G33X Nexus Entertainment > Precursors

Mulitple Star Systems, Subspace, and Navigation.

(1/3) > >>

Morgul:
Something I want to put into the app in the very near future, is more than one starsystem. I actually want to have stars, with planets orbiting them, and all that fun stuff. Right now, making planets is going to be more than we want to tackle right now, so I figure a textured sphere would work as a placeholder. I have an idea about how to make suns, but I'll put that in another thread.

What we need to tackle, from a conceptual/design stand point (no code for a while yet, I would think) is how we want to handle travel between starsystems. As we all know it'd take years and years and years to even reach the closests solarsystem to our own... conventionally. So, in the game, and my story I use the concept of subspace to 'cheat'.

I've done some decent research on it, and, the basic principal is that the ship is bending space and time, creating a wormhole into the fourth spacial dimension. (If you would like a better description of how it's possible to move faster in the fourth dimension than the third dimension... I'd be happy to explain in a seperate thread.)

Now, to the design part. Subspace itself is going to be interesting... I imagine that it'll be pretty featureless.... however what we do see will be confusing to us. (Since we can only see a 3d representation of 4d space) So, how about we cop out, and just have an undulating cloud, of like blue and black. (Kinda like this, or this, only blue.)

When a ship enters subspace, I imagine an oblate spheroid (egg shape) of energy that surrounds the ship, distorts it, and eventually, fades out (rather quickly) into nothingness, when the ship enters the wormhole into subspace.

Now that we have that described, we need to figure out the game play part of it. For now, I say that we just have the ship moving through subspace (without the user's input affecting it) for whatever length of time it would take to get there.... unless people have a large problem with that. (since if we make it next to instant, the screws with time syncing betwee n players, and places.)

Deciding where you're going I think should be as simple, as bringin up a systems map. (which I imagine would be loaded into all ships by default) The map would show where you are, and have little cirlces, or something indicating other starsystems. (it will onlt show the ones we've modeled.. which will be the 'most common' systems you want to go to.) when you click on a system, the map will change, and show the system, so you can pick which planet you're going to (the navigational systems will drop you out as close as possible, and set an autopilot course for that planet), or where in the system you want to come out. It will also indicate places you *don't* want to come out (like too close to anything, since subspace has a nasty habit of sending out localized gravitational shockwaves when you exit it.) Those places will be shown as yellow, (you will damage that object) orange (you will damage yourself and the object.) and red (it will kill you.) The map will also give you basic info of each planet, if you click on it.

Here's the problem... aside from defining entry point into the system (which we could do), how do we allow the player to decide where they want to be when they exit? Do we have a grid based system, and they just click on it, or what? What would make the most sense?

Well, that's all I have for now, I'll likely post latter (after breakfast). Discuss amongst yourselves.

--Chris

topher:
Subspace sounds like an excellent way to handle interstellar travel.   It would be cool to have the navigation system much like star trek or the like where you have to enter the system and an x,y,z coordinate to exit from.  Maybe depending on skill is how close you get to the desired point.

So here's a flow:

Fleet XYZ has encountered resists from a space dragon in The Orion Constellation at 4, -4, 8.  A fleet command was issued for all available frigates to get to 4,4, 8 (so 8 units above the fight) and launch a counterattack.  Pilot A has crap navigation skills and a horrible nav computer on board so he ends up at 6,-4,8, right in the middle of the enemy cruiser line.

Users hate wasting time traveling but there has to be a drawback to make it more immersive.

topher

Morgul:
Well, I'm thinking something more like this:

Feet XYZ encountered heavy resistance from the Terrans. They send out a call for reinforcements to System ABC. Fleet command agrees, and orders a taskforce assmebled, and the head of the task force gets the most recent position reports, and decides that all ships need to exit at coordinates 4,6,8. Pilot A has a poorly maintained nav system, (and isn't the best subspace pilot... his Subspace Nav Skill is low) so he exits somewhere in a radius of 8 units from the predefined exit point... say right in the middle of the fight.

The real difference here is that I'm emphisizing the leadership of the taskforce commander, and I'm showing how the program would think of this... it's a random radius, made bigger by the lack of skill, and the poor computer. (Any decent computer will refuse to come out in the middle of a battle, unless over ridden.)

topher:
Thats a good point, if the nav system is good enough.  I think it should be dependent on the current ship's nav computer quality or rating.  Or maybe, we add in a time issue, like the low-end version would take longer to compute the correct location and let the user override it.

Morgul:
I think it would be a combination of time and features.... some might be missing that feature. (Think black market selling old, used goods.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page