On Oct 1, 2004, at 8:59 AM, Joseph J. Strout wrote:
At 9:33 AM +0100 10/1/04, Robert Ward wrote:
> 3b. Point at something with your cursor, and press a different
button to mark it as the destination. If this is something that
moves, like an enemy ship, then your ship will automatically attempt
to follow it. If it's something like a gap in a structure, your ship
will fly through it (turning itself sideways if necessary to fit,
etc.).
In terms of gameplay, I think this would have the feel of something
like
a futuristic space combat, where you've got some intelligent AI in
your
ship. I don't know if that kind of gameplay, where you frequently
aren't
"flying" the plane, might be a barrier to feeling like you're some
kind
of WWII dogfighting ace.
Oh yes -- I guess I failed to make that clear! I'm no longer thinking
of WWII aerial combat here, but something more like Star
Wars/Battlestar Galactica. And yes, a semiautomatic flight AI would
be the perfect back-story for such a game.
Sort of like K.I.T.T. on the Knight Rider show... :)
It seems to me you're saying that you want exciting manuevers to be
(relatively) easy to execute.
Right!
And I think that was the original spark for this game.
Well, that's what Geoff described. But then I actually installed
Hellcats on an older computer, played it for half an hour, and
discovered that it's not really much easier than any other flight
simulator (though it is refreshing in having only a dozen controls or
so).
It seems to me that could still be accomplished in the flight
model, as it were, the world allows the plane to do things that would
normally be difficult or impossible without lots of advanced
coordination
of control surfaces or hi-tech equipment. e.g. high rates of climb,
tight
turning, loops, rolls, etc.
Maybe -- it's certainly worth a try. One could make a Physics module
for OpenPlane that would allow such things.
I think less drastic to the gameplay would be an automatic gunner
rather
than automatic pilot. I could imagine that as I fly, a cursor
indicating
the target moves about on the screen, tracking a (selected) enemy.
That
might not break the suspension of disbelief that I am a hot-shot
pilot.
Yes, if that's the sort of game you're going for. It's just that
personally, I enjoy the shooting more than the flying.
Of course it might be fun to have a game where you fly in two-player
teams, one pilot and one gunner. But I don't think such a game would
be very successful, because there aren't too many of us that would
have a convenient partner whenever we want to play. But perhaps you
could substitute an AI partner for whichever job you don't want to do.
Or, how about this:
In the first "training" mission, the player has to fly through some
obstacles in a ship sort of like the Star Wars X-wing, but without the
aid of R2D2, then shoot at some pre-designated 'targets of
opportunity', bomb some ground targets, and finally battle a large (but
somewhat damaged) capital ship and blow it up. You'll get infinite
lives and ammo, but only for this mission. Once the mission is over,
the computer will grade the rookie on flight and weapons performance,
and then assign his/her remaining missions based on that profile, and
with a ship to match.
Examples:
If Joe Schmo gets good percentages on shooting down enemy aircraft
and so-so on hitting ground targets, but uses 100 lives to get through
the obstacle course, then the game will adjust the remaining missions
by assigning a droid pilot to do the flying, and hope that Joe gets
better in hitting ground targets with protorps... :)
If, on the other hand, Mary Jane turns out to be able to out-fly even
Luke Skywalker, but can't hit the side of a Star Destroyer at
point-blank range, then the game will assign the droid as gunner, and
let her worry about the flying and dodging enemy fire!
And finally, for those who are good at both, they'll get the special
'droid maintenance package' (similar to the function that R2D2 actually
does in Luke's X-wing), where the droid will take over a damaged
function (say, repairing an engine that's taken a blaster hit) allowing
the pilot to continue worrying about flying without having to manually
assign repair tasks to the ship's on-board flight diagnostics package.
You could even do this manually (instead of having the training
mission), by implementing a 'class progression' similar to Diablo II,
where the player chooses a class (in our case, gunner or pilot), and
they get better add-ons as they progress in experience.
Some possible add-ons:
Pilot
-----
Auto-fly (3 sec. duration + 1 sec/pilot level)
When engaged, the pilot points to a target and the ship will take
necessary evasive maneuvers to get
there, allowing the pilot to focus his attention elsewhere (like,
say, repairing the damaged comm relay,
or some such)
Auto-target (3 sec. duration. 1 target + 1 target/pilot level)
Allows pilot to assign targets to the gunnery droid by following the
target with the HUD crosshairs for
3 seconds. Gains 1 extra target per pilot level.
Super-scope (permanent duration. Can only gain once level 2)
Increases the efficiency of the 'radar' scope on the HUD by blinking
high-priority targets. On level 3
or after, also blinks friendly targets that can help out as a
temporary wing-man. Finally, on level 4,
it blinks important neutral targets. If they should be destroyed, it
blinks them rapidly. If they must
NOT be destroyed, then it blinks them in alternating red/blue (like a
police light-bar).
Nano-repair (permanent duration. Can only gain once level 3)
Decreases repair time by x2 by using nanites.
Auto-eject (permanent duration. Can only gain once level 4)
Automatically ejects pilot and droid (if any) if ship takes too much
damage.
