Wed Mar 05, 2003 9:11 pm
Dynamic Universe thoughts...
Hello
I've been idly waiting for my copy of FL to arrive, and after playing the demo and figuring out the basics of the game I'm thinking about how a dynamic universe would be best implemented in the FL framework. This isn't really a 'gee I wish FL had been shipped like this' thread, or even a mod suggestion (although if someone thinks it can be done, yeeha!). I'm just playing around with what-ifs somewhere where (hopefully) the DA team can hear me!
I'm thinking the most streamlined way to incorporate it would be to include a 'Faction Dominance' chart that would look a lot like the 'Reputation' chart that already exists. This chart would keep track of how badly a particular faction had been beaten back. The sliders would move after a successful mission, and would be linked to the difficulty level of the mission.
For example, say that as a Liberty Navy employee (temp, of course!), I performed a successful level 20 mission to eradicate a group of rogues in the Badlands. Once completed, the Rogues influence would drop, and the LN's influence would increase; this increase would be larger than if I took a level 10 mission, but not as much as if I'd tried a level 30 one.
Make sense?
The fun part is taking it a step further, and incorporating that new influence into the game world. With a high enough influence, Navy patrols are increased, and smuggling is harder in the Liberty System. If influence is lowered by a sufficient amount, then the odds of a Rogue ambush are reduced. Missions against them need to travel further into the badlands in order to find their targets.
And the coup de grace: once a faction has been beaten down to nearly nothing, a mission appears offering to eradicate them once and for all by destroying their base of operations.
Can you imagine how unique each multiplayer server would be in this scenario? Perhaps on one server the Liberty Police are a juggernaught, and crime is nearly non-existent in the Liberty System. On another, crime runs rampant as the Rogues have taken over, destroying Fort Bush and eliminating the Liberty Police.
Taken one step further, perhaps the station you destroy produces a commodity, creating a permanent increase in demand. The prices would then rise slightly on a universal scale.
Like I said, this ramble is just to pass the time until I get my hands on the real version. How would you make the FL Universe dynamic?
Crowley
I've been idly waiting for my copy of FL to arrive, and after playing the demo and figuring out the basics of the game I'm thinking about how a dynamic universe would be best implemented in the FL framework. This isn't really a 'gee I wish FL had been shipped like this' thread, or even a mod suggestion (although if someone thinks it can be done, yeeha!). I'm just playing around with what-ifs somewhere where (hopefully) the DA team can hear me!
I'm thinking the most streamlined way to incorporate it would be to include a 'Faction Dominance' chart that would look a lot like the 'Reputation' chart that already exists. This chart would keep track of how badly a particular faction had been beaten back. The sliders would move after a successful mission, and would be linked to the difficulty level of the mission.
For example, say that as a Liberty Navy employee (temp, of course!), I performed a successful level 20 mission to eradicate a group of rogues in the Badlands. Once completed, the Rogues influence would drop, and the LN's influence would increase; this increase would be larger than if I took a level 10 mission, but not as much as if I'd tried a level 30 one.
Make sense?
The fun part is taking it a step further, and incorporating that new influence into the game world. With a high enough influence, Navy patrols are increased, and smuggling is harder in the Liberty System. If influence is lowered by a sufficient amount, then the odds of a Rogue ambush are reduced. Missions against them need to travel further into the badlands in order to find their targets.
And the coup de grace: once a faction has been beaten down to nearly nothing, a mission appears offering to eradicate them once and for all by destroying their base of operations.
Can you imagine how unique each multiplayer server would be in this scenario? Perhaps on one server the Liberty Police are a juggernaught, and crime is nearly non-existent in the Liberty System. On another, crime runs rampant as the Rogues have taken over, destroying Fort Bush and eliminating the Liberty Police.
Taken one step further, perhaps the station you destroy produces a commodity, creating a permanent increase in demand. The prices would then rise slightly on a universal scale.
Like I said, this ramble is just to pass the time until I get my hands on the real version. How would you make the FL Universe dynamic?
Crowley