Idea, Concept, Artwork needed for new Sci-Fi MMORPG

[j1j2j3]

No, because in-universe background is trivially easy to write if you have even a passing ability to fantasize on your own.

What about aquiring a prebuilt universe like Wing Commander or something similar lines. Would being set inside a recognizable universe help?

We recently launched counterstrike onlinel; it's just another online FPS but it is beating the crap out of Special Force(it's main competitor) not because it's a better game but because it has brand value.

Just looking for feedback : Would you be more likely to play a sci-fi ship combat MMORPG if it had a recognizable brand compared to a new unknown universe?

[Zixinus]

Well you the point is mute unless you can buy the brand. Copyright law and all.

[j1j2j3]

Well you the point is mute unless you can buy the brand. Copyright law and all.

This has come up already. And yes, we are willing to buy a more recognizable brand if I can gather enough information to convince the talking heads.

Thats why I'm looking for feedback.

Would you be more willing to play if it had a recognizable brand, or does universe background not matter much compared to gameplay?

[j1j2j3]

Next topic

Weapon types

Current planning is

-beam weapons(hitscan type - instant damage) limited by heat generation + targeting ability - 70%~90% hit chance - medium refire

-projectile weapons(fast projectiles) limited by heat generation + ammunition limit - 50%~80% hit chance - fast refire

-missile weapons(slow projectiles) limited by ammunition limit + targeting ability - 10%~90% hit chance - smart weapons have more chance to hit - no refire time(launching only) - splash damage

-mine types(static mines, smart mines, invisible mines, combination of 3 mines)

Any other types that should be added? What combination should be available to what race?

Feedback needed, Thanks!

[Zixinus]

Nuclear warheads. They always forget that one.

You can also argue in favour of inefficient, short-ranged, energy hog, questionably powerful particles weapons.

Other then that, you already listed all possible weapon types possible in space. The mines being arguable.

[Karza]

This has come up already. And yes, we are willing to buy a more recognizable brand if I can gather enough information to convince the talking heads.

Thats why I'm looking for feedback.

Would you be more willing to play if it had a recognizable brand, or does universe background not matter much compared to gameplay?

I suppose a pre-existing brand would make marketing easier (just how much would depend on just how big a brand is it), but the most important attraction of a MMORPG is the whole concept of social gaming. With that, I'd say good gameplay/game mechanics would actually take precedence over fancy plots. Of course there should be a functional, sensible background to give a sense of purpose to the players, but I think the gameplay-background scales should be tipped a bit in gameplay's favor.

It occurs to me that Laser Squad Nemesis has a very similar setup of races to what you're planning, might want to look into that. It's not a big name by any stretch of imagination, but the similarities in background are there, and I at least personally like it .

[Zixinus]

Actually, there is one more thing:

Relativistic Weapons. Any form of matter speeded up to relativistic velocity. A hit from a Relativistic Weapon can equal up to a nuclear explosion. These are super-weapons that require an absurd amount of energy.

Again, check Nyrath's site: http://www.projectrho.com/rocket/rocket3x.html

[bilateralrope]

For the love of all that is (and isn't) holy, please, please, please remember this little thing we like to call inertia. I am fucking tired of 'space' games that don't let you go faster than 3 km/s, particularly if you are constantly thrusting while not gaining any speed.

Agreed. Especially when people call those games simulators.

That said, one of the first things you need to consider is interface and piloting. One of the things I absolutely hated about EVE was that you couldn't really 'fly' your ship, all you could really do was chose the range between your ship and the enemy ship and hope for the best. Dogfights get so much more interesting when both players can use their ships layout and equipment to its maximum extent. Of course, you'll need an autopilot regardless - some players may be sucky pilots, and you don't want that to drive them off. Just don't prevent the people who can fly a spaceship from doing so.

Lag would also be an issue against manual flight. Add in Newtonian mechanics and a lot of people won't have a clue how to fly it. So an autopilot is a must, though manual flight would be useful for players who know how to use it.

Any suggestions regarding an excuse to have a drag based system are very very welcome and needed.

Ease of control is the only reason I can think of, and a decent autopilot would overrule that. But being able to advertise realistic mechanics might useful for marketing.

My question is : Is a better scenario worth slightly less gameplay.

