Need SPACE overhaul!! B A D L Y!

[mrgeek]

Been playing for a few days. Enjoying the ground pound. Finally got a ship! I know space is not the main attraction of this game but... what the heck?!!

 

SPACE feels like I am on a roller coaster trying to shoot down birds with a bb gun. No control whatsoever. We need a complete overhaul of epic proportions! Throw it away now and completely re-design it!

 

What??

 

Simple:

 

1) I want complete control of my ship.

 

2) I want to fly in any direction I want, not just follow along a pre determined route.

 

3) I want, after I sit in pilot chair, cockpit view, hud's, weapons control. Perhaps multi play for co-pilot/weapons officer! Talk to me Goose!

 

4) I want joystick control, 4 axis, throttle control.

 

5) Support for H.O.T.A.S. (Thrustmaster Warthog or Cougar)

 

6) Radar so I can see other ships approaching, and take evasive action if needed.

 

7) Shield control. Move power from front to back or balance out as needed.

 

8) Fully customizable ship looks, like paint job, ship names, etc

 

We can still get the same missions... just let us fly them any way we want too. Multi player too!

 

And last but not least, if 1 - 8 are made viable

 

9) Open PVP space battle grounds!

 

10) Craft ships/ships parts

 

Take us back to the glory days of Lucas Art's "X-WING FIGHTER" and "Tie Fighter".

 

Otherwise this MMO is like any other... walk/run, kill a, deliver b, level, craft this and that, etc. Nothing wrong with that, but not a WoW killer either. My son and his college roommates are already giving SWTOR about 6 months before it goes free to play. All of them playing too.

 

Would love to be able to start FRAPS and do mini movies like http://virtualthunderbirds.com/ do! YEAH! Check out their movies in their libraries...

 

I know... all this is a tall, VERY tall order...

[yushiamo]

not going to happen. You're 1 year too late.

 

Maybe at the next exp

Edited January 3, 2012 by yushiamo

[Zones]

Tall order doesn't even begin to describe it. You're asking for a whole game production on it's own. This is a side option for this game, and the best side content I've ever seen in a MMO.

[Leovinus]

No thanks. I quite enjoy space as it is now, a fun, diverting mini-game. It doesn't need to have more excessive complexity than it has now.

 

My own personal opinion, I just know that I wouldn't like your vision, thanks.

[YooYooMa]

No thanks. I quite enjoy space as it is now, a fun, diverting mini-game. It doesn't need to have more excessive complexity than it has now.

 

My own personal opinion, I just know that I wouldn't like your vision, thanks.

 

Yeah, nah.

[Herdsnerfs]

I fully agree, but realize this is a complete expansion in the making. I personally hope they make it, too.. but I have a feeling they will consider it a niche market, and won't bother.

 

I love space combat (or any flight sim) - and space combat is a huge part of the Star Wars franchise.

[Kourage]

1 step at a time. Can't have it all right away. These things cost money & resources.

[Tarka]

Tall order doesn't even begin to describe it. You're asking for a whole game production on it's own. This is a side option for this game, and the best side content I've ever seen in a MMO.

 

Incorrect. It isn't necessarily "asking for a whole game production on its own". That's just your own perception of it. Besides we KNOW that Bioware are working on something to do with space combat, we just don't know what exactly it is.

 

However, a lot of what the OP describes is conceivably possible:

 

Just take a shuttle between the fleet ships and you'll see an entire 3D zone filled with the capital ships. They even move about. Add "full control" of the ship you're in, and you're half way there to dealing with suggestions like what the OP describes.

 

Make no mistake, it has been proven before that the HeroEngine CAN reproduce a form of 3D full control space combat.

Edited January 3, 2012 by Tarka

[Kharik]

They've stated they have a secret space project in the works. Stephen Reid hinted to at least as much as free flight.

[Tarka]

They've stated they have a secret space project in the works. Stephen Reid hinted to at least as much as free flight.

