Hurray! Another multiplayer clone project. :)

[NarnKar]

You really shouldn't call yourself "another" multiplayer clone project--you should call yourself THE multiplayer clone project. I've seen a lot of these threads get started, and a few people post their ideas, but never really get to work on them; you, on the other hand, actually put in the work and have a product to show, and a pretty good one at that.

If you need ship art for your game, you are welcome to use anything I've made (except the Aegir Kronos, though that's more because it probably wouldn't fit with your game's art style), as long as you ask first and give credit.

[kcd.Spektor]

You really shouldn't call yourself "another" multiplayer clone project--you should call yourself THE multiplayer clone project. I've seen a lot of these threads get started, and a few people post their ideas, but never really get to work on them; you, on the other hand, actually put in the work and have a product to show, and a pretty good one at that.

If you need ship art for your game, you are welcome to use anything I've made (except the Aegir Kronos, though that's more because it probably wouldn't fit with your game's art style), as long as you ask first and give credit.

Thanks!
Where can I find your ships?

Also, since you wanted to be asked first, can I use this images?
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=24475&p=89303#p89303
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11539&p=88561#p88561
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11539&p=88200#p88200
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11539&p=87902#p87902
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11539&p=87878#p87878
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11539&p=84951#p84951
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=11539&p=84912#p84912
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=24475&p=83645#p83645
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=24475&p=87273#p87273
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=17442&p=85340#p85340

Did I miss any?

[Cog]

How does the power mechanic work:
1. Every ship has a capacitor, it's size can be increased by installing capacitor systems.

What units is the capacitor measured in? How large is the default capacitor? How much do additional capacitor systems upgrade this by? The player should have a concrete number visible at least on the ship statistics screen, if not visible on the main screen.

2. Every system that requires power(has power bars ON) will drain the energy from the capacitor.

How much capacitor power does it take to generate one shield layer? To charge a basic laser I? How about a burst laser II? How much does it cost to charge 50 hyperdrive capacity?

3. If there is no energy in the capacitor then the system will not work(weapons/shields will not charge, med bay won't heal, ect...)

Does the medbay charge up too, or does it use energy directly from the capacitor? What is the priority order for how power is drained from the capacitor? The player should be able to set that order manually. Preferably with a single button click (like: Priority -> Shields, Priority -> Weapons, Priority -> Hyperdrive.)

4. Every installed reactor provides some energy to the capacitor.

What is the relationship between the power the reactor generates and how much capacitor power it generates per what unit of time? Quantum reactor is 15 power (iirc) so is that 15 capacitor power per game tick or something? How long is a tick?

5. If you find that there's a system that requires power, and it continues to work even if there is no power - that is a bug, please report it.
6. Shields/weapons drain power only when they are charging, so fully charged weapon will not drain any energy until it fires, and when your shields are full - the shields system will not drain more energy until you get hit.

How does Local jumping work:
1. Every engines system you install increases the maximum charge speed of your ship's engines(to a maximum of 15)

How much do level 1 base engines charge from the capacitor?

2. Charging the engines works the same way as described above(if there's no energy in capacitor - no charging )
3. The amount of energy needed to perform a local jump is equal to the ship's jump-weight.
4. What affects the ship's jump-weight: amount of room cells on the ship, amount of blocked cells(the ones that are not visible but are not passable), amount of installed systems.

Why would invisible things the player can't see affect jump-weight. Can you explain this better? I didn't understand.

How does Hyper jumping work:
1. Every hyper drive system has it's own capacity
2. Every hyper drive you install increases the maximum hyper drive capacity of the ship and charge speed of your ship's hyper drive(to a maximum of 15)
3. Charging the hyper drive works the same way as described above(again no energy - no charging)
4. The amount of energy needed to perform a jump to the nearest sector is equal to half of ship's jump-weight.
Example:
Ship jump-weight = 100
Installed hyper drives = 2
First hyper drive capacity = 120
Second hyper drive capacity = 200
Ship's total hyper drive capacity = 320
Max hyper jump range = 320/(100/2) = 6
As soon as the hyper ship's hyper drive accumulates 50 energy you can perform a jump to the nearest sector.
If you let you hyper drive fill up to max you will be able to jump 6 sectors at once.

If you can upgrade or purchase new systems from the store, can you sell old systems or remove something from a room if it can't be upgraded? Can the 120 unit capacity hyperdrive be upgraded to a 200 unit capacity drive?