Does the in-universe background matter more than gameplay?

The gameplay matters a lot more. Just look at Maple Story (an MMO that your company runs) where the areas look like they were added on because they sounded cool without any attempt to explain them. Like the area with all the aliens sitting at the bottom of a tall tower that is made out of something resembling Lego.

On the other hand, getting a few people to write the backstory once you have the gamplay decided won't hurt.

Will players from different races be able to work together in PvE and PvP, or are they forced to always be enemies ?

Personally I've never liked forcing people to be enemies just because they rolled characters of different races. Especially if one side offers gameplay that the others don't.

[j1j2j3]

Will players from different races be able to work together in PvE and PvP, or are they forced to always be enemies ?

Personally I've never liked forcing people to be enemies just because they rolled characters of different races. Especially if one side offers gameplay that the others don't.

Current plan is :

-High social mobility both vertically and horizontally. For example even if you started as a human you can always buy or trade for grey ships and even work as a mercernary for different races.

So yes players should be able to work together even if they are different races.

But the official stance will be warfare among the three races, with changes such as temporary serverwide alliances between 2 races when one race becomes dominant(based on server combat logs). Or even periods of official peace when a bug attack scenario plays out, etc.

Of course you would still be able to do in-species fighting or extra-species fighting - with in game penalties for going against 'official peace periods'

As currently planned the game should have a very high level of freedom.

[Axiomatic]

About inertia in space fights and Newtonian physics...if you think this can't be done and be fun, play I-War 2

[Vehrec]

Will players from different races be able to work together in PvE and PvP, or are they forced to always be enemies ?

Personally I've never liked forcing people to be enemies just because they rolled characters of different races. Especially if one side offers gameplay that the others don't.

Current plan is :

-High social mobility both vertically and horizontally. For example even if you started as a human you can always buy or trade for grey ships and even work as a mercernary for different races.

So yes players should be able to work together even if they are different races.

But the official stance will be warfare among the three races, with changes such as temporary serverwide alliances between 2 races when one race becomes dominant(based on server combat logs). Or even periods of official peace when a bug attack scenario plays out, etc.

Of course you would still be able to do in-species fighting or extra-species fighting - with in game penalties for going against 'official peace periods'

As currently planned the game should have a very high level of freedom.

I would suggest that there be a certain amount of prestige from a faction for flying one of their ships with a full crew of their species. On the other hand, multi-species crews might have better synergistic benefits by combining natural talents for different things. These should be equal, but a matter of personal choice.

[j1j2j3]

I would suggest that there be a certain amount of prestige from a faction for flying one of their ships with a full crew of their species.

Passed on. Thank you.


Another plan we are thinking of is having many variables and formulas for crew efficency, weapon refire rates, weapon heat generation, engine variables , armor, shields, etc.

But not actually showing all but the most important information(hitpoints, refire times and ship speed and such) and even that information to be shown in arbitrary bar graphs.

Which makes easier on the fly game balancing(without the user being able to easily notice) and lowers the learning curve with the added effect of allowing a player with a lot game experience have a 'seat of the pants feel' for better weapons or crew combinations, etc.

[Lagmonster]

What about aquiring a prebuilt universe like Wing Commander or something similar lines. Would being set inside a recognizable universe help?

I would suggest that it would. The obvious choice would seem to me to actually be the Freespace universe, not Wing Commander; Wing Commander carries significant nostalgia for the older gamer generation, whereas the more current spaceflight king is Freespace. Not to mention the fact that it would be much easier to latch onto the rights for that universe, I imagine.

Just looking for feedback : Would you be more likely to play a sci-fi ship combat MMORPG if it had a recognizable brand compared to a new unknown universe?

Look at it this way; If you can create a great game, you can start your universe from scratch, ala Eve online or World of Warcraft or Guild Wars. But you can also take an interesting franchise and build a poor game around it, ala Star Wars online and the Matrix online.

Concentrate on the game, is my advice.

[Lagmonster]

Any other types that should be added? What combination should be available to what race?

Feedback needed, Thanks!

What about boarding actions, relevant to pirating actions, cargo hold raids and the like? Would those be included? And if so, wouldn't you want to include a selection of hull-borers, cables, tow ropes, grappling beams, and related equipment?

