Role Playing Mod
 

How about making a RP mod?
Not just for anyone, but SERIOUS RP'ers...

Just as a starter example, we could add many "technically useless" components that would be useful for RPing.

EG:
"RP - FTL Comm System"
"RP - Lightspeed Comm"
"RP - Recreational Area"
"RP - Main Hallway"
"RP - ShortRange Sensors"
"RP - Cryogenic Lifepods"

What do you think? Good, Bad or Ugly?

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

I like it. Make them cheap and not take up much space of course.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

SJ - I agree with Geo, I like the idea and they should be small and cheap

the idea of communication is one I am going to raise on a separate thread - an on-topic thread for a change

regards

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Sounds good to me. You could require the components in the ships for certain sizes so it forces people to research the tech.

Would be cool if we could make some of the components do something.

Esp, comm!

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

I ran some tests, you can actually make them zero tonnage space taken and zero cost. You can give them abilities, or just give them a little tonnage structure so they can soak up a little damage in combat. Make them only one per ship to keep them from being abused.

Geoschmo

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Geoschmo, are RPers really that untrustworthy http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/image...s/confused.gif

The hitpoints of the components will have to be balanced compared to other comps, in order for the combat system to destroy them at a reasonable time. (Not first, not Last)

Somthing like an "RP - Officer's quarters" could give a small ECM/CS boost (virtual experience http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif )
Shortrange sensors could give a "long range scanner" ability with range zero or one, useful if you end combat in a draw, or construct something amidst a blockade.
Most components will have to be pure RP, though.

I was hoping to give them all reasonable cost & hitpoints, and then let the players come up with auxiliary RP rules, such as
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>All crewed ships must be designed with main corridors to provide connections between all:
- Bridge, AuxBridge, crew quarters, engine rooms, gunnery rooms, medical facilities, ...
- One engine room is required for every 100KT of engines used.
- One gunnery room is required for every 100KT (or per gun if it exceeds 100KT) of weapons.
- Each main corridor services two rooms, and can intersect other corridors.
- Any ships not built up to spec must be scrapped or retrofitted as soon as the violation is discovered.<hr></blockquote>

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Yeah, how about...

"If A ship which is established to be the common conveyance of a regularly occuring Role Play character (Admiral's flagship, etc.) is destroyed in combat, the character should be killed off unless the ship has life pods."

Geoschmo

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Another idea is that as you gain tech or build ships or improvements, serve in battles, etc, a random leader could show up. They would just be components, about twenty or so - The portraits, at least. There could be hundreds of leaders, about ten sharing the same portrait, but with different names and abilities. One thing that would be interesting is one for satilites - A person on board could act the same as sensors.

Other ideas for RP components:

-Mess Halls (Makes ship more secure)
-Shops, stores, parks (only for huge ships)
-Radio/TV/Supsace Radio (Ships gain more experience due to constant communication)
-Administration (Less likely to fall for enemy intelligence operations)
-Bathrooms (Really lame idea on my part, but it had to be said.)
-Detachable components (Not really an RP element, but it would increase space on a ship, like it did in MOO2)
-Chapel (For religious races)
-Refining Facility (For mining ships, would generate some extra minerals/organics/radioactives)
-Machine Shop (slowly improves ship)

[ 22 January 2002: Message edited by: Loknar ]</p>

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

For space stations you could also include:

Casinos - morale/happiness
Commerce Center/Banks
Zero-G Research/Hydroponics


I like the idea of leader components, interesting http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>"If A ship which is established to be the common conveyance of a regularly occuring Role Play character (Admiral's flagship, etc.) is destroyed in combat, the character should be killed off unless the ship has life pods."<hr></blockquote>Additionally, if any ship loses all lifesupport components, then all characters on board are lost, except if there is a functional lifepod or cryopod.
Lifepods must win a roll against every enemy ship with no damage to engines and crew components. The required roll is determined by the lifepod's rating. Pods that fail the roll are captured.

Also, It would be interesting to have the ruler (you) somewhere. Eg:
Rulers can only stay on planets with a palace facility, or ships with a "ruler's quarters".
Any ship or planet that you currently occupy must be renamed to include an [R] tag.
If your ruler is lost, you turn your empire over to AI control, and take over some other AI empire.

Loknar:
- Machine shop could probably be used for repair ability (1/per turn)
- Refining Facility. A one-per-ship, really efficient per KT, remote miner?
- Communications. I don't think a training effect would be appropriate, since the minimum is 1%/turn. For RPers, they would not be able to change the ship's orders unless the ship had
a) a functional FTL comm.
b) a functional lightspeed comm Plus line-of-sight to a ship(with FTL comm) or colony owned by the player.

Re: Detachable components. I don't think SE4 handles negative space components, and the tonnage is probably more important to spacecraft than sheer size.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

You could make the ruler a troop type, then cart him around as cargo http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Val:
You could make the ruler a troop type, then cart him around as cargo http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif <hr></blockquote>

you could make Il Duce a troop type but you would need to somehow modify it so (a) it didn't weigh anything (bit of a pain having to have to instal a 20,000 ton cargo hold in a battlecruiser just to carry Il Duce's ego around) and (b) you didn't need a cargo hold to carry him around

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Make him take some space - he is important and would have guards and such with him. Also, you could really make him a troop type and occasionally lead assaults and defend the planet (s)he is on.

You could also add a component (in the name of roleplaying) called "Leader's Quarters" and make it a smaller cargo component all around. Could also give the ship a bonus against boarders since they are defending their leader.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
For RPers, they would not be able to change the ship's orders unless the ship had
a) a functional FTL comm.
b) a functional lightspeed comm Plus line-of-sight to a ship(with FTL comm) or colony owned by the player.
<hr></blockquote>

Ooo, now that's an interesting idea. Hard to enforce, but most of these would be hard to enforce. It would have to be dependant on the players to enforce themselves.

