Return to “Suggestions”

Post

Bosses

#1
I thought it would be cool if the engine could randomly produce stupid huge enemies to fight. Like a ship that dwarfs most space stations, our a space station with pods and tunnels spread across an entire region with asteroids incorporated into it. They would require whole fleets to take down, and the engine would only generate a handful per seed
Post

Re: bosses

#7
Well, since we're already going for fun and thrown most of the realism out for things that are more fun...

How about spaceship-sized life forms cruising out there, not unlike the space monsters the old Star Trek Series sometimes had? I agree that generating those might be a bit of a problem, since the shape would have to be more organic, but it's at least another option of "things I saw while cruising in space".
Of course, they wouldn't necessarily be "boss monsters", more things like "random encounters".
Hardenberg was my name
And Terra was my nation
Deep space is my dwelling place
The stars my destination
Post

Re: bosses

#9
Masterofjumping wrote:Bosses No, But it would be feasible for factions to create massive ships or strong bases. Random things just cannot be spawned, It does no fit into the nature of the game.
I think it would still be interesting to stumble across something huge, but maybe old human expansion ruins... or maybe hints to an alien race?
Post

Re: bosses

#10
Masterofjumping wrote:Bosses No, But it would be feasible for factions to create massive ships or strong bases. Random things just cannot be spawned, It does no fit into the nature of the game.
I think this pretty much sums up my stance on these kinds of random encounters. They need to have a purpose, an explanation for existence that goes beyond "it's a rare random spawn." If you've read any of my talk concerning the way the LT universe operates, you're familiar with the fact that I'm going for a pretty insane level of dynamic simulation when it comes to the universe - and that's intended to be the main driving force behind just about everything from missions to exploration to NPCs and faction relations. The fact that the simulation drives the universe gives meaning to everything - everything you see, everything you do, everything that happens - has meaning because it is connected by the simulation, not a fleeting moment. A random spawn of a "stupid huge" thing is meaningless, it is not driven by this web of connections.

Now, of course, I would expect that, for whatever reason, certain factions or NPCs might build/buy really large ships. You'll also see certain factions having huge fleets. So in this sense, yes, you may encounter "bosses." But they will not really be the way you are describing them!

I guess that answer was a bit of overkill for the question, but I wanted to drive in the mentality behind the LT universe :)
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” ~ Henry Ford
Post

Re: bosses

#11
I can see why random spawns wouldn't work, when I hear procedural I sometimes think random but I like that in limit theory things won't be completely random. I just like the idea of fighting huge battles, I think maybe a scenario where a faction has created a massive ship that is dominating all of space, requiring all of your fleet and every favor you can call in to be able to stop it could be an awesome story that could happen within the game, if the engine could produce it. I just imagine how cool it would be to stumble across a ship so big it takes you a few minutes to get from end to end, and the fear when you realize it's a warship constructed by your rival.
Post

Re: bosses

#12
I agree with the consensus thus far, the 'bosses' should be the random things to occur (large empires, fleets, huge alliances etc.). Rather than giant space slugs that inhabit x system, or y planet, or something.
Everybody seeks happiness! Not me, though! That’s the difference between me and the rest of the world. Happiness isn’t good enough for me! I demand euphoria!
Post

Re: Bosses

#13
It would be great if we could move away from this idea that a boss battle is simply an enemy you have seen before but bigger. It's lazy and been done to death. A better boss battle would be some kind of unique or rare type of enemy. Just giving him huge amounts of hitpoints is pretty lazy too but I suppose if you don't do that what else can you do to make him harder to kill? Better, more damaging weapons? If you are using procedural generation throughout perhaps there could be a class of ship parts that are only used on Elites and above.
Post

Re: bosses

#14
JoshParnell wrote:
Masterofjumping wrote:Bosses No, But it would be feasible for factions to create massive ships or strong bases. Random things just cannot be spawned, It does no fit into the nature of the game.
I think this pretty much sums up my stance on these kinds of random encounters. They need to have a purpose, an explanation for existence that goes beyond "it's a rare random spawn." If you've read any of my talk concerning the way the LT universe operates, you're familiar with the fact that I'm going for a pretty insane level of dynamic simulation when it comes to the universe - and that's intended to be the main driving force behind just about everything from missions to exploration to NPCs and faction relations. The fact that the simulation drives the universe gives meaning to everything - everything you see, everything you do, everything that happens - has meaning because it is connected by the simulation, not a fleeting moment. A random spawn of a "stupid huge" thing is meaningless, it is not driven by this web of connections.

Now, of course, I would expect that, for whatever reason, certain factions or NPCs might build/buy really large ships. You'll also see certain factions having huge fleets. So in this sense, yes, you may encounter "bosses." But they will not really be the way you are describing them!

I guess that answer was a bit of overkill for the question, but I wanted to drive in the mentality behind the LT universe :)
“The impact of space activities is nothing less than the galvanizing of hope and imagination for human life continuum into a future of infinite possibility.”
Post

Re: Bosses

#15
Memnoch wrote:It would be great if we could move away from this idea that a boss battle is simply an enemy you have seen before but bigger. It's lazy and been done to death. A better boss battle would be some kind of unique or rare type of enemy. Just giving him huge amounts of hitpoints is pretty lazy too but I suppose if you don't do that what else can you do to make him harder to kill? Better, more damaging weapons? If you are using procedural generation throughout perhaps there could be a class of ship parts that are only used on Elites and above.
Well, let's take a look at this. I like the idea of a 'boss' being a procedural generated opponent that may not just be 'big'. Can we have it in the engine where there might be an enemy fighter/carrier/etc that is just 'better' at their job? Like a super-AI that is better than what else is around you? For example, if you set the difficulty on medium, this 'boss' would be someone with an AI of a higher difficulty level?

I know AI can never match a player's capability, but if you toss in 1-2 NPCs that have skills that outweigh (or far outweigh) the difficulty, you can label them 'bosses'. Let them build their ship tailored to fighting the player. Heck, make them the leader, or second-in-command of a pirate faction. You destroy the NPC, someone else from that faction takes over the faction in the course of a little bit of time (few days? few months?), and becomes that good. You destroy the entire pirate faction? Let the game adjust and make someone from a different faction/location a 'boss' by these standards.

If we think of 'bosses' like this, not only would it fit the PCG part of the game, but it would also (hopefully) allow for something the player may explicitly fear.
Image
Early Spring - 1055: Well, I made it to Boatmurdered, and my initial impressions can be set forth in three words: What. The. F*ck.

Online Now

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests

cron