The females are the short furry ones that climb trees.... Oh, wait, the males are like that too.... what happens on Endor STAYS on Endor..... The Hangover III Starring, Wicket the Ewok, Zack Galaphanacus?, and RobDog.....
If this game is just a game, we could get every astronomical nonsense our imagination can think of: - 'Planets' of only 1-2 km diameter with earth gravity. - A static space where nothing moves; not the planets, not the moons, not the asteroids. - Travel distances of less than 10 km between planets. If this game is at least a little bit of a simluation, we get something that is just downsized: + Planets really circle around the sun. A good navigation computer can show the positions at any time. + Planet downscaling factor 1000 makes a planet diameter of 14 km. + Space distances downscaling factor 10000 places our moon at a distance of 30 km. Mars would be 4100 km closest and 25700 km farest. + The type of planet and surface temperature should be reasonable for it's distance to the sun. A tier2 O2-generator should be able to process ice. + Your spaceship must go faster than just 110 m/s to reach another planet in reasonable timescales. You still can add autopilot functions like "enter stable orbit", "slow down when approaching ships/stations/asteroids/planets" and "safe atmosphere entry". Also automatically stabilize flight so you don't tumble around in space would be nice and still reasonable. + Add interplanetary warp drive for those who are impatient. + Life on foreign planets is still highly speculative, but a simulation should still follow some basic rules. A planet of half earth diameter can't hold an atmosphere and therefore no life forms (except for non carbone and H2O based lifeforms). P.S.: for diving into waterplanets and gas giants I suggest tier2 hull blocks that are extra strong (and also give better armor against weapon attacks)
For the good of the game we should assume that the green zone of a sun is much larger than in reality and that most planets have life forms that lie within that zone and are no gas giants and not too small to hold an atmosphere. I vote for more realism too, but this is still a game and a simulation of true (mostly very empty) space would be sooo boring.
Yeah, I really wouldn't want to see them try to to a hard core simulation, but here's a few things I'd want to see in general: Distances Between Objects In The Solar System Without the ability to walk around your ship and do stuff, "realistic" distances would be really boring and uninteresting Even if it were added, I'd still prefer it only take at most maybe 6 to 10 minutes to get to the next orbit (planet) and maybe 2 to 3 minutes to get to the moon, much further than that and it starts to get really tedious due to no time acceleration Asteroid Fields should be pretty dense like most "sci-fi" fields if possible, and not super sparse like Space Engineers Planet Types Fun over Realism! I'd like to see gas giants too, and the full gambit of real and sci-fi type planets and moons: All types in our current solar system Dyson spheres rich in tech but an absolute death sentence for players Ring worlds, halo esque That is no moon! Moons Moons that have atmosphere, orbiting large bodies Ice worlds with oceans underneath to explore Ocean worlds Intersellar type worlds with absolutely extreme weather that would kill the player if exposed unprepared Crazy colorful worlds not rooted in science (take a page from no man's sky) Extreme Weather depending on the world Volcanic eruptions Deadly tsunami Light dust storms that decrease solar efficiency and visibility Extreme mad max esque dust storms that can pick up the player and damage exposed tall structures and can bury structures in sand (randomly deposit sand around the area so the player has to dig himself out of his base) Hurricane type storms Electrical storms Hail Stowstorms (same as dust storms, places and objects can get buried, let's make players use those tools!) Etc Orbits Orbits would be cool but in my opinion not required, it's just simpler with things being static bit rotating for day night cycles If they did orbits, they'd need to figure out how to have space station's and ships stay in orbit around planets without doing orbital mechanics They'd also have to figure out a bunch of stuff to convey all that to new players Honestly, just thinking about all that I'd prefer they leave the orbits out, I just can't see it working well (and this is coming from someone who LOVES kerbal space program!)
Also, are there plans to revamped the liquid water system on planets? (Oceans, lakes, rivers, ect?) Right now it's just a static texture and mesh, and when you dig around the coast you get really bizarre graphical artifacts with a weird jagged border. Will they be volumetric, flowing into nearby lower areas, or will they always be static?