I wouldn't say no order changes though. You need to give the ships captain/fleet admiral some leeway. If he is out of contact with the empire there should be some acceptable ROE or allow him some inititive to deal with situations that come up in his immediate vicinity. But no sending him back a system because the enemy has outflanked him, unless you can demonstrate how he would have got this information.

This way he could deal with an enemy fleet that is in the same system, but he might be sitting idle one warp point away while the enemy trashes the colonies he just left.

I might suggest the FTL comm must be on a warp point to function, but make it small enough to fit on a sattelite. Then you would have comm bouy's on each warp point out to the frontier. Of course when the enemy destroys them, you lose communication. That would be pretty cool.

Geo

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

You'd also have to let a player know when you destroy a sat relay so they know comm has been cut.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Val:
You could make the ruler a troop type, then cart him around as cargo http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif <hr></blockquote>You know, it's really a shame we can't rename specific unit's like we can ships. Of course if you have a unit type of leader, and then design several of them with identical components, and only build one of each design it would have the same effect. That could work.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Oh man! Have an extra race in the game controlled by a referee make the leader units and then give them to the players. That way they can't make them themselves and there is more control over it.

Make some of the weapon platforms instead of troops so they aren't killed by troop invasion, but can be captured. That could be your emporer.

You generals would need to be troops cause that way they could assist in an invasion. You expect them to get killed if things go really badly anyway.

Geo

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Val:
You'd also have to let a player know when you destroy a sat relay so they know comm has been cut.<hr></blockquote>
They would get a combat report when the sat was destroyed.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Geo:

Nice idea about the additional "Ref" race!

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>You'd also have to let a player know when you destroy a sat relay so they know comm has been cut.<hr></blockquote>We can assume that FTL comms, while Heavy and Big, can reach anywhere in the game in a point-to-point mode. (Omnidirectional FTL comms would mean everybody should have already made contact)
We can allso assume that any colony (populated or not(eg. killed off by plague)) will have automatic LS 2 FTL repeaters, directing the comm to the ruler (you).
That way, you only have to look at each system individually. If your ship has FTL comms, no problem. If your ship only has LS comms, a planet or a ship with dual comms can act as a relay. Fleets can deliver orders amongst their members without comms.
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>I might suggest the FTL comm must be on a warp point to function, but make it small enough to fit on a sattelite. Then you would have comm bouy's on each warp point out to the frontier. <hr></blockquote>Problem is, warppoints are heavily travelled, and those buoys will be cleaned out pretty darn fast. However, it would be entirely reasonable that the buoys use conventional sublight comms beamed through warppoints.

What if a buoy anywhere in the system beams a high-power signal straight at the warppoint. All that power goes through, and spreads out omnidirectionally after that.
Then, you could place buoys anywhere in a system and have them work (one per system required to propagate the signal), and your planets would be able to act as relays as well.

I suppose the real FTL comms would require levels in warppoint manipulation, and generate a tiny warppoint to send the data through...
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Oh man! Have an extra race in the game controlled by a referee make the leader units and then give them to the players. That way they can't make them themselves and there is more control over it.<hr></blockquote>Yes! If the referee distributes scanner ships throughout the galaxy, there can be a rule that the leader of each race must "meet" (be seen) by a referee to continue the game. If any leader does not show up, that player "dies", and their race is turned over to AI control. It might still be possible for the player to win, but without the human leadership, its not likely http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>I wouldn't say no order changes though. You need to give the ships captain/fleet admiral some leeway. <hr></blockquote>Right. No Strategic Orders from high command, but somebody will have to give the local orders. (Perhaps a friend or sibling or child or parent would be appropriate http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif ?)

Additionally, be sure to follow the chain of communication to your leader. If the leader is drifting in a damaged ship with no comms, all your forces are on their own http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/tongue.gif

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by suicide_junkie:
Right. No Strategic Orders from high command, but somebody will have to give the local orders. (Perhaps a friend or sibling or child or parent would be appropriate http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif ?)
<hr></blockquote>

Hehehe. "Come here Johnny. I need you to control Beta fleet."

Actually what I had in mind is the player would still control the ships, but with a different Role Play "hat" on. You would have to put yourself in the the shoes of the admiral or captain and decide what you would do in that situation without recent knowledge of events outside your system. If your orders were to proceed to the Cewandi system, you would continue on that course unless an enemy fleet appeared in the same system you are in. But if the enemy was attacking colonies in the systems behind you, you would not get to go back and defend them unless you had a FTL comm or were in range of another colony.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Lol. I guess the smiley wasn't winking clearly enough. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Doh! Is that what that meant? I thought you had a nervous twitch. I wasn't going to bring it up. http://forum.shrapnelgames.com/images/icons/icon12.gif

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Since we have a large number of ideas now, we can start editing the components file so we can make an RP Mod. Some of this probably could become part of the UM, too. All we need is graphics.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

There are a lot of unused component graphics in the game now that might work for some of them.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

However, we may have to make some extra, as some of the SE4 unused components are used in other mods (UM, etc).

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>However, we may have to make some extra, as some of the SE4 unused components are used in other mods (UM, etc).<hr></blockquote>Why would that be? If they look right, use 'em.

Components should probably be balanced for SE4 Classic, to minimize the changes required for compatibility with mods. Those that do need to alter it will know exactly how they need to change the components.

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

So, what has become of this idea?

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

SE.ORG forum thread

Some RPers have expressed interest. We just need some modders to make some components!

Re: Role Playing Mod
 

Get me a list on this or the other thread, I have some other stuff I must finish first, but I get bored doing the same class of weapon over and over and over (etc.) again and would do some of these oddball things in between. Andres also made that cool CPU and might be interested!