You might also consider battle drones as weapons if you haven't already. It would also be cool to see a distinction between pulsed energy weapons, ala Star Wars, and full tracking beams, ala Star Trek.

[Zablorg]

I'd just like to clarify that FTL should take an enormous amount of fuel. In warp and wormhole drives you're trying to manipulate the very fabric of space, and in hyperdrive you're popping into another dimension. I would suggest that upon leaving FTL you would be left with just enough fuel to reach some sort of nearby refueling station.

[Darth Smiley]

If you do go with Newtonian mechanics, mines actually make a good deal of sense. As you've slingshoting your way at 9kps past an enemy installation, it becomes trivial to drop off a few silent ( as in no/low drive signature, max stealth) mines that maneuver themselves into a collision course with an enemy. Very sneaky, but it also works both ways - the enemy might see you coming from a good ways away, and then lay a few stealthy surprises in your flightpath. A 'mine' then is basically a device to use when there is a high relative velocity between you and an enemy, but not much good otherwise.

Other notes about weapons in real life- all splash damage is going to be nuclear - chemical explosives are worthless except possibly as bursting charges. Nuclear weapons obey an inverse square law, in that damage divided by four every time you double the range to the explosion. Range for almost all weapons is determined by the acceleration of the target. If you double the range to the target, you halve your accuracy. If your target double its acceleration, your accuracy is halved. Stationary targets (that can't accelerate) are sitting ducks, or else have mad good armor / point defense.

Your main defense against missiles and possibly projectiles is going to be countermissiles, anti-missile mines, and point defense lasers / particle beams.

[loomer]

Ensure there are plenty of profits to be had in smuggling/etc. Don't limit players to a single quest of 'deliver this cocaine to XX on XX'. Make that a quest chain.

[Coalition]

I'd like to know why every game tries to have three races fighting each other.

Zablorg - for most ships, FTL would be expensive. However, exploration ships would have larger fuel reserves, this allows them to pop into a region of 'empty' space, and return home without it being a suicide mission.

For real fun, try developing a full economy. I.e. if it takes raw materials (of different types) to make basic plating for ships, then a blockade of one of the types will prevent basic plating from being made. Or if someone sells a lot of an item on a market, the price to buy that item will drop, but so will items made from it.

Space stations might be built cheaply, but will require constant resupplies of food, water, and spare parts. Adding on a basic recycling system will reduce the food requirements (the algae farm recycles some wastes), but will cost more. Of course, the better equipped a space station is to survive, the more it will cost, and the more valuable a target for raiders or enemies it will become.

For a high-tech race, that might have some matter synthesis capability (uses power to convert one element to another), the rarer elements would cost less (as they synthesize them from lower cost materials), however the energy requirements mean that they need extensive support equipment for that type of operation(which means a much higher startup costs for their 'mining' operations).

[Stormin]

Well you the point is mute unless you can buy the brand. Copyright law and all.

This has come up already. And yes, we are willing to buy a more recognizable brand if I can gather enough information to convince the talking heads.

Thats why I'm looking for feedback.

Would you be more willing to play if it had a recognizable brand, or does universe background not matter much compared to gameplay?

Maybe find out if anyone has played the board game Attack Vector: Tactical. It has somewhat realistic physics with simple enough game play that could probably be translated to mmo fairly easily and an interesting enough back-story to build a story around if the rights can be worked out with the publisher.

For the crews thing, that would be an interesting game mechanic to have interactions be important. Maybe also have it so they gain "experience" so the longer you have certain members the better they are at their jobs but the higher they have to be paid. It shouldn't be a huge drain on resources but enough to be noticeable and help to counter inflation of in-game money and deal with hoarding. An option to stop the crew's xp gain/cost increase would be good for super casuals who won't have the time to grind money just to keep on the guys they have at the level they find to be good enough.

[avatarxprime]

Another thing for the crews and interactions thing. You can give a vague idea about it in the form of a dossier or something similar on the individual you are looking at. In a short 3 section write up you can list their schooling, abilities, ships previously served on, and commendations (the bonuses they give you and hints about other people they would work well with), a short psych profile (how they interact with others and general types of people they would get along with), and any disciplinary actions (generally specific people they would not get along with) to give players a more immersive universe while giving you a way to hide a lot of inuts and bolts behind the screen of these crew reports.

