<tom[]>
ddfreyne: the commodity price list reminds me of Elite
<tom[]>
not event driven, is it?
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<ddfreyne>
tom[]: It's a combination of Elite, Escape Velocity, Freelancer, and maybe a few other games
<ddfreyne>
It's all HTML5/canvas/javascript, with my own game engine behind it
<tom[]>
i wouldn't have guessed you were old enough to be into Elite. that's why it surprised me to see the for sale list
<ddfreyne>
tom[]: I played Oolite a little bit, and dived into some of the specifics of how it works
<ddfreyne>
But yeah, even Oolite feels to oldschool for me :)
<tom[]>
oolite looks very pretty
<tom[]>
next you need nebulae in spaaace
<ddfreyne>
tom[]: I'm going to avoid the need to make everything look pretty as much as possible for now, and focus on gameplay
<ddfreyne>
For example, adding AI ships. I don't quite know how to tackle that, but I imagine I'll just start with fake ships going from planet to planet
<ddfreyne>
Then maybe a few coming from and going to hyperspace
<ddfreyne>
Escort ships, then
<ddfreyne>
Probably want some asteroid mining going on, too
<ddfreyne>
And finally, combat… which is going to be a big challenge.
<tom[]>
the ai needs to take into account what information might be available about the payer's cargo and history
<ddfreyne>
Yep, combat rating is defintiely something I'll do
<ddfreyne>
Police vehicles scanning cargo
<ddfreyne>
If it's illegal cargo (drugs, weapons, …), you can either pay a fine or engage in combat
<tom[]>
can a trading post sell information about a transaction?
<ddfreyne>
The latter will drop your reputation in that system, and perhaps with the faction that you're attacking
<ddfreyne>
tom[]: Hmm, not sure why that would be useful
<tom[]>
1. for freelancers who might want your cargo. 2. in case you want to get into such freelance piracy
<ddfreyne>
tom[]: I'd also love to have the possibility to be a pirate or bounty hunter
<ddfreyne>
Perhaps even enlisting in the military and doing missions there
<tom[]>
i was being pc
<ddfreyne>
?
<tom[]>
politically correct. you say pirate. i say freelance
<ddfreyne>
Ah heh :)
<ddfreyne>
Guild of Free Traders! Houseless Warriors!
<ddfreyne>
There's a lot of ways this thing can go. I'll start small and expand from there.
<ddfreyne>
tom[]: There is a game in development called Limit Theory, and it looks really impressive. It even features a supply/demand based economy and the piracy levels are also affected by that
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<ddfreyne>
High demand for ore -> lots of miners mining it -> price goes down -> less miners mine it -> price goes up ->
<ddfreyne>
etc. Also, lots of valuable minerals being mined -> pirates attack and plunder ships -> less miners are willing to mine -> ...
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<ddfreyne>
I am not sure whether I want a system as advanced as that, because it will be unpredictable and EXTREMELY had to balance.
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<tom[]>
classical economics
<ddfreyne>
I don't know enough about economics to implement that anyway :(
<ddfreyne>
(I've been trying to do some research on that… but it's hard.)
<tom[]>
meh. classical ec is kinda boring and usually a bad model of real life
<ddfreyne>
tom[]: Not fun, too unpredictable, etc?
<tom[]>
too predictable
<ddfreyne>
Too volatile?
<tom[]>
no
<tom[]>
classical economics' best feature is that it is amenable to complex system analysis. because its base functions are simple and linear. but that's why it's also not realistic
<ddfreyne>
tom[]: Or it gets too unrealistic too quickly, and it removes the immersion and you can't really build good gameplay on it?
<tom[]>
so it's also its worst feature
<ddfreyne>
e.g. you get a resource that everybody seems to need, but the price is so high that nobody gets it?
<ddfreyne>
nm, bad example
<ddfreyne>
I know nothing about economics, heh
<tom[]>
classical ec can't even handle limits like that
<ddfreyne>
Or maybe… you know that a certian resource is always going to be necessary, so if you look into the future you KNOW that the resource will have to keep on getting mined
<ddfreyne>
Even if there is no interest in it at the moment
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<tom[]>
well. a game can be seen as a simulation
<tom[]>
and if you iterate your simulation, which you will, somehow, then you can build in interesting features
<ddfreyne>
tom[]: I am interested in adding a subsystem to this game in which you can invest in planets and help build their economy.
<ddfreyne>
So once that is in place, ahving some economic simulation will be necessary
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<tom[]>
yes
<ddfreyne>
But it also needs to be rewarding
<ddfreyne>
Fun > realism
<tom[]>
yes. there are plenty of examples of that
<ddfreyne>
Imagine investing massively in a planet and prices suddenly going down, the economy crashing completely
<ddfreyne>
Would you play a game like that?
<tom[]>
i don't play games much
<ddfreyne>
Probably not; you'd be 'screw this' and play something else
<tom[]>
i was into minesweeper once
<ddfreyne>
hehe :)
<ddfreyne>
Good games inspire me to build something myself
<tom[]>
you like computer programming
<ddfreyne>
Yup
<ddfreyne>
tom[]: Eventually, I also want to have the ability to have campaigns consisting of missions in this game, so that you can finish the game
<ddfreyne>
Open-ended worlds can get boring, because there doesn't seem to be a point to the game
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<ddfreyne>
and perhaps the prerequisite of a certain campaign is to have a certain combat rating and a ship that is sturdy enough for serious combat missions, and getting to that point requires some sandbox gameplay.
<ddfreyne>
Who knows. Just throwing out ideas :)
<tom[]>
that could be something as simple as a holy grail that only becomes available after some, possibly opaque, checklist is complete