Discussion - Trade Lanes or "the corridor"-good or
Posted: Tue Feb 06, 2007 11:17 pm
Hi everybody, not so long ago I started playing Oolite. I think it is a great game but I am not so sure about the "trade lane" thing.
Here is why: When you jump into a system, I was told that a number of pirates, police etc. is added to the system and I have found that all of the action happens in the inflight corridor from the hyperspace entry point to the planet. If you avoid the corridor, it is entirely possible to get to the planet without running into anything, not even pirates in anarchy systems. Also, if the corridor is "clean" (all pirates destroyed, transporters at their destination, cargo scooped etc.) the system is practically empty. You can jump-drive to the sun and back and everywhere without running into anything. I think that does not really capture the "feel" of the original Elite.
I have played Elite on the C64, the Amiga and I am now also playing Elite - The New Kind and at least in those versions, pirates, traders and asteroids appear randomly anywhere in the system. You could practically stray for hours in an anarchy system and there is always stuff happening. I have no programming skill and don't know how this is programmed, but it seems that the more unstable the system, the less time between random pirate formation encounters. This way, a system is never "empty" and it is not the player's choice if he wants action.
For example, if you play unrestricted and ferry passengers, it is not really eventful because you can just decide to avoid the corridor and just fly right through.
To make a long story short: Oolite is great but I think it would be even better if you don't have this trade lane corridor but instead random events and encounters anywhere in the system. It would capture more the feel of the original elite where anything can happen everywhere.
What does the rest of you think?
Here is why: When you jump into a system, I was told that a number of pirates, police etc. is added to the system and I have found that all of the action happens in the inflight corridor from the hyperspace entry point to the planet. If you avoid the corridor, it is entirely possible to get to the planet without running into anything, not even pirates in anarchy systems. Also, if the corridor is "clean" (all pirates destroyed, transporters at their destination, cargo scooped etc.) the system is practically empty. You can jump-drive to the sun and back and everywhere without running into anything. I think that does not really capture the "feel" of the original Elite.
I have played Elite on the C64, the Amiga and I am now also playing Elite - The New Kind and at least in those versions, pirates, traders and asteroids appear randomly anywhere in the system. You could practically stray for hours in an anarchy system and there is always stuff happening. I have no programming skill and don't know how this is programmed, but it seems that the more unstable the system, the less time between random pirate formation encounters. This way, a system is never "empty" and it is not the player's choice if he wants action.
For example, if you play unrestricted and ferry passengers, it is not really eventful because you can just decide to avoid the corridor and just fly right through.
To make a long story short: Oolite is great but I think it would be even better if you don't have this trade lane corridor but instead random events and encounters anywhere in the system. It would capture more the feel of the original elite where anything can happen everywhere.
What does the rest of you think?