Make FTL an MMO

[lelmarir]

The game is great.
But the enemy IA is quite cardsharper (some times, enemies are too strong) and other times, boring (always the same attack pattern).

I'd like to play versus (or coop) with other players.
The turn-based moviment mechanic is great for the single player, but not suitable for a multiplayer game, so my idea is:

- adding a minimap on the right (see the image)
- the minimap is a tactical view (and maybe you can zoom in and out, like supreme commander if you played it : http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffeatsle ... /lightbox/)
- you can click a point in the minimap so the ship start moving in that place.
- you can move using "sub light engine" (and go slow, in battle or moving within a solar system) or power up the Light fast drive and cover long distance in less time, you can also get a Warp drive and travel faster than light. (if you travel in FTL you can't use weapons and when you're out they should charge up)
- you can instruct your ship commander to follow another ship (maybe doing some disengage maneuver or following a free path you had painted on the minimap)
- the ship weapons have an engage range (maybe different for each weapon), same for the sensors.
- in the galaxy you can find IA controlled ship, you can farm for resources.
- you'll find also other players, and...fight ? or just talk, "this place is dangerous enough."
- maybe you can join a guild, like "Trade Federation", "United Federation of Planets", "pirates". This way the members of your guild should not attack you and others guilds members should think if they want to start a war... or you can stay as freelance.

(maybe you can ensure you ship and equipment and get a new one when the old one get destroyed, like in ultima online. You'll get a new ship, but the crew is dead...you must hire a new inexperienced one. )

ps.
- i don't really like the "augmentetions" system, maybe they should have a room like all other systems.

- you should not always explode a ship, maybe you simply breach their hull, or permanently destroy support systems.
The ship should not have hit point, but just systems.
A system (engine, life support, shields, ...) should have individual hit points. When you shoot them you damage them, when they got partly damaged they're fragile and if you keep hit them more they lose hp, more hp they lose more they require to get repaired (exponentially), if the engine spare 1hp you'll need 5 minutes to get it back to work, and you can restore only 50% hps , if they lost all of them, the system become irreparable (if you survive you should buy a new one) and someone can also explode (like engines or heavy weapons) and deal damage to nearby sections.
(other systems like shields, piloting deck, life systems, ... can't explode, but just become unusable and irreparable)

This way, if you destroy the engine, but dont make it explode the ship is immobilized (and maybe lose power...). Now you can destroy the life support system and open some breach in some sections, this way the crew die...and you can aboard the defenseless and empty ship and collect some usefull resources instead of just scraps metal from complete destruction.
- when a ship get destroyed (explode) you should go and spend some time collecting scraps metal (if the ship exploded) or aboard it if you simply heavily damage it



or

Where the background itself is the galaxy map you can zoom in and out.

[lelmarir]

Is no one interested in my idea ?

I'd like to explain a bit more about "ship should not have hit points" from the previous post:

As it is in the game now, if the enemy hit a system room the system get damaged, and the ship lose 1 hp.
The system may need 2 or 3 hit to get destroyed (disabled).

I was proposing that the ship itself has no hit point, but just systems room and empty rooms. Each room has its own (indipendent) hps.
Example: the engine room has 20hp. The first 3 hp can be completely regenerated by repairing the engine, this way the enemy can't destroy your ship with 20 lucky shots, but need to, at least, do 3 hit before you can repare it.

Let me explain:
The engine has 3 states (or more?): well-functioning, damaged, completely damaged. When it is simply damaged it will work at reduced capacity, when completely damaged it stop work.
The engine is in a room, each room has its own hps, let say 20hps. When the enemy hit the engine (starting from well-functioning) it will step back to damaged and the room get 1 damage (going to 19hp).
Now you can repair the engine, and in the same time recover the room hp (return to 20hp).
If you don't and the enemy hit again, the engine will go to completely damaged, and the room lose 1hp (going to 18hp).
Each subsequent damage will subtract 1hp from the room (the engine can't be damaged more than that), suppose that now the room has 5hps left.
If you now repair the engine, you can bring it to well-functioning (3 state back) but you can recover only 3hp of the room and now it has 8hps. (you need a space station spending some scrap to bring it back to 20hps).

