I like this a lot! A couple of thoughts though, first off, I think that having humans or PC's manning turrets should have a HUGE advantage over AI/NPC's. [...]
Well, there's a good deal of advantage, and it's not even coded into the game! Think about it, no matter how good the AI is at aiming, it's still programed, and locked into it's little box. We can't program adaptive AI that comes close ot humans. Sure, the AI might be able to shoot the head of a bolt off your ship at 3 kilometers, but it can't make the split-second decisions about which is more important to shoot, the attacking fighter, or the incoming missle. Yes, we can work on this, and get some really hig grade AI into this, but there is always the human factor that cannot be ignored. Plus, I don't think it's going to be very plausible to cordinate an attack with the onboard AI. It's gunn to have a handful of modes, and that's it. With people you can have differetn stratigies, and different tactics. (Like using your plasma weapons to herd fighters into an area of space where you just fired a bunch of mines, things like that.)
[...]Secondly, I like the idea of capitol ship in third person. Obviously capitol ships would have turrets and I think that as the ship commander/captian (we will have to eventually set in stone what rank this is) should have the ability to fire individual turrets at indivdual targets. He should have complete control of every aspect of the ship at his fingertips, so that it's still baised on skill. In otherwords a simple little figther could take out a capitol ship after about an hour of firing his lasers at it because the commander is to noob to be able to click on his little dude and start alll weapons attacking. [...]
Well, yes and no. The Captain should have complete control of his ship, but he should
not be required to micromanage everything. I would like the captain to have some fine grain control but I feel a blanace needs to be made here; since a captain shoul rely on his crew to do thier jobs. Now, if the crew is all AI, I can understand that, or if it's a small ship.. sure. However, I think that there should be a HUGE advatange to flying a capital ship with a real life crew of players, vs one with a crew of AI. Where this balance should be found, I think only testing can really tell us.... but I'd like some thoughts on it.
[...]We should also set the amount of mass a capitol ships hanger has as relative to the mass of fighters that general players have. Players should be able to dock as long as there is room for them in the hanger and take control of either an assigned aspect of the ship or one they have privelegs to that they choose. [...]
The way we'll do this a combination of that, and a slot based system. The 'hangar' will be a inventory that contains X slots. Each slot will have a max weight of Y kgs. There needs to be a slot open, and the fighter needs to be in under the weight limit inorder to dock. Now, keep in mind that there's a first person mode to all this. Once a person docks, they will have to exit thier ship, then walk through the corridors on the ship, reach their station, activate it, and then they can start manning the different aspects of the ship. If they're not allowed access, they either won't be able to get to that part of the ship, or they won't be able to log onto a console to control that part of the ship. (Think of it like a *NIX box... When they log into a console, they have to input a user name, and password. Thier privledges will determine what functions they can control. Yes, there is generic consoles, and certain situations (like dead crew) when a ship will allow people elvated command status, but I don't want to work those out in my head right now. Regardless, this is how I see it working.
[...]Also capitol ships should be expensive! As in no single player can easily attain one. It has to be the corporate work of an alliance to bring together enough money for one of these behemoths, and obviously the alliance would work as a team to defend it and use it as what it is.
I agree. Sure, if you save up enough money, you might be able to buy a capital ship (Actually, freighters, and large transports are considered capital ships... but I know what you meant.).. but you'd need clearance, and permission from the governemtn who owns that design. Then again, there's always going out to a junk yard, stealing a hull, and then saving up enough money to be able to rebuild it. (I actually want to make this the most typical way that people who don't care about thier reputations get capital ships. Can you imagine how much fun it would be to steal one, and the tick it out? ;D ;D ;D
8) )
