I see a few things in this game that need a change. Here is a list of a few and some reasons for them.
Weapon Changes
From what i see lasers are offering higher damage rates at father range, this seems a little unbalanced, Plasma seems to be well rounded, and the artil output seems a little slow here is my recommended changes for the weapon system.
Weapons should have three classes
Alpha Strike :
Cool down: High
Range: Moderate to Long
Dps : Low
Alpha Strike: High
Raw Dps :
Cool Down: None - Low
Range: Moderate to Long
Dps: High
Alpha strike: None to L** ow**
Constant Strike :
Cool down : Low
Range: Close Range to Moderate
Dps : Moderate
Alpha Strike: Moderate to Medium
Lasers
Lower the amount of damage output by 10-15%, Damage output is just a tad high for the amount of range.
Plasma Weapon
Increase damage 10% damage boost on armor/hull. Amount of damage on them is to low.
Artillery.
Projects need to travel much faster then they are. damage needs to be raised 10-15%
Game Change
Add a Timer down on the bottom for game search, and enable the ability to make changes and play around in the interface while a search is going on .
Diversify the races more
Give each race a bonus with each respective damage type (Beam, Artillery, Plasma)
Add Race Specific category to Shop. Add here something for each race, and base it on research.
Federation : Combat Cloaking Device; after Decloaking all damage is increased 10-20% for 8 seconds.
Jer** ico:** Regenerative Shield generator; Regenerates 3% of shields per every 5 seconds (passive)
Empire: Combat Thrusters: when traveling at max speed, you gain 10% more damage.
Corporations
As it stands now, I don’t see anything that will cause corps to be valid in a game like this, out side of Reputation, and building a strong community; Granted these are the FOUNDATION or successful games. Here is an idea for a button and how corps can work in this game.
Corporation operation will depend on adding:
A corporation based interface that tracks;
Members
Last online
Related information like Level, Race etc.
Corporations will need
Invite, Remove and Quit Options
A System for operation Some idea’s may include
Clan related matches for a resources
( in this case, credits is likely what is needed, though you can add another resource that is required to upkeep the clans this will serve to encourage guild combat, and at the same time will remove things like guild spam).
How it will work
See Attacking a system.
Phase One: Big Bang, The creation of the universe
In this phase, the devs would create a universe consisting of x amount of systems, ideally for a game like this, it would be something like 25 systems. from there if needed as the population grows, more can be added, since is likely a server-side issue only it will be easy to add it.
This option will require a large patch, but it is something that should be considered for the long term development of the game.
Create a universal map, where systems can be accessed ( A map button on top on the nav Bar) ( A simple map will do for example something like)
Here is an example
Players can freely access these by clicking it, That will pop a menu
.
Travel to system Will load the player into the system, which will be a permanent system.
Manage System : Will give you options to manage the system. See Clan Defenses Below
Attack a system : This will give you an option to attack. Clans will be able to set up defenses for this to prevent 1-2 people conquering a system, forcing a group/guild activity. Only Clans can attack, or conquer a system (this will cause the clans to have value). Attacking a system can only be attempted once every 12 hours, and needs to be issued by the guild leader or a high-ranking officer. Each system would have a single capture point, a Space station. Space stations will/can be built by clans. They will cost a large amount of money (Likely something like 10,000,000 credits or more). Stations will be permanent and will have a selected location by the Developers when they create the maps (Ideally it would be cosmetically appealing to be over a planet, or on an astroid).
All systems will start out with a simple Beacon capture point. with 6 Heavy drones, protecting it.
Heavy drones will be strong enuff to hold off 5 players of moderate skill. After the system is captured players can build stations.
System Defenses, and Building
Each system would have a station, defended by Npc Defense Systems, and Fighters. By default Each system will have 2 weapons platforms, A sort of mega drone with moderate damage, heavy shielding, and hull.
Benefits of holding a system
Above all else, it gives the guild recognition and adds fun / competition to the game. It can also open options like a trading system. Further, It be be added to the game that the amount of systems held, will give X amount of credits to the entire guild weekly or just to the guild leader. For example
1 system, 5,000 credits per week
2 systems, 15,000 credits per week
5 systems, 25,000 credits per a week
10 systems or more, 50,000 credits per a week
Pirates
You can set up the systems to have pirates auto spawn there granting a reward or bounty for each one killed, say something like 500 credits each.
Mining
you can also add to the game the ability to target rocks, and mine them… This can lead to the creation of a system that will enable players to build items. further giving depth to the game.
