[Nohiki]

I've been toying with this thought for a long time. There is no online game based on FreeSpace, in fact there aren't many good Sci-fi online games altogether. I am not saying i'm doing this, but if i found the time, what should the game look like?

RPG (simple gameplay, but fast availability):
Very simple, you'd have your own ship you can further customize(swap and upgrade weapons, crew, ...) with choice of different classes (warship, miner, transport, ...) and specific set of single player missions. As you level up, better ships will become available to you. Main goal is accumulating experience, single currency, improving your ship and participating in coop and PvP missions.

Travian type RTS (annoying long waits gameplay):
Every action in the game will require certain amount of time to complete, like building ships etc. You have only one planet you can build on and gather resources from. As you build your fleet, you'll be able to engage in SP and coop missions and PvP. the game would have more complexity and be more challenging to mind than RPG.

Strategy (complex and challenging gameplay):
You would be able to rule over more planets or even star systems with huge army, controlling almost every aspect of your species. This can either be realized as turn based game (you get turns, or action points over time, multiple actions (ie building, training troops,...) can be done in a single turn, but all actions require certain amount of turns to be spent) or recount type game( much of the actions is done instantly(building, training), some of them in real time (transport) and some would progress in certain amount of time (battles in a war, resource mining)

If you have an idea for another system, i'm open to suggestions. Also, if sufficient number of PHP coders, artists and people with several other skills (flash and action script guy, server and network guy, some other guy i forgot to mention...) offered assistance, work might begin immediately.

If you have any other question, ask below and also feel free to offer help if you wish.

[MatthTheGeek]

You need an "all of the above" option.

[LordMelvin]

I recline to answer, on the ground.



Why no snuffy?



Poll-orientied quibbles aside, an online Freespace game should be a first-person/third-person space shooter/sim where you're in the cockpit of a fighter and you fly around and shoot at other fighters, and occasionally at larger ships. It should be based, if practical, on a game engine designed for space combat, and should have the ability to fly scenarios with a variety of objectives, and customizable numbers of allied and opposing fighters, bombers, and Capships.

If possible it should also be moddable, so that people can add new ships to the game and fly them, and it should be the kind of thing where it hooks the players' minds and encourages the formation of a dedicated community, possibly based around a web forum.

[MatthTheGeek]

...basically, you want FSO. Well look, we already have that.

[Nohiki]

@LordMelvin: ^ this. And if that is not enough, go try BSG online, it's exactly what you want.

No snuffly, because sunuffly means "i don't give a ****", so don't vote at all. 0wnz3d j00.

What i want to achieve here is somethiíng like the stargate atlantis episode "the game". If the community were to choose strategy over RPG (so far they are winning), i intend to add some automatic intelligence to your species to aid you, such as researching certain technologies on their own when certain criteria are met and stuff.

[MatthTheGeek]

Personally I'd be interested in some multiplayer RPG à la BGO, just with a broader range of available ships and missions. Maybe something simpler to set up, like a top-down game or something.

I have nothing against a OGame/Travian-like RTS either.

Can you define "recount strategy" ?

[Nohiki]

It might be worth mentioning, that by RPG i think something like legend of green dragon, not BSGO. You want a flash/unity coder for that, not PHP one. BSGO i can't do.

As for recount(for the lack of better word in the dictionary of non-native speaker), basically, things like gathering resources happen in certain intervals, like every hour you'll receive 1/24 of your daily production, other things might happen with higher frequency (for example battles in a war every 10 minutes), some things happen in real time (travel time to the attacked planet, transporting goods to the store), and some things can happen instantly, like building or recruiting, as there is no point of putting a timer on them anyway.

Pros:
This system allows the highest complexity of gameplay while retaining certain realtimeness (unlike turn based strategy, when every player spends their turns at their own will), but not requiring long waits and sitting behind the computer 26 hours a day 8 days a week like TBS or travian type strategies. I know one game that is using this (unfirtunately not in english yet), based on asimov's foundation series, and it's the best thing i have ever played. I enjoyed that game much more than about any other strategy, including giants like microsoft's age of series.

Cons:
Unlike TBS, this system takes a good while to balance and is probably the one that will encounter most bugs. Travian type RTS adds little bit of realism by adding building/training times, while turn based strategy does the same, but allows you to wait that time any part of IRL day you want (like night when you wanna sleep) and accumulate this time into turns and spend this time in few minutes whenever you want.

On my personal scale, travian is the abosolute WORST. Besides, IIRC, somebosy is already working an a freespace conversion of such system here on hard light. Turn based strategy is much better in this aspect, BUT this accumulation of time causes daily gameplay to be reduced into few minutes, thus not satisfying those people, probably like you, who have and are willing to spend more time playing.
In my not so humble opinion, recount is the best, because it allows you to have something to work with over certain amount of time again, but also allows you to wait until those resources accumulate and spend them instantly in those few minutes. It is not a compromise of those two above, it is both of them.

[MatthTheGeek]

You seem quite involved in that solution. I suggest if you are willing to spend time on coding this, you should work on what you'd enjoy the most.

[Nohiki]

yes but there is also no point on making a game nobody's gonna play. please do not that it in a way that i am already sold on one thing or another or that i am trying to manipulate you to picking my fav. it's a personal insight. But if i'm doing this, i'm doing it for people out there, not for me.

[LordPomposity]

I am now imagining FreeSpace missions as they would be with the dialog replaced with MMO trash-talking. Why yes, I did play Even Online at one point.

[LordMelvin]

...basically, you want FSO. Well look, we already have that.

That's what I was getting at, yeah.

That said, all the other options are cool-sounding too.

[S-99]

I voted travian rts. This put in my mind how awesome it'd be to have a sins of a solar empire fs mod. Granted i'm thinking mod where this is a thread about making a whole game.