bigg
Bravo Rank
Posts: 13
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Post by bigg on Jul 27, 2011 20:18:00 GMT 10
The biggest thing I'm missing right now is a system of communication/interaction with pilots and stations (I know there have been other suggestions along these lines, I'm just discussing my larger vision of the game). I can imagine having to bring pilots back to certain ports alive for a ransom, i.e. disabling their shields/weapons and towing them. I can imagine equipping a fleet of hired pilots as my private armada. Obviously also traders/merchants, shipping lines (that form after freeing two stations with scrap yards for example) and an economy. The prerequisite for this would be many more npc pilot roles and corresponding interaction with them.
Also, seeing as I'm a big roguelike fan, I would love to see more random generation of maps with unknown difficulty levels. The captain could be tasked with clearing out various sectors; these could be smaller, more compact maps with finite enemies but also possibly larger challenges and specific goals. This would give much more of a defined challenge and sense of fulfillment to the game. In the roguelike vein, I can imagine a much broader range of weapon characteristics (piercing/exploding/disabling etc.) and effects on one's ship; these could make battle much more interesting than just who has the higher-class laser. One idea is a type of bubble shield that can act like a blurst shield for a short period (initiated by the player) but which drains shield energy quickly. Also, the ability to disable specific modules or assign various keypresses to various groups of modules.
I know a lot of this has been said before, I'm just imagining the game as if it were my own project... I'd love to hear reactions, criticisms etc.
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Post by Cpt. GrimResistance on Jul 28, 2011 5:16:19 GMT 10
I like the idea of assigning key presses to different modules, so you could have all of your guns firing for tough enemies and have a separate button to fire one gun for precision work
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Post by korvash on Jul 30, 2011 4:18:38 GMT 10
I think the starting alpha stations should contain a unique station, called the Nav Archives (or something), which collectively stores and displays all data gathered from nav stations. If you use this station it brings up a map just like a Nav stations would (except with a reduced radius of contact - you would have to be right next to it) except you could 'scroll' around the map. Any areas where you haven't gathered nav data would be black, but as you slowly complete more and more of the game you slowly complete this map stored at your start point.
It would come in really handy when you reach a dead end somewhere, and decide to backtrack to try a new direction. You could stop off at the archives, check for a group of unactivated stations that look promising, before returning to exploration again.
Also, when you're very close to the end of the game I find I often have need for one specific module, and maybe I saw a FAC for one earlier in the game but I've no idea where that was now. Perhaps the archives could store that data also - you could click on a FAC in the archives map and see what it sells.
To take that concept further, it could serve as a statistics base - view how many modules you've destroyed/lost, how far you've travelled, how many enemies of each class you've destroyed, furthest point from the archives visited, fastest speed ever travelled. It could even contain the interface you would see at the end of Captain Forever - where you can look through all you ships past configurations (though obviously you wouldn't be able to clone them).
Please add this, it would be awesome <3
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bigg
Bravo Rank
Posts: 13
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Post by bigg on Jul 31, 2011 1:50:57 GMT 10
A central nav database would of course be awesome. That sort of overview of where you've been would also create the possibility of a lot more tactical-strategic gameplay, i.e. tracking the movements of large enemy fleets, setting up defenses for desirable stations based on those movements, etc.
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evilc
Alpha Rank
Posts: 9
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Post by evilc on Aug 4, 2011 7:32:10 GMT 10
+1 for the idea of keybound weapons etc. This is what I think is hurting the series seriously in terms of ship diversity. I may use something other than lasers if this was a possibility.
The other thing I want to see is a net. As in a bag. Drag a box or draw a circle around some stuff and an electric net appears, attached to your ship. All the weight of the items are calculated as if attached to your ship so it doesn't help you carry more, stuff in it can still get shot , it just means you don't have to bolt salvage onto your ship and if a fight ensues you can drop the net.