If the room lose all of its hps the engine inside it get permanently destroyed (can't self repair, you need a space station and scraps) and in the case of the engine it may explode, damaging near by rooms.

I also thought that if the room left only 2hps, you can't acces it to repair the engine while in battle. This way the enemy can completely disable a system, without risking to make it explode.

"while in battle": as mmo we don't have battle round, but a battle can occur in any moment, so you "you are in battle" if you've been hit (or at least your shields) by an enemy in the last 40seconds (or like so...) .

Structural Integrity
Let's suppose that each room has at max 20hps (but they can have different by the system installed or spending scraps to protect them).
If you make an average of all the remaining hps and it's less than 20% of the max hps average, the ship has integrity fault, and fall apart...

New players
When a new player enter in this mmo galaxy it get a new ship, a basic small one. With a basic engine that is a sub light engine (1/2 light speed ?). A basic weapon, shields, small infirmary, sensors, door control, life support and the ship itself has few spare rooms (maybe just one?).
He start from his guild space stations, and can go in tne galaxy to farm some resources and come back at the station to deposit in the bank the resources, buy new equipments, hire crew members and buy a new ship type (if he has enough money).
He can also ensure (paying for it) some equipments of the ship, like a powerful weapon he has found or bought.
If his ship get destroyed, he can get a new, basic one, for few resources (or for free if he spare none) and get back all insured equipments (that he need to ensure again, if he want).
If he has ensured also the ship, he will get back his one (and can't get a basic one...).
The crew is dead, must hire a new one...or pay for an experienced one.

I hope I am more clear this time and that someone is interested, I would love a game like this.

[Leezeebub]

The game isn't deep enough to become an MMO. It would need trading systems, factions and relations etc. Just the things you have suggested would require the game to be completely rebuilt and just isnt realistic.

Could maybe add some kind of multiplayer mode though. Maybe you could build a ship with 1000 scrap then take it online to have a duel against another player.

Multiplayer isn't really nessesary though, I would much rather have a more substantial single player experience.

[Surray]

Yeah I guess it's kind of an interesting idea, but I don't see it going anywhere.

I'd much rather have a direct sequel or DLC for FTL as it is, just more content and refinement to the existing game rather than something so different.

Your idea is making the game something it is not

[louistodd]

The idea of co-op battles is a good idea but your ideas seem too much like Spore.

[BigD145]

The game isn't deep enough to become an MMO.

MMO's are deep? Since when?

[lelmarir]

I was not talking about a game expansion, but actually a complete rebuild. The game style is awesome but single player is a waste, it's perfect for a MMO.

Yea, you're right, it will need trading systems, factions and relations etc.

A multiplayer, in this, turn-based game is...unthinkable, at least for me, this is perfect for single player.

I would much rather have a more substantial single player experience.

Why? I'd like to have MMO, the single palyer is not needed.

your ideas seem too much like Spore

In spore you still jump from a planet to another, and you have random encounter on the planet, my idea is to have encounter in the open space, like supreme commander, but in space.
And spore is the classic game where you point and fire your weapons and drive you ship.
In my idea a battle would be like:
- jump with warp engine to a space sector (everywhere you want, not in preset points)
- go around with sub light engine
- you find another ship, is an AI cntrolled transport cruise.
- target the ship and start firing (as it is now), but in the while another player ship my come, and start firing at you...
The ship position during battles is almost static, like now, but you may decide to move trying leave behind a big slow enemy ship if you are a light fast ship and you can't still jump with warp engine.

...or trying to enter a nearby asteroids field since you have strong shields, and the enemy don't, or a plasma tempest because you have spare energy and the enemy may not...or move near a sun, because you are enough sure you can survive but the enemy may not.

It's like a star trek battle.

MMO's are deep? Since when?

they can be, however.

[Leezeebub]

Wait, so what is it you actually want to keep from THIS version of the game?

[Sick Boy]

you don't want single player?
you don't want the sector-based game?
you don't want to keep hull points?

i don't say this mmo of yours would be bad, but it's not really FTL, it's just an idea for a space-exploration mmo.

th

[Tubatic]

I like FTL as a singleplayer experience, so, very much not interested in an MMO of it.

Have you tried Star Trek Online, or EVE?