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Any news on a new exploration system yet?
sirsitsalot
Member Posts: 2,803 Arc User
I've been gone for a while and am about to come back for a visit. When I was last here there was discussion about some new exploration system that might have been in the works. Has anything come of that yet?
The other stuff that's been happening in the game sounds cool, but I would like to have a system in place that would let me explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no-one has gone before, between seasonal content release.
Just wondering
The other stuff that's been happening in the game sounds cool, but I would like to have a system in place that would let me explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations and boldly go where no-one has gone before, between seasonal content release.
Just wondering
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if I stop posting it doesn't make you right it. just means I don't have enough rum to continue interacting with you.
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Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Since that livestream is more recent, that's about as far as we're really going to get with it. It's not a small system that they can just slap into the game in a few months time.
My character Tsin'xing
Not that I'm aware of...but that's a good idea! Maybe have a toggle switch to allow or disallow other players to read your Captain's Log.
> I really don't expect to see them go head to head with Star Citizen on that front.
Star Citizen and STOs new Exploration are currently on the same level though. ;-)
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Really? So a budget, playable demos, and a schedule is available on STO? Must have missed that. Or maybe your Star Citizen knowledge is just out of date.
I'm pretty sure I just said it wouldn't. Because for the most part that would be suicidal, with a side order of "why would STO essentially feed itself to the lions?"
Any project that big needs to be about player acquisition, not player retention. STO's just not that well armed to jump into the hunt for new players using "Exploration!" as bait. There's a reason you hear "white board..." and then crickets. Because unlike player daydreaming, game design as a business requires a certain awareness of the larger market.
STO can, should, and I assume would do different things than any other game. But right now "Exploration!" is really not a buzz word they can throw around as a key sales point because there is a much newer, much better financed project looming over that premise while we're simultaneously coming off the giant stink-fest that was No Man's Sky. But it could be great to take up that banner again in 2-3 years when 64bit location engines are something you can license from the people taking all the risks right now.
Well said. And 4 years ago that would have been brilliant. Right now its just not a good place to put enough chips to make a good bet.
But if it's a Star Trek game then would it really be in Cryptic's interests to put resources into content that wasn't shown in preference of things that were (ex. narratives, character drama)? You may be able to hit the hidden aspect but at that point are you actually doing service to the franchise (as it exists for most people)?
Exploration can be handled within the framework of a set narrative. This is how we appreciated exploration in the show after all. Moment to moment, the player doesn't know where things might lead and I would argue that a developer would be more capable of eliciting the right feeling than an RNG system (through careful dialog, map design, and gameplay design).
See. No Man's Sky (yeah, I went there but I think some general questions need to be asked about the "exploration" genre and whether or not it's worth pursuing in STO. We attach a keyword because of the franchise and look to games that incidentally share the same. Is that really a substantial connection or just something that's incidental to language?)
Episodes are dynamic, not static. Furthermore, it's not clear in what capacity an RNG based exploration system would be "dynamic" compared to careful writing and mission design. Direct human input in the latter means that it has a much greater capacity to vary, surprise, and provoke thought (see. the last episode and its background detail). A RNG system is, by its nature, limited in what it can do (since dev input has to be constrained to fit episodes to a random narrative).
We certainly can explore New Kentar (some of us have trouble NOT exploring that map.) Personally, I'd prefer Cryptic approach exploration as an ongoing theme rather than a new system.
Notable missions: Apex [AEI], Gemini [SSF], Trident [AEI], Evolution's Smile [SSF], Transcendence
Looking for something new to play? I've started building Foundry missions again in visual novel form!
Lest you think I am merely being negative, there is an option: put a creative mind in the mix. Instead of creating algorithms, use a GM. This was done very successfully in Neverwinter Nights back at the turn of the century.
Of course, STO would have to set loot drops and event rewards to prevent Monty Haul GMs from giving free stuff to their friends, and to prevent stingy GMs from running a three hour session then 'forgetting' to reward the participants.
This would also be the case for challenge level, so that a GM couldn't send a team of level 20 captains into a room full of level 60 Heralds. But this is already done in the Foundry.
In fact, I would propose that Foundry be used by the GM to create his scenario, leaving only the GM interface to be developed. I'm guessing most of what is needed has already been developed as testing tools, and what remains would be what is needed to allow the GM to control individuals, speak for them, trigger spawns, iniate and terminate combat, and observe and monitor player characters as they progress through the scenario.
The real hitch here is in selecting GMs. You are certain to get nuts in your chocolate, so players need to be able to communicate with the staff to eliminate undesirable GM'swho use the medium for unethical behavior. Reporting functions which include session logs can help moderators determine which cases are of disgruntled players and which are of misbehaving GMs.
But I would begin with an approval process which selects willing GM's from the current active Foundry authors who submit to oversight by staff moderators who can enter and exit scenarios in progress in supervisor mode. As the numbers of qualified GM's increase some could be promoted to Community Moderators, under staff supervision, who then help newer GMs get on their feet and keep their eyes on potential problem GM's. Thus, the chore of screening GMs could be shared among those who have the most to lose by the misbehavior of one of their number, allowing staff moderators to go on with their day job and only dealing with real troublemakers.
The end result would be when a GM logs in and announces that he is issuing invitations for x number of players of y level for approximately z hours. Players could then log in to his instance on a first come basis or a most closely matched by experience basis and participate in the session for rewards equivalent to those he could earn playing PvE.
Because of liability issues I doubt this would ever happen. But if it did, think of how many new worlds, new aliens, new adventures, new puzzles there could be: infinite potential using limited resources. Exploration would be truly limitless.
My character Tsin'xing
So many memories.....thriving player cities, thriving player economy, thousands of people on at once, more classes and professions than any MMO to this day. It was so sad to watch it evaporate withinhours of the NGE hitting......wow.
original join date 2010
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Had a friend that played SWG. After the crash, they'd always send him (and I assume everyone else) tons of free goodies to come back. He logged on and showed me the game. Ran around the ground, saw his house, and flew his ship between systems. It looked nice. But there was absolutely no other players anywhere he went. An entire ghost galaxy. Very sad.