Crew discussion 2012

[Wardy]

Note to self: Don't confuse Sid meier with Russ Meyer.

Edit: Inappropriate.

[maik]

[Disembodied]

A somewhat light-hearted suggestion for crew: don't forget the catering.
A steward to run the mess, with associated costs. Crew won't stay too long if the service in the mess is not good enough.

A ship's cook could also increase profits from passenger runs – people will pay more for decent grub on the voyage. And perhaps (if this is doable) a navigator could make jumps take less time, making it easier to take on timed cargo deliveries ... if it's not doable, then maybe it could increase the amount of time available for a given contract.

[Fatleaf]

Then we are into the realms of moral.

[Smivs]

...a navigator could make jumps take less time...

What, have a big ugly fishy thing in a tank of orange smoke? Cooooool!

[SandJ]

Then we are into the realms of moral.

Do you mean employee rights (I suspect not) or morale?
If going down that route, there's experience too.

[Fatleaf]

Then we are into the realms of moral.

Do you mean employee rights (I suspect not) or morale?
If going down that route, there's experience too.

Spell check alert

[maik]

Then we are into the realms of moral.

Do you mean employee rights (I suspect not) or morale?
If going down that route, there's experience too.

I have recently been playing the iOS version of Pirates!. Its model is more or less what we are talking/I am thinking about: you have a crew that needs to be kept happy (there only by plundering enough and increasing the crew's share though--need to find a different model for Oolite), otherwise they mutiny and leave. And you have various specialists that increase your odds more or less along the lines I was talking about earlier. You either find those specialists on other ships that you defeated and entered, or in the ports' bars (same goes for crew). Maybe the unnamed crew aspect is not even relevant for Oolite, just the specialists are.

[Disembodied]

I have recently been playing the iOS version of Pirates!. Its model is more or less what we are talking/I am thinking about: you have a crew that needs to be kept happy (there only by plundering enough and increasing the crew's share though--need to find a different model for Oolite), otherwise they mutiny and leave. And you have various specialists that increase your odds more or less along the lines I was talking about earlier. You either find those specialists on other ships that you defeated and entered, or in the ports' bars (same goes for crew). Maybe the unnamed crew aspect is not even relevant for Oolite, just the specialists are.

Perhaps some crewmembers (the better ones?) get paid a salary and a share of the profits? So if the profits aren't coming in at a decent rate, they might start to look for work elsewhere.

There could be two or three grades of crew: Roustabout (generally unskilled labour); Technician (knows what they're doing); and Technician First Class (top of the range).

[SandJ]

[I have recently been playing the iOS version of Pirates!. Its model is more or less what we are talking/I am thinking about: you have a crew that needs to be kept happy (there only by plundering enough and increasing the crew's share though--need to find a different model for Oolite), otherwise they mutiny and leave.

Hmm. There's the makings of a pirate version of Hired Guns there. Build up a good enough bounty on your own head and other independent space dogs will volunteer to join you. Combined bounty / booty between you (they scoop cargo too and the spoils are shared as credits, somehow) ensures more 'volunteers'; a fall-off in liberated booty results in one of the other vying for the position of Cap'n, the 'fleet' splits and turns on you. And Heavens help you if you fall from Fugitive to Offender - they'll all attack you at once.

How's that for a GentlemenOfFortune.OXP ?

[Ramirez]

I've done a basic demo of the advanced targeting system I mentioned, which could act as one of the crew stations. Although It's a little similar to Okti's Long Range Scanner it uses different methods and is intentionally a bit more limited (and therefore a bit more 'gamey').



Buy the equipment (listed as AWACS on the F3 screen) and use Shift+N to activate. I've filtered out small and stationary ships for the moment, and haven't yet sorted all the column alignments or added any timers.

The idea is that you'd use this to locate contacts at long range (although not necessary determine exactly what they are) and then investigate further using various other methods at your disposal. E.g. you might have a tipoff that a Boa is leaving a system with some valuable cargo, in which case you'd be on the lookout for a large, slow vessel with an outbound flight profile. I would add a bit of fiction to say that because of pirates, traders are avoiding the usual space lanes and so won't always be found on the normal planet-WP route.

AWACS test

[Commander Wilmot]

What if one of the crew members was a sensor technician specialist? When the player has one on duty, maybe the scanner display could extend over a larger area (though this would not be doable in the current version I assume.) Such a person could also run Ramirez's proposed advanced targeting scanner. Maybe the scanner could also pick out large formations of ships (i.e.4-5 or more) such as navy and galcop viper squadrons patrolling, random hits mission targets plus retinue, freighters like boas and their escorts, patrolling behemoths and other large ships with their escort? Obviously it shouldn't give much of any details, just a general "_____ size formation detected ____ k.m. up the main space lane" or something.

[Cmdr James]

I can see a place for a (oh dear) Frontier like crew requirement, with large ships needing more staff. I could also see the possibility of flying with a reduced crew (each missing crewman leaves one turret unmanned perhaps) but many of these ideas seem to me to be taking the game too far in a direction I dont like. We could have crew requiring food, demanding salary changes, going on strike, learning new skills, and getting killed. But if I wanted to play the Sims, then I would do so.

[Ramirez]

What if one of the crew members was a sensor technician specialist? When the player has one on duty, maybe the scanner display could extend over a larger area (though this would not be doable in the current version I assume.) Such a person could also run Ramirez's proposed advanced targeting scanner.

That's kind of what I'm thinking. In parallel with the advanced radar/targeting equipment, I've been working on a role for a communications operator. They'd be able to listen out for any signals from other ships and depending on their skill they may be able to decipher something about the source. So for example, they might be able to tell if some radio traffic relates to a commercial freighter talking to its escorts, or if it seems police/military-related. This capability would extend beyond radar range, so once the direction to a signal has been established, you can try getting closer to investigate and also get your radar operator to start a regular sweep to try and get a proper fix on the source. It's only once you get within 30km when the IFF (plus the scanner targeting enhancement) will give you the full picture of what the target is.

[CommonSenseOTB]

I can see a place for a (oh dear) Frontier like crew requirement, with large ships needing more staff. I could also see the possibility of flying with a reduced crew (each missing crewman leaves one turret unmanned perhaps) but many of these ideas seem to me to be taking the game too far in a direction I dont like. We could have crew requiring food, demanding salary changes, going on strike, learning new skills, and getting killed. But if I wanted to play the Sims, then I would do so.

haha! SimOolite!

@Ramirez and Commander Wilmot:

Just adding a thought, would you want a normal scanner display showing what is at 2 to 3 times normal range? Or would that be too much of an advantage? I think it is possible and if no one is already working on it I think I have a few ideas on how to do it and make it available as a piece of addon equipment. Also for this type of enhanced scanner would it be preferable to have the regular hud show the information or go to a separate hud screen when the long range equipment is turned on and off? Kind of like switching to a different display? And this way you can have a very large scanner display and maybe some information readouts? Kind of like a long range tactical display? What are your thoughts on this? If there is interest I will pursue it or if it shouldn't be done for game balance reasons then maybe the concept should be left undone? Thoughts anyone?