I wanted to see if maybe we could get some sort of "wish list" thread going. The purpose, of course, to make up a nice wish list for JP to look over... Perhaps we could even flesh out some of these ideas and come up with some real solid enhancements to the game!

So, onto what I would love to see :

1) Controlled Access Lists. Something that would allow me to control access to each individual game via IP address, rather than have the IP control access to the entire server. This would allow me to have open games for my customers, and seperate open games for the internet at large.

2) Enhanced Limpet Mines. Perhaps have a higher priced Limpet Mine that has the ability to radio back to the owner (at intervals) with a holo-scan of the current sector that mine is in. Of course, there would be a % chance that the ship the mine is attached to will "see" the limpet mine.

3) CIM changes. I'd like to see the port report changed, removed or placed as a sysop option. I think it's valid to report what ports you've visited. It might be possible to list what product %'s those ports were last at, although I think this would be very taxing on the server. However, I don't think it should be a freebie to see what they are currently at. Perhaps some item that can be bought to take care of this function.. Perhaps even multiple items.

4) Configurable option for fleeing. Currently, you flee to the sector you just came from. However, in some circumstances, this is not a good option... I understand that the sector you just came from *should* be a safe sector, but sometimes you get stuck in a dead end. How about a % chance to flee to another sector? Something the sysop can change? Hit and Runs then become something chancy...

Anyways, those are some of my ideas.. Some have to be fleshed out, and maybe they're bad ideas. But, it's something to think about.

I believe these would be v4 changes? I don't think JP is adding anything new (at least right now) to v3...

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~~ XenoPhage ~~
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Change the available holds to a 2 bit field rather than a 1 bit field ... this would allow maximum holds above 255...

CSG


Riftwars.dnsalias.com
RiftwarsBBS.mine.nu port 23

Hrm... over 255 holds... Need some better (larger) starports then... 250 holds can drain starports in a few minutes as is... Might break the balance...

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~~ XenoPhage ~~
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Well, the 1 bit holds are quite enough, in my opinion...
However, to the enhanced limpet idea - How about also, if we can place limpets that don't lock on to a ship? They act more as "radio scanners" and can be placed to give advanced warning via a holoscan to the owner? Of course, these would have to be effected by mine disruptors.

Also, how about making gold aliens pick up normal limpets?


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quote:How about also, if we can place limpets that don't lock on to a ship?

Something like a remote sector scanner. If it doesn't attach to the ship, then I would say it's no longer a limpet mine... Perhaps some other sort of marker beacon. A radio beacon, if you will.

quote:Of course, these would have to be effected by mine disruptors.

Then they're affected via fighters...

In fact, you could have an advanced version of them (highly expensive) that have built in cloaks. Deploy them they show up as anomolies (thus screwing with people's minds as well) and they have the same properties... Remote scanning abilities. Single sector limit. And the cloak is susceptible to the nightly cloak failure rate as well...

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~~ XenoPhage ~~
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I think the limpet mine doesnt need to be modded.. why ..
cause it would prove useless .. only newbee's take limpet mines to a place they shouldnt ..

as far as the cim changing .. If you follow the other threads you'll see jp has mentioned that he will be doing something to stop scripters from using utils to track ppl based on cim hunting ..

255 holds is enough I think .. if it's not go play an unlimited turn game .. each hold after 200 on a twarp ship can really begin to change some odds .. in such ways that most ppl probably never think about .. i'll not go into it ..


<<Doctor Who>>

some times even top players pick up limps they just dont sleep
with them. (hehe) just say a player picked up the new limp if it
radioed back back to you every 10 sec. it would be fun trying to
track them down befor they got it off.

OR if you dont want the limp then how about a Sector Bug
players can Not pick it up but it holo.scans them for you.
you could also make it so a player can Lock transwarp to it.

Me myself would like to see a sysop sitting so you could not
Attack players for a set amount of days say 1 to 10 the thing i hate
to see is a group of Newbie's get in a New game to have a little
fun work their butts off trying their best! and 1 good player comes
in the first day and kills them all. Then they quit
it is hard for a newbie to learn a game! I have a friend that played TW for the first time about a month ago. untill this day he has never got to play in a game more than 1 hour He will never learn that way

Whats the status on ever seeing more than 20k sectors in a game? This topic must of come up at some time in the past...

quote:
Me myself would like to see a sysop sitting so you could not
Attack players for a set amount of days say 1 to 10 the thing i hate
to see is a group of Newbie's get in a New game to have a little
fun work their butts off trying their best! and 1 good player comes
in the first day and kills them all. Then they quit
it is hard for a newbie to learn a game! I have a friend that played TW for the first time about a month ago. untill this day he has never got to play in a game more than 1 hour He will never learn that way


A setting like that wouldn't do much. You could leave nav haz, figs, etc around to still kill people. Even if you could make it so absolutely nothing bad was done for x days, the experienced person would just win on day x.

quote:
Whats the status on ever seeing more than 20k sectors in a game? This topic must of come up at some time in the past...


Trade Wars is currently capable of supporting up to a 60,000 sector universe without extensive modification. It just needs to be -implemented-. However, I doubt you'll see this happen any time soon. 20,000 sectors is more than adequate size for most -reasonable- games.

Lisa M. Wilson
aka Rave
uhndagrowhn bbs

uhndagrowhn bbs
telnet://uhndagrowhn.merseine.nu

quote:
Whats the status on ever seeing more than 20k sectors in a game? This topic must of come up at some time in the past...


Imagine a game without ZTM... suddenly even 5K sectors becomes huge again.

Suddenly you're Busted!

quote:
Me myself would like to see a sysop sitting so you could not
Attack players for a set amount of days say 1 to 10 the thing i hate
to see is a group of Newbie's get in a New game to have a little


I'd like to see a setting like this, but I'd rather see a set time (sysop configurable) during which a new player cannot be attacked. So, if a newbie starts in a 10-day old game, he gets a day or two grace period during which he cannot be attacked (and maybe is immune to offensive fighters and mines) or attack anyone else.

One of my pet peaves is that a new player could enter a game, head of to star dock to trade in his Mer. Cruiser for a Mer. Freighter (because he reads in all the online strategy guides that he should do this) and hits a stardock blockade and is dead. With no scanner, there's no way he'd know there was any danger (unless he's played enough).

quote:
One of my pet peaves is that a new player could enter a game, head of to star dock to trade in his Mer. Cruiser for a Mer. Freighter (because he reads in all the online strategy guides that he should do this) and hits a stardock blockade and is dead. With no scanner, there's no way he'd know there was any danger (unless he's played enough).


Then players need to start with scanners.

Suddenly you're Busted!

quote:
One of my pet peaves is that a new player could enter a game, head of to star dock to trade in his Mer. Cruiser for a Mer. Freighter (because he reads in all the online strategy guides that he should do this) and hits a stardock blockade and is dead. With no scanner, there's no way he'd know there was any danger (unless he's played enough).


I think the best way to combat this would consist of JP making an option the MSL's the same as fedspace to stop mine's and figs for x days after opening .. naz would still happen unless he made every sector stay clean .. like SD .. I think that all games should also close after x days of starting .. I think 5/7 days after bang is a good time to close games .. I say this for 2 reasons ..

1) after a game has gone 30 days .. you've won basically .. everyone in the game gives up .. you quit running amtrak and quit defending space .. bla bla .. a group of newbies joins and says wait .. we wanna play .. I think that's really lame that new players can join 30 days after a game has started and then hold the finish of the game up ..

2) .. megacorping although the game itself doesnt say any way shape or form "dont do it" .. you'll find that those long haul games .. 60+days .. you've got a great door .. the other corps cant touch you .. and wala .. 26 ppl log on to help the number 2 corp moth your planets .. this is WRONG and it does happen ..

I have a HUGE wishlist of things that should change .. but I dont think i'll bother jp with them ..




<<Doctor Who>>

Pretty long post for you, Doctor Who. Is my long-windedness contagious?

quote:
I think the best way to combat this would consist of JP making an option the MSL's the same as fedspace to stop mine's and figs for x days after opening .. naz would still happen unless he made every sector stay clean .. like SD .. I think that all games should also close after x days of starting .. I think 5/7 days after bang is a good time to close games .. I say this for 2 reasons ..


The game works as it is now. These are the same problems new players have been dealing with for over a decade.

quote:
1) after a game has gone 30 days .. you've won basically .. everyone in the game gives up .. you quit running amtrak and quit defending space .. bla bla .. a group of newbies joins and says wait .. we wanna play .. I think that's really lame that new players can join 30 days after a game has started and then hold the finish of the game up ..


I agree to an extent with this. I had been in a game on Deep South for a month and a half or so back in December. The game was for all intents and purposes won. Then I had my accident, was offline for almost two weeks, and when I finally had the chance to log in, the inactivity setting had been turned down to five and I was gone... game is still going, and I'm sure someone else will be declared the winners... which -really- bites, IMHO.

But to -force- sysops to shut down a game after X number of days is totally the opposite of what JP has tried to do with the game, and that's to give the sysop a huge range of options in order to make each game unique.

If you want to play in games where new players won't show up a month or two into it, then you need to talk to the ServOps on the boards you play at and -suggest- they set a 7 or 14 day limit on new players (it's a game option to close the game after X days).

quote:
2) .. megacorping although the game itself doesnt say any way shape or form "dont do it" .. you'll find that those long haul games .. 60+days .. you've got a great door .. the other corps cant touch you .. and wala .. 26 ppl log on to help the number 2 corp moth your planets .. this is WRONG and it does happen ..


See above for the solution. ;o)


I have a HUGE wishlist of things that should change .. but I dont think i'll bother jp with them ..
quote:

Nothing needs to be changed here. The options are already available for ServOps to set a game up like this.



>
[/quote]

Lisa M. Wilson
aka Rave
uhndagrowhn bbs

uhndagrowhn bbs
telnet://uhndagrowhn.merseine.nu