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[Alex]

Hi!

The final game will be a sandbox. There might be a few missions here and there, but the focus is on the sandbox aspects.

You'll still be able to play stand-alone missions and custom battles, but those are completely outside the flow of the main game.

[Tchey]

Very nice !
Thank you for the quick reply.

[Darkreaver1980]

This sounds kinda like mount&blade (one of my all time favorites) in space! Cant you work faster?    

[Ivaylo]

Hi there,

The main game will be a sandbox where you set your own path. We call that "the campaign" internally. The missions that are in right now are a way to really get the combat layer straightened out (but I think Alex mentioned they will remain as well in some changed form outside the campaign.)

[Alex]

Cant you work faster?    

Already am

[The Old Farmer]

I hear a whip cracking somewhere in the back of that thar sweat shop.

[Durandal4532]

Is there any sort of mission-string type gameplay?

I'm a big fan of a very loose "go here [fight][talk] -> now go here [talk][fight]" story-based element, as a way of pushing me to different parts of the world.

I mean someone mentioned Mount and Blade, the example there would be the earlier missions for... some trader? Where he basically says "go recruit people and hunt dudes like you would anyway, but do it because someone is asking you, also". Maybe a reward at the end because rewards are fun.

I suppose it's not really top of the list though, if the sandbox is fun. I mean, the majority of something like M&B isn't the mission-string, and I suppose modders will add in their own stories if it's easy.

[Alex]

Is there any sort of mission-string type gameplay?

I'm a big fan of a very loose "go here [fight][talk] -> now go here [talk][fight]" story-based element, as a way of pushing me to different parts of the world.

I mean someone mentioned Mount and Blade, the example there would be the earlier missions for... some trader? Where he basically says "go recruit people and hunt dudes like you would anyway, but do it because someone is asking you, also". Maybe a reward at the end because rewards are fun.

I suppose it's not really top of the list though, if the sandbox is fun. I mean, the majority of something like M&B isn't the mission-string, and I suppose modders will add in their own stories if it's easy.

Hmm. There may be missions here and there, but in general, SF isn't about a fixed story arc, but about a world you can explore and influence. But then, your point about something to give you incentive to go places is a good one.

The part you're referring to in M&B, btw, is basically their tutorial

[Alendor]

yes, mission boards, derelict wrecks to find with experimental weapons you can affix to your ships, etc.  something to drive the player.  if you just drop a new player in the sandbox with no direction, they tend to lose interest pretty quick.  without a reason to explore, the player in my experience often doesn't bother to.  take X3, they have secret gates, derelect wrecks that can be salvaged, alien systems, missions that sent you far out.  there were reasons to go out there and explore the universe.

minecraft is the most recent example i can think of.  you could explore, but after about 15 minutes, you realize theres nothing out there to find, and you come to the realization that exploring further is pointless, because you wouldn't find anything.  now compare that to terraria, also a sandbox, their exploration would yield treasure chests, underground jungles, magic items, floating islands, dungeons, the underworld.  all of these gave you incentives to expore further and further from your base.

take spaz, i can't immagine anyone would bother really going around the systems if there wern't different items to be purchased in different systems.  without that incentive they would just blitz through the story missions.

[Durandal4532]

Shoot, I figured that bit of M&B was just tutorial, I thought Warband might have added a bit of structure.

Like I said, though, so long as the sandbox is interesting I don't really care. But I do enjoy NPC-related tasks inasmuch as they give me a sense of progression in the world.

For instance, starting out as a small-goods trader and working my way up to getting a decent longer-range scout ship is fun on its own because well that's a good time. But it's even nicer if there's some sense that now, those scientists looking for a long-range survey can count on me.

Really, I care less about a story in the sense of a single through-line than I do about the universe having some distinct incentives to spur exploration and engagement. The wasteland in Fallout 3 rather than the... thing with... water? I think. Point is: the little bits that branch off from wandering were much more engaging.

For instance, my favorite mission in Mass Effect 1 was when you find an artifact on an alien world and there's a little text story to go with it. That had no mechanical effect whatsoever, but it gave me the sense that these otherwise barren as heck worlds held some mysterious surprises.

[dingbat91]

might want to look at Mount and blade: with fire and sword. your given a much more "focused" progression there.

And just to add a quick question from me :

I'll have probably missed this question somewhere else within the forum (my ability to find something on the forum is directly disproportional to how many posts about it there are for some reason) but...

what is the expected chain of development with the combat system and the free-roam "campaign" system.

is that being left right until after the combat system has a mirror shine? or is that to show it's face when all the combat system features are in (like ship customisation) and then developed in tandem?

purely asking because I'm hella looking forward to having a mining/merchant fleet travelling the galaxy! >.<

[Alex]

Really, I care less about a story in the sense of a single through-line than I do about the universe having some distinct incentives to spur exploration and engagement. The wasteland in Fallout 3 rather than the... thing with... water? I think. Point is: the little bits that branch off from wandering were much more engaging.

For instance, my favorite mission in Mass Effect 1 was when you find an artifact on an alien world and there's a little text story to go with it. That had no mechanical effect whatsoever, but it gave me the sense that these otherwise barren as heck worlds held some mysterious surprises.

I hear you. "Randomly generated" doesn't automatically mean "interesting", and it's something I'm acutely aware of

And just to add a quick question from me :

I'll have probably missed this question somewhere else within the forum (my ability to find something on the forum is directly disproportional to how many posts about it there are for some reason) but...

what is the expected chain of development with the combat system and the free-roam "campaign" system.

is that being left right until after the combat system has a mirror shine? or is that to show it's face when all the combat system features are in (like ship customisation) and then developed in tandem?

Hi!

Take a look at this blog post for a detailed roadmap. In brief, we'll add ship customization - which to me bridges the gap between combat and campaign - and then start on the campaign/sandbox, polishing things up and adding miscellaneous combat features along the way.

purely asking because I'm hella looking forward to having a mining/merchant fleet travelling the galaxy! >.<

Me too