Commands/Features that XR or next title needs

[RAVEN.myst]

Thanks for the replies

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

Commands I'd like to see.

<Start Coms>
Is that the shipyard?
Ok I want 10 Taranis fully loaded
Is that the HR department?
I want 10 Crews for deployment on the shipyard at ....
Minimum Qualifications 4*
</StartComs>

<Start Coms>
Hello architect I want you to build out the following.
Use the following ships .... to collect the wares.
Here is a wodge of cash. Let me know when you need more.
</Start Coms>

[mr.WHO]

I'd welcome any and every solution that reduce needeless micromanagement in late game.

- Bulk order ship and crews from shipyards
- Bulk personel management and movement (current retarted NPC system in which I have to personally ferry each and every NPC should be burned to the ground - bring back old TP tralsport ships where we can mass stash/ferry our personel and bring back Marine/NPC training station where we can increase their stats)
- better property screen with filters and switch between list and squad/hierarchy view
- better combat commands for multiple squads that I can issue when I'm IN THE MIDDLE OF COMBAT (see old Freespace 1 and 2 commands very fast and intuitive)
- better map screen commands (right-click dropdown menus on the map screeen is a must)
- Player HQ and player owned shipyards is a must
- Proper Carriers with hangars and scripts for fighters - otherwise fighters are micromanagement nightmare (shame as I enjoy looking at X-Rebirth fighter fights, I'd love to have hundrers of fighters if not that it's a pain in the ass when they lag behind you in the highways)
- meaningfull end game missions (HOL Torride Xenon invasion was a gimpse of how late game missions should looks like)

- (optionally) meaningful Capship interiors with Bridge, Hangarbay, marine barracks, Crew quarters - I'm sick of standing on the landing pad on the hull exterior in the middle of the battle (great view, but also stupid)

[Nikola515]

I think it would be also good idea to pause game while we give any commands.... For example this would be useful when giving commands in battle. We can make manual orders for ship for what to do while not worrying about blowing up.

Problem with current system is that it takes too long to order something and we don't have enough time to do so when we are in combat. Same goes for older titles as well...... All though we had commands to tell our ships what to do we didn't have time to do so. With this we could tell our fighters and captains what to do without rushing trough menus. Anyway i think this would be nice feature if implemented

[RAVEN.myst]

While I don't agree with pausing the world while giving orders (then the game becomes almost a turn-based strategy game - I like those, but that's not what I'm after here), I think that the action should at least pause while certain things take control away from the player - for example, when cut-scene videos play in the plot, or when Annoyisha or other NPCs are having a conversation with the player (sometimes with the view swung toward Annoyisha) - although, to be honest, the latter would be better if player's controls weren't cut back while NPCs are talking (for example, while doing something that irks local law enforcement, the "authorities" have a fat chat about the known criminal Ren Otani, talking back and forth, reporting, listing, and just generally bitching - and all the while I can't access my drones, my map views, my property menu - WTF?!

Speaking of the property menu: ships under attack might show up as flashing red, a la previous Xs, and warning exclamation marks should be able to be dismissed - it's annoying to be shown a RED "!" to indicate an overabundance of something - I have too much of this? OK, big deal - that red "!" made me think there was something BAD to worry about!

These are not "commands that should be added", so a bit off topic - but not completely off topic, methinks

EDIT: Oh, here's a command I've been wanting since day 1: Jettison Cargo.

[Snafu_X3]

I would GREATLY appreciate the ability to directly enter numbers [...]

That should be taken care of

Yay!!
Will that also include textbox cursor movement, as I've frequently been crying out for since at least v2.0?

[Snafu_X3]

While I don't agree with pausing the world while giving orders [...], I think that the action should at least pause while certain things take control away from the player

[..]EDIT: Oh, here's a command I've been wanting since day 1: Jettison Cargo.

Jettison Cargo was implemented for <playership>, IIRC somewhere around v3.x, but may not be available for others; I can't remember now (months since I've played)

Rather than /pause/ gameplay while menus are open, how about a reverse-SETA effect where elapsed time /slows/ by the selected SETA multiplier? So you can use SETA either way: eg to speed things up if in a long travel/build scenario, but to slow things down if in battle & issuing orders (thus reflecting the cumbersomeness of issuing orders non-verbally). The multiplier should be fixed & equal for both to avoid exploits (& provide penalties for adjusting it)

[RAVEN.myst]

Will that also include textbox cursor movement, as I've frequently been crying out for since at least v2.0?

