Space monsters

[Baron Munchausen]

People keep asking for 'backstory' to make the game more interesting. Personally, I'm against backstory because it makes the game LESS customizable and adaptable to any play style. BUT... we could possibly have little fragments of backstory rather than an 'over-all' theme that might restrict the game.

How about a space monster that protects a NEUTRAL race? It could be something that lives in the system sun, or in a storm in the system. It attacks any ship that doesn't have a special device on it, and the device is a racial tech restricted to the neutrals. The neutrals could have a 'religious' awe of the beast and turn out to support it when it goes into combat against your ships. It's their "god" after all. If you are fighting with it, they are darn well gonna help it out. This would help solve the problem of neutrals being too wimpy, also.

That and a classic "Master of Orion" type guardian standing over an empty ring/sphere world are the two best ways to add non-random space monsters to the game.

RANDOM space monsters are easy. Create some graphics of monsters and treat them as ships. Have a folder called "monsters" with the graphics and a full set of AI files just like a race. The game would then use those files to design a monster when a random monster event was called for. Only a few 'special' settings would be needed for the monsters.

[This message has been edited by Baron Munchausen (edited 20 May 2001).]

[Q]

quote:

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Originally posted by Baron Munchausen:
RANDOM space monsters are easy. Create some graphics of monsters and treat them as ships. Have a folder called "monsters" with the graphics and a full set of AI files just like a race. The game would then use those files to design a monster when a random monster event was called for. Only a few 'special' settings would be needed for the monsters.

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Would you create one and post it in the mod section? That would be great.

[Baron Munchausen]

quote:

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Originally posted by Q:
Would you create one and post it in the mod section? That would be great.

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Oops! I didn't mean to give the impression that it's doable in the current Version of the game. I meant that it would be easy to code because most of the existing AI and ship code can be re-used. He can just treat a space monster as a ship and let you create a design file for them. I don't think it could be done in 1.35 as it is, but someone might prove me wrong.

[klausD]

I think the easiest way to have space monsters in the game is to create some really good graphics of space monsters and send them to MM. IMO this will inspire Aaron to add them. (it shows him the dedication of SE4 fans for his game)

bye
Klaus

[dogscoff]

QUOTE:
The neutrals could have a 'religious' awe of the beast and turn out to support it when it goes into combat against your ships. It's their "god" after all. If you are fighting with it, they are darn well gonna help it out.
/QUOTE

Woah, major Space Empires / Black & White crossover happening here...

Now *that* would be addictive...

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"Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"
"Uh, I think so, Brain, but balancing a family and a career ... oooh, it's all too much for me. "

[Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz]

Baron, a suggestion would be swarms of "space locusts" implimented as Groups of organic tech fighters.

Could have them drain organic value from any planet that they successfully blockaded.

That would require a new component which acted like an organic miner + solar converter to convert organics to supplies.

Similarly, "sentient energy fields" would drain radioactives and "trillions" (from an old children's SF story) would drain minerals.

Suicide_Junkie could no doubt create a nomadic race/species around the tech.

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Resistence is futile.

[Nitram Draw]

That would be a cool tech, draining resources when you blockade. It would make lifting a blockade fast a necessity.