X Online-Possibilities?

[boggle]

a direct ip connection please!!!
it would be great to be able to connect to a fiend and play with just 2 or 3 ppl.too many games insist that you connect to the companies servers and dont let the gamer decide how manny ppl he wants to play against.yes i know egosoft are looking at charging a monthly subscription which is fine for those that want to pay to play.the option of a direct connection as well would probably pursuade ppl like me who dont like MMORPG that much to buy the game.

[proteus2]

a direct ip connection please!!!
it would be great to be able to connect to a fiend and play with just 2 or 3 ppl.too many games insist that you connect to the companies servers and dont let the gamer decide how manny ppl he wants to play against.yes i know egosoft are looking at charging a monthly subscription which is fine for those that want to pay to play.the option of a direct connection as well would probably pursuade ppl like me who dont like MMORPG that much to buy the game.

Very nice idea boogle, dedicated privately fundeed clan servers might be an option. I know that games like Ultima had an extended fan bace with alternate worlds being privately hosted and funded for many years. Would give the dedicated (rich) modders the chance to create their own universes with their own rules. Might be nice to see alternate connection options, maybe even custom universe LAN play built into the game given the sort of support ego offers to the scripters and modders even now.

There is still one major problem that I saw mentioned on another similar thread that no one has addressed here, the problems of ping.

We all have experienced at one point or another the difficulties of combat with low frame rates. You shoot, but the target you think was there on the screen was actually half a klick away as far as the games database was concerned, your graphics just haden't refreshed yet.

Now imagine PvP space combat with a dodgy connection.

Okay, you can stop now.

FPS combat online is okayish, bacause there are normally no more than 8 or 16 max players in the same area. Now, imagine fleet battles between rival guilds. !00's of craft, all firing simoultaniously, every single bullet needs to be tracked by the game server, every ship, every direction change, every deltaV change, strafe drives, calculation of 3 dimentional relative distances, add a few dozen hornets and wasps and you'd better hope that ego is getting bargin rates on renting the mainframe processing time thats needed for all of that math.

OR; X2 has been labeled (unfairly or not) a test for the core tech and engines that will be used in X-O. OOS is a major part of X2, at least during most players end game. OOS uses a fraction of a percent of the processing power in sector comabt would.

Joining the dots yet?

I don't pretend to the the answers, or even any valid suggestions, but as far as I can see, somthing is going to have to give.

[canazza]

I have an idea, instead of SETA, you have an Elite style drive, it gets Mass Locked (like SETA) to prevent crashes.


Also, Does anyone fancy setting up some kind of freelance millitia? Not so much assasins for hire but people just on the right side of the law (killing annoying gits who enjoy Docking port Camping or BBS spamming)

Also, an FPS style walking around in stations. Granted, they'll all look alike (the insides of stations in X2 do anyway) - but in actual inhabited areas, like a bar or something. a 3D chatroom basically, and in pirate bases you can buy spaceweed and Space Fuel, to consume

[UziSuicideUkLtd]

Direct ip connection / network play , should be included by default. the problem with this is surely , if egosoft take the game online , it will need some serious hardware to support it , which no doubt they are going to be the ones to form out for , did someone say monthly fee ?pay to play ? , ok fine not really a problem there , but , if youre going to play online , they want it to be with them (undestandable to recoup costs , they are a busniess after all ) , so theyre unlikely to allow people to mulitplayer by any other means to pprotect their investment. as i say , i cant blame them , but we can only hope......


and seta , i fear is just a pipedream. its going to need an Einstein to explain to me how you can have two people playing the same game together , but for one person time passes ten times as fast. think about it.....

[Chris H]

Do it Ultima Online style, so when you create your character, you have a choice of locations to start of in.

[(/\)arped]

I have an idea, instead of SETA, you have an Elite style drive, it gets Mass Locked (like SETA) to prevent crashes.

Brilliant!

