Dagobahn Eagle
03-08-2005, 07:38 PM
Will there be random map generators?
(I realize that if there is no generator, it's a feature there's no time to change prior to first release. I still want to hear everyones' opinions, though. Just ignore what you know about whether or not it's going to be in when answering the poll)
I fear some of the reason why there are "only" 20 planets with such big-looking fleets (in Stars! there could be nearly half a thousand - or more) is that they have set of planets (like in Battlefront), but vary it from campaign to campaign (also like in Battlefront).
I think that's really linear. What's wrong with randomly placed and even named planets? Face it, no one has a star chart of the Galaxy SW took place in, and while some people will cry "but I can't play without Hoth in there somewhere", the Hoth system wasn't the only place where fighting took place (just one of maybe 100 billion planets?). Ah, OK, maybe there could be a switch that "enabled historical planetoids" or something...
If there's a set campaign selection only, and no random map generator like in Stars!, that's a huge let-down. I also hear that you can't freely navigate in space, but need to follow set lanes from planetoid to planetoid. In Stars!, you could move freely in space, tracking rival fleets with on-ship and planetary scanners (two kinds: One with short range that gave you a detailed report on fleets, and one long-range one that just told you there was a fleet without giving you more than the types of ship hulls and the number of ships - and in Stars!, ships were very customizable, so just the hull type told you little).
Depending on the engines you gave the ships, you could give them a speed from Warp 1 (lo-o-ong ride) to Warp 10 (zooming along ripping the ship apart unless you had really good engines). There even was fuel in the game, but that's too drastic to push if it's not in already (which it isn't, I guess;)).
There's no way it can't also be done with a SW universe (in fact, I always dreamt of an SW Total Conversion of Stars!).
But my point is: This "lane system" fuels my fear that maps are not randomly generated. If that is so, the developers had better include a campaign builder of some sort, even if it's a very simple one (sorry about the bluntness..).
The other random map generator I'd like is for planets. Give planets multiple regions randomly. I want to contact the devs about this, probably some time after first release, to suggest that they think about it, even though it's a huge change.
Dagobahn Eagle.
PS: Just to give an example, let me describe Stars!'s map generator. First, you set the size of the universe, then the density. Next, you toggled "clumping" on or off (which decided whether or not planetoids would form groups or clusters near each others). Finally, you decided how close players would start to one another, and players were then assigned planets at random. Again, there's no way this couldn't be done with Star Wars (and if "historical planets" have to be in, you could make them special somehow still...)
I litteraly hiver at the thought of Stars! or Age of Empires II without random map generators. Why doesn't every game have one anyway?!
(I realize that if there is no generator, it's a feature there's no time to change prior to first release. I still want to hear everyones' opinions, though. Just ignore what you know about whether or not it's going to be in when answering the poll)
I fear some of the reason why there are "only" 20 planets with such big-looking fleets (in Stars! there could be nearly half a thousand - or more) is that they have set of planets (like in Battlefront), but vary it from campaign to campaign (also like in Battlefront).
I think that's really linear. What's wrong with randomly placed and even named planets? Face it, no one has a star chart of the Galaxy SW took place in, and while some people will cry "but I can't play without Hoth in there somewhere", the Hoth system wasn't the only place where fighting took place (just one of maybe 100 billion planets?). Ah, OK, maybe there could be a switch that "enabled historical planetoids" or something...
If there's a set campaign selection only, and no random map generator like in Stars!, that's a huge let-down. I also hear that you can't freely navigate in space, but need to follow set lanes from planetoid to planetoid. In Stars!, you could move freely in space, tracking rival fleets with on-ship and planetary scanners (two kinds: One with short range that gave you a detailed report on fleets, and one long-range one that just told you there was a fleet without giving you more than the types of ship hulls and the number of ships - and in Stars!, ships were very customizable, so just the hull type told you little).
Depending on the engines you gave the ships, you could give them a speed from Warp 1 (lo-o-ong ride) to Warp 10 (zooming along ripping the ship apart unless you had really good engines). There even was fuel in the game, but that's too drastic to push if it's not in already (which it isn't, I guess;)).
There's no way it can't also be done with a SW universe (in fact, I always dreamt of an SW Total Conversion of Stars!).
But my point is: This "lane system" fuels my fear that maps are not randomly generated. If that is so, the developers had better include a campaign builder of some sort, even if it's a very simple one (sorry about the bluntness..).
The other random map generator I'd like is for planets. Give planets multiple regions randomly. I want to contact the devs about this, probably some time after first release, to suggest that they think about it, even though it's a huge change.
Dagobahn Eagle.
PS: Just to give an example, let me describe Stars!'s map generator. First, you set the size of the universe, then the density. Next, you toggled "clumping" on or off (which decided whether or not planetoids would form groups or clusters near each others). Finally, you decided how close players would start to one another, and players were then assigned planets at random. Again, there's no way this couldn't be done with Star Wars (and if "historical planets" have to be in, you could make them special somehow still...)
I litteraly hiver at the thought of Stars! or Age of Empires II without random map generators. Why doesn't every game have one anyway?!