I feel a good range of planet size would be omicrons moon on the small end to 4-6x the size of omicron itself on the large. But I would love to see some "atmosphere's with consequences" too. Stuff that could tie into progression and research. This would promote making outposts and searching for and harvesting new OPTIONAL materials and new schematics. That way you don't have to have a starter planet with every possible resource on it just so you can get off the planet, which promotes exploring to gather/discover the new materials. Temperature is the simplest example. Hot planet - Normal armor blocks would degrade and melt at a speed based on the ambient temperature. Nothing too punishing, so even at its worst rate a normal small ship would take 5-6 real hours to start degrading, but would prevent a base being made until you research a temp resistant block. If you have an enclosed base made out of these blocks, maybe even with a lifesupport system inside (requiring new resources to find) everything inside is fine. Cold planet - Normal armor becomes super brittle and breaks really easy, suddenly a magazine in an assault rifle can punch holes in base walls. If you research cold resistant blocks you can make a base, again if its an enclosed structure with a lifesupport system everything inside is okay. This could also tie into armor modules too. One for hot planets that adds a coolant bar, one for cold planets with a heater coil. Could even have a radiation shielded one if there are plans for solar flares. Could have an extended backpack if/when inventory weight/balancing is put in place. So a normal suit might be okay for an ice planet thats not too cold during the day, but at night the player will freeze and die without the proper module and/or finding shelter. And a real cold planet may need the module 24/7. Of course thats an extremely limited example, there could be corrosive atmospheres, irradiated, etc. The idea of weather is neat too, but not sure if its technically feasable. I like the idea of coming into orbit around a planet that looks like it has juicy goodies on it, but being terrified of the environment, esp if unprepared.
This is a valid point. I'd be fine with current sizes (maybe with a variance of +-50%) if there were a practically infinite amount of generated worlds out there. In fact, I'd make the argument that smaller worlds are better so that they're more unique/memorable and easier for factions to defend. If you have giant world's then it becomes impossible for players to patrol and set up automated defenses around the planet.
I would like a bit more space between planets and the chance to build our own space stations that we can actually walk around in, plant and build things in etc.
I'll add my feedback/suggestions here as well and tie in some of the other ideas I hinted at in various threads here. First, let's talk about solar system structure, planetary categories, biomes, "hell worlds" and static versus procedural generation. Solar System Structure I feel that a good mixture of scientific "realism" and science fiction makes for an exciting experience. We have a lot of information on solar system structures outside of our own but we are making new discoveries every day on exoplanets. So, setting up orbits for the planets should be feasible as this (Unity) engine is the same that Kerbal Space Program uses. Granted, different games... but given the game version that we have now is more of a "proof of concept" I feel we have a great start! So, orbits... everything should be spinning and moving through space at different speeds. When it comes to navigating inside the system... I'm ok with a simpler version of this and less simulation so long as it's not too silly. In a capital vessel I shouldn't have to worry about time/distance inside a system but in a small vessel I may need to plan for longer hops between planets a bit more. - That's my take on it! Planetary Categories & Other Considerations Having a good mixture of rocky, desert, molten, frozen, water rich or rich (life) worlds is a plus. Barren worlds, IMO should be rarer than average even though in a realistic sense every planet we know of now, has no confirmation of life. So, spice it up but leave a barren landscape devoid of life to explore in every solar system. EDIT: I forgot to mention other considerations... nebulas, asteroid belts/fields, comets, gas giants, etc. We should be able to see a mixture of all of the above. Even a nebula could be procedurally generated and could perhaps have some rocky formations similar to accretion disks. Black holes and stellar phenomena are about the limit IMO. I'm not sure what benefit they would provide other than sheer cool factor. Again, not against them, but I don't the value in adding pulsars, super massive stars, black holes and the like will add. Biomes and Environments Each planet should have several biomes to match its theme and each biome should have an array of life, resources and AI that come with it. (See my post on the NPC Feedback thread for more on this.) Biomes can have some random number generator factor added to them so you have mutations or changes. This will be more important later for procedural worlds. For now, we have static worlds that can be refined until we have a clearer picture of what resources and critters will spawn in certain areas (biomes.) Hell Worlds - The End Game Hell worlds are my take on each solar system having a nasty, dangerous planet that will require more than haphazard exploration to either survive on or hunt for resources. With greater risk you get greater rewards but these worlds should strike fear in the hearts of players who are not prepared to tackle the challenges they offer. In a way, this is a form of "endgame" play for players who have built their empires and wish to take on harder challenges. The phrase "hell world" applies not only to the planet's deadly terrain but also to the overwhelming AI that spawns there. For example, take our current lava planet's terrain which is not entirely friendly with all of that lava and then add a higher than normal NPC rate with short respawn timers. It would be difficult to build a base there without significant resources to defend it. Why would you want to be there you might ask? Well, this "hell world" offers some of the best resources and treasures you'll find in the solar