Rexxs Observational Lounge - Part 1

Project Terran PT Suggestions
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OK, while im nude in my chair sipping a brandy, I would like to tell you how my excursions have been here in Project Terran as a n00b ( not Rexx Shredd btw – a “normal” character named “Crunch” because I like how the ticker reads"Captain Crunch has suffered 33 damage in Terra"…also, having experience in both CE and EVE Online, its possible some of my observations, and experiences as I play, can be helpful

Coops and Prev - Ive been in CE for a few years and had even started way back in 2006 originally. Ive gotten to know you guys as friends (especially you, Coops) and luv ya both (not as much as I luv myself, of course, but close) so - if its OK with you guys – Id like to approach these observations as if I didnt know you so I can be as objective/subjective as possible for truer feedback instead of biasing.

Through the eyes of the n00b, let me begin:

When I first get into game is great. First visual impressions are always important to any non-V.I. player and the (Atlas Station) graphics are sleek and modern. The game introduces the menu systems right off the bat. I cant remember if there was a popup that said to click on an NPC graphic to get going but - if there isnt - it may be a good idea to add one.

Any player coming from both CE and/or EVE Online is going to notice some similarities right from the get-go. For CE players, it looks like a sleek smooth version of CE which - as wonderful as CE is - it is graphically starting to show its age in some areas ( the graphics update from a year ago was a tremendous facelift) but the age shows in areas such as CE’s JDN menus.

EVE Players will immediately latch on to the Skill Menu: its almost a direct clone and is really a great feature of PT. One thing I noticed: Any Skill on hold has to be restarted from the “On Hold” menu in order to continue from where it left off – If I try to restart from the actual Skill Menu where Hold Skills show up in Blue, they restart from the top. No big deal for a skill with 15 minutes but if I make this mistake with a Skill that takes a day or more, Im gonna be one unhappy Rexx (still nude, of course)

I had gotten EVE Online for six months as a present awhile back from somebody (cant remember who) and I gave it a go. For those of us that have played EVE know that it is a graphically beautiful game with one of the largest online Universes available. But, for me, thats where the excitement ended: EVE is boring. What it has in graphics it fails in content: Core Exiles has SO much more diverse and superior content than EVE had when I played. I got into Stealth and Covert Ops and the Hacking puzzles were just the same thing over and over without no real substance and that got boring fast – even when Wormholing to Alien Derelicts. When the 6 months elapsed and they wanted my 15 dollars a month, I decided “not worth it” – there were some good things in Eve but not enough - the best thing about my experience in Eve was my toon: a very hot, well endowed female.

suggestion: So with that, Id like to put on the table the idea of 'toon generation: even a simple 2D “mix n match” hair/ heads/faces/torsos/legs could be a nice addition to personalize PT.

suggestion: Stealth and Covert Ops has a lot of potential to be fun and rewarding if the puzzles can be more challenging than those awful boring “follow the dots” Hack puzzles.

The first n00b player negative I encountered was undocking from Atlas Station and seeing the Terra System: Star System graphics look a little pixelated on my laptop and dont match the ‘smoothness’ of the other game graphics. Even the Asteroid Feild graphics are smooth.
suggestion: Perhaps a slightly moving starfield in the background (even for the Asteroid fields). This can probably be done with simple tiled animated gifs which yours truly can probably generate for you in different sizes and layers if you want to try it

The JDN was another surprise: this, to me, is an improved system to CEs and I LOVE the timed jumps AS LONG as the timed jumps are gameplay reasonable. Prev and I talked about our JDN experiences in EVE where it took me 30 minutes or more sometimes to get someplace and Prev said he had jumps that took him an hour (!)…thats just too rediculous…So far the system is proving wonderful

suggestion Not much to say in the NPC department with the exception that there are some missions I have gotten so far that give the location of whats needed without giving the System name. This is a bit of a pain-in-the-ass to be a n00b player unfamiliar with Phoenix Galaxy territory and have to breakout the map and highlight a bunch of systems just to see if said mission planet/station is in that system or not. I preclude the possibility that this may be intentional

PvP and PvE – Whilst Combat is being sorted out, I would like to put PvP back on the table here as it is permanently taken off CEs tables. EVE had a decent system that kept bullying down but it still could be further refined. I have many ideas to have a PvP environment that expand on EVEs if youd like to hear them – if you do, Ill use the Suggestion forums

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Not quite sure what you are getting at here @RexxShredd, I have just tested this, and it does resume with the correct timer… ?

The remaining time is shown on the hover on the button. If this differs from the time that shows once you resume, can you grab a couple of screenshots for me ? (when posting if you want to add a screenshot, just drag it onto the editor, it will automatically upload it for you)

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Maybe we could make PvP available in areas where the law level is low enough? I think that would allow captains who don’t wish to fight to remain in the safe, high law areas and let the fighting captains go where they will. The law levels would be a little more important as well.