Constallations
further, You can add more benefits by Creating “constellations” for example lets say You have 10 systems, and 5 of them are in 1 constellation, 3 are part of another, and 2 another. by holding a constellation you can unlock access to new defenses, or upgraded ships.
Region’s
regions will consist of larger amounts of the map. If a guild controls a region, they will have access to the top level of defense, and to building stations.
In this example, you will see two constallations (green and red) and the area of a region (white)
Possible future additions to the game from this system
Possible Trade system
Another idea may be for long term development is to add trading ships into the game for players to fly and use. They would work based on the Guild alliance ( see guild alliances ). You can create one of two systems.
Physical Trading system
In this system, players get trade ships, and move around the game/sectors to trade at the various stations. This will however, have to be coded into the game, which may take a lot of work. The major benefit to this is it will draw a lot of other players who love to buy low and sell high, which can lead to more cash-shop items like cargo extenders etc…
None-Physical Trading system
another possible system is to create a trade system that will allow people to sit in the basic UI (which you get in when you load into game where you change items, ships etc).
in this you can create a trade system where you trade with out the flying part. Though this will be strange, and will take the fun out of ambushing traders. one of the major benefits of this system of the universe, is to go into enemy systems, with out having to attack it, and simply just kill its members. a sort of raid attack.
you can set up the game for both systems to have things each planet produces, and wants (Planets are just simply in each system, no player interaction required).
For example
system a makes water, and wants food
sytem b makes oxygen, and wants food (high demand)
system c makes food, and wants water
buying at system c, and selling at system b, would give profit, but if you sold there to much, you would have to go else where.
Lets complicate it now
Lets say your system is system C, and and ally is system a, but an enemy is B.
then you wouldent be able to trade with that hostile group, but can with the ally.
you can set this up to work for both of the above systems, but again the physical system is highly desirable because of the value it will bring to systems, and to pvp.
Guild Levels
Guild levels will be based on an amount of points gained per a player faction increase. So if i gain 100,000 faction points, the guild will gain X percentage of that (lets say 10%-20% as a default; or 20,000 points) Levels will have requirements just like reputation/rank levels do. Lets do something like
Level 1: 200,000, Max of 25 players
Level 2: 500,000, Max of 50 Players
Level 3: 1,000,000, , Max of 75 players
Level 4 2,000,000, Max of 100 players
Level 5 5,000,000 Max of 250 Players.
Guild Benefits
Among holding the systems, you can also add a guild related bonus that the guild can choose and upgrade.
some examples are:
Upgraded Cloaking:
Level 1 Cloaking lasts x seconds longer. Requires level 2 (guild), 100,000 Credits
Level 2 Cloaking lasts x seconds longer. Requires level 3 (guild) 100,000 Credits
Level 3 Cloaking lasts x seconds longer. Requires level 4 (guild) 100,000 Credits
Level 4 Cloaking lasts x seconds longer. Requires level 5 (guild) 100,000 Credits
Level 5 Cloaking lasts x seconds longer. Requires level 5 (guild) 100,000 Credits
Upgraded Artillery
Shells travel x amount faster.
Upgraded Shielding
Shields regenerate x amount faster
Upgrade Speed
All ships in clan move x% faster
Guild Politics
Guilds will have relations, And when they view the universe map the systems colors will be based according to relation.
Neutral
Hostile
War
Unfriendly
Blue
Corporation
Setting Relations
There will be an interface, To add Guilds to standings
You click Add > Type in the name (The game will have auto-listed everything here) you type the exact name or near to, and all with similar names will pop up.
Adding them on a scale -10 to 0 to +10
-9 To -4 will be hostile
-4 to -1 Unfriendly
0 Neutral
1-4 Friendly
4-9 Very Friendly
Declaring War
-10 Rating will be war, It will cost 1,000,000 Credits to declare war
War can also have an upkeep of say 100,000 credits a week, to help keep the guilds from spaming it, and to help keep the economy stable.
Declaring Allies
+10 Will be allies, Both parties will need to declare this for an alliance to take place.
Alliances
Being in an alliance will grant access to an alliance channel.
Subjection Treaty
This will set the Two parties to alternate Colors
Purple for the Protector Corp
and Light Blue for the protected Corp.
This treat will give the stronger corp access to control over their systems, and 15% Of any income they make from them.
It can be an alternate option to destruction of an enemy a sort of way of saying “you support us and we will let you live”.
None interaction treaty
This will set both parties 0 and Give them a Golden color when seen in system. A way of saying “we leave each other alone”.
More to come soon.