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Post by sfsdfd on Aug 8, 2011 12:31:15 GMT 10
I spent something like 10 hours playing v0.4 of Captain Jameson last week - to the point where I'm pretty much done with it. Some reports: * By the time I closed the app, I'd found the beacons, liberated every station (having made about three trips around the perimeter), and stockpiled about 1.3 million credits. And at its peak, my ship had six chrono engines on the front with nine Juliet sniping lasers and a full complement of shields, and was still fast enough to make the Kessel run in - er, to go from "right next to a nav point" to "no stations in range" in one oxy. * Near the very end of my play-through, I finally found an auxiliary oxygen module! - and then found another one about ten minutes later... but those were the only two that I saw out of about 1,000 ship encounters. * Favorite tactic: Pushing an enemy ship INTO the scrapyard before sniping its heart. Felt like I'd achieved both "mean" and "lazy" in one fell swoop.  * My massive cruiser of death met a near-instant and untimely end. Whilst cruising through J-space: it ran head-on into a massive barrage of about Juliet-class snipe laser shots from an offscreen ship, about 20 shots wide and three shots deep (fired in quick succession). Obviously, my totally-blinged-out shields didn't withstand the first burst, and the next three totally decimated all of my weapons and chrono gears. The only glimpse I got of my killer was when the front of my ship - spearheaded by its exposed heart - coasted RIGHT INTO IT and lodged on its battery of lasers, and then sat there stupidly for a moment ("reverse" is surprisingly slow when all of the forward-facing Mk2 thrusters near the front of your ship instantly transmute into space dust) before the killing blow issued. Current thoughts: * Best pending idea: Central nav repository. Kudos with that idea.  It's kind of sad that there is currently no functional incentive to return to the starting cluster... usually I leave it immediately and never come back! However - "central" should perhaps not necessarily mean the starting cluster... because the (procedurally generated) asteroids surrounding that area may well prevent J-class ships from returning. * Banks and warehouses... still useless. Very sad. * Auxiliary oxy... still way too infrequent. Farbs, if you're concerned that taking the oxygen factor out will ruin the game, how about scaling up the placement frequency on Juliet-class ships? * I've developed a grudging acceptance of the shield system, but I still think that it sucks and leaves open the chance of totally arbitrary death (see above). As I wrote before - the only way to avoid death by long-range barrage of J lasers is to never enter J-space, and that sucks. * I still think that the cleanup range for modules (the maximum distance of a detached module from the player, beyond which it vanishes) is WAY too short. Seriously, what is it? Maybe 100 pixels past the maximum viewable edge of the screen? It really gives the feeling of some sort of ominous space-gremlins screwing with your vicinity just behind your back.  * I'm seriously considering buying a single-button mouse just to STOP ACCIDENTALLY RIGHT-CLICKING IN THE MIDDLE OF BATTLE AND HAVING THE APP GO CRAZY. Not only does this problem cause your ship to fly all wonky until you can regain control (I've mentally dubbed this phenomenon "space madness"), but also there's the accidental possibility of clicking in the right-click menu and spawning a new browser page... or worse, refreshing the page and losing EVERYTHING. (This problem also plagues my right thumb mouse button, which by default invokes a Navigate Back One Page action.) I'm eagerly awaiting a v5. With Farbs maintaining relative radio silence these days, I'm curious as to what he's cooking up (or if he's just off enjoying summer in meatspace ) |
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Post by Vaconcovat on Aug 8, 2011 15:57:26 GMT 10
I'm eagerly awaiting a v5. With Farbs maintaining relative radio silence these days, I'm curious as to what he's cooking up (or if he's just off enjoying summer in meatspace ) He told me that he's going to be AFK for a few days, so that's why we haven't released a competition result yet.
