SEV + Starfury
 

Probably this has come up before, but anyway...

I've been messing about with Starfury lately and I have to say that it really does get sort of boring. Once SEV comes out, I wonder if it would be possible for MM to make some sort of expansion pack to bind Starfury and SEV together. Essentially, keep Starfury's basic gameplay, but make it happen inside a living, breathing dynamic universe populated by AI-controlled factions developing their empires according to SEV's rules.

Instead of stupid quests like escorting freighters etc. that get created specifically in order to be escorted by the player, you could see a colony ship be constructed at a homeworld, escort the colony ship to its destination empty world, and when it arrives safely, you can see it start work on colonizing a new world etc.

Scientific survey missions would actually add Research Points to the empire funding the survey mission, intelligence sweeps would add intel points to the controlling empire etc.

And rework components so that they would depend on the actual results of research. That would be much, much better than the current Starfury system of going around trying to find highest-quality level of components all the time.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

Starfury is what it is... unless you mod it. Most of all I find it's a great time-killer. I've got 3 or 4 different game saves on hand, the favorite currently I call "Exploring, Pirating and Marauding." I basically just did a seperate game-save before starting the second campaign and used it to just go out and whack anyone I feel like whacking. I play it every coupla days when I get home from work and I'm currently flying around in a Terran Carrier loaded with fighters just experimenting with the tactics.

And I REALLY love the music! I have the mp3's dumped into my WMP so I can play them all the time. I especially like tracks 5 and 15 turned up really loud. Nice and spooky.

Once you get good at the combat, that phase of it is a lot of fun too. "Hmmm... how many Pirate cruisers can I attack at once and survive..... oops, not THAT many..." I especially like the F8 point of view (target lock) when duking it out. Stay away from the asteroid belts with that one though! I'm still having a lot of trouble whacking the damn Amonkrie Cruisers... those freakin DUC's hurt.

Can you tell I like it?http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...es/biggrin.gif

Turin

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

There's a lot of exciting modding potential in Star Fury, but there's just so much data to manipulate that it is overwhelming - especially when it comes to making a comprehensive campaign or debugging.

However, I suspect SE:V will renew some interest in Star Fury just because the volume of ships included in a similar format should lend themselves to being ported to Star Fury fairly easily and lead to some new blood for that game. Although unlikely, a patch to add some features like cloaking would be nice.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

The combat is okay and can be fun. What I don't like is the fantasy RPG-like aspect of gaining xp and levels and having new components magically available to you as you level up. I also dislike the static nature of the universe.

If SEV and Starfury were bound together, it would be a whole new ballgame. Now you can really see the balance of power in the galaxy change in accordance with your actions. What components you can buy depends on the research level of the faction you are buying from.

Also, you could expand Starfury in all sorts of ways, just as there are innumerable possibilities in the SE games.

Escort transport ships as they travel to lay mines and satellites to defend a critical warp point. Escort a space yard ship to a new system and protect it as it constructs a new starbase. Patrol the borders of the empire you work for and find and destroy cloaked spy ships as they try to slip past the border defenses. Join a Terran strike team as they assemble a fleet to create a warp point to the home system of an enemy empire and attack it.

In standard Starfury, this kind of missions would need to be tediously scripted manually. But since the AI in SEIV already does this kind of stuff, there's no reason why the AI can't dynamically decide to perform certain missions and allocate resources to the Starfury player to execute them.

Then Starfury would be a really cool game!

P.S. Yeah, I figured out how powerful DUCs are too, and the Amonkrie Cruisers are a real pain. Fighting two or three normal cruisers in a destroyer is no problem, but fighting just one with DUCs is real tough. Is there any reason to go for anything other than DUCs in this game?

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

On a cautionary note, Aaron is only one man.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

..Correction,.. "Aaron is Da Man!" Now go stand in the corner and count your fingers.. twice.

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...ies/tongue.gif

Cheers! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Edited to be politically and religiously correct.. Sorry Narf it was not my intent to slight you in any way.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

Definitely try my P&N-ism mod. There are a lot of improvements there. Combat is slower, and you're more likely to survive light to moderate damage, but if you stay and fight, your little destroyer is gonna get easily whupped by a pair of pirate cruisers. You'll have some trouble one on one against a bigger ship, but if yours is tricked out, you should make it.