Emergency-recall (instantaneous duration once per mission. 5 + (5 -
Level) sec. recharge delay (min 1 sec.) Can only gain once level 5)
Utilizes a new mass-energy transport system to return the ship to
'base' anywhere in the same quadrant.
Requires manual activation, and has a charge-up delay) Works even if
engines off-line. This allows the
pilot to return to base for refueling, repair, and weapons recharge
(fills available ammo slots). Does
NOT return pilot to original location; the pilot still has to fly
back to the battle site.
Gunner
------
Increased firepower (3 sec. duration + 1 sec/level)
Increases available firepower of laser-based weapons (does not apply
to missile-like weapons), by
utilizing an extra on-board power tap of the engines. Reduces ship
velocity by 50% for duration, and
increases weapon firepower by x2 by recharging the weapons capacitors
from the extra tap.
Extra Guns (permanent duration. Can only gain once level 2)
Adds an extra laser-based weapon. Requires the "Increased Firepower"
add-on.
Ion-Cannon (5 charges + 1 charge/level. Can only gain once level 2)
Allows gunner to incapacitate larger ships, or reduce shield
effectiveness of ground-based targets, by
frying their electronics. Requires a 1 sec. recharge delay regardless
of level.
Weapons-assist (3 sec. duration and requires both "Increased Firepower"
and "Extra Guns" add-ons. Can only gain once level 3)
Turns over 1 laser-based weapon to the ship's on-board A.I. (or a
droid, if present) allowing the gunner
to focus on targets in front, while the A.I./droid handles targets
approaching from aft.
Find Wing-man (1 use per mission + 1 extra use/mission/level. Can only
gain once level 3)
When activated, any friendly craft within 1 light-second will come to
your aid (if they can), and will
fire on all enemy targets within range until destroyed, the wing-man
is 'killed', or you lose a life.
Doesn't work if you already have a wing-man, or if the ships are
unable to come to your aid due to
engine or weapons-system damage.
Speed-boost (1 use per mission + 1 extra use/mission/level. IS
cumulative!!)
Charges emergency-backup batteries from engines during normal use.
When activated, allows the ship to
increase speed by x2 without sacrificing weapons' firepower. Any
unused charges ARE carried over from
mission to mission. Destroys emergency-backup batteries though, if
used more than twice/mission!! This
means you will NOT be able to eject in an emergency, as the backup
batteries power the ejector charge!
This damage is repairable once you get back to base, but at a fixed
cost of 50% of present income.*
Pro-torp Package (1 proton torpedo per level + 1 extra per level. Can
only gain once level 4)
Adds an under- (or over-) slung proton torpedo launcher and protorp
rack. These missiles are used for
bombing ground targets, and/or taking on capital vessels. Useless
ship-to-ship; too slow, unless target
already disabled. Has either heat or laser-based guidance system
(must specify when ordering this
add-on)
Shield-reducer (Requires "Pro-torp Package" add-on. 1 use/mission. Can
only gain once level 5)
An upgrade to the weapons-systems computer. Allows for timed-fire of
both the laser-based weapons and 1
protorp, so as to hit the target's shields simultaneously. Will
destroy the shielding of ships smaller
than a Star Destroyer with one hit, and will severely reduce shield
effectiveness for ships of that
size or larger (except for the Death Star)
Bombing Range (Requires "Pro-torp Package" add-on. Can only gain once
level 5)
Increases efficiency of proton torpedoes against ground targets by
using the newer Mk. II protorps.
These utilize the new "Shield-slicer" tech that allows them to appear
as quantum dots too small for
conventional shields to block. They can be set to detonate either on
contact or at a certain altitude
above the target (configurable per protorp), but can only be used
against ground targets. This package
is only an option on missions requiring bombing runs against
ground-based targets, and only once user
reaches level 5.
Capital Waste (Requires "Pro-torp Package" add-on. Can only gain once
level 5. Max of 3/mission)
This package also utilizes the newer Mk. II protorps, but sacrifices
firepower for increased accuracy.
These also utilize the "Shield-slicer" tech and CAN be used against
the Death Star, or any capital ship.
This package and the above package are mutually exclusive, because of
the slightly different rack
mechanics. They do the same amount of damage as the original Mk. I
protorp (first available in the
"Pro-torp Package), but cannot be evaded by a capital ship's ECM
(Electronic Counter-Measures) due to
it's on-board droid brain) Because of electronic interference from
the droid brains, only three of these
may be mounted on the same ship, and is one reason the protorp racks
for these will not accept the
Mk. IIs used in the above "Bombing Range" package. These can fire
with pin-point accuracy against
targets less than 1 meter wide from a distance of 1 light-second.
(Sadly for Luke Skywalker, he was only
level 4 at the time, and so was unqualified to have this package
installed. :) )
For dual-classed characters, they'll advance at half the rate of
single-classed characters (i.e. they'll gain 1/2 level in gunner and
1/2 level in pilot for each mission completed), but they get to choose
from both package options (though they can still only install 1 package
of a type per level)!
* Assumes game supports a system of income based on rank (player
level). Player receives "income"
based on rank that they can use to purchase these add-ons, and/or
repair ship damage.
- Joe
--
REAL World 2005 - The REALbasic User Conference
March 23-25, 2005, Austin, Texas
<http://www.realsoftware.com/realworld>
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