[JointStrikeFighter]

Proper economy system!

No "NPCs have infinite money to pay players to go on quests." Player Tax's [docking, trade tarrifs, shit like that] generate income for NPC quest givers.

hell you could go one better and have quests given out by player run organisations or something.

[ray245]

I really can't see why anyone would want to give ideas and concepts (let alone artwork) to a corporate entity for no pay or even official recognition.

If it is a free game like maple, it's a good idea because we get to play a game with some of our ideas being in used as compared to playing with other people's ideas at times.

I certainly don't mind giving out free ideas if I can get to play what I wanted to play.

[Zixinus]

About the alien species (they are not races, races are stuff like Mongolid, Europid, Negroid, Americanoid, all whom can safely interbreed, I doubt that a "monster" and "grey" can interbreed but whatever): make them somewhat humanoid. Attractive even. Realistically, very alien biology and appearence.

Like here: http://www.alexries.com/Gallerypages/gal-MSI.htm (from: http://www.alexries.com/galleries.htm )

Yes, I know I need to figure out how to dress my links.

While these aliens would certainly would be more realistic, it would be less of an eyesore and give a greater sense of familiarity to use more humanoid forms.

You might also consider battle drones as weapons if you haven't already. It would also be cool to see a distinction between pulsed energy weapons, ala Star Wars, and full tracking beams, ala Star Trek.

I agree. I haven't thought of that. Combat drones tagging along you or left behind by you can create some interesting combat situations.

[avatarxprime]

Speaking of weapons and working with relavisitic velocities, I think it would be cool to have a desperation weapon/option on every ship "Throw garbage at enemy." Just think about it, using the random junk your ship should naturally have to take down a fast, but stupid pursuing ship.

[Hawkwings]

I have to chime in on the crew thing. It is an absolutely great idea that the crew you hire will get bonuses for "liking" each other or working with each other for a long time, or get penalties for being "the new guy" and being hated. What you may want to do is divide this interaction into two categories: Social and Work. "Work" would be the actual job that the person has, and "Social" would be how well the crew member gets along with others. Being good at one would not necessarily mean being good at the other. A really good Social crewmember might suck at their job, but their high social score might provide a bonus to everyone else's work score. A person with a high work score but a low social score might be awesome at fixing the engines, but makes it hard for everyone else to improve their own Work skills.

As for other stuff about crew, definitely give every one of them a dossier, with a picture if you can manage it. Recorded voice messages (Things like "We're under attack by Greys!" or "Repairs completed!") would be amazing and help players connect with their crews, but the problem would be getting a wide variety of voices. Maybe later on in development, you could have fans submit their own recorded samples of whatever lines the crewmembers will say, and pick some of those to use.

On the topic of Other Cool Stuff...

Make it possible to defect to another side in the war. This should come with huge penalties (like being shot on sight by your former affiliation) but even more amazing mission opportunities (sneak into the repair yards and steal a battleship!). Of course, your new superiors would keep a close eye on you to make sure you aren't a double agent...

If there's going to be smuggling, there's going to have to be legal trading as well. This sounds like it's mostly a combat-oriented game, so make sure you know what you're getting into if you want to head in this direction. If you want to implement trading, then you have to have a well-developed economy.

If you don't pay your crew enough, they can mutiny and throw you off the ship! You lose your ship, all the money that wasn't in the bank, and you get shot off in an escape pod to the nearest space station.

Robotic crew members. Dirt cheap, but no social skill and they are only average at their job.

Let your players give nicknames to their crewmembers. But don't let them rename their crew, that just wouldn't make sense.

On the topic of newtonian physics control schemes, have two "modes" of control for Newtonian flight. One would be a sort of autopilot, where the computer does the hard work for you. It'll get you to where you want to go and in what direction, but it's fairly predictable. The second mode would be full manual control, where you can do crazy maneuvers and outwit the enemy. Only downside is, it uses a lot more fuel. Gotta watch that fuel gauge closely.

The advanced race that uses "drag in space" flight would only have one, easy mode of flying around in normal space, but since their ships are better, it can be balanced.

On fuel: maybe the most advanced race doesn't need to worry about fuel, but the other two do. This would balance out the increased maneuverability of the less advanced races.