I've also mentioned this one a few times (not as succintly as you, though, hehehe), as it's annoying to have to wipe out a whole long name of something only to insert a prefix, or such....

As for the cargo jettison - yes, I'm aware of the ability to dump stuff from the Skunk, but what I meant is for any owned cargo ship. (One application for this is the ability to actually USE captured freighters/miners without having to jump through convoluted hoops to open up cargo space. Hmmm, I wonder whether I could hack something I own, to get it to vent cargo...)

EDIT: As for inverse-SETA, I really like that idea - makes me think of Fallout 3 and Mirror's Edge (and I'm sure such mechanics have been used elsewhere, other than in The Matrix)

[Nikola515]

While I don't agree with pausing the world while giving orders (then the game becomes almost a turn-based strategy game - I like those, but that's not what I'm after here), I think that the action should at least pause while certain things take control away from the player - for example, when cut-scene videos play in the plot, or when Annoyisha or other NPCs are having a conversation with the player (sometimes with the view swung toward Annoyisha) - although, to be honest, the latter would be better if player's controls weren't cut back while NPCs are talking (for example, while doing something that irks local law enforcement, the "authorities" have a fat chat about the known criminal Ren Otani, talking back and forth, reporting, listing, and just generally bitching - and all the while I can't access my drones, my map views, my property menu - WTF?!

Speaking of the property menu: ships under attack might show up as flashing red, a la previous Xs, and warning exclamation marks should be able to be dismissed - it's annoying to be shown a RED "!" to indicate an overabundance of something - I have too much of this? OK, big deal - that red "!" made me think there was something BAD to worry about!

These are not "commands that should be added", so a bit off topic - but not completely off topic, methinks

EDIT: Oh, here's a command I've been wanting since day 1: Jettison Cargo.

That would be the only way to make fleets more efficient. All though they could improve AI but i don't see that happening....

Another thing we could do is costom jobs for ships so we don't need to do it in battle. For example if we could stack jobs and when they are complete they move to next job. There should be multiple slots where we can put jobs and and after one job is done it will go to second slot job......
Something like this......

Fighters Setup:

1) Attack All Drones/Fighters: When arrive to location all small ships will clear all fighters drones while avoiding cap ships. Everything in first slot will take priority over all other slots.

2) Attack Capital Weapons: Small ships will atack all weapon modules. This will start only after all fighters are gone. If some of drones or small ships arrive it will go back to primary job and atack all ships and drones (unles you don't want to).

3)Atack Hull: Ship will focus on hull rether than modules......

Or we could just tell fighters leave after all ships/drones are gone and cap can finish job to prevent further losses. Same should be done for ships like Balor where there is no need for them to stay after capital are finished ( they wont last much against fighters).
This would also eliminate all micromanaging in battle as well as have more control over our squads/fleets. Also when we set them up once we can save setup so we can load then whenever we want. So we can load different setup that depends on situation we are in....

[RAVEN.myst]

Yes, compound orders I do like, very much. And they could be made into personalised macros which you keep saved and invoke when you need and in the order that you need (a bit like customising turret commands in X3AP, but with much more functionality.) And they could be issued as a sequence or in order of priority, at the player's choice (I know this SEEMS like a big ask, but I really don't think it would be that big a job to implement.) Fleet battles could be better than they've ever been (unlike some players, I've had little to complain about with the X2/X3 commands, especially with Bonus Pack, but even they could be improved on hugely.)

Oh yes, in other news: I'd really like to see a return of the video enhancement goggles...

[Nikola515]

Perhaps this would be best option for those who want to micromanage their fleets. We could set up different scripts if we want to do different things we could do them fast... For example if we want to board ship they would focus more on taking out that ship modules than destroying it. Just give them boarding setup and they will do their job without any need for you to interfere.

Also some people wouldn't like this so i would suggest to have automatic setup....

[RAVEN.myst]

Yes, good point - "custom" and "express" modes, so to speak.

