11-16-2019, 09:46 PM
Some more thoughts of mine and others on the discord as we got to talking:
The next universe should have a bit of a different galaxy structure. We were thinking fewer, smaller galaxies. Like 3-4 galaxies that are more on the scale of 1000-2000pc across instead of 5k like the shores galaxy. It would also be neat if they were close enough to show up in the skybox, and if possible make warping between them possible. Although I think that should take a very long time, so that the intergalactic wormholes are still a highly valued option. The idea behind this is that the local cluster is on a "collision course" hence why the galaxies are all close. The fewer, smaller is due to just the current player counts not really justifying the amount of space. If the game gets a huge influx of players (hopefully one day!!) then we can always add more galaxies as we need them.
Additionally the 'structure' of a galaxy in a sense should change a bit. At some point system generation should stop completely, so that only empty sectors are made with 0 systems at some distance away, like 1000pc or such, and outside of the 'galactic plane' ringworlds should not spawn. So if the galaxy is ~11 sectors thick (5 above the plane, 5 below), then ringworlds only spawn in z -5 to 5, and going above or below that the single systems will never be ringworlds. This would prevent people from finding a ringworld 5000 million pc away or something and using it to teleport back and forth to skirmish and pillage with no real way to reach or find them. It would still allow for some colonies far off, to show that nice galaxy in the skybox, but it wouldn't be a strategic advantage due to the lack of ringworlds so the only way to travel is warp and deal with the warp times.
There was also talk about making 'terrain' of sorts, regions of space with special properties. Nebulas that block sensors really well, so from the outside they are quite unknown. Areas with higher concentrations of rare elements or something. Maybe some regions are more likely to have higher quality resources, and other regions are more likely to have lower quality resources. Stuff like that. We don't have strategic resources of any kind but those would also be a neat thing to add in to this. The idea behind this is making space have meaning, so that the Gorlon Nebula isn't the same as every other nebula, maybe something about it makes it more valuable. And the fact it's a nebula makes it different than any normal region of space. Right now all regions of space are pretty much the same. This could even tie into the different galaxies nicely, and could mean adding end game content to galaxies that are 'harder' (more pirates, space monsters, etc) if they were the only places certain resources spawned for end game stuff. Would give a reason to fight over certain regions if they are more valuable, promoting more conflict.
Another idea was having stellar black holes (the ones that spawn around the galaxy, not the supermassive one) generate wormholes that link to other stellar black holes in that galaxy. This would allow fast long range travel around the galaxy, and make these systems more valuable as well. It makes sense as well that small (stellar) black holes link small (with in the galaxy) distances, while huge (supermassive) black holes link vast (other galaxies) distances. This is a very, very good idea and is super cool!
I also suggested that ships should drop some of their cargo/ammo when destroyed, and the officer log could go in this "wreck" object so that you could actually recover these. As it stands officer logs seem just to fly off and are basically impossible to collect. This would also enable piracy of ships even if the ships never stand down, although you'd over ever get a fraction of what's in the hold. If you've heard/seen Eve Online this is what happens when a ship gets destroyed. The idea would be if the cargo hold has 5 items of varying quantities, there is a percentage chance of dropping each. It's a bit of a curve so there is usually at least something. At the very least the officer log should always drop.
The next universe should have a bit of a different galaxy structure. We were thinking fewer, smaller galaxies. Like 3-4 galaxies that are more on the scale of 1000-2000pc across instead of 5k like the shores galaxy. It would also be neat if they were close enough to show up in the skybox, and if possible make warping between them possible. Although I think that should take a very long time, so that the intergalactic wormholes are still a highly valued option. The idea behind this is that the local cluster is on a "collision course" hence why the galaxies are all close. The fewer, smaller is due to just the current player counts not really justifying the amount of space. If the game gets a huge influx of players (hopefully one day!!) then we can always add more galaxies as we need them.
Additionally the 'structure' of a galaxy in a sense should change a bit. At some point system generation should stop completely, so that only empty sectors are made with 0 systems at some distance away, like 1000pc or such, and outside of the 'galactic plane' ringworlds should not spawn. So if the galaxy is ~11 sectors thick (5 above the plane, 5 below), then ringworlds only spawn in z -5 to 5, and going above or below that the single systems will never be ringworlds. This would prevent people from finding a ringworld 5000 million pc away or something and using it to teleport back and forth to skirmish and pillage with no real way to reach or find them. It would still allow for some colonies far off, to show that nice galaxy in the skybox, but it wouldn't be a strategic advantage due to the lack of ringworlds so the only way to travel is warp and deal with the warp times.
There was also talk about making 'terrain' of sorts, regions of space with special properties. Nebulas that block sensors really well, so from the outside they are quite unknown. Areas with higher concentrations of rare elements or something. Maybe some regions are more likely to have higher quality resources, and other regions are more likely to have lower quality resources. Stuff like that. We don't have strategic resources of any kind but those would also be a neat thing to add in to this. The idea behind this is making space have meaning, so that the Gorlon Nebula isn't the same as every other nebula, maybe something about it makes it more valuable. And the fact it's a nebula makes it different than any normal region of space. Right now all regions of space are pretty much the same. This could even tie into the different galaxies nicely, and could mean adding end game content to galaxies that are 'harder' (more pirates, space monsters, etc) if they were the only places certain resources spawned for end game stuff. Would give a reason to fight over certain regions if they are more valuable, promoting more conflict.
Another idea was having stellar black holes (the ones that spawn around the galaxy, not the supermassive one) generate wormholes that link to other stellar black holes in that galaxy. This would allow fast long range travel around the galaxy, and make these systems more valuable as well. It makes sense as well that small (stellar) black holes link small (with in the galaxy) distances, while huge (supermassive) black holes link vast (other galaxies) distances. This is a very, very good idea and is super cool!
I also suggested that ships should drop some of their cargo/ammo when destroyed, and the officer log could go in this "wreck" object so that you could actually recover these. As it stands officer logs seem just to fly off and are basically impossible to collect. This would also enable piracy of ships even if the ships never stand down, although you'd over ever get a fraction of what's in the hold. If you've heard/seen Eve Online this is what happens when a ship gets destroyed. The idea would be if the cargo hold has 5 items of varying quantities, there is a percentage chance of dropping each. It's a bit of a curve so there is usually at least something. At the very least the officer log should always drop.