Space Combat Replayability and Improvements

[Shillen]

Ok I posted this in general discussion first and it got drowned without any views. It probably fits better in this forum anyway. If a mod wants to delete that other thread I won't mind.

 

First of all I love the space combat and I think you can do a lot of things to make it even more fun.

 

The most important thing is to improve the replayability of it. Right now I keep doing the same missions over and over and I can pretty much sleep through them. I don't even try to do well because there is no incentive to it. I just hold down the blaster key the entire time and play without shields because I can beat the mission doing so.

 

So here are some suggestions to make it more entertaining doing the same mission multiple times.

 

1. Score. I think if you gave us a score at the end it would give us a reason to try every time as we want to beat our previous score. This could work really well with the multiplayer aspect as well as people can compete within their guilds for the highest score or even compete for the highest score on the server.

 

2. Rebalance xp. More exp for killing objectives during the mission and less for winning. It seems to me the amount you get for destroying ships and turrets inside the mission are pathetically low. In the early missions at least you get 5xp for destroying normal turrets, 7 xp for fighter planes, 20 xp for big ship turrets, 30 xp for some other objectives. You might kill 100 of these things during a mission and the grand total xp for that is like 800 or so. Then you get 2500 for beating the mission and 10k for completing the quest. It just doesn't seem to be worth my time to go above and beyond the mission requirements for the 100-200 extra xp I might get.

 

3. Bonuses. Give us bonuses for doing better. Early finish bonus (xp, credits, score), beating it without taking any damage, high accuracy bonus, etc.

 

4. Random events. I think it would be cool if there were some random events that may or may not happen each time you do the mission. Maybe sometimes a special boss ship would spawn or maybe you fly to the mission and you get there to find a completely different situation than you expected (i.e. a different mission).

 

5. Alternate paths. Yes, it's a rail shooter but that doesn't mean there has to be one rail only. You could give us choices during the mission do you take the right path or keep going straight? Etc.

 

6. More difficulty levels. Offer the maps on multiple difficulties from easy to medium to hard. Give more exp/credits and maybe special rewards for beating it on hard. But make them really challenging.

 

And here are some other improvemnts I'd like to see that aren't necessarily related to replayability:

 

1. Healthbars. I want an option to have a healthbar appear on top of every ship/turret/etc. You have them on certain mission objectives. I'd like to see them for everything. Of course this should be a toggle.

 

2. Ship path. Show the path the ship is going to take. It's ok the 4th or 5th time you play the mission because you know which way it's going to take you but the first couple times it's a problem. Sometimes I go to avoid an asteroid and the rail takes me the other way and I crash into it anyway. I think there should be like a faint beam of light that shows which way the ship will go.

 

3. Radar. I can't imagine a space shooter without a radar on the ship. This might sound like it would make the game easier but that's not the case. It gives you another thing to watch and if it did make it too easy just add more stuff to kill. Besides, I've pretty much memorized when and where all the ships come from after the 5th+ time I've played it.

Edited December 30, 2011 by Shillen

[TheCynic]

Numbers 3 and 6(kinda already exist)

 

As you out level a mission new bonus missions are added.

 

As for 6, There are a few missions that just get renamed and become more difficult as you gain levels. Ice Fields/Destroy the Imp ship one has a version in the 30s, where lasers do more damage to you and enemy ships have shields. The Outpost Attack map has the same thing in the 30s as well.

[JLapp]

1. I really like. Would be cool to see at least some stats at the end (number of ship turrets destroyed, number of enemy fighters killed) and see the total XP you earned during the mission.

 

2. I think it is fine. The daily mission is a lot of XP but you can only do it once a day. As far as XP during the mission, I think you should get more xp for completing the mission so I think its fine.

 

3. A lot of them have bonus objectives...I think it is fine.

 

4/5. Wouldn't be opposed to it but don't care that much.

 

6. I want more variety more than different difficulties. I'm level 43 and there have only really been 4 different mission (I think) since most of them are recycled into higher level ones.

[StealthStalker]

I agree with nearly everything on this list.

 

Most importantly random mission encounters and a high score functionality. The score doesn't even have to be in a ladder form or vs any others. It can be a personal best high score and that would be enough for me.

Edited January 11, 2012 by StealthStalker

[theadjectivenoun]

Numbers 3 and 6(kinda already exist)

 

As you out level a mission new bonus missions are added.

 

As for 6, There are a few missions that just get renamed and become more difficult as you gain levels. Ice Fields/Destroy the Imp ship one has a version in the 30s, where lasers do more damage to you and enemy ships have shields. The Outpost Attack map has the same thing in the 30s as well.

 

actually they are recycled which is kinda of lame -.- Don't want the DA 2 effect.