There's a pile of improved components too, making better use of the available abilities.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

Starfury is still one of those game that you play because it is fun to do so. I do agree that it does get boring after while and that an expansion pack for the game with added game play types would be a god send.

When I play a game like Starfury, I want to be able to do many things that are impossible to do in Starfury.

I want a game where I am a person, FP or 3rd, perferrably 1st person, like Han Solo, who takes on jobs and is paid to do so. Go to exoctic places looking for artifacts or resources. Selling supplies to natives, or stealing things from them. Upgrading and or buying new ships.

Buy a ship, equip it with weapons, and other neat toys. Buy a ground vehicle and take it with me. Update the ground vehicle with weapons, better engines, just like a ship.

Basically make the ships as importatnt to the game as the player.

Get tired of your old slow bLaster, well buy a new better one from a Gun shop.

Take jobs running cargo through pirate infested space, or run illegal cargo through a military blockaid. Make the whole universe 1st person, even in combat, with the option to go 3d person as in SF for space combat.

Take on odd jobs like transporting people, assinations, property recovery, etc. Go on quests to find lost treasure or a salvage a ghost ship. Explore the galaxy, and any planet you want to land on. Find rare and priceless antiques or artifacts and sell them either on the black market or auction them.

Have a huge MP system to support this.

Need an advanced star drive for you ship, cannot afford one, well hire some people and go steal one from someone. For that matter steal there entire ship. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Need extra cash, sell off part of your collection of odds and ends. Have losts of things you can collect and keep.

Basically make a game that is a 1st person experience in space without all the borningness of current games like Ever Quest and Battle Fronts. Make the game fun to play with built in senorios and player generated random quests or just explore space and see what happens.

Hear a rumor that there is an abandon city on Rigel III filled with gold. Must find Rigel III, so you have to talk to the guy, find a star map, make it to Rigel III through all the obsecles, then find the city and explore it. Ooops, no gold but a secret military installation with alots of new weapons. Steal the weapons or plans or both, and sell them on the black market or keep them for you own use.

Have hundreds of mission likes this, or just have random things happen when you land on a planet to claim it or explore it.

Own your own planet where you keep your loot. Set up planet defense, hire drones or other to protect your planet from plunder.

Discover new worlds and sell the mineral rights. Get sued for ship collisions or other. Pay taxes, or duties as you play.

Buy supplies, tools, weapons, ammo, parts, etc.

Just have a game where you can emerse yourself into the character without all the boring details like going out and having to build skill levels by shooting dester wamp rats or strip for money.

Your the captain of your own ship, won it in a poker game, and now your out to make your mark on the galaxy any way you can. The ultimate goal would be to own you own planet and have an opulant palace filled with naked women there to do your bidding. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

When it gets a little boring, change your style.

sell off your ship and buy a carrier

or

start being a pirate

or

start being a bounty hunter


Slick.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

Bounty hunter...... now that would be awsome for a new game.

I wonder why no one has made a game about Stargate? I mean that would be an awsome game and I can think of at least 20 differant things that could be done in the game. Hell the series lends itself nicely to progressive story telling via a PC game. Its a wonder that no one has jumped on this license and published a game. Man what a wasted oppertunity.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

Yeah really, man, c'mon. There's a lot to DO out there. Some of those things in your list, AT.. I go out and do those in some fashion. At least some of them! http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Have you not figured out that you can ambush ships, blow them up, and then fly over their components and pick them up? Then you take your arse over to a spacedock, get them repaired for like, peanuts, and then SELL them! For GOBBS of cash! Then after time you go out and get a bigger, nastier ship.

And by the way, I was taking on two Cruisers at a time back when I had a lil old Destroyer. My favorite thing about the Destroyer was the quickness, I miss that in my big clunky Carrier.

Tachyon cannons dude, especially early in the game. They skip shields! Two of those on the front, keep yourself behind your target and WHACK WHACK WHACK. Put torpedos or CSM's on your side mounts and steer back and forth just enough to get your target into the firing arcs.

