3.1 teamwork is developing

[TeaLeaf]

One of the things that happens when you get thrown a ton of stuff to read in a short period of time is that you often gloss over some gems.

Check out the schedule data on the RSI site:  https://robertsspaceindustries.com/schedule-report

Now scroll down to 3.1 and scan for this little titbit.

3.1 â€" Mining & Refining

BASIC PROFESSION FUNCTIONS

• Mining â€" Retrieve solid and gaseous commodities from planet surfaces, manual cargo transport, refining materials.
• Refining and Processing â€" Process raw ore into purified commodities. Most shops will only deal in one or the other form. Initial implementation might be to have dedicated shops handle the refining.
• Quantum Interdiction â€" Be able to interdict Player ships from Quantum travel.
• Refueling â€" Add Refuel Contracts to Service Beacon. AI tankers and fuel requests (as well as player fuel requests)
• Escort â€" Protect one or more ships from harm. Add Escort contracts to Service Beacon. Implement Quantum Linking (multiple ships jumping together)

Captain Marko Smilodon-Ramius: the order is "Engage the silent drive".

The Fleet can move around in a flotilla, that's awesome!   Now that got you wet, right?  :dribble:

[Whitey]

The Fleet can move around in a flotilla, that's awesome!   Now that got you wet, right?  :dribble:

Not sure about wet but definitely, slightly moist.  This is great news as being able easily navigate around the verse together will leave more time for us to do the fun stuff.

[ZigZag]

Now thats sorted, I just need to engineer a situation where some of us kite a group of enemies near a jump point then have the rest of us jump in with frigates and fighter escort and mop up. I'm all for ambushes.

On a tangent, have they said how ship storage works? I assume that your character has a persistent location (so it remains where you logged off) and not a fast travel to other star systems/owned locations. I also assume that ships work the same way, they remain in a fixed location unless you fly it somewhere else/have it transported for you. I was just thinking about what happens if a friend gets jumped in a location you're nowhere near, if you could fast travel to a nearby location and spawn in a ship. Probably not, so I'm guessing you'd have to pick a central staging area and operate in the surrounding star systems.

[OldBloke]

... I assume that your character has a persistent location (so it remains where you logged off) and not a fast travel to other star systems/owned locations.

I'm relying on having multiple in-game characters. One of mine will be off exploring while another is mining and yet another is readily available for our group-based missions.

[ZigZag]

That's a good idea, OB. I'm a bit behind the times - is there a RPG-like skills/perks tree to customise characters for different professions. I only ask as I shall have a dedicated smuggler character called 'Han Yolo' to earn everyones scorn and contempt.

[albert]

I'm relying on having multiple in-game characters. One of mine will be off exploring while another is mining and yet another is readily available for our group-based missions.

The one problem with multiple characters is it enables the ability to exploit the game mechanics. So for example you pitch up in your 2nd character and allow that character ship to be destroyed in order to gain more rank or points. Or even allow it to be present somewhere to attract other players by deceiving them into thinking you are a friendly. I'll be interested on how they intend preventing or policing exploitation of the game mechanics.

Also I was going to ask, when playing with dMw will we be in the public PvP Universe or a dedicated PvE Universe where we play against the game like we do in so many other games like Ark, 7DTD, etc.

I'm a little nervous about being in a big public PU where we could theoretically get ganked by a far larger group with vastly superior fire power.

[Obsydian]

Now thats sorted, I just need to engineer a situation where some of us kite a group of enemies near a jump point then have the rest of us jump in with frigates and fighter escort and mop up. I'm all for ambushes.

On a tangent, have they said how ship storage works? I assume that your character has a persistent location (so it remains where you logged off) and not a fast travel to other star systems/owned locations. I also assume that ships work the same way, they remain in a fixed location unless you fly it somewhere else/have it transported for you. I was just thinking about what happens if a friend gets jumped in a location you're nowhere near, if you could fast travel to a nearby location and spawn in a ship. Probably not, so I'm guessing you'd have to pick a central staging area and operate in the surrounding star systems.