As for v5, I say the biggest step is revamping the current "save" system. At the moment, it does make sense setting-wise, but video-game-wise, it does not. I'm playing a game. I save the game as a safety measure and continue playing. Suddenly, something happens and the game is ended unexpectedly. Or, I just simply turn the game off. What happens? I lose all my work? But didn't I just save? Shouldn't it just go back to my save? See what im getting at here? ATM the game is a little unforgiving, at least with a different save system, we will be able to checkpoint and set key points to revert to in our adventures. |
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Post by sfsdfd on Aug 9, 2011 9:39:18 GMT 10
As for v5, I say the biggest step is revamping the current "save" system. At the moment, it does make sense setting-wise, but video-game-wise, it does not. I'm playing a game. I save the game as a safety measure and continue playing. Suddenly, something happens and the game is ended unexpectedly. Or, I just simply turn the game off. What happens? I lose all my work? But didn't I just save? Shouldn't it just go back to my save? See what im getting at here? ATM the game is a little unforgiving, at least with a different save system, we will be able to checkpoint and set key points to revert to in our adventures. Hmm. I admit that the save system in v0.1-v0.4 has potentially catastrophic problems. However, I'm really hoping that the save system doesn't change TOO much, and I offer the following partial defense for consideration (by Farbs and others): It is a well-known problem among (non-MMO) games on the market that an incredibly convenient save system diminishes the fun of a game: there's no incentive NOT to do stupid things when you can recover from your mistake with minimal consequence. By contrast, part of what Jameson so much fun is the *mortality* of it - the feeling that a mistake will lead to an irrevocable loss of your ship. This gives a great feeling of significance to every battle, a great feeling of urgency to frantic efforts to find oxygen, and a great feeling of danger and adventure to the exploration of new parts of space. (Some of my favorite deaths have occurred from getting lost in an asteroid field... knowing that no one would ever see that ship again.) So I *like* having strong consequences for failure (as in, I can't just reload and fly that ship again). It makes the game feel so much more significant: escaping an emergency is a genuine relief, and surviving a tough battle is much more rewarding. Other games have successfully relied on a similar mechanism - roguelikes (e.g., Nethack and Dwarf Fortress) and Steel Battalion come to mind. But I fully agree that this is a double-edged sword: catastrophic consequences caused by unfair failures (e.g., losing hours of progress due to a browser crash or refresh) is a show-stopping problem. However, if ship state is saved in the event of a browser crash... well, it's usually not possible to differentiate an unavoidable failure from an avoidable one: if the user finds himself in a tight bind (lost in space and low on oxy), a browser crash would remedy the situation and escape danger... I have a proposal. How do we measure progress in the game? Basically, there are two types of progress: * The configuration of your ship * Exploration of space and liberation of space stations * Banked credits * Warehoused parts However, there's a key difference: the first one is transient - it does not survive death - but the others are persistent - they do survive death. What's more, the configuration of your ship changes rapidly, but the other three aspects are much more static. Surprisingly, although most of my time in Jameson is spent on ship configuration, what I regret most about death - and what I find most grating about an unfair death - is not ship configuration, but the other categories. After all, I can rebuild a ship quickly - even more so if I have a handy stash of credits or weapons from my previous run! - but winning a hard-fought battle to liberate a key station, only to lose it and much exploration progress through a refresh, is incredibly irritating. In the long run, persistent assets are much more important to me than ship configuration. So I'd like to propose NOT saving ship configuration (except while docked, of course) - but, rather, a save system that periodically saves exploration progress (liberated stations), banked credits, and warehoused parts. These qualities really should be saved promptly when they change, and should persist despite browser crashes or other untimely ends. Also browser cookie containing ONLY this information should be small and easy to write fast. Could even be backed up in case a crash occurs while writing this data (e.g., keep two copies in sequence, and every time this information changes, overwrite the older of the two). In furtherance of these objectives - I'd like to recommend (once again): * Raising/removing the deposit cap and networking the banks into a single system. The current system amounts to "small stashes of a few credits tucked away in far-flung parts of the galaxy"... it's just far too limited to be of meaningful use. * Expanding the dock to permit the mothballing of one (or even better, a few) extra ships that the player can swap into and out of at the dock. In addition to allowing the player to sock away a backup ship in case of death, this would allow the construction of multiple ships - with different purposes!! - maybe an exploration scout, a warship, and a scavenging ship... I think that in addition to muchly reducing the "unfair death" problem, both ideas would greatly improve the overall playability and longevity fairness of Jameson. Discuss. |
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Post by sherbetlemons on Aug 14, 2011 3:46:14 GMT 10