Why does in-system jumping require twice as much power as jumping a full sector away?

[Cog]

Intent with those questions is both that I want to understand how it actually works, and the player also needs to be able to understand those things intuitively from the interface.

What do you think the next step at this point is? For people who are interested in helping, are there any tasks that could be assigned?

[kcd.Spektor]

What units is the capacitor measured in? How large is the default capacitor? How much do additional capacitor systems upgrade this by? The player should have a concrete number visible at least on the ship statistics screen, if not visible on the main screen.
How much capacitor power does it take to generate one shield layer? To charge a basic laser I? How about a burst laser II? How much does it cost to charge 50 hyperdrive capacity?

Number will be visible later on

Does the medbay charge up too, or does it use energy directly from the capacitor?

Directly

What is the priority order for how power is drained from the capacitor?

Right now I think it's the order in which the systems were installed.

The player should be able to set that order manually. Preferably with a single button click (like: Priority -> Shields, Priority -> Weapons, Priority -> Hyperdrive.)

Indeed a missing feature, will be added later

is that 15 capacitor power per game tick or something? How long is a tick?

yes 15 per tick
server runs at 40 updates(ticks) per second
UPS will be added as server config parameter.

How much do level 1 base engines charge from the capacitor?

Numbers will be visible later
For now either check the models files, or try installing 1 engine and see the ship's engines charge speed.

Why would invisible things the player can't see affect jump-weight. Can you explain this better? I didn't understand.

The actual area in cells(squares) occupied by the ship is marked with white.
The blocked cells are marked with red.
As you can see there are 3 types of cells:
space(white lines) - you can move through it freely
rooms(obvious) - these cells can have walls and doors
blocked(red lines) - these cells are transparent in the game just like space cells, but you can not walk through them.
blocked cells are needed to prevent players outside the ship to walk over ship images where there are no room cells.
if you use space cells instead of blocked cells then it will be possible for a player/mob to walk through ship images - shown in white circle.

If you can upgrade or purchase new systems from the store, can you sell old systems or remove something from a room if it can't be upgraded? Can the 120 unit capacity hyperdrive be upgraded to a 200 unit capacity drive?

You will be able to uninstall and sell stuff.

Why does in-system jumping require twice as much power as jumping a full sector away?

For balance.
This ratio will be added as server config parameter.

[kcd.Spektor]

What do you think the next step at this point is? For people who are interested in helping, are there any tasks that could be assigned?

1. Best thing to do for everyone is to test, test, test.

2. Create ships ingame, with different sets of systems, try them in pvp.
see which ones were fun to play.
make notes of them and post them here

3.Try different levels of progression ships, ex: small ships with 1 shield and basic laser(simulates the beginning of the game), bigger ships with more advanced systems(mid game), Huge ships with tons of weapons/shields/systems(end game)

4. Draw new stuff - ships, weapons, shields, projectiles, mobs, anything you see fit.

5. Create new ship models, and try them with P.3

6. Create new systems mdoels(ex: shield system with 6 shields and faster recharge speed, burst rocket launcher that fires 3,4,5 missiles, with different damage, etc) and try them with P.3

7. Create new projectile models(ex: Bigger missiles, mininukes, flying meat balls, etc), and try them with P.3

Points 4, 5 and 6 will probably require for me to make a tutorial post on the modding API

8. Give ideas for events

9. Give ideas for quests

10. Give ideas for Races/storylines

11. Any suggestions are welcome

[Gencool]

Oh shoot this has come a long way!


I'l give it a look over later, very excited!


As for races and stuff, I'm always coming up with that stuff (both in concept and actual sprites), so I may be able to help out there if you'd like.

[kcd.Spektor]

As for races and stuff, I'm always coming up with that stuff (both in concept and actual sprites), so I may be able to help out there if you'd like.

Any help is appreciated.

[The_Bear]

does anybody know where I can find some rebel ship parts?

Lanius sectors?

This really helps, going to a lanius sector now.

What species/organization is going to be the main enemy, I think it would be easier to come up with quests to the game if people know this.

I also want some credit for my ships.

[kcd.Spektor]

What species/organization is going to be the main enemy, I think it would be easier to come up with quests to the game if people know this.

No one specific for now.
Once again - any suggestions are welcome

I also want some credit for my ships.

Ok.