Your ships will stay where they are until you move them or pay a contract to get them moved.  Even if you pay to have them moved, they will be physically moved through the verse, meaning that the shipment could come under attack and you lose your ship (insurance claim incoming!...)

There's no 'fast travel' or magic in this game, so if your friend is 10 jumps away from you, then he's on his own unfortunately!

[TeaLeaf]

Also I was going to ask, when playing with dMw will we be in the public PvP Universe or a dedicated PvE Universe where we play against the game like we do in so many other games like Ark, 7DTD, etc.

I'm a little nervous about being in a big public PU where we could theoretically get ganked by a far larger group with vastly superior fire power.

It's too early to see what is released, but we suspect that the answer to your question is a bit of both.   There are likely to be high security areas and there will undoubtedly be higher risk areas more prone to pirating and interdiction.

That's why we're members of PACT, as there is a very significant level of clout when you look at how large some of the member orgs are.  We'll be working to back each other up, and from time to time it will no doubt mean that we will be undertaking joint ops with them.

As to where we will be based........we'll need to wait on that, but I think that will be part of a PACT discussion so that DMW's main base is far enough away from security to be able to explore, enjoy a good economy etc, but close enough to other PACT members to support each other as and when required.   As some PACT orgs will almost certainly be in lower security space then it would suggest we might also end up in those regions of space.

Of course, there's nothing to stop us having a high security base in the initial phase and then moving our main base to a region of low security space once we have 'geared up' sufficiently.   We're also likely to be able to access a huge number of 'npc' bases and PACT member facilities, so the choice is pretty huge and flexible.

[smilodon]

Zigzag - there is no leveling or XP in the game for players. If you're crap at shooting stuff in a ship then your crap and shooting stuff. If you can finesse a mining laser like a Diva then you're a mining god.

As to multi crew ships and how the mechanic works of crewing them and playing together........


I remember reading an official post or watching an RSI Video.... or reading a Jump Point Issue or something, where multiplayer mechanics were discussed. The trouble is I can't remember where I read/watched it and certainly can't find the link. So I might have possibly dreamt it?

Or maybe it was something I chatted to Chris Roberts about when we met for that pint in West London. Did I mention the time I and TL met Chris and Sandy for a pint in a West London pub, when we met Chris and Sandi for a drink in a pub. Did I?

Seriously I do think it was something he mentioned in person (in the West London pub where I and TL met him and Sandi...........  :getmecoat:)

Anyway as I understood it from him this was the plan for multi crew ships.

1. Some ships that can  be run as multi crew ships will work just fine as single crew ships i.e. Freelancer, Cutlass. Extra crew members will help but certainly won't be crucial.
2. Some bigger ships will be technically flyable by a single player but won't work in any meaningful way without a crew i.e. Constellation, Carrack, Orion. You could deliver one from A to B but not much else.
3. Really big ships won't move or do anything much without at least a working crew. You can sit in the pilot seat and waggle the controls and that's about it i.e. Javelin, Idris and maybe the Polaris.

You can do multi crew in three ways.

1. You can let real players join you, climb aboard and crew certain specific seats. These players have to be able to get to where ever you and the multi crew ship are, which sometimes could be half way across the galaxy.
2. You can hire on an AI freelance crew for the job in hand. The more you pay the better the crew. The better the crew the bigger your chances of success and lower repair costs and bills. The better they crew the more you have to pay them in wages and the lower your profit margins. So it's all about balance.
3. You take on a permanent AI crew, which you can create and name as you do your own character. They become your permanent crew until they either get killed or you sack them. You have to give them a home aboard the ship and pay them a wage but you get to be Mal Reynolds. The more they do a task the better they will get at it but only to a point. An AI crew will be competent and effective but will never level up so high as to become invincible.

