Another suggestion post :P

[kyokei]

I seriously had no idea which post to hijack for this so I guess making a new one is fine too.

I've been playing around in the new experimental version and I seriously love it.
I do however still feel like there is a lack of liveliness in the systems.

I think I've mentioned this before but how hard would it be to implement the following? I'm asking this because I have no idea of the degree of difficulty that these things take.

So here is what I would love to see in VE (I know mods can do it but I'm a vanilla kinda guy):
1- Squadrons of faction fighters flying from system to system
2- Fighter ships escorting trade/mining ships (not all, but some)
3- Faction "police" ships that hail/halt you and want to scan your cargo for contraband
4- Add "illegal" trade items (sell for higher value but when caught can have vairous consequences)
5- This post: http://forums.atomictorch.com/index.php?topic=627.0 - adding background visuals to make the game richer
6- Able to hire fighter ships to escort you - they will escort you for a limited time - Maybe bind it with a new faction?
7- Some more login to be built in when using multiple mining lasers - have it pre-calculate the energy needed and check it with current energy or make it haul ore per energy spent.

Point 1-5-6-7 are the ones that I really would love to see

[Lurler]

I hope I can answer that. Sorry if it sounds like "no" mostly.

1. Very difficult due to the way systems are handled (if there are no players inside, the system is offloaded from memory and is not processed to save performance).
2. Should be relatively easy if I understand this thing correctly.
3. Difficult, it will require new core system for this, possibly some UI as well.
4. Tied to p3.
5. Totally agree with this one, we have some plans for the visuals too, but we wanted to add more interactivity first, to make the game a bit "deeper".
6. It's possible and already done for certain missions, but we are not sure abut adding it as a "hire a mercenary" thing as it mostly seems annoying when someone flies after you and messes your plans
7. While I definitely see your point, but I have to say - this feature is not the top priority currently.

But essentially all your suggestions are tied to making the world more alive. And that is our goal currently. Aside from the hacking a lot of the things in this update were done to make the world livelier. And we'd like to improve on that some more if we have the opportunity.

[kyokei]

SO MUCH NO!

I had a feeling most of it would be a huge change, so that's fine.

About point 1: Can't you handle this in the same way you handle trade ships and mining ships?
Trade ships at the moment also warp to next zones, so basically this would be to add the same functionality as trade/mining ships but then with fighter ships (and then 1 to 3 ships) and have them fly around the zone or have them fly to a warp station.

Point 3 and 4, I get that it's difficult, maybe something to keep in mind?
Point 7: totally understand, I love to play a miner/trade ships and having your energy run out just as you are about to finish is the worst feeling ever

Thanks for the replies Lurler!