Note: This is more or less me talking to myself. Don't feel obligated to respond.
I've been playing X3TC lately, and I was struck by how well the Freespace universe would fit into a gameplay style like that. I always felt that Freespace had so much potential that was limited by the linear mission system. Granted, the system works great in its own right, but I would have loved to have the ability to fly through jump nodes, dock on carriers and so on without being broken into chunks. The core idea would be the same- you're a fighter pilot on board a larger ship. But having the fluidity of movement would make the game feel so alive. Escort missions would be less dull if you were able to accompany your charges for the entire journey, not just small segments.
While open world tends to offer itself towards open player choices, I don't think that would work so well. You wouldn't be able to go trade or pirate, (at least in the core 'campaign') you'd be a loyal GTVA pilot. Maybe you'd lend yourself more towards bomber roles, or interceptor roles, or whatever. There wouldn't be RPG elements, so no leveling up or anything but you would be able to secure upgrades and other advantages by accomplishing certain goals, which is where the open-galaxy element would shine.
Say in this new campain, the Shivans are back just because it's the classic storyline. You'd have a 'galaxy map' of sorts that would show areas of Shivan incursion; your destroyer/carrier would travel to wherever it was directed and you would follow- either out in space or docked inside the ship itself. Inside, it wouldn't be quite the same as the ship would have a countdown timer to arrival- for realism's sake, the timer would be several hours long, but you could theoretically simply wait it out. In that time, you would run training exercises, interact with your squad, requisition supplies, etc. When you as the player are done preparing, you send your character off to rest and the timer cuts to zero, where you launch your fighter and fly the mission.
As you fought in star systems, asteroid belts, nebulae, etc, you would secure resources for your destroyer to spend on R&D, construction, and simple survival. Let's say that in this circumstance you're cut off from the main GTVA supply lines and this is your only method of staying alive. And since this is an open-world game, unpredictability and random events should be common place. You could be ambushed while en-route to your destination and must scramble fighters. Your recon teams could spot an important target and if you've risen high enough in the ranks you could divert and attack it.
Ah, yes- ranks. In Freespace as it stands now, rank means pretty much nothing. Getting to Admiral either takes a lot of time, or a bit of cheating. I believe it affects who you can order around, but most campaigns have hard-coded that fact. In an open-world game, as you rise in the ranks you would have more control. First, you merely take orders from your wing leader. Then you give orders to yours. Then maybe you order around several wings, then minor capital ships. Ultimately, you would reach a high enough rank to make command decisions regarding your fleet's movements. This would be done out of forced necessity, as your casualties rank higher and you need every able body in space.
And finally, the exploration. Say that the Shivan threat is dealt with, and you now have a carrier of your own to command. Now the true open-galaxy aspect comes to life. You take orders from High Command to deal with certain threats, but ultimately you're on your own. You go forth and attack Shivan holdouts, rebel uprisings, Vasudan agitators, etc. And if there are no pressing wars (rebels, etc are all randomly generated) you can search for new jump nodes and fresh new systems. Maybe discover new alien life.
Anyway, that's just what I've been thinking about lately. While there is an extremely small chance of this game actually happening, I do hope to see a game LIKE IT come out in the forseeable future. I'm working on a trilogy of science fiction novels that might actually lend itself to this style of game... Hmm..
Thank you, Hard-Light, you have just made me aware of a new opportunity to attempt to seize in life. But now I'm getting ahead of myself. Finish school, then books, then game. Right. Talk to you folks later.