WEEEEEeeeeeeeee!
Turin http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/smirk.gif

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

Or in my case, be a cheap slavedriver, and have the busted components installed so your crew can repair them for free http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/happy.gif

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

HAAAAAAAAAA-hahahahahahaha! I never even thought of that!!

Brilliant!

Turin

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

Absolutely. I think this is the best way to make $$$. Invest in a good repair bay and that's the ticket to money heaven. Even if you don't really want the darn thing, install it, let it get repaired then sell it. Check out the price difference. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/shock.gif

Slick.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

What Atrocities asks for sounds like Battlecruiser and its sequels, not that I would recommend them. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

But seriously, depending on how SEV is set up, I don't think what I'm suggesting would take a tremendous amount of work. If in SEV all star systems already exist like they do in Starfury (i.e. 3D objects laid on a 2D grid), then binding SEV and Starfury together would be a lot of work, but not an impossible amount of work I think.

Right now in Starfury everything is so boring and static, when in SEIV, lots of things are happening, i.e. new ships amd bases are being built, big battles are fought, planets are conquered or glassed, the population and infrastructure of planets change over time, research is conducted to enable construction of bigger, more powerful ships etc., which makes it alive and interesting.

In Starfury, the ships that populate a star system are fixed when you enter it. Freighters tell you all the time "On our way out of the system" but they never leave. If pirate ships are in the area, they fly about until they meet Terran ships who kill them, and then no more pirate ships show up unless you leave the system and re-enter. But in SEIV (and presumably SEV), even AI-controlled ships move about with a purpose, not just existing to add targets and scenery to the Starfury player.

Some planets are called industrial centres, farming worlds, military bases, research centres etc., but none of that matters except as places to repair, buy stuff and get missions. But in SEIV, if you destroy an AI controlled research centre, it gets less research points. Destroy an orbital space yard and its starship production capability is hurt.

In Starfury, the galactic news is canned, scripted stuff. In a dynamic SE universe, the news could be totally dynamic, i.e. a big battle happened between the x empire and the y empire, the x empire has destroyed a large planet of the y empire and the citizens of y empire are enraged about it, x empire has signed a Trade and Research agreement with the y empire, rumors have it that x empire has assembled a large war fleet equipped with powerful new weapons etc. Exploring such a universe, watching the ships move about on their appointed, real, tasks, would be splendidly fun!

Another way to expand upon Starfury would be to learn a few lessons from the Grand Theft Auto series. Let the player buy properties. Buy a hangar and you can park a starship there while you fly about in another one. Buy a freight company and you can have computer controlled freighters transporting stuff and earning you a profit, though you need to come to their rescue if they come under pirate attack. Buy a whole starbase in a crossroads system and you get to equip it as you like and it earns you a nice regular income from being a trade centre. And you can come running back to it for fire support if you get chased by a big, powerful fleet. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/smilies/wink.gif

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

Now that I've been sucked into the Star Wars: Galaxies game, They could make a similar Online game for Stargate. Engine-wise I don't think it would be any different than SWG is now. The only difference would be, instead of traveling between planets by buying passage on a ship...you use the stargate!! And, with Jump to Lightspeed, the same game system could handle the ships of Stargate.

However, a PC progressing storyline-based game makes more sense for Stargate, at least to see how it would sell.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

I'm pretty sure they are making a stargate game. It's a First Person Shooter, A lot of the previews have been seen in the Season 8 episode "Avatar" (where teal'c gets stuck in that virtual reality game.)

I've heard it's been in development for a while, But there is no doubt in my mind that it will be released soon, Stargate is too popular not to make a game on. My hazy memory keeps reminding me that it might be an australian based game company making it.... But that might be my mind making thing's up.

Re: SEV + Starfury
 

Hey, SJ, I just tried your P&N mod for Starfury and it's really great! A couple of questions:

1) If I sell the starting freighter, is there no place to buy it again?

2) What's with the ultra low energy generation components?

3) Why are fighters so hard to destroy with PDs?