system but you are going to have to earn it! Then there's the AI... it's not your average NPC mixture. If we eventually get NPC classifications such as weak, strong and champion mobs then you would see an awful lot of strong/champion mobs to contend with on a hell world. There's also the legendary champion "world boss..." this hell spawn can be a huge creature or massive drone that roams a section of the planet and pretty much rests at the top of the food chain. Killing this creature would require a team effort OR a single player with a game plan and serious firepower. (For more on this, see my post in the NPC feedback thread.) Needless to say, each solar system's hell world is a dangerous place to explore and should only be attempted when the player has enough resources to take the risk. The treasures there are vast for those not faint of heart! Static Worlds and Procedural Generation I feel that we should have some static solar systems to explore that are essentially, pre-built, customized by the community/developers and are a part of the game at it's core. Procedural generation is fantastic for continuous sandbox play and it "fills the gaps" between these static systems nicely. I do feel though, that the best way to involve the player base and community is to publish static solar systems like waypoints across the galaxy that are perhaps, places of interest or part of a questline that players can chose to run if they wish. I'd be willing to donate my free time (as would others I believe) to build structures, vessels/craft and the like to add to a static solar system if it means being something that everyone gets to see or work with. Freedom is the key... provide it but don't force it. Also, this idea of having static solar systems is the best way IMO to accomplish storytelling or "theme park" based quest lines and have the sandbox style procedural generation as the filler everywhere else. Here's a picture as a reference for what I'm talking about. "SS" means Solar System. The player starts on survival mode in a static solar system. Once they leave, they may have to cross or stop in 3-4 procedural systems before they can discover or enter the next static solar system. The community can help create the items and it's part of the game! That's pretty cool if you ask me. EDIT: Added more under Planetary Categories and elaborated on the static/procedural solar system picture above.
One thing I would like to see the devs consider is spawning in too. If I make a dedicated server, get 3-4 friends in and we play for a week or so, that starter planet is gonna be barren. If a few more friends jump in later, they are gonna have next to nothing to work with. I would like to see is when a player spawns in they start in the air on the escape pod at a random location. Give them minor control on the descent, enough to aim at some point within a 250m^2 area. After X number of people spawn (determined by a server setting) the next few people spawn on another planet. In addition, after Y number of RL days people will spawn on a new planet as well. This way if 1 spawns on a planet and has a week of foraging and violating the planets reserves (thats right, I said it.. violaaaatiiiiing) the next guy spawns on a new planet with resources. If a dozen people start at the same time, they are spread out a bit so again, everyone has some resources and breathing room. Making them server settings allows people who want a real cutthroat server to setup one, and people who want some space to have that too.
My ship was disintegrated in space. Strange enough, i survived the attack. With some time spent, i reach a planet and then i get that message "You can enter a planet only on a ship with all players on board" Well, I currently play solo and I want at least a spectacular funeral, not such a dry message!
Very good point! I think it could be managed in several ways but you are absolutely correct about dead planets being an issue for new players. In the Resource Feedback thread I posted a detailed suggetion that could help with this here: http://empyriononline.com/threads/resources.451/page-4 "Let's talk about the current planets, resource pockets and terrain regeneration. I may be wrong here... so correct me if I am, but as I understand it, what we currently have is all we have. As in, after a few days of mining on Omnicron, I'm not going to load up the save and suddenly find new pockets of resources anytime soon. IE: Once it's gone, it's gone. There is some merit there, but I think we could solve this by implementing a resource spawner and terrain regenerator that works on the day/night cycles of the planet. Let's use Omnicron: Player spawns into the world (new game in survival), heads over to the iron deposit and drills roughly 75% of it out. He then runs back and starts crafting and never returns to that site. Each day/night cycle the drilled hole the player left slowly starts to fill back in naturally. After, say, 14 day/night cycles, the player drops by that iron deposit and sees that the hole he made is completely filled in again with rock! This not only helps to "heal" the terrain on the planet but it also gives the player an incentive to mine ALL of that resource. There will still be a little iron down there, but he will now have to drill through all that rock to get to it. The same applies to impact sites from weapon damage... natural erosion would slowly fill that in. The one difference or modifier would be where the player uses the filler/flatten tool to remove terrain. You could make that fill back in 2-3 times more slowly or not at all. This feature also support resource regeneration for the planet. Every "x" day/night cycles, new resources are spawned in to replace the lost resources. This process would continue, ad infinitum giving "life" to a planet in regards to resources and terrain. One other feature I'd like to see in the game are resource probes that the player can deploy and monitor from a datapad. These probes could detect and report on a resource's location, size and quality. That information is then, also displayed on the map when you hover over it with your mouse." Obviously this won't fix an immediate need for resources if the planet has only gone through a couple of day/night cycles since it was mined out but another idea could be spawning with a "survival kit" similar to the escape pod.
