Forums » Suggestions
Big whompin ideas list
This is a great game, thank you for it. I might add that the 8 hour trial is an awesome idea and got you at least one subscription from it (mine).
That said, I of course have a bazillion things I'd love to see in it. I've been playing 2 days, roughly 12 hours, and perhaps many of these things are there and I havn't seen them yet. If so, sorry.
I'll letter and number this stuff for easier discussion/flaming.
Little Stuff
------------
A1. Localized time from /time: Even if I have to manually set my timezone, would be nice. Or, just return server time in GMT and client time in whatever timezone they have set. Whatever is easiest.
A2. A Game Timer: Addictive games, like Vendetta, are a lot eaiser on us full-timer work/school/both when we can ask it to warn us at 2AM or after 17 hours of play, that we might want to check out vitals. Consider it a way to make your content last longer :)
A3. Faction based Channels/Guilds: I am not suggesting that you impose these mandentorily, just that it is an option available for those who would like to have some conversaion or a team of only their own side. I can't see this but helping efforts to get a few battle fronts going. It'll also penalized dumb pirates who don't know a bunch of faction members are coming to discuss things with him.
A4. Optional No auto stopping in Physics mode: Think of it as a full manual options, you start a roll, get it to X speed and let go, would will retain that lazy roll at X speed forever or till you smack into something. Not terribly useful but I'd like it. Not an important suggestion by far, just candy.
A5. Point light background option: Even in extremely high resolution mode those backgrounds look like they have freckles. Generally very pretty actually, but I turn em off often just because I can't stop looking at the freckles (Sort of like Austin Powers, "Moley moley moley moley"). The stark black available under no is actually kind of freaky cool looking. But something with just a few pixels turned on off in the distance would be nice. Again, candy.
A6. Put a Buy Ship button on the ship tab: Little things make a UI not feel weird. For that matter, put the Buy Ship *only* under the ship tab.
A7. Aestetic ship mods: Items you can buy and attach to your ships to make it look cool. Like neon bars on the sides of the engine, or decals. Advanced paint jobs. For the UIT: Sponsorship decals, for the Serco: Aggressive comabt paint jobs (Like the paint jobs on some fighting vehicles depicting an eagle or a tiger.), for the Itani.. I dunno, maybe flowers for the side of their buses? Chrome, Headlights, whatever. Let us express our inner tacky.
A8. Your own factions billboards should be in a language we can read: I know it looses a little of the blade runner look, but hey, it'll let me assign the stations some personallity. Also the stations could use a little more personality of it's own. They all look to similar. A Mining station and a Tourist drop point I think, should feel different.
A9. Add Buy prices to the stations information. That way we can more accurately judge the profit margin on a load. Perhaps a button to show buy prices on items they have no stock of as well would be sweet. This one goes hand in hand with B1, B2, and B3.
Real Stuff
----------
B1. Inventory Amounts on stations: Make it to where stations stock X amount oif stuff at a time. And you can't just keep buying from there unless they are producing fast or someone else is dumping it there. Particularly cool would be if stations consumed some amount of stuff as they sit there, so that finding out what a station needs or will need soon and aquiring it (Trade/Piracy/Prospecting, whatever) would be profitable. Try to make some stations need items from far far away often.
B2. Player originated missions: Let players add missions to the rosters on any station they have paid a registration fee on and are in good standing with the faction thereof. (Just to limit people from having universal reach.) Got some stuff you've figured out it will be profittable to trade but don't want to
travel all over hell and back? Put a mission on the station at the origin point and have other players bring it to the station of your choice. To keep them from knowing the deal you could even have them bring it to a very close station where it's nearly worthless to sell there. Got a pirate plauging you? Put an award on his head if killed in the systems he hangs in. Got a rival bothering you? Perhaps someone unsrupulous could be found to apply some pressure to work a different trade route. Whatever.
This would work best if they player creating the mission registed ranges of player attributes that should be offered the mission (licenses, faction ratingings, maybe a new reliability rating so you can guess who might swipe prepaid cargo). I'd suggest letting some of these missions be open to more than one pickup. Like bounties, whoever gets him first, gets the reward and everyone else will be notified that the bounty has been claimed.