However, the Elite drive became mass-locked very quickly, (As soon as a ship came onto radar. The universe was sparse in the early days of space trade/combat sims.) so perhaps the drive would have to be tweaked slightly.
And the name would HAVE to be cahnged to stop confusion... For those that don't know, the 'Elite style drive' is called the Jumpdrive. Now THAT would cause some major confusion when speaking about it.

[SalSolo]

I just found myself thinking of an old gmae called Allegiance. It was actually really cool online space sim with some rudimentary basebuilding and some really good figher physics. I loved the way you had to man bombers and cap ships with more than 1 player and the com system was really great in it. I think making a mix of that game and X2 would really create an awesome game. Anyone else here know Allegiance?

SalSolo
..a danish player loving this awesome game

[reed]

Theres a major problem with the online idead of x2, which is the map how can you create a univerese map that can take thousands of players, and still make it understandable ideas could be:

- 3d map though after so long it would make it useless
- a constantly adapting changing universe the more players join the bigger it gets, but if you are in a group or clan your sectors are placed beside each other and to reach more central important sectors you have to cross a few unkown or unihabited sectors for development, this would solve many problems because of noob killing because they would be isolated, provide expansion space and make sectors independant and randomly generated.
- a super gate at the centre of a cluster of sectors creating a set of references to use like: galaxy, sub system, sector cluster so they could be independantly classified so trading could only be set with a few, so AI ships only go to the selected few sectors chosen by the player. this would mean people could expand there wouldn't ever be too many AI player ships everywhere as they would be selective, it would allow player expansion so far then they must resort to conquest, making defense easier and attacking harder (especially if someone has established a laser grid or mine field to prevent attacks from certain players or ship classes i.e. M1 M2 M6 access denied to prevent mass movement of ships.
- one giant map free for all a race to secure sectors and finite resources forcing players to expand outwards, possibly abandoning thier starting sector in search of greener pastures
- also certain players are only allowed to attack others that have a similar networth, +/- 5% of networth maybe more. but clans could declare war as long as its mutual could attack any player of any networth.




well thats my idea, (but when it comes out im making my own clan called F.U.C federation of united conglomerates)

[MILLANDSON]

All clans should be alowed on X-OU. I know for a fact AMG, UNCC, and NOVAEF will still be there, as well as any other clans people made.

Clans should be allocated there own group of sectors, between 2-3, and the number of sectors they own should change with the amount of members it has. EG. If a clan only had 5 members, they would only have 1 sector, but if a clan had about 40-50 members (think NOVAEF and UNCC) they would have about 8-10 sectors controlled by them.

[reed]

no im talking 3 at least depending on their size and quality but that can be qucikly colonised and explored, within a group as this would not work for single players, but merely a group of players in a clan with an allocated set of sectors , that are limited but eventually need to be expanded on creating a demand for conquest. theres no proble with such a large clan being created but it would make it increasingly hard to navigate, but the extra sectors would stop people killing for run but create a land grab, which could mean eventually selling useless colonised sectors to the highest bidder

[simonnance]

Sounds good. Now listed in my brain, and (More importantly) This forum.

Also thought clans a little more.

UNCC nay start picking off people who use novas.
NOVAEF may start picking off people from the UNCC.
AMG may start hunting down people or making hitlists.
Other clans may emerge and start attacking random people.
People may start picking off newbies.
This may cause major problems, so perhaps there should be moderators for the Online Universe. They could float around the universe in M2s helping people, but in case there is a massive rebellion the M2s should be invincible, in case anyone gets a sudden feeling to attack the mods.

However, helpful groups, like maybe nividium mining groups would probably be welcomed.

FACTS hopefully will be around to give the noobs a hand. Teaching them the basics, maybe some combat traning, who knows what the posibilities will be?