 

Well, I don't think he's gone as far as hinting "free flight", but we can but hope :

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=274

 

• Space Combat – We will continue to add missions to the space game. We also have a special project going on right now that will expand space gameplay in a significant way... for now the details will have to remain under wraps.

Edited January 3, 2012 by Tarka

[Draconax]

Space combat was placed in as a mini-game. Keyword: MINI. It's a very small aside, it's not meant to be an entire game unto itself. It's a tunnel shooter ala Starfox. Don't like StarFox, don't play the mini game, and play the actual MMO itself. They aren't going to divert huge amounts of resources and programmers to completely recreate a whole new Space Combat game, resources that could be used to increase and improve actual game content.

[DaxRendar]

There is a teeny, tiny, itti-bitty chance you'll see something like this someday in a full expansion...

 

I wouldn't hold my breath though... even Jedi and Sith can't hold their breath that long.

 

(I am interested to see what changes they will be making to it soon as they said there are changes coming)

[Zones]

Incorrect. That's just your own perception of it. Besides we KNOW that Bioware are working on something to do with space combat, we just don't know what exactly it is.

 

However, a lot of what the OP describes is conceivably possible:

 

Just take a shuttle between the fleet ships and you'll see an entire 3D zone filled with the capital ships. They even move about. Add "full control" of the ship you're in, and you're half way there to dealing with suggestions like what the OP describes.

 

Make no mistake, it has been proven before that the HeroEngine CAN reproduce a form of 3D full control space combat.

 

Did you read what this guy was asking for? Free form space combat is one thing, his list is an entirely different animal.

 

The special project could simply be multiplayer missions, at this point we have no clue what it is. Don't get your expectations up!

[Herdsnerfs]

"We will continue to add missions to the space game. We also have a special project going on right now that will expand space gameplay in a significant way... for now the details will have to remain under wraps," reads the post penned by game director, James Ohlen."

 

That sounds promising. In a significant way makes it seem like they are working on free flight. I can't imagine significant being anything on rails.

[Lawpel]

I hate the space combat in this game and i really do hope they make some changes, but this has been posted plenty of times. I will continue to play STO because i love the space combat in that game.

 

But keep in mind I love SWtoR and will be playing it for a long time.

[Misar]

I want MMO X-Wing, blending with storyline (X Wing Alliance)! Wouldn´t that be totallty awesome!

[Tarka]

Space combat was placed in as a mini-game. Keyword: MINI. It's a very small aside, it's not meant to be an entire game unto itself. It's a tunnel shooter ala Starfox. Don't like StarFox, don't play the mini game, and play the actual MMO itself. They aren't going to divert huge amounts of resources and programmers to completely recreate a whole new Space Combat game, resources that could be used to increase and improve actual game content.

 

You are trying to assign your own definition to what it should be. Which may not be in line with the devs "vision". You are also assuming various things with regards to what the devs will / will not do.

 

See my previous post for details.

Edited January 3, 2012 by Tarka

[Mannic]

Space combat was kind of amusing until I started getting higher-level space combat missions that were exactly the same as the lower level ones I'd been doing, only now the targets had better shields and armor. Oh, and maybe they'd throw in another enemy or two. Other than that, same pathing, same patterns from enemies, same objectives... really disappointing.

 

We all know there's a better way to do it, but we've also all seen Bioware's coding in action on this game. I don't, at this point, trust them to be able to put together a JTL type experience without it breaking the game.

[Tarka]

"We will continue to add missions to the space game. We also have a special project going on right now that will expand space gameplay in a significant way... for now the details will have to remain under wraps," reads the post penned by game director, James Ohlen."

 

That sounds promising. In a significant way makes it seem like they are working on free flight. I can't imagine significant being anything on rails.

 

Given Jame's words, it's possible that they are working on a form of "free flight" space combat. After all, James has said a few times that Bioware knows that "space is a big part of Star Wars":

 

(4:30 mark)

 

However, it may be unwise to jump to conclusions just yet

Edited January 3, 2012 by Tarka

[Herdsnerfs]

They could open a whole new world in MMO leveling. Your character levels.. and then, completely separate, ship leveling. And as your space combat experience, quests and such grows, your ships level grows (independent of upgrades for the ship). Ship instances, raids.. you could do it all. Professions built around space (buildings ships, to making money on stuff like asteroid mining, piracy, smuggling, and so on).