B3. Let players hold more than one mission at a time: Why should you have to drop a trade mission if you want to license up right now? Why not carry out a couple of trade missions at once. Especially important if someone accepts a bounty.
B4. Restricted Space: Places where armed ships will escort you off premises, as debris if nessesary. Use liberally in UIT space where rival corps defend their headquarters. Military Research stations for the Itani, Everything you don't have a reason to go near for the Serco. This is an excellent opertunity to introduce more interesting missions too. From stealth runs to penetration and marine drops.
B5. Contraband Trade/Smuggling: Great way to profittably screw some faction ratings. Specialty ship mods for cargo concealment, Hidden bases. Search boarding. Etc...
B6. Bounty Hunting: Faction got a Kill on Sight for a player? Let the other players in on that action withing that Factions space. Bloodied the nose of a corp? Rampant Piracy on some wealthy traders lanes? Fun for the who family. NPC Bounty targets as well.
B7. Deralicts: Dead ships shouldn't always just blow I think. It's be nice to see a deadly sector littered with husks. Also, NPC Deralicts can add some mission possibilites, and they can be blasted for scrap metal, or maybe even dragged in for salvage.
B8. Jump tracking ship mod: Allows your ships computer to track their jump so you can give chase.
B9. Stealth mods: Perhaps a nice mod to cut engines and run of batteries till they drain and your sensors go offline. Or limit it by the life support system and cut sensors while stealthed as well (Line of sight mode). Or "passive sensors only" (Line of sight but the computer will notice for you and it doesn't have to be in your view screen). Get your ship up to speed and cut everything for stealth scan runs. Relighting the engines should take a few moments and have a cool sound effect. Also, Stealth hulls that sacrifice armor value for reduced pickup range.
B10. Stealth areas: The ships sensors are a bit to powerful, you can't hide. Make iron asteroids damp sensors. Make it possible to hide from the enemies. For instance, Combined with B8, you could coast from meteor to meteor, stopping to replentish batteries and correct course, or plant proximity nukes, whatever. Ion storms should royally screw with sensors. This should apply to NPCs, so that an APU in an Ion storm doesn't see you from 3000m and swing over to introduce itself. It might make storms someplace you might want to go to loose a pursuing enemy.
Big Stuff
---------
C1. Advanced ships with uneven thrust profiles: Meaning,
ships that can roll and pitch stronger than slide, or vice
versa. Make it to were certain turning directions are fast and others are slower. The idea is to allow more powerful ships that
require more skill to pilot.
C2. Jump drive mods for non-wormhole exploration of space near a wormhole system. Make em expensive, require high license levels, and sacrifice some amount of armor/weaponry/power/whatever. The
idea here being to make worm hole only space a sort of "friendly territory" for the lower level players. Put settlements, Pirate/Smuggler bases, illegal activities, etc.. into this area. Map tons of systems but name and have information for only a few. The rest may contain instance missions, exploration options, player created bases, etc...
C3. Player owned bases. Maybe consider it a capital ship expansion candidate.
C4. And the really really big and unlikely one. Some find of FPS mode for the stations. So we can conduct trade, hang in the bar, and perhaps perform some missions in person. If you tack on a full FPS engine, consider the possibility of shuttling down to planets. I recognize this is no small suggestion and would require no small amount of time and money.
Welp, I'm tired of writing for now. Please forgive the zillion likely typos/misspellings.
Thanks again for the really great game.
-- Mike
That said, I of course have a bazillion things I'd love to see in it. I've been playing 2 days, roughly 12 hours, and perhaps many of these things are there and I havn't seen them yet. If so, sorry.
I'll letter and number this stuff for easier discussion/flaming.
Little Stuff
------------
A1. Localized time from /time: Even if I have to manually set my timezone, would be nice. Or, just return server time in GMT and client time in whatever timezone they have set. Whatever is easiest.