This is my first post on the forum so...  I agree with pretty much all the suggestions that have been, well, suggested. The 'enemies drop small bubbles of oxygen' one seems especially urgently needed, and/or a significant increase in the size of the oxygen tank on the command module. If I may, I also have some suggestions of my own to tentatively put forward, so here goes; 1) Rotators: basically these are joints that you can attach modules to, with a 'hinge' effect. they could come in a number of variations, with different arc sizes (90, 180, 360) and different behaviours (move automatically, un-powered, point to nearest enemy, point to cursor, etc.) they could also have a weight limit and/or become slower depending on the weight attached to them (higher tech levels would be able to support more). obviously they would not be able to 'clash' or 'overlap' modules. 2) sub-command modules: this is a way to swap modules in and out quickly, and leave them in space for later use. essentially, you would attach a sub command module to your ship, and it would start a new 'tree'. of the module itself was detached from the main ship, it would still keep all modules attached to it. these sections could be left near (or at) stations and would persist. this would allow you to detach that bulky booster and leave it in a safe place for some close-quarters pew pew. these sub command centres could have a limit to the weight/number of modules attached to them. If you died, and the sub command module survived, it would persist. 3) cargo bay modules: I know something like this has already been suggested, but hey The cargo bay module would act like an inventory, and would use clever subspace magic to cram modules into less space than they themselves occupy. they would have the external properties and size of a girder of that tech level. The modules would still have weight within the cargo bay, but it would be reduced, either by an arbitrary amount (say half) or dependant on the tech level of the module. the cargo space available could also depend on the tech level, but i think it would be better to vary the tech levels by how much they reduced the weight of the stored items. it would be simpler to say the bay can store modules equivalent to twice it's size. 4) Radio range modifier: this module would marginally increase the range of the telnet system. the effect woul, obviously, be dependant on tech level. nuff' said 5) radar: this would provide a close range nav capacity, or could point towards nearby targets with arrows. this could allow you to send out pings? it's range would increase with tech level. 6) thrust balancer: basically this would slightly lower the output of certain engines on your ship so that it flew in a straight line. higher levels would be more effective/ could handle more engines. 7) more not strictly module stuff: asteroids can be mined using drills/mining lasers, ore will fill special ore hold. also, ice asteroids will give ice, which can be turned into oxygen if you have the right processing module. if the mining gadget is ranged, you could mine hot rocks (which btw i think should be less frequent XD) and use the resultant lava as ammo for a 'matter-cannon' right, creative rant over XD (no not quite, 8) weapons that use ammo, which are slightly more powerful but the ammo must be stocked up on. could be dropped by enemies/ bought at docks, and there could be an 'ammo store' module. to avoid complication, all ammo would be interchangeable. (oh, and 9) NPC miners that are generally non aggressive an could incorporate ore hold or cargo modules, which could conatin more 'loots'. oh, and fast transports, like merchants but less heavily armed and more nimble and speedy. also, cargo hold modules could be incorporated into merchants, adding incentive to attack them. (oh and 10) XD decoy beacons that give off radio pings that attract other ships. would twin nicely with a cloak module that hid all modules within a radius, and would deactivate after firing for a while. higher levels would have a better radius and faster recharge. could incorporate special activation with a separate key, and only has so much 'energy'. |
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Post by 10tativ on Aug 14, 2011 8:04:23 GMT 10
Funny, I thought of assigning certain modules to keys this morning while thinking about Steamlands and CF. Has anyone played that? I didn't like it, but I think there are some things in Steamlands that could be taken on board in the next version.
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Post by 10tativ on Aug 14, 2011 8:35:28 GMT 10
I have some suggestions that I think could work, and as far as I know, I thought of them first...
> Maybe once you get to Peacekeeping Command, or a beacon, or whatever your goal is, you can rename your ship. I like the connotations behind the name "Charon", but I don't think it sounds that great.
> SOS calls, which I mentioned elsewhere. Try Telnetting passing ships to help you in a fight. However, they may refuse - maybe because you don't have enough CRD, maybe because your opponent is in the same family as them, or maybe because they're a crazy Needler-type thing that would rather spin around aimlessly.
> Being able to toggle, or adjust the strength of, the shaking during Guardian fights.
> The Guardians I wrote about in "Alternate Guardians".
> Some kind of personalisation station, where you could change the flash pattern, or create a kind of emblem for your ship, or rename your ship. The Charon could be personalised in other ways, but I can't think of any and I may have covered them...
> Social networking messages when you connect a station, although this may mess things up when you're low on oxygen.
Maybe the first 5 to click get an OXY module if it's an OXY station,
or a different module depending on if a factory is connected and which one.
> Mission centres. I don't think that needs explaining.
> Pleas for mercy from your enemies. Bwahahahaha.
Well, that's all I can think of for now.
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Post by Farbs on Aug 16, 2011 23:25:22 GMT 10
Hey! Cheers for the suggestions everyone. I haven't commented on any of these specifically but they're all very helpful and interesting. Ta!
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It's kind of sad that there is currently no functional incentive to return to the starting cluster... usually I leave it immediately and never come back!