Here's an economic customisation command I'd love to see added: designating WHERE a station's mining ships get their resources. All to often, I see them plotting "as the bird flies" "shortest" routes that aren't the shortest, and often also the chosen area has crappy yields and so takes long for the resources; or, other times, the auto-chosen area is too dangerous. I want to be able to specify "this station's nividium/plasma/apple-pie/whatever miners gather HERE". This is especially crucial in light of the fact that once you've built a station, you can't get rid of it, so you can't relocate it somewhere better if you realise that its miners are going to stupid places (such as The Third Duke, FFS)

[Nikola515]

Actually i never thought about it like that but you are 100% right. I had same problem in DV where ships would use jump beacon where there is more enemy and ignore one that is safe. This happens especially beginning in plot where we need to build URV forge ( plot ) and we need to get crystals two sectors away.....

I think we should have blacklist for all sectors/zones for our station so ships wont go trough.... For example we open that menu and map opens up. We can click on sectors/zone that we dont want ships to go trough.
Also it would be nice if we could place our own jump beacons as well.

You just give me good ideas for staton commands

Sell Surplus Ore: Station will sell all extra ore if it can't use..... For example i have H2O fab and it have more ice than it needs. This way we can sell ice and make money while miners don't stand doing nothing waiting for cargo to clear out. Or mining ship can just mine and when is full go sell it elsewhere....

Cargo % Setup: Ships wont sell or buy cargo unless it is going to be full cargo or at least 70%. Current system sends ship 3 sectors away just to buy 100 E-Cells wasting 400 Fuel Cells.

Galaxy Trading: Station can trade with whole uneverse (as long it is not black listed). Also gate jumpdrives would be needed.

Costom Ships Jobs: Just like in X3 we should be able to assign single ship jobs for best buy and sell for single item. If i want only one ship to buy E-Cells we should be able to do so.

[Snafu_X3]

Caveat: I AM NOT A DEV or even a modder!

I'm reluctant to make boarding /too/ automated; once set up, a trained marine crew + commander can ROFLstomp through almost anything, making boarding a tedious farming exercise for ships/cash

• Given that 'hostile-to-target' ships should stand off during boarding ops - perhaps with a necessary (player-sent) broadcast, or individual msg to relevant commanders?..
  
  I disagree with further automation of boarding in the current form: it should be kept as a time/player-intensive task, reflecting the difficulty/chancy nature of the outcome
  
  Perhaps make the commander L3 or L4 max, thus requiring a /lot/ of successful boards to train to full capability? This might also be reflected in the marine training skills (the grunts train quicker with a higher-lvl commander)
  
  Possibly allow DO/MC to prioritise fighter attacks vs <target>? (bring down JD, engines, PD weps. shields, hull in that order when given a target:board command)
  
  Drone bay is a special case: in the current format its destruction is a required step for larger (target) FIGHT ship successful boarding, but this effect also tails over to freighters/miners etc (due to increased drones onboard) that should be easy pickings for a pirate. HOWEVER the DB resistance is often the only defence against early <player>'s predatory tactics.. how to rework it?

I can't remember all the suggestions I've read, but if you have something suitable & workable I'll listen..

[Nikola515]

@ Snafu_X3

Just becuse it's automated it don't mean it is going to be easy. It is all about balance in the end of day.... I do agree it is easy to board ships in XR and it should be more punishing than rep loss.

Here is some things we can do to prevent farming:

1) Only specific ship can board ships. You need a lots of money and rep to buy them so you cant just use them as easy money maker early in game.

2) Stolen ships can be only sold to pirates and race that you stole it from will atack it on spot. You would need to buy new fake IDs to prevent this that are not cheap.

3) You need to bring ships with construction drones to fix it before flying off with it....

4) You shouldn't get rep loss if there are not witnesses

This wouldnt in general make battles more realistic without need to babysit everything....

[RAVEN.myst]

Snafu: I agree about boarding - that should still be a micromanagement-intensive exercise - each boarding operation should be a mission onto itself, a real "mini-game", if you will.

