corbanite Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) SO the current system has too many loading screens and seems like a chore to get anywhere. There has to be some sort of space travel in the game otherwise it would not be an interplanetary based game but one big world. (I would love an x-wing type interplanet game but that is not going to happen).. The current system does make it feel like you are moving from planet to planet and gives the impression of space between worlds. Instant travel between planets would just make it even more like WoW just without the ability to travel under your own steam to zones. There has to be something between planets to give it a space feel. What are peoples suggestions as to how they would like to see space travel between planets implemented within the confines of the current swtor system? Edited January 18, 2012 by corbanite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CFourPO Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I would make space travel like this: You board your ship You can either 1. use the map as is to jump right to a planet or 2. plot a course to travel manually Manual travel would allow you to encounter random missions, opportunities (like wrecks and salvage), asteroids, etc. You could also have an ability to scale the time elapsed, in other words to change the amount of real time to game time scaling. Slower travel would up your chances of random or more lucrative encounters. Some things like asteroid belts would be repeatable, and once you'd discover them, though with some diminishing returns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrobes Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 In my SW MMO, you would be required to manually fly a small distance away into an open part of space to be free of any gravity wells. Then you would activate your astrogation computer onboard your ship, and plot your routes on a galaxy map. You could pick any destination/route, but the better your astrogation skill the more options would be available to you. It would take a few short moments for the computer to plot the route, then you'd jump to lightspeed from the cockpit. Your astrogation skill would slowly increase the more space travelling/exploration you did. The game would condense the travel time as it does now, but maybe you could influence it a bit with a few things, i.e. astrogation skill (to a small extent), ship's (upgraded or not) hyperspace velocity (to a larger extent). Maybe with high enough astrogation skill (you could do this by tier points, revealing more and more the higher it got), you would be privy to specialised (smuggling) routes, hidden routes, known anomalies, better avoidance of interdiction enroute, etc. Also, maybe particular routes or locations could be "unlocked" by either random discovery, or through hyperspace-map objects on planets through illicit trading, etc. But not all routes should be discoverable by simply exploring. All the sequences of taking off, landing, entering/leaving hyperspace should have more manual control. Doesn't have to be complex. Additionally, you should still be able to automate it if you're not interested in that. Either way, what I mean is, it'd kind of nice to have a bit more of a drawn out sequence of watching your ship take off and leave the atmosphere of a planet for example. At the moment the ship-to-game relation is extremely detached and fragmented. It should feel more immersive - probably with an option to keep it simplified also for those that don't care for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arugess Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I don't think there's too many loading screens. In fact, if you take planets out of it and examine how the phase system works, SWTOR in fact has fewer loading screens than other MMO's that use instanced dungeons. For planets - you're literally traveling across the expanse of the galaxy from one sector to another. In Star Wars, jumping to light speed was in fact a big deal, involving a bit of "calculating the jump to light speed" while tie fighters zapped at the ship and while Han Solo or Lando Calrissian tried to say that its not their fault. Take a look at the Space Stations today - the dropship hub for the various instances - that is ridiculously convenient, too convenient I'd say. I'd rather have a process like Scrobes is saying, where the activity of traveling is in fact, an activity, and not thin mask for necessary loading mechanims. I would prefer that in order to do flashpoints, you would pick up the missions from the level appropriate area, then all have to travel via your spaceship to the designated point on the galaxy map as if it were another space station or planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trucegore Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) /thread Edited January 18, 2012 by Trucegore Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrobes Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I would prefer that in order to do flashpoints, you would pick up the missions from the level appropriate area, then all have to travel via your spaceship to the designated point on the galaxy map as if it were another space station or planet. Or, all travel via one person's ship while playing a game of sabacc! /pipedream Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vydor_HC Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 1. Board ship at space port or space station. 2. Move to orbit (jump to light speed) 3. Travel to orbit of target (come out of light speed) . 4. Land in space port or space station. The only place I'd clear it up in the game is all the evelators and stuff in the ports and orbitals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murkin Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Board air-lock which then loads you into your ship. It should be simple and the constant running to and from your ship is a little over the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arugess Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 /thread fuuuu that is what I want! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Science Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 /thread This. SWG had a spectacular space combat/pilot/ship crafting system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nahela Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Just dump the ludicrous orbital stations that are connected to the majority of planets. It's tedious and really adds nothing to the game. I don't feel any less 'spacey' flying to say, Tatooine and landing in the planet's spaceport than I do going to Tython and making an extra hop and run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superlizard Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) This. SWG had a spectacular space combat/pilot/ship crafting system. So true and I miss it. Taking something from another game that was done right -- just never seems to happen. Its like they come up with these brainstorms they think would be good when all that needs to be done is to just take what has worked and was liked and enjoyed by players and build on that. If you think you have to add a personal touch to something add to it but don't take away. Frankly just to have my ship and travel and crafting back from swg would make me a happy gamer. Edited January 18, 2012 by superlizard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts