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Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Author Topic: New Crew Types  (Read 8172 times)

Veneke

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #15 on: November 26, 2012, 04:52:11 PM »

More crew that specializes in different things is that thought that I have.  Fighter crews are welcome, and I'm not even sure if Officers would even count as crew (they're commanding a ship, just like your do).

Sorry, I should've been clearer. When I said an officers crew type, I mean junior officers (executive officers, department heads etc). A crew type that would give a small overall boost to the crew perhaps only in a few areas. The purpose of this, such as I've given any thought to it at all, would be to offset some of the overall experience loss moving from a smaller vessel to a larger one, reducing the number of regular crew needed to man a ship (which could be interesting as a smaller crew is unlikely to have the same staying power in terms of damage as a larger one, officers or not) or something in that vein.

This is, of course, based on the presumption that the to-be-implemented officers feature deals with high-ranking officers like fleet quartermasters, captains etc.


The biggest problem with adding in new crew types at all, however, is that I'm struggling to see a need for their inclusion. Yeah, they're interesting but it could very well be that Officers (the to-be-implemented feature) will satisfy all of our desires on this point.
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ArkAngel

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #16 on: November 27, 2012, 04:46:24 AM »

Adding extra crew we be a rpgish addition so why not? I say medical crew would be a cool thing
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Gothars

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #17 on: November 27, 2012, 05:43:53 AM »

I don't get what we would need specialized crew for. Sounds as if it would just add needless complexity, like splitting up supplies in multiple categories.

We already have fleet size, ship loadout, crew level, character level and possibly officers for rpg-like progression, isn't that enough? Now I'd rather see more fleshing out of the universe to utilize all that improvement.

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CrashToDesktop

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #18 on: November 27, 2012, 12:53:32 PM »

First, the Universe, then the crew. :)
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ThePinkPanzer

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #19 on: November 27, 2012, 05:25:38 PM »

I don't get what we would need specialized crew for. Sounds as if it would just add needless complexity, like splitting up supplies in multiple categories.

We already have fleet size, ship loadout, crew level, character level and possibly officers for rpg-like progression, isn't that enough? Now I'd rather see more fleshing out of the universe to utilize all that improvement.

in order for it to be overly complex it would need to be moderately complex to start. Ship load out and fleet sizes are necessary for the game, I don't see why expanding the crew system hurts anyone.
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DJ Die

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #20 on: November 28, 2012, 12:46:00 AM »

yeah i thought about this as well.....
it would be good if you had different crew requirements i.e. an onslaught would require quite a few normal crewmen and gunners while ships like a paragon would require more engineers....
the general crew we have now could add some bonuses just like they do now but if you put the specialist in their place the bonus would be somewhat higher...
so you would still need 400 crew to fully man an onslaught but you could add/replace some engineers for better engine and shield performance, gunners for better spread etc.
specialists should be more expensive and almost never available at any level except green as new graduates and would require way more exp to level up than regular crew
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Cosmitz

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #21 on: November 28, 2012, 02:47:43 AM »

A good alternative would be to upgrade Elites into specializations. That would create a flow of crew instead of the bottling up at Elite and sitting with unused 200 veterans/regulars.

Though we would need, and actually appreciate, setting a particular number of crew per ship instead of the way crew is assigned now.. left to right ships based on fleet screen.
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JT

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #22 on: November 28, 2012, 03:03:07 AM »

I wonder if the features that get rolled into the officers when they get added could simply be altered to apply also to the crew -- i.e., that crew would be subbed from the exact same type as officers, with the only difference being that the crew's benefit would be proportional to their percentage out of the entirety of the crew instead of simply an all-or-nothing affair like an officer. Therefore they would simply have a single flag denoting them as either "crew" or "officer" which determines which inventory tab they should appear in, whether they have the uniqueness of officers (assuming that officers will learn just like the player does), and whether this proportionality applies (all-or-nothing, or based on percentage of crew complement).

That way, even though the core game likely will *not* specialise crew types, you get to roll the same features into the crew without any significant addition of work: it flows naturally from the work done on the officers system. That enables modders to "over-complicate" the crew if they so desire, creating a wonderful have-cake-and-eat-it-too scenario.
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ThePinkPanzer

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #23 on: December 08, 2012, 04:25:30 PM »

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theSONY

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #24 on: December 08, 2012, 04:46:04 PM »

I remember when i was posting about that idea but then every one was like

oh well, things change  :D
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BillyRueben

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #25 on: December 08, 2012, 04:50:22 PM »

oh well, things change  :D
They haven't.

Still against this idea, and this
I don't get what we would need specialized crew for. Sounds as if it would just add needless complexity...
is still the same reasoning I have.
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jimy

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #26 on: December 09, 2012, 12:06:30 PM »

I don't think the game is too complex that this would hurt anyone.
The thing is those crew members should feel more like real humans than a second sort of supplies.
And adding special kinds would force the player to spend time thinking what crew members he should get on his ship rather than just selecting a pile of 50 items that you need to keep your ship combat ready.

This may sound like the job of the officiers but I imagine them more of a coordinator than someone who does something.
A single doctor for example wouldn't be able to increase effectivly the medical knowledge of a lot of greenies. For sure they would know a little bit more about first aid and stuff but this won't make a big difference. But if you give him a team of capable medics he can run a highly efficient medic bay and save lots of lifes.

Sorry for my bad english. :)
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Upgradecap

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #27 on: December 09, 2012, 12:11:42 PM »

I don't think the game is too complex that this would hurt anyone.
The thing is those crew members should feel more like real humans than a second sort of supplies.

Question is, though, do we really need to feel the crew as real humans? Remember that your standard capital has ~800-1000 crewmen aboard. Do we really need every average John Doe aboard that ship to feel like a real human? I think it is fine to have the commanding officers feel like human and all that, but having a thousand crewmembers onboard a capital just seems redundant. This problem would increase aswell when you have an trade corp/empire set up, as it requires enormous levels of micro-ing the supplies then.

In short, i oppose this idea simply because it feels redundant having every crewmember feel like a real human. I would be fine with the officers feeling like that, though.
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BillyRueben

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #28 on: December 09, 2012, 12:12:57 PM »

I want to play Starfarer, not The Sims: In Space.
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ThePinkPanzer

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Re: New Crew Types
« Reply #29 on: December 09, 2012, 12:57:10 PM »

I want to play Starfarer, not The Sims: In Space.

How the hell would it be the sims at all? You aren't customizing them, you aren't intricately designing their lives. Useless overreactions like this add nothing to suggestion posts.

I don't think the game is too complex that this would hurt anyone.
The thing is those crew members should feel more like real humans than a second sort of supplies.

Question is, though, do we really need to feel the crew as real humans? Remember that your standard capital has ~800-1000 crewmen aboard. Do we really need every average John Doe aboard that ship to feel like a real human? I think it is fine to have the commanding officers feel like human and all that, but having a thousand crewmembers onboard a capital just seems redundant. This problem would increase aswell when you have an trade corp/empire set up, as it requires enormous levels of micro-ing the supplies then.

In short, i oppose this idea simply because it feels redundant having every crewmember feel like a real human. I would be fine with the officers feeling like that, though.

I don't think we should give them all individual names and back stories and have to write their loved ones about their deaths after they die or anything but it could certainly be fleshed out a slight tad so it isn't just "welp six hundred people died, no biggy, just gonna go buy another six hundred."
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