Everchron Wish List #2

[Craig68x]

Everchron Wish List #2

STATIONS / PLANETS:

• You have to request docking permission (as it stands anyone can dock).
(a) Or..if you violated some kind of ordnance you can be denied clearance.
(b) Or..if you were caught with illegal goods you can be denied clearance.
(c) You can/will be fined heavily.
(d) You can pay a huge fee to have the fine negated. But reputation takes an incremental hit.

IMMERSION STUFF:

• A popup screen with a graphic showing a ‘face with the voice’. A dock master, for instance.

• More options when docked.
(a) A bounty hunting mission.
▪ A criminal is somewhere in XYZ sector or planet (capture or eliminate).
(b) A diplomat/high-ranking officer needs transport to XYZ.
(c) A Spacer’s Lounge. (use your imagination on this one)
(d) Search and Rescue.
▪ A ship, station, planet, etc... needs personnel rescued.


MISCELLANEOUS: (Options on/off)

• Black Market options
(a) A place you can buy/sell black market commodities. (factions will pay higher if they can get away with it)
(b) Your reputation increases the more you ‘do it under the table’)
(c) Fine and/or impound spacecraft consequences when docked at spaceport if caught.
(d) Or pay a stiff fee ‘on the spot’.

Clear skies, all!
Until next time!

[Vice]

Interesting list, thanks for posting. I'll provide some initial thoughts/comments below.

• You have to request docking permission (as it stands anyone can dock).

Probably would not be implemented, unless strong player support indicated it as desired. A penalty was introduced for disobeying docking directives, but the open nature of docking and self-regulation by pilots will likely remain as it's one of the original design elements created for the game and is still somewhat unique. To quote an earlier discussion on the topic:

"There are indeed a lot of different approaches to this and Evochron's [more unrestricted] design is one of facilitating freely open and available docking, even with quite a bit of traffic around. That is, rather than have multiple docking points requiring all traffic to be funneled through only one restricted entrance or something, the game provides more entrances to dock with along with a 360 degree docking region in the middle. Pacing and efficiency being key objectives as with other elements in the game."

(a) Or..if you violated some kind of ordnance you can be denied clearance.

Currently, it involves fines. Fully denied clearance can apply, but only for opposing factions.

(b) Or..if you were caught with illegal goods you can be denied clearance.

I have considered this in the past. One approach might be to have any contraband the player might be carrying announced in the message log upon their arrival. Then if they attempt to dock or are caught with it by another ship, they could be fined (points 'c' and 'd' in your list) or targeted. But any such changes would need to coincide with the existing faction framework and that would likely pose some challenges and potentially unwanted behavior (players would likely ask why they were getting attacked by members of their own faction). So the mechanics and methods of such an option would need to be sorted out and meet player expectations/approval.

• A popup screen with a graphic showing a ‘face with the voice’. A dock master, for instance.

While I'm not very good at drawing faces, I also don't like the appearance of face 'cards' or mannequin type characters during voice transmissions in games. Such imagery just detracts imo, I'd rather hear any radio chatter on its own as that's what real world pilots would generally encounter anyway. So for my game, I generally only want informational displays taking up screen space in more of a simulation fashion, rather than characters.

• More options when docked.
(a) A bounty hunting mission.
▪ A criminal is somewhere in XYZ sector or planet (capture or eliminate).

There are bounty hunting missions in the game, although you may not be at a point where you've been offered them yet. They do require eliminating a specific enemy/criminal by name.

(b) A diplomat/high-ranking officer needs transport to XYZ.

Might be possible, although it would likely just be an alternate text display for the existing passenger transport option. Could perhaps pay more though if something like that were implemented.

(c) A Spacer’s Lounge. (use your imagination on this one)

Not a likely option, beyond the existing station lobby anyway. Again, a priority of focusing on simulation elements rather than characters.

(d) Search and Rescue.
▪ A ship, station, planet, etc... needs personnel rescued.

Also available in the game, such as rescuing an escape pod in a war zone, repairing a severely damaged ship, and emergency fuel delivery. Escorting can also tie in to that, but not quite as directly perhaps.

• Black Market options
(a) A place you can buy/sell black market commodities. (factions will pay higher if they can get away with it)
(b) Your reputation increases the more you ‘do it under the table’)
(c) Fine and/or impound spacecraft consequences when docked at spaceport if caught.
(d) Or pay a stiff fee ‘on the spot’.

Sort of available now with specific market hotspots in terms of high pay for specific items, just without the potential penalties. I'd be interested to hear from others on the mechanics of how such an option would work and the popularity of applying another new layer of fees/penalties into the mix.