Feature requests

[Cyberis]

PLugger,
I think that robots would change the mechanics of the game too much without much payoff. Redshirts (i.e. non-officer crew) are pretty much robots now and suits/oxygen and officer inclusion are the primary ways to tweak their basic stats. So, I'm not sure that robots would add anything essential and would make an accessible game more complicated. That's just my two cents worth.

[ibol]

Hi, Plugger, and welcome!

That seems like a decently well thought out system. It certainly would require a lot of work, but I can see how certain things would be implemented.
It would give me a chance to write a pure AI, and the player would just watch what it does, possibly unable to control the bot. And the idea that they wouldn't be able to actually pick anything up is interesting in itself.

Perhaps something similar to that (though smaller and more focused/less universal) would eventually work itself into the game...

Unrelated update on the "captain's log" front:

[zircher]

* smarter auto-explore - I've died too many times because the thing glitched and sent me to the other side of the map to run out of air.

* smarter auto-explore - Too many times I've been mangled/diseased and I'm heading to the shuttle to get healed when I run out of air. The logic then immediately sends me away from the shuttle to die (another) horrible death.

* smarter auto-explore - Protect the captain/officers and don't run off on a suicide mission. Avoid known/discovered hazards and plants when in automatic movement mode.

* turn safety back on when you leave a planet - Sometimes I freaking hate the bunnies with a passion and want to murder them all. That does NOT mean I want to target a friendly spaceship and get ganged up on. [Died twice that way.]

[Cyberis]

Zircher,
I agree that if a feature, like auto-explore, is in a game, it should work well; OTOH, I don't use it -- I like the adventure of manually exploring stuff; otherwise, why play the game. I'd rather ibol spend that effort on other bugs or features that could enhance gameplay more generally.

I also don't tend to turn the safety off but if I did, I would want something very obvious to remind me that it was off. Maybe there could be a flashing message similar to when you are running out of O2 that reminds you of that or your suggestion of safety auto-disablement when switching from planet side to space and back. Or maybe when the safety is off and you have targeted a friendly the target reticle could turn green telling me it's a friendly or flash letting me know that I'm about to attack a friendly. Actually an IFF indicator (red for enemy, green for friendly, white for neutral, and flashing green red for targeting a friendly with the safety off) would be even better.

BTW, what do you have against the bunnies?

[zircher]

Traffic hazard. On a difficult terrain map with twisty paths, bunnies can get you hurt or possibly killed (such as when running back to the shuttle with low HP and low on air or diseased -or- you're getting ganged up on by hostile natives and your escape path is blocked.) Did I mention that I die a lot in this game? :-)

[ibol]

Zircher, please be aware, I have already begun reworking the auto-explore. I started on the first day we talked about it. It's certainly not done, but I've already made progress.

Those updates may or may not make it into the upcoming patch 1.0.1, which is being pre-tested now.

As far as safety... yes, perhaps there should be a quick and easy visual indicator as to whether it's on or off. I'll give you another 'perhaps': auto-turn-the-safety-back-on. Not a bad idea, but some players might find this intrusive... It used to be that you actually had to carefully select your targets with no safety at all...

maybe there should be a "safety per race" kind of thing, where it lets you set which races you will or won't target... decisions, decisions...
and lots of dots...

[JimSB]

How about being able to install at the shuttle on away team missions rather than having to return to orbit.

[Cyberis]

JimSB,
I'd love that too but you have to admit there is an element of strategy involved when you have to do all of that in space rather than at the surface.

[zircher]

Mad at my shuttle pilot, he landed on a cave entrance and obliterated it. Now if that would have put the shuttle on the first level of the cave, that would have been a hoot.

Good to hear that the patch is in the pipeline already. :-)

[ibol]

It amazes me how many people are landing their shuttles on caves.
I believe I've fixed that, but I guess we'll see once you guys start flying around...