I like the idea of asteroids hitting the planet and being harvestable. Same with small holes being naturally filled it. As for overall planetary resource regeneration I personally would like to avoid that. The push to go out and explore to find new materials/resources is a big part of this game and a planetary regeneration mechanic could endanger that. Of course that is just theorycraft. Big holes and mining sites filling themselves in... not sure how i feel about that. Soften the edges over time would be nice, but I kinda like the idea of jumping into a system and going down to a planet, only to discover that some player a few weeks before me passed through and strip mined. The terrain is torn up in big craters, what was one a forest is now barren. A mining outpost in the distance. Check out the outpost and its little more than an empty husk as the previous player left the ravaged planet. Planet/environment regeneration kinda kills this type of thing, returning everything to a pristine state (depending on level of regeneration of course) is kinda bland. For the time being I can see regen being a bit needed since we have limited space, but once the galaxy opens up and we can zip off to a new generated system the only thing I would like to see is weathering effects. A small pit, sure smooth it over. A giant stripmine, leave it as evidence that someone, sometime was here.
All good points! It's boils down to one of those things you'll hear me echo a lot in testing (game) feedback... "within reason." My point of view on resource gathering is that having "x" amount of resources per world seems less immersive for me. It is, however, reasonable to discover new pockets every so often in different places. To literally "mine out" a planet entirely would be a bit far fetched and we do have some simulation elements in this game. (Developer's intent as indicated by the official game categories listed.) Obviously, it's not practical to go "hard core" on the simulation side but I do enjoy a little realism here and there with some science fiction to spice it up. With that in mind, erosion... within reason, solves several issues for static solar systems in multiplayer in regard to resources but you are absolutely correct about leaving behind a mark or signs of activity. I feel there's a good halfway point here in that rounding off the pit/mine and ever so slowly (might take weeks of real gameplay) filling that void in due to "erosion" is a cool concept. They could even make it to where the drill tool leaves behind a permanent texture of deformed or melted rock/soil that is permanent and clearly recognizable as man made so there's no question that someone had been there. That also leads us to this question: "For the release candidate of the game, will procedural generation be permanent on multiplayer servers?" If so, then procedural worlds could have greatly reduced timers for erosion and resources would appear in new locations based on other factors like RNG or player activity. If not, as in, once that player "leaves" the procedurally generated solar system... it goes away forever and if that's the case... you won't ever be able to discover those signs of previous activity unless it's on a static solar system that persists. If that is where the devs are going, then we will have to have a system that includes resource regeneration (spawning) and some erosion to stitch up the static systems. Depending on the number of players and their activity levels the starting planet will be "interesting" to say the least if it all persists and never changes. I don't have those answers but my experience with sandbox games says that it will depend on what ends up persisting in multiplayer.
So, I've have been playing with my friend now, and we build a nice exploration ship (SV) with a lot of storage, constructors and resources (Oxygen and food) Now we also build a ship for my friend that is outfitted for combat (SV) to protect the Explorer ship. The problem is, we cannot get BOTH into space (orbit) as you cannot fly into space unless both are in the same ship. I guess a Docking system or something like that would or should make it possible to get both ships in space and travel to an other planet. It is really anoying how we are FORCED to leave one ship on a plannet and have the other person just sit in the passenger seat all the time.
Maybe instead of regeneration have "veins" and "pockets" of minerals. A pocket: - Behaves pretty much the same as we have now. Find pocket. Use drill tool. Get resources. Pocket gone. A vein: - Physically medium to large. Mining with a drill destroys the vein but returns nothing but crushed rock. - Collected with a structure built upon the top of the vein. The structure generates some of the resource depending on vein size, purity and tech level of the structure/collector and slowly whittles away at the vein. - The vein takes a LONG time to be exhausted. Make it have something like 30x-50x the amount of material in the same space as a pocket. So a pocket would grant plenty of resources but is a short term solution that runs out. A vein would supply a slow but steady and long term supply of the resource in question. Plus, it would require the construction of a small mining outpost on top of it and anything that promotes building is a good thing. And adds to multiplay. For PvE a mining outpost could be a place for people to come and trade for a bountiful resource, for PvP it provides a point of contention for control.
I love this idea ... it gives a balance for those who want to stay in one place and "develop" it against those who prefer to build and escape the planet asap. Anything that makes a game more balanced so that everyone finds something they enjoy is good by me.
I really like this idea! Reminds me of SWG where players drop harvesters down (surface) and check up on them to retrieve the resources. It also adds a PvP/PvE mechanic of defending/attacking these vein harvesters. This is especially true when you find an ultra rare vein of high quality resources.
