First off, Gazz, great post.

Grumblesaur wrote:Would they even be posting missions, or would they be buzzing you over the radio while in space?

I wouldn't mind being buzzed over the radio. If a convoy gets ambushed by pirates and they're barely able to fight them off, but is then able to escape into more friendly territory, they may send out an S.O.S. type message to try and pick up new escorts just to get them home, just like Gazz said.

Gazz wrote:The criteria should be few and simple so the system stays manageable. I'm thinking...

• Reputation (obvious)
  This could include the percentage of escort missions that you did complete successfully. I'd consider that an important factor.
• Expected amount of trouble. No idea how your universe is organised and what parameters would apply.
• Present protection. That you are the player does not mean you're #1 on everyone's list.

You would probably need to expand on the 'Expected amount of trouble' point. The player should see the source and destination as well as the intended route, as well as the convoy's reputation along that route. Afterall, you may not have a problem with Faction A, but if the convoy does, you'll need to know. Do you want to chance your reputation with them if you get into a scuffle? Or are those ships just waving a different flag to get close to the ship? Would your rep with that faction help in any way (i.e. You're on REALLY good terms with them, so when they would have attacked the convoy, they decided not to)?

The criteria should be simple, but there is a little bit more behind the scenes that needs to be considered.

As Hardenberg said, there should be no time limits. If you *really* want to put in a time limit that ticks down from the payment, make it ludicrously high, if only to prevent the player from issuing a 'wait' order on the convoy and then go off and bake cookies, run a second convoy, attend school, grow old, etc (see: Every Final Fantasy game--'Bad guy about to destroy world!', 'Oh, I have allllll these side quests I need to finish! Let's spend weeks Chocobo racing').

Either that, or have the convoy or the company they work for buzzing you wondering where the cargo is and why it's taking so long (but only if you're not in combat, or there is no 'extraneous' situation going on; afterall, you don't want them to piss off the player when you're doing legitimate work).

Gazz wrote: 2. The ability to give the leading ship one waypoint order.
Once the waypoint is reached, the leading ship gets back to flying towards the port of call.
This waypoint will not be accepted if it leads the ship further away from it's destination than it currently is.
This way you can lead your convoy around obstacles like an asteroid field or a pirate base that you know about. The player's planning or his knowledge about the lay of the land could be a major factor in the success of the mission.

I love this idea immensely. I'd tweak the formula just slightly and instead of saying "If it is further away from the destination" to be "Further away from the destination + X%". This takes care of those last-minute, split-second decisions because a pirate fleet jumped in and you need to vacate fast, or detour to another system.

Gazz wrote: You may not be the only escort this convoy has hired.
These AI escorts do their own thing and won't listen to you.
Whether they get destroyed or not is not part of the success conditions. It would be a good idea to try and keep them alive, though, because they might just increase the chances of getting the full payment for the real mission. =)

To expand a little bit here as well.

If the waypoint system is implemented and there are multiple AI escorts, when you propose a new waypoint, have the convoy/other escorts 'vote' on it. Dice rolls on a y/n and then if the majority agree, take it (maybe spread the result over 1-2 seconds so it looks like they're considering it). If a couple ships jump in system in front of you and you want to avoid, but say everyone else doesn't have a problem with that faction, then they'll ignore the waypoint request, as it has no effect on them (this also depends how many OTHER escorts are in the convoy. Of course, if you're the only escort, they'll listen to you because they don't want to chance losing their only protection, but if there are multiple escorts, and some may be more powerful and you're considered expendable, then they may go right through).

Same thing if an enemy fleet to the convoy/other escort jumps in. They may suggest you go around (maybe not allow them to set a waypoint, but let the decision be up to you if you want to fight or not).

Also if there is a tie, let whoever's rep win, or whoever the convoy 'trusts' win, or just let the convoy only have a vote if a tiebreaker is needed.

This is a GREAT topic for discussion. Making escorts not suck, more involving, and (gasp!) even enjoyable is something I'd like to see. It needs to go from dull-read-your-book-for-an-hour-time to tense, on-edge, and prepared for anything.

I would love to see the player escorting a typical convoy, and then a huge pirate fleet jumps out of nowhere because the convoy didn't say they were carrying prototype items. They get captured/destroyed/commandeered, and the player gets blamed for it because there is no evidence to the contrary and then suddenly you have a faction after you because they think you stole it, while the pirates go behind your back and sell it back to the company claiming to have 'saved' the stuff from you (the player).

A bit intricate, I know, but still, it's things like these that make the universe not just come alive, but make you realize that it really is harsh out there sometimes.

DWMagus wrote:If the waypoint system is implemented and there are multiple AI escorts, when you propose a new waypoint, have the convoy/other escorts 'vote' on it. Dice rolls on a y/n and then if the majority agree, take it

I prefer a solid rule set over random rolls. =)

If it's random and you want to lead the convoy to some quiet corner to rob it, you'd just have to keep trying (or reloading) to give such an order until it works.
There is no challenge or fun in trying the exact same thing repeatedly until it finally works.
And if the player has the best intentions, it's only aggravating if the convoy ships "are being stupid about it".

That's why I suggested limited but clear authority and only being able to give waypoints that do bring the convoy closer to it's target. Maybe more slowly but there is always movement towards the destination.

Okay, modify what I said. Instead of dice rolls, let it be your rep with the different ones flying with you. If they all 'trust' you, then they have no problems with following you (unless maybe their ship was damaged and they believe there might be more danger where you're leading them).

I guess when I say dice rolls, I mean more of a way to create a voting system. More factors and not randomization then. If the area is dangerous, they'll keep voting 'no', unless they trust the player 100% (because who knows, maybe the pirate fleet had moved to intercept and no longer is in the other location).

If all of this goes in. These missions will be fun!. I agree with everything that hasn't been contested so far. I have one thing.

I have a feeling that chaos will ensue. You will die easily in a battle if a large battle does happen.
You need to have support for bringing your own men so that you can have a chance of still coming out alive. 50 on 50, someones ganna die and if that's you. Outta luck kinda sucks when chaos does ensue. If you can't have a fleet theres no way to protect your small fighters. You would have no choice but to only bring large ships in. Regardless of how useful fighters should always be.
I'm just trying to protect the choice of dog fighting in large battles. If large weapons become end all for small ships. You would have to stick with bigger ships. Maybe someone else could say it in better words. More than likely they can XD.

kaliber64 wrote:You would have no choice but to only bring large ships in. Regardless of how useful fighters should always be.

You're basing your protest on a lot of assumptions about the combat system.
Besides, it's way off topic because it has absolutely nothing to do with escorting per se. Try some threads dealing with scale or specific combat mechanics.

Your right sorry. Was my first post. I'll be more specific in the future.