A2. A Game Timer: Addictive games, like Vendetta, are a lot eaiser on us full-timer work/school/both when we can ask it to warn us at 2AM or after 17 hours of play, that we might want to check out vitals. Consider it a way to make your content last longer :)
A3. Faction based Channels/Guilds: I am not suggesting that you impose these mandentorily, just that it is an option available for those who would like to have some conversaion or a team of only their own side. I can't see this but helping efforts to get a few battle fronts going. It'll also penalized dumb pirates who don't know a bunch of faction members are coming to discuss things with him.
A4. Optional No auto stopping in Physics mode: Think of it as a full manual options, you start a roll, get it to X speed and let go, would will retain that lazy roll at X speed forever or till you smack into something. Not terribly useful but I'd like it. Not an important suggestion by far, just candy.
A5. Point light background option: Even in extremely high resolution mode those backgrounds look like they have freckles. Generally very pretty actually, but I turn em off often just because I can't stop looking at the freckles (Sort of like Austin Powers, "Moley moley moley moley"). The stark black available under no is actually kind of freaky cool looking. But something with just a few pixels turned on off in the distance would be nice. Again, candy.
A6. Put a Buy Ship button on the ship tab: Little things make a UI not feel weird. For that matter, put the Buy Ship *only* under the ship tab.
A7. Aestetic ship mods: Items you can buy and attach to your ships to make it look cool. Like neon bars on the sides of the engine, or decals. Advanced paint jobs. For the UIT: Sponsorship decals, for the Serco: Aggressive comabt paint jobs (Like the paint jobs on some fighting vehicles depicting an eagle or a tiger.), for the Itani.. I dunno, maybe flowers for the side of their buses? Chrome, Headlights, whatever. Let us express our inner tacky.
A8. Your own factions billboards should be in a language we can read: I know it looses a little of the blade runner look, but hey, it'll let me assign the stations some personallity. Also the stations could use a little more personality of it's own. They all look to similar. A Mining station and a Tourist drop point I think, should feel different.
A9. Add Buy prices to the stations information. That way we can more accurately judge the profit margin on a load. Perhaps a button to show buy prices on items they have no stock of as well would be sweet. This one goes hand in hand with B1, B2, and B3.
Real Stuff
----------
B1. Inventory Amounts on stations: Make it to where stations stock X amount oif stuff at a time. And you can't just keep buying from there unless they are producing fast or someone else is dumping it there. Particularly cool would be if stations consumed some amount of stuff as they sit there, so that finding out what a station needs or will need soon and aquiring it (Trade/Piracy/Prospecting, whatever) would be profitable. Try to make some stations need items from far far away often.
B2. Player originated missions: Let players add missions to the rosters on any station they have paid a registration fee on and are in good standing with the faction thereof. (Just to limit people from having universal reach.) Got some stuff you've figured out it will be profittable to trade but don't want to
travel all over hell and back? Put a mission on the station at the origin point and have other players bring it to the station of your choice. To keep them from knowing the deal you could even have them bring it to a very close station where it's nearly worthless to sell there. Got a pirate plauging you? Put an award on his head if killed in the systems he hangs in. Got a rival bothering you? Perhaps someone unsrupulous could be found to apply some pressure to work a different trade route. Whatever.
This would work best if they player creating the mission registed ranges of player attributes that should be offered the mission (licenses, faction ratingings, maybe a new reliability rating so you can guess who might swipe prepaid cargo). I'd suggest letting some of these missions be open to more than one pickup. Like bounties, whoever gets him first, gets the reward and everyone else will be notified that the bounty has been claimed.
B3. Let players hold more than one mission at a time: Why should you have to drop a trade mission if you want to license up right now? Why not carry out a couple of trade missions at once. Especially important if someone accepts a bounty.
B4. Restricted Space: Places where armed ships will escort you off premises, as debris if nessesary. Use liberally in UIT space where rival corps defend their headquarters. Military Research stations for the Itani, Everything you don't have a reason to go near for the Serco. This is an excellent opertunity to introduce more interesting missions too. From stealth runs to penetration and marine drops.
