Adding spice to the game...

[Baron Munchausen]

Oh, btw...

I think we ought to be able to target and fire on those 'cargo box' things. Then the Terrans and Abbidon could dispose of that 'illegal cargo' they are so uptight about.

[Drake113]

I was working on a planetary defense mod, which would basically treat planets as ships. I even had a pretty nifty display to go along with it, and you could still do all the regular stuff you could do on planets (go to spacedock, talk to contacts, etc). Unfortunately, there's no way to get the planet to show up correctly on the system map, which caused me to abandon my work on it. It would be great if there was some sort of toggle in the system map file that would allow you to choose the type of sensor contact associated to a particular object. Sigh.

[Hok]

I'm waiting the release Version to be shipped, after that I'll play it and see how much better is than the demo.

After playing for a while I'll also take modding into account, if that is the case.

About adding variety...
I think that there are fondamentally two ways to add spice, variety and "life" to a game:

1) Simulate it: you place events into specific game points and let objects appear in certain locations but the objects themselves don't know why they are there, they just behave like they are programmed to do (e.g.: pirate ships).

2) Add real behaviour to the game: you program objects of the game to interact with the environment and you (programmer) put into them the knowledge to react with self generated events.

The first method is the one which seems to be implemented at the present time in SF.
The second one is much more difficult and needs more time to plan and program.

That's my opinion at least.

[PaladinX]

Alternatively you could ferry some people on sightseeing across the galaxy for a price (almost like the planet scanning missions: you have some planets to visit but the difference is that you must bring the passengers back home at the end).

Only if I can take their money up front, and then take them to a pirate world and sell them as slaves

[Drake113]

Sheesh, so much talk for such a simple fix. If you want to add spice to Starfury, just paste this:

code:

---

Class Name                       := Spice

Name                             := Spice

Description                      := Spice extends life, expands consciousness, and is vital to space travel. Whoever controls Spice, controls the universe. 

Allowed Vehicle Types            := Ship, Base, Satellite, Fighter

Space Object XFile Name          := Cargo Pod

Picture Bitmap Index             := 85

Placement Locations              := None

Default Repair Priority          := 9

Tonnage Space Taken              := 5

Tonnage Structure                := 5

Level Minimum                    := 1

Uses Levels                      := FALSE

Restriction Type                 := None

Restriction Value                := 0

Illegal Cargo                    := FALSE

Is Commodity                     := TRUE

Event ID                         := 0

Base Credit Value                := 15000

Credit Value Inc Pct Per Level   := 2000

Sound Filename                   := 

Energy Consumption               := 0

Energy Consump Inc Per Level     := 0

Weapon Type                      := None

Number of Effects                := 0

Number of Requirements           := 0

---

into Main_Components.txt. Done.

[dHay]

Originally posted by Drake113:
Sheesh, so much talk for such a simple fix. If you want to add spice to Starfury, just paste this:

dHay whack's Drake113 upside the head. You forgot the Sand Worms. And then you would need a DUNE world. And then.....

[Hok]

Originally posted by Drake113:
Sheesh, so much talk for such a simple fix. If you want to add spice to Starfury, just paste this:

[code]Class Name := Spice
(*cut*)

Hope you're not one of MM's staff!