Future of Evochron and SW3dgames?

Cruis.In · Post by **Cruis.In** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 4:54 pm

Hey, I am interested in purchasing the latest in this series of games. I remember years ago buying starwraith but not playing it much. It was my way of supporting a great indie developer with awesome ideas and the skills to implement them.

I'm just wondering what's off the table for the future and what might be on it?

I know there are some things you will never ever do and there is no amount of mind changing there. But some things you might consider.

1. What is your take on making Evochron an MMO of sorts? Not necessarily a game with MMO mechanics and combat, but adapting your game system capable of supporting a LOT of players in your universe online at one time. Without really changing it, like just making it more massive in terms of the amount and persistence of the universe.

2. For over 10 years now you have not added payable capital ships, what is your take on them and is their room for player owned capital ships?

3. What about the possibility of corvettes with small crews?

4. What of the possibility of your own crew?

To me the only thing missing from evochron is the idea that the space ship is your home. Since it is a small one manned fighter vessel, it really can't be a 'home'.

What are some of your plans for the future, a long those lines?

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 8:27 pm

The civilian ships can have your own crew you can hire now, still no Capital ship control but I do not care much for capital ship control but that is just me personally.

:P

LOL...and welcome back to the forum, when was your last post?.....

Cruis.In · Post by **Cruis.In** » Mon Mar 21, 2011 11:33 pm

that one! now this one!

Flash · Post by **Flash** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 12:18 am

Can't answer any of your questions but Vice has always been very attentive to our requests. Even now he is asking us to vote on what direction certain aspects of the game we would like to take. Go with your gut. You ponyed up the $ before for a good cause. That hasn't changed. You still have a indie developer listening to your request trying to make a fantastic game even better. Come join us in MP. I can vouch that 99.9% of the pilots out there are great people.

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 1:24 am

Okay, I give up. Where have I seen that name before?

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:02 am

That is Flash without the Gorden....

:P

Nigel_Strange · Post by **Nigel_Strange** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:20 am

1. An MMO is only as M as it can attract players. We already have the ability to create stations in a stable universe online. People fight over them. People blow them up.

2. Playable cap ships would be interesting, but would involve a lot more development. You can't dogfight in a capship, nor dock with a station, nor land on a planet. It pretty much negates the entire game as we know it. If we had capital ships, they would probably be like carriers now. I can see a carrier because you would be able to launch from it. You'd really need a small ship (or fleet) just to keep your capital ship stocked with stuff. There is also the danger of FTs. However, it would be interesting if you could set up your capship somewhere and have your own source for all supplies, fuel, etc. Running such a ship would probably be prohibitively expensive, though, unless you were also doing heavy trading with it. If you were military, I suppose you could run your own ship as long as you obeyed Alliance Command Central and kept the vonari off our doorstep or maintained order. Capships, though, are not really fun to fly.

3. We already have ships of different frame sizes, and you can have a crew. Also, you can have a gunner in MP. I think sitting around on a ship while someone else piloted it would not be as engaging as you might imagine. It would also

4. You have an interesting point about your ship being a kind of home. It sounds like you are thinking of something like being able to walk around inside your ship, like in Unreal II or something like that. It would also be interesting to be able to have a base of operations that you can move around, position in a place where you can do fighter missions, then move on.

The other thing about capships is that they don't use gates, so you would have to forgo all the convenience of gates. That means that to get from Sapphire to Olympus would take you the better part of an evening, whereas with a smaller ship, it takes a few seconds. I would therefore imagine that you would buy your capital ship in the system that you want to use it in, and there it would stay simply because it's too time-consuming to move.

Post by **Marvin** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:29 pm

From post: 104212, Topic: tid=7405, author=Maarschalk wrote:That is Flash without the Gorden....:P

I meant Cruis.In ... not Flash Gordon. Or Gordon the ALF, for that matter. Nor the gin.

Maarschalk · Post by **Maarschalk** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:47 pm

LOL.....

:P

Cruis.In · Post by **Cruis.In** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 3:41 am

i use this name all over the internet, and also on the 3000ad forums

capital ships with certain limitations to me would certainly be viable. A home mobile base at which to resupply/rearm/repair etc

even if it's not some big gigantic ship but some type of small frigate with a crew of 50

\\

which you can walk around, create 5 playable frigate 'base' ships which can hold one or two fighters in the docking bay. So you only have 5 smallish interiors to model. I'm talking no bigger interior space than a 3000 sq foot house. Make it so that it can travel inter system but the jump drive required to do so draws so much power i can only jump once every 3 hours?

The game as it is would still be viable, no change to the use and need of fighters. Except you'd have a base ship, with an interior to walk around in and a crew, your fighter docked. You could have an engineering section, crew quarters, lounge. A computer terminal to access in the hangar bay which you can adjust the load out on your fighter with. It would have powerful shields, armor, point defense weapons, beam weapons.

But as I said, only able to use a jump drive every 3 hours, so you have to get out and explore with your fighter etc etc...

sounds cool eh

I wish this was the next step evochron took. It would be so complete in my mind. Only thing missing would be ground lol!.

Infinity online would have nothing on this game, especially since infinity is vaporware

Post by **Marvin** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 5:30 am

Some of us appreciate the feel of a simulation ... especially when it comes that much closer to what Dr. Asimov described in his Foundation series. I'd also like to see a Star Trek game where it actually takes a week or two to get somewhere at warp 3. But games like that don't sell well and, in fact, draw a lot of criticism from the "I want it right now" crowd.

