An idea to organically help noobie npc pilots train.

[Socratatus]

Ok say you have just taken on a noob pilot. A no star or barely starred pilot.

When you Talk to your piot have an option that says, "Stand behind me and watch!"

The NPC pilot then gets up and stands a little behind you or to the side while you take the controls and fly and do your stuff. The longer the pilot watches, the more the pilot star rating goes up, up to a max of 1 star or more (Devs decide what works) over a period of time. This could take hours or days, probably days.

You could have the noob pilot every now and then say, "I see...", "Ah...", "I get it now.." at each small increase in their Star level.

I know we have those pilot seminar things, but this would be a good 'less sterile' and immersive alternative.

p.s. Also, a little off the main topic, but if your ship is destroyed and you auto-eject, but your NPC pilot was flying, let us sometimes hear the pilot scream just as you eject.

[TheDeliveryMan]

It's already in the game. One of best ways to train a pilot is to assign them as relief pilot on your personal ship.

[Falcrack]

Every time you kill an enemy or do some sort of action that would cause an NPC to level up, your relief pilot gets the experience.

[Socratatus]

You both completely miss my point or you try not to understand what I wrote- or you skim read and then don't get what I wrote.


I want the NPC to physically STAND there in the cockpit or bridge area, if I ask them to, immersively, behind or to the side, to look like she's watching me fly - and learn that way as well- right there.

I think this is an issue with some sim players; they don't understand the human immersion I'm looking for. It's all just numbers to you guys; people aren't people. Just numbers to power-up as fast as possible, then use. No need to see them at all; just vanish and power up on the stats chart.

And it transfers to the Devs.

Do you guys not watch old Babylon5 or old Startrek up to Enterprise? They are all about the Human side, not just the numbers or science. If you did, you'd all understand.

X4 tried at the start (which got me interested) and then just kinda stopped.


This is why many X sci-fi games get as boring as dishwater and sterile eventually- NPCS just become numbers and don't even do anything immersively.

[Katorone]

I want the NPC to physically STAND there in the cockpit or bridge area, if I ask them to, immersively, behind or to the side, to look like she's watching me fly - and learn that way as well- right there.

Personally I don't find that immersive, since that's not how people learn job skills. It's not even how we teach toddlers.
In reality, we'd let the noobie take the stick and offer guidance and support. When they're in over their head, we'd take the stick from them and solve the issue at hand. You can roleplay this just fine.

Do you guys not watch old Babylon5 or old Startrek up to Enterprise? They are all about the Human side, not just the numbers or science. If you did, you'd all understand.

That's because nobody wants to watch a show about numbers going up. Maybe with incorporating AI technology we can have NPCs that seem to -on the surface- lead a rich life. Maybe this same AI can generate missions that feel personal and rewarding, as if there's an AI GM in charge. Won't happen any time soon though.

This is why many X sci-fi games get as boring as dishwater and sterile eventually- NPCS just become numbers and don't even do anything immersively.

I'd like Egosoft to start with the easy stuff. Like ensuring that every console is manned and crew only takes a break when their relief is at their work area. I wouldn't mind crew taking less breaks either. Sometimes it seems as if they're taking 5 minutes off for every 2 minutes of work. I'd be fine with them being on an hourly rotation, even if that makes the inter-crew interactions more rare and seem more static.

[Mightysword]

Do you guys not watch old Babylon5 or old Startrek up to Enterprise? They are all about the Human side, not just the numbers or science. If you did, you'd all understand.

I did, Babylon5 is actually one of my favorite classic, and I like it more than Startrek or Starwar. And ... uh ... I have no idea how that related to anything you're suggesting.


Neither I think your suggestion would improve immersion or organic in anyway ... seeing no one actually does that to train any kind of pilot. In fact it would be downright immersion breaking. Short demonstration? Sure. But having someone constantly standing behind you and looking over your shoulder is a big distraction for most task, and you especially don't want that when piloting.

[dtpsprt]

You made me dream of a nice female rookie NPC pilot learning from me in the cockpit of an Eclipse or a Nova!!! But that would make X4 an x-rated game...

[LameFox]

I have in the past suggested that ship captains should take one of the nearby consoles when you are controlling the ship (granted, I said it for practical reasons—I want them to come back faster than they do from the teleporter). However, this would really only work on bigger ships. On nearly all S ships, and many M ships, the cockpit is small and cramped and it would look very strange having them there. If you could actually see them, which, short of looking in from outside, you probably can't... I don't think even the freelook is that free.