benefits; 1) less spam, and 2) you can keep your eyes on your viewport/radar during the heat of battle. If I get a say in it, I'd say we get a cool female voice ála the one on Enterprises onboard computer. *cough*

- Navigation -

So, I've almost worn out my TAB key... The nav system needs to be worked on a bit, going from one system to the next is quite a chore. Not saying it shouldn't take time of course, but I would really appreciate some kind of auto-pilot. We already have most of the tools we need to actually plot a course; and auto-pilots are 20th century tech, so it should be in - right?

Also, a "warp to target" function would be handy - combined with targetable "nav points" in jump-safe locations this would aid navigation and also make the autopilot more feasible.

- Other Features -

Is there a crafting system planned for Vendetta? Can't recall reading anything about it. Being able to research and manufacture ship components would be very nice, but probably quite a job to implement. I would love it myself; it would make the "trading" skill more worthwhile and also encourage more player-player interaction.

Will players ever be able to own a piece of the universe? As in, be able to build stations or at least "rent" accomodations for a guild inside an existing station (including shared stores/hangars for guild members etc)? This is definitely a feature I would look forward to. Part of the fun in an MMOG is to be able to set your mark on the world you play in.

Anyway - sorry for the long, rambling post. I'll go to bed now.

I second the audio idea. Parsec simply rules. It's a shame its open source community has been inactive for several months now. Anyway, have the devs considered contacting Stefan Poiss for some music work?

=b

Futt, the only question I can answer is about the chat window. To scroll the chat, hit ~ and use Page Up/Page Down.