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I Agree with Jager 602,i appreciate this game is not Core Exiles,but the reason CE is my No 1 game is because there is no PVP,i would like to see PT as in other games specific planets/or areas of planets dedicated to pvp where players who favour pve can avoid,usually pvp areas are situated in low or zero law level areas,these could contain asteroid belts where players could mine rare and valuable resources that are unobtainable in “safe” areas ,so making players if they want to take a risk to obtain them.

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I am no fan of PvP myself, and if asked to vote, would vote for none, but to be honest, discussions and plans have reached nowhere near that level yet…

IF PvP is added, it will be done in a way that players will have a choice. There certainly will not be enforced PvP where you have to watch your back at every turn, nor will it be available in any of the higher law levels.

Anyway, thought I would chime in, and put your minds at rest :wink:

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Perfectly agree that a game like this has to be optional PVP. You can’t be rigged out in a ship without weapons and find yourself in PVP.

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The EVE system worked is if you were in a Higher LL area, there were local government defense weapons that would target your ship if you fired on another person. However, in the Lower LLs (some listed as LL -1 or more), it was all open game…This system worked but had flaws: there were still occasional bullies who just didnt care what LL they were in that would show up in their Nighthawk or whatever and start podding n00bs…

An improved system can be just like Prev said above – If you are in a Safe LL (levels to be determined), there is no PvP – End of discussion…

But PvP does add a bunch of exciting elements to a game than just players shooting players …For example, as mentioned above, I used to do Covert Ops/ Stealth…One of the few things I enjoyed doing in this otherwise boring game of EVE was bouncing into a War Zone system Cloaked ( Stealth and Cloak Technology Skills had to be at the right levels to travel while Cloaked ------ Entering a new system took away Cloak for a few seconds but I could recloak before I was targetted). What was I doing there? Salvaging!! Wrecks FULL of goodies. The key to Stealth salvaging was patience: When I got into a system I knew had bullies, I just floated awhile under cloak – I would go play CE, check on my kids, contemplate my navel, etc for 20 minutes or more before checking in…by then I had floated away under cloak from the Jump Gate where the bullies hung out and started salvaging wrecks at the periphery…If I was spotted (I had to dcloak to salvage), I would reCloak and jump to a planet in the system and hang out some more, go play CE, etc, then go back to my previous position under cloak, repeat. Many many times, the bullies had gone away and there was a lil time to salvage at the gate before others showed up. I got real good at it. The best part was, on the off-chance I was podded ( it happened twice, I think), Stealth ships were cheap and easily replaceable…The point is: Here was an interesting dynamic to the game and a fairly profitable career

PvP areas can offer much higher rewards for Freight and Cargo deliveries if the non-PvP player wants to risk it

I can elaborate more

Prev – I did the Skill Reset experiment with screenshots several times and – yeah – its working correctly, so I have NO idea what happened. Disregard

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The problem will be the mining…ore distribution is based on LL.
I haven’t seen the Tier 3/4 mining ships but the Tier 2 ones have no weapon slots.
This is lining up to be a game of specialization with non-combatant ships, which means a Tier 2 combat ship may well be able to take out a Tier 4 mining ship that is trying to Ice Mine.

I think the way to go would be to have a couple of systems or arenas set up that are dedicated to PvP. Nothing else to do there except shoot at each other. Charge admission for people to watch.

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If PvP were to be implemented, I think the dynamic would work better if its effects could be felt marginally…otherwise, its just a penis contest.

For example, you could have one or two resources only available in PvP areas. This would open up interaction and trade with players who are willing to take the risk -for-profit of obtaining the resources. There could also be mining ship classes with a less cargo/high armor or heavy shielding trade-off that are able to punch out of the asteroid field on the onset of an attack

Also, advanced mining ships can employ combat drones as a protective net/ time-buyer-to-escape (some guys did this in EVE)

There are always checks-n-balances: being in a PvP area doesnt have to translate into “instant death” for players

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I played Eve and the PVP was quite ruthless… Even in a high LL system the suicide gankers would come and take you down… I never liked that system :slight_smile:

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yeah, Droffy…this one would have to be more cut n dry: if you are in a non-PvP system, there is no PvP - its that simple. A player can not - in any way shape or form - target another player in that system. Backstory reasons can be fabricated for it

and, like I said above, a PvP area itself doesnt have to mean “instant death”…It just means you have to be on your toes: If a mining ship is attacked by a PvP player in a PvP system, the game can reflect that the victim player can usually escape if he/she is playing heads-up baseball…but it also means that if a Mining ship is in a PvP system and the player decides to get up and make a sandwich, theres a high probability that there will be no ship to return to

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If being in a PvP area isn’t to mean “instant death”, there should be plenty of them. In Star Trek Online, for instance, there are only 2 or 3 systems and planets that are designated PvP arenas, which means that that’s basically all they’re good for - in fact, I’m not sure they’re even kitted out for any other use. This rather misses the point if the idea is that fights with other captains are to be an integral part of “life” in the game.

On the other hand, there should be enough non-PvP areas that captains who want to avoid fighting aren’t basically confined to the kiddies’ pool. About 50/50 maybe?