 

The game's longevity could be increased greatly. I hope at any rate, we get more than space combat on rails. It's an embarrassment to the franchise.

[Skapek-Skocap]

I don't like space, especially coming from the Jesus that was SWG Space combat, but it's a start.

 

A very humble start... but a start nonetheless.

 

I know in the future there will be more space updates and things, but I'd rather get things on the ground done first. Lets fix Open World PvP, Classes, and bugs, before we demand a complete overhaul of space.

[Zombull]

Yeah, nah.

 

Your definition of "fun" might vary. And that's okay.

 

But I happen to agree with Leovinus. Space combat as it exists now is quite fun.

 

Doesn't mean it couldn't use improvement, but IMO it doesn't need to be replaced with a full space sim game. Embrace the arcade feel and expand on it:

 

Localized ship damage (our shield generator is down!)

Crew participation (T7 get that shield generator working!)

Performance rating factoring accuracy, kills, ship damage, etc (Your score for this mission: B+)

 

Maybe even collectible power-ups but I admit that might detract from immersion.

 

And for the love of pete:

 

Make the crew stop with the stupid random comments. The comments would be great if they were relevant, but Kira dear we're not taking heavy damage right at the start of the mission before we've even seen an enemy ship.

 

And...let us blow up the big ships! I don't want enemy ships to just be smoking husks, I want them to be fireballs and drifting debris.

[solistus]

This idea sounds pretty awesome, but as others have pointed out, it's definitely not coming in a free patch. Your idea would take *substantially* more time and money to develop and test than most standalone games, since it's basically a new standalone game that they have to be able to 'hot swap' into an already-launched MMO. If we're lucky, something like this could be the major new feature of a paid expansion; more likely, IMHO, this is something for SWTOR 2.

 

Remember that this is not just a bunch of up-front development work. It means that for the rest of TOR's lifespan, their development time is split between essentially two complete, independent games. This will inevitably trade off with bug fixes and new features for the ground game. Ask the Star Trek Online devs how viable this "two-in-one space+ground MMO" strategy is in the long term.

Edited January 3, 2012 by solistus

[Tarka]

They could open a whole new world in MMO leveling. Your character levels.. and then, completely separate, ship leveling. And as your space combat experience, quests and such grows, your ships level grows (independent of upgrades for the ship). Ship instances, raids.. you could do it all. Professions built around space (buildings ships, to making money on stuff like asteroid mining, piracy, smuggling, and so on).

 

The game's longevity could be increased greatly. I hope at any rate, we get more than space combat on rails. It's an embarrassment to the franchise.

 

Agreed. They could have space combat specific xp and levels. With gear, missions, titles, etc, etc. Thus anyone can get involved in it and NOT have it affect their enjoyment of the "ground game" content.

 

However, the gear (for both the ship AND the character) could be created by players. Maybe even players creating ships and droids themselves.

[Tarka]

This idea sounds pretty awesome, but as others have pointed out, it's definitely not coming in a free patch. Your idea would take *substantially* more time and money to develop and test than most standalone games, since it's basically a new standalone game that they have to be able to 'hot swap' into an already-launched MMO. If we're lucky, something like this could be the major new feature of a paid expansion; more likely, IMHO, this is something for SWTOR 2.

 

Actually, take a look at what I posted on the first page and ask yourself if you are REALLY that sure about it not coming in a free patch

 

Here's the link to the source so you don't have to look back:

 

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=274

 

Expanding on space in general (space combat, space travel, space exploration, etc, etc) could be done over a number of content updates.

 

Also, and I say this even though I don't like the tunnel shooter, there's no reason why the tunnel shooter couldn't ALSO exist in the game too (for those who like that kind of thing). No use just throwing something out for the sake of it.

Edited January 3, 2012 by Tarka