4) You shouldn't get rep loss if there are not witnesses

I'm pretty sure this sort of thing was a big hype point for XR pre-release - they went on about it quite a bit, how doing stuff away from witnesses was supposed to greatly reduce the repercussions - none of it materialised, in the end... (Oh, and I agree, though there are such things as comms, so maybe taking out the antenna first would ensure no distress call makes it out, or something like that. Also, a surprise attack on a vessel that destroys it REALLY quickly could also happen before it could get off a distress call, thus also not incurring reputation loss.)

[Nikola515]

Yeah wouldn't mind having mini game as long as it is not hacking modules with drones while your ship is sitting duck All though i would love to see some mini games that are are actually fun.... Also what i would love to see is pirates NPC boarding ships as well (this setup would work for them). Im not sure how and what they are going to do with next title but i would love to see FPS boarding. Something simular to Parkan 2.... Im sure some people wouldn't like it but it would be perfect mini game for me

[Snafu_X3]

how doing [boarding] away from witnesses was supposed to greatly reduce the repercussions - none of it materialised, in the end... (Oh, and I agree, though there are such things as comms, so maybe taking out the antenna first would ensure no distress call makes it out, or something like that. Also, a surprise attack on a vessel that destroys it REALLY quickly could also happen before it could get off a distress call, thus also not incurring reputation loss.)

This /was/ at least partially implemented during (IIRC) 2.x -> 3.x; I'm unsure if it's still extant

Certainly I could board with little/no rep repercussions during that time, if I was a suitable distance from a station. Yes, immediately frying the comms array made a difference then (as it should!)

I /suspect/ (but have no evidence to back it up) that making vanilla sectors (including the 'new' player/unknown sectors) smaller WRT comms distance, or crowding in further stations to act as comms relays may have made this original idea unworkable WRT the game's internal logic

[mr.WHO]

. Im not sure how and what they are going to do with next title but i would love to see FPS boarding. Something simular to Parkan 2.... Im sure some people wouldn't like it but it would be perfect mini game for me

I'm amazed how people still want the FPS part after X-Rebirth or worse, No Man's Sky.

In X-Rebirth station walking and ship interiors are bare-bone and eyesore - how do you expect to have the FPS gameplay that would be at best the same quality? Especially that Egosoft has no experience in FPS games. NPCs would have to have much better model animation and movement pathfinding - somethings that was always Egosoft Achilles heel.
C'mon if they can't teach capship to move around huge asteroid that is literally 20 km away, then how do you expect to have NPC runing and fighting in tight ship interiors?


With current X-Rebith it is bossible to polish and expand station and ship interiors, but FPS is a big NO, NO!
This is no Start Citizen with 60mil budget wher they just can build FPS game within the Space Sim game.

[bambikaka]

. Im not sure how and what they are going to do with next title but i would love to see FPS boarding. Something simular to Parkan 2.... Im sure some people wouldn't like it but it would be perfect mini game for me

I'm amazed how people still want the FPS part after X-Rebirth or worse, No Man's Sky.

In X-Rebirth station walking and ship interiors are bare-bone and eyesore - how do you expect to have the FPS gameplay that would be at best the same quality? Especially that Egosoft has no experience in FPS games. NPCs would have to have much better model animation and movement pathfinding - somethings that was always Egosoft Achilles heel.
C'mon if they can't teach capship to move around huge asteroid that is literally 20 km away, then how do you expect to have NPC runing and fighting in tight ship interiors?


With current X-Rebith it is bossible to polish and expand station and ship interiors, but FPS is a big NO, NO!
This is no Start Citizen with 60mil budget wher they just can build FPS game within the Space Sim game.

there is nothing strange in it i think. when i fly between x3 stations i wish i could land and see that future, the races i can com and i love the teladi in xr, i think the only good part of of that game BUT i wish they would make it as a DLC.
while i would really like to see stationwalk and ship interiors i wouldnt ask for such thing in the main game. flash the space sim out to the best possible, give hundreds of systems weapons ships etc with the basegame, make the flight, pathing and ai right for the basegame so it can be enjoyed on their own already.
then make a dlc with stationwalk interior walk, then make a dlc with fps boarding.. yeah, those would be worthy dlc-s i would happily pay an other AAA price after ive bought the game. but dont mess the initial release with them...