The sweet killer idea is that players can, with your permission, take over your freelance or permanent crew AI posts, effectively becoming that AI character for the duration of the mission. Their own character stays where it is in the galaxy but as there is no player leveling or XP in Star Citizen that's not an issue. When the job is done the Captain just pays the player some money  through a yet to be decided game mechanic.

The beauty of this set up is that I could log into SC in one system while Oldie is sat in his multi crew ship on the other side of the galaxy with say five NPC crew members. I can instantly teleport into any one of them and off we go adventuring. And at no time do I break the 'rules' of both physics and Star Citizen by being able to instantly leap across light years of space in an instant.

If I'm actually losing my mind and Chris Roberts said no such thing to me that time I and TL had a drink with him and Sandi in a West London pub......

then it's a bloody good idea and they should do it anyway!

[Galatoni]

I'm getting quite excited by the developments. Its all looking to be coming together more now.

[ZigZag]

Thanks for that Smilo, very comprehensive (sorry if my questions are a bit basic, I'm taking the 'pay little attention to the game so I don't get hyped out' approach). I wasn't aware that you and TL met Chris and Sandi in a West London pub but, as you say, even if you didn't discuss it with Chris and Sandi when you and TL met them in a West London pub for a pint, those are very good ideas.

I'm glad there isn't an XP system, its good there is a level playing field when it comes to players. Only downside is I can't blame my incompetence on some skill system. Hey ho.

[Lysander]

I wish you guys would stop teasing... I think I remember reading that 2.6 was due for release mid-December hopefully so I should be back from annual leave (aka holiday, or vacation).  That will at least give the opportunity to learn how to be a grunt or foot soldier.

Once the bigger ships are in play please give me a shout if you need a crew member.

[Lysander]

You can do multi crew in three ways.

1. You can let real players join you, climb aboard and crew certain specific seats. These players have to be able to get to where ever you and the multi crew ship are, which sometimes could be half way across the galaxy.

I'm possible wrong but I was under the impression the only really large vessels remain in the PU when the "owner" logs out of the game.  So it's my understanding that a normal vessel would in effect disappear from the PU when the vessel owner logs out.

Assuming this is the case what would happen the the human crew members?  Would we be stranded in game on a non-functional ship, or would we be stranded out of the game, unable to log in until the vessel we were manning was back in the PU.  Ie. on a deep space exploration mission manned crew could only log in when the vessel owner was in game?

I hope that makes sense... I've just finished a 5 hour trip from Aylesbury to Durham and am feeling a little jaded... and stupid.

[smilodon]

Currently if you are in another players ship and he/she logs out or disconnects then I think after a certain amount of time the ship despawns and you wake up back in your bunk on Crusader Station. When the game launches I'd imagine that there would be some mechanic in game that would deal with this situation should it arise. If the human crew members were occupying an NPC player slot then I guess they would simply jump back into their own avatar wherever that was. If the human player was using their own character I guess they would get moved to the location nearest to them which has one of their own jump capable ships close by? A bit like when a player 'dies' and is zapped instantly back to a medical centre somewhere.

I'm not actually sure and maybe CIG haven't worked out the mechanic yet but I'm sure they will have a solution ready when it's required.

[Obsydian]

As Smilo says, CIG haven't actually fleshed out the logout mechanic yet, but I believe in the scenario where the ship owner logs out (or disconnects), the owner's avatar will be taken control of by AI, which will attempt to fly the ship to the last safe harbour.  AFAIK there' won't be any despawning of the ship until it reaches safe harbour or one of the remaining humans puts the ship into hibernation mode (if they've been given the permissions to do so).  Alternatively, one of the humans with sufficient privileges can maybe ask to take control of the ship (if they aren't already in control: it doesn't have to be the owner piloting the ship) and carry on with the mission or take the ship somewhere else.

I'm interested to see how they actually do this to be honest, as it's going to make group missions - especially those over several days/sessions - quite interesting.