Btw, have you ever spent any time in U-boat sims?

mikeuk · Post by **mikeuk** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 6:42 am

Yep Marvin A lot of new games now are all blood guts and horror with believable graphics, I have watched my son on his ps3 not for me, I had a go at the demo on my PC of Crysis 2 wow!! ok for a few mins but I just wanted to get back into my ship.

See you out there;)

Cruis.In · Post by **Cruis.In** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:28 am

not sure what you are talking about or who you are talking to when you say some of us prefer simulation marvin.

no where in anything did i suggest, alters the state of this simulation. and if adding new immersive features does alter it, then id say its been altered significantly by every single feature since starwraith.

Ravenfeeder · Post by **Ravenfeeder** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:38 am

Cruis.in there's no need for player cap ships - if you want a home base build one, if you can figure out what -50k or 50k means.

We're mercenary pilots, we ain't into walking, we're into killing, mining, trading, anything that makes a profit, or increases our abilities to do so - but, most of all flying.

For flying in space, this, imho, is the best sim going - I've been working in, and around, computers since '67 - so, I've tried just about every space game going, and a quite a few non-space games too. This, again, IMHO, is the best genre for a space sim.

BraveHart · Post by **BraveHart** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:51 am

"I Agree with Ravenfeeder"...

Ophiuchus · Post by **Ophiuchus** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:56 am

I'd vote for a corvette frame, w/2 minimum, 5 max crew slots and same equipment slot loadout as the mil and heavy civ frames extant. Maybe same base speed as the Leviathan frame, with current IDS scaleability. Suggest 1 Alliance/Federation cap ship-strength laser, 3 - 4 flak cannons for point-defense hard-wired, w/option for additional laser/cannon/missile combo from current weapons offerings, and/or 8 more missile slots; and an Alliance/Fed cap ship-strength energy and shield cores. 450-500 armor, 50 agility. Suggest cargo pod scalability to 0-8, for those of us with an itinerrant trade or exploring itch. Just a thought.

Cruis.In · Post by **Cruis.In** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 4:03 am

actually starflight 2 was the best

and if your into killing, what kills better than a capital ship?

also you say we're mercenaries so we " don't need x or y" is a flawed statement, i thought this game said you could be anything.

the fact that we can do anything do whatever, should include the ability to acquire a larger ship.

MMaggio · Post by **MMaggio** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 9:55 am

I love the Starflight series. Altho they are for Dos only, they are true classics.
Did you know there was a version for console games?

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:25 am

When I think of Corvette class ships that suit for this game I am thinking more in the line of the Corvette class from I-War 2.

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 10:36 am

As you can see they are roomy enough to imaginate you have a living quarters for you and your crew as well as room for cargo space.

I like the side weapon mounts, you could mount all kinds of weapons on them, laser cannon arrays, missile launchers, torpedo launchers, rocket pods and even 2 small fighters with a pilot in it that could function as 2 turrets or they could detach and provide fighter cover. They had missiles and laser cannons.

The pilot area was also the escape pod, it could detach and function as a ship with minimal weapons, IIRC it was 1 beam cannon and a laser cannon array. (Not saying Vice should add that though)

Seeing these screens and digging into my memory I might install this game again.

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:37 am

As for size comparison, I think from looking at the tiny cockpit area on the command section that the detachable command section / ship is bigger then a Starmaster.

Ravenfeeder · Post by **Ravenfeeder** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 11:48 am

From post: 104448, Topic: tid=7405, author=Cruis.In wrote:actually starflight 2 was the best

and if your into killing, what kills better than a capital ship?

also you say we're mercenaries so we " don't need x or y" is a flawed statement, i thought this game said you could be anything.

the fact that we can do anything do whatever, should include the ability to acquire a larger ship.

You're right, the game does say that you can be anything - you can be any type of mercenary you want!

warsign · Post by **warsign** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 12:52 pm

Evochron Mercenary is great game for me, dont like to fly with big ships. And If one day corvette ships will be available, they'll have so much trouble with great fighter pilots of Evochron!

We love fireworks

We are working together

From post: 104439, Topic: tid=7405, author=Ravenfeeder wrote:Cruis.in there's no need for player cap ships - if you want a home base build one, if you can figure out what -50k or 50k means.

We're mercenary pilots, we ain't into walking, we're into killing, mining, trading, anything that makes a profit, or increases our abilities to do so - but, most of all flying.

For flying in space, this, imho, is the best sim going - I've been working in, and around, computers since '67 - so, I've tried just about every space game going, and a quite a few non-space games too. This, again, IMHO, is the best genre for a space sim.

in, IMHO, is the best genre for a space sim.[/rrquote]

Raven, I am agree with you again, happens alot these days

[Edited on 3-24-2011 by warsign]

Post by **Marvin** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 2:40 pm

Both the Mammoth and Starmaster maneuver like much bigger ships. All you need do is build a modded frame and cockpit to fit the lumber of those two civvy ships.

Avenger · Post by **Avenger** » Thu Mar 24, 2011 3:50 pm

In all honesty I find the Starmaster and Mammoth big enough to house living spaces from crew, it may not be the Ritz but that's not what a space mercenary is about.