B5. Contraband Trade/Smuggling: Great way to profittably screw some faction ratings. Specialty ship mods for cargo concealment, Hidden bases. Search boarding. Etc...
B6. Bounty Hunting: Faction got a Kill on Sight for a player? Let the other players in on that action withing that Factions space. Bloodied the nose of a corp? Rampant Piracy on some wealthy traders lanes? Fun for the who family. NPC Bounty targets as well.
B7. Deralicts: Dead ships shouldn't always just blow I think. It's be nice to see a deadly sector littered with husks. Also, NPC Deralicts can add some mission possibilites, and they can be blasted for scrap metal, or maybe even dragged in for salvage.
B8. Jump tracking ship mod: Allows your ships computer to track their jump so you can give chase.
B9. Stealth mods: Perhaps a nice mod to cut engines and run of batteries till they drain and your sensors go offline. Or limit it by the life support system and cut sensors while stealthed as well (Line of sight mode). Or "passive sensors only" (Line of sight but the computer will notice for you and it doesn't have to be in your view screen). Get your ship up to speed and cut everything for stealth scan runs. Relighting the engines should take a few moments and have a cool sound effect. Also, Stealth hulls that sacrifice armor value for reduced pickup range.
B10. Stealth areas: The ships sensors are a bit to powerful, you can't hide. Make iron asteroids damp sensors. Make it possible to hide from the enemies. For instance, Combined with B8, you could coast from meteor to meteor, stopping to replentish batteries and correct course, or plant proximity nukes, whatever. Ion storms should royally screw with sensors. This should apply to NPCs, so that an APU in an Ion storm doesn't see you from 3000m and swing over to introduce itself. It might make storms someplace you might want to go to loose a pursuing enemy.
Big Stuff
---------
C1. Advanced ships with uneven thrust profiles: Meaning,
ships that can roll and pitch stronger than slide, or vice
versa. Make it to were certain turning directions are fast and others are slower. The idea is to allow more powerful ships that
require more skill to pilot.
C2. Jump drive mods for non-wormhole exploration of space near a wormhole system. Make em expensive, require high license levels, and sacrifice some amount of armor/weaponry/power/whatever. The
idea here being to make worm hole only space a sort of "friendly territory" for the lower level players. Put settlements, Pirate/Smuggler bases, illegal activities, etc.. into this area. Map tons of systems but name and have information for only a few. The rest may contain instance missions, exploration options, player created bases, etc...
C3. Player owned bases. Maybe consider it a capital ship expansion candidate.
C4. And the really really big and unlikely one. Some find of FPS mode for the stations. So we can conduct trade, hang in the bar, and perhaps perform some missions in person. If you tack on a full FPS engine, consider the possibility of shuttling down to planets. I recognize this is no small suggestion and would require no small amount of time and money.
Welp, I'm tired of writing for now. Please forgive the zillion likely typos/misspellings.
Thanks again for the really great game.
-- Mike
Vendetta ricers! :P
Lessee... All the stuff in the A section, I agree with. B section... yep. AFAIK, ships already have uneven thrust profiles. I believe the devs have already said that they will be coming out with an expansion to add exploration and player-owned stations. As for the last suggestion, that would quite literally require writing an entirely new engine (it's already been suggested many, many times).
Lessee... All the stuff in the A section, I agree with. B section... yep. AFAIK, ships already have uneven thrust profiles. I believe the devs have already said that they will be coming out with an expansion to add exploration and player-owned stations. As for the last suggestion, that would quite literally require writing an entirely new engine (it's already been suggested many, many times).
Cool on the planned stuff.
And as for the FPS part, yeah, I kind of figured it was a hard one to make a ROI case for. And I figured it was an obvious one too. But while I was spewing everything else out, I figured I'd spit it too.
And as for the FPS part, yeah, I kind of figured it was a hard one to make a ROI case for. And I figured it was an obvious one too. But while I was spewing everything else out, I figured I'd spit it too.