[frymaster]

things I'd like to see:

- the ability to "buy" sectors and set up your own administration there ie be allowed to decide who is allowed to build / travel there... people could ignore this is they wished but there would be no legal / AI-protected comeback if they get destroyed. A ludicrous price tag, of course. (And possibly requiring completing a special mission for an AI race, preferably one that requires co-operation, to encourage clan- and group- ownership rather than miserly reclusive tycoon ownership)

- an EXCEEDINGLY comprehensive scripting system, so that AI ships (and FACTORIES) can be operated without supervision

- ways for players to publish information in-game e.g. BBS messages in your own fabs, pay to publish bbs messages in other fabs, forums accessable in-game, download a clan or group database to your ship's computer so you have information on friends and enemies etc.

said it before, but worth saying again: this game is likely to be the first I pay a subscription for (but on behalf of all brits, PLEASE make switch/maestro a payment option as well as switch and visa)

[simonnance]

but on behalf of all brits, PLEASE make switch/maestro a payment option as well as switch and visa

Seconded

i am near 19 and a student and still dont have a credit card (never needed one) so being able to pay with my bank card would be nice.

[(/\)arped]

As an extension to my earlier comment on the mods having "invincible M2s," I have also thought of perhaps them being able to scan random people for illegal goods, like what happens in the game. It could also mean that you turn around and destroy them in their weak M5, like you do in the game...

More seriously, many people have commented on the guilds having their own areas/ sectors.
This is probably pointless, because not everyone will be online at the same time.

Example:

UNCC sector, the Wall, is attacked by a strike team from Antigone Memorial sent by NOVEAF members.. Now, imagine that no-one from UNCC are in that area. (Or even online) The sector would be overrun and taken over by NOVEAF. It could go on like this for ages, and it wouldn't be much fun.

Why not just have random clashes with each other in lots of different places?

*Possibly* (If the mods allow it) a forum could be set up for messages to be posted about big clashes between different guilds.

E.G. The ABCDEFs are having a face-off with the 12345s on 4th july 2004.
It will take place in Paranid Prime. All members of these guilds welcome!



P.S. Note to the Mods, if any of you read these ideas (All the way through if possible) then could you comment on them? Most of the ideas sound good to me but:
a) Probably have a better idea of what a good thing would be and what a bad thing would be.

b) Have a better chance in making the guys from egosoft notice... nudge nudge, wink wink.

[pjknibbs]

P.S. Note to the Mods, if any of you read these ideas (All the way through if possible) then could you comment on them? Most of the ideas sound good to me but:

We're not developers and have no more chance of getting Egosoft to listen to anything than you are. You're about 100x more likely to grab their attention by posting this stuff on DevNet (or even setting up new jobs for it), though...

[Greyhawk1]

One thing that seems to be sadly lacking in MMORPG's - the rule of LAW. If you kill someone in the X universe you become a murderer and as such get all the relevant authorities and bounty-hunters ready to kick your rear-end into tomorrow. Docking rights get revoked, assets siezed etc.

Or else nobody in their right mind would *EVER* fly a TS unless they really really wanted to die.

They'd fly the most heavily armed battlestar they can get!

[Ian_92]

about stations being destroyed, i think a lone player shouldnt be able to afford a few stations or maybe just one would be too much

they could be defended by stationary weapon upgrades ON the staion or lasertowers nearby (1.4's lasertowers of course... or even better ones)

and stations should have their price x10 and ships maybe x0.75

that would make stations hard to get and would also make ships easier to get hence would compensate a little for no SETA...

[Ian_92]

about clans having sectors handed to them, i dont think its good, clans would mass recruit and then ban all the noobs

there should just be alot of unhabnited sectors in deep space and it would be way easier to colonise a sector for a big clan than for a small clan or a lone player

[Ian_92]

and maybe sectors could be way bigger with the outer part unexplored, then explorers can go far far away and if they find an ore belt (does that remind you something?) they could write the coordinates and sell them to a clan

this would make the explorer job a possibility

[(/\)arped]

You're about 100x more likely to grab their attention by posting this stuff on DevNet

Okay, I've heard of DevNet before, but have no idea what it is, or how to get there. Please advise. Please!!