Dire Wolf
Spaceman
Origins thought they had the ultimate game engine in WCIII's "reality engine" which worked for III and IV.
However, they tried a different one for Privateer. That one had some interesting limits. It could hold only 66 docking locations, for example. On the other hand, they used it to experiment with a different flight model and a different energy model for the game (and touched on that model in the script, but not the gameplay, of WCIV).
The engine also had other limits.
In that light, I have my comments on the remake.
* Make key bindings more in line with the original
* Increase damage due to collisions
* A solution for the asteroid problem (they need to be dangerous like in the original)
I'm not so sure of that.
I should note that asteroids were only dangerous if you didn't have other ships and they were not larger than yours in game terms. Asteroids materialized and were sucked into ships determined on size and speed.
As a result, on the mission to get the Steltek gun, when you jump into the field with the Kilrathi, until you've killed them, you are actually pretty safe from the asteroids.
In addition, if you flew in "pursuit" mode (using the pursuit camera) you could see and avoid the asteroids rather easily. It took a little bit of practice and the asteroids were no longer that dangerous.
For the most part, dangerous asteroids are a mix for the amount of fun they offer, though they did require thinking.
* Get rid of this 'hulls' thing. you can have one type of armor, and only one purchase of it. Plasteel and Tungsten are the two upgrades you can get...plasteel being the type you start out with, tungsten being the better type (in RF you can get isometal).
* From what I can tell, the drayman is still rediculously tough, should be fixed.
* No being able to tractor in missiles or anything of that sort.
That is a deeper level of detail that it appears everyone would have liked to have had. I don't see any problem with it.
* I've heard that torpedo loadout is doubled and that you can mount tractor beams in weird places -- stuff like that, if true, needs to be taken out.
* Intro added in, preferrably with the option to switch between the original and the CD versions. (Jump animations, too, certainly -- if *Metal Morph* can use them, the Privateer Remake certainly can.)
* No turret AI for players. You work alone.
Again, that is a limit of the engine more than a necessary choice. What would be fair, and something the designers discussed on the bbs, was slaving the turrents to the main guns (which basically affects only the Galaxy).
* No owning multiple ships and carrying them around in each other.
* Proper encounter percentages, per the Playtesters Guide. Ditto for the commodity pricing.
* More original artwork. I [Loaf] have much of this and will send it to Brad.
* In the original privateer there were no light/medium/heavy mounts. One size fit all.
* Remove docking from capships
I actually think that docking at capships is a good idea. Once the 66 base limit is removed, it follows.
Of course only non-hostile bases/docking locations should accept you. In fact, you should probably have to be on extremely good terms to dock.
The real advantage (and only advantage) is that this would give you a save point on the steltek drone mission that is closer to the actual fight so that you don't have to go through the entire routine so many times.
* Remove extra upgrades
* Fix pilot/eject/slave issue
* Remove turret AI
* Remove Kilrathi base and garrisons
If naturally filtered into the game at the logical points, I think they belong. The freedom to expand past 66 base locations is just entrancing
* Add jump and landing anims
* Add "handshake" anims
* Remove extra fixers
* Remove extra buyable ships
Of course the limit on ships buyable is a game engine limit based on the bases reusing the same element.
I would like to see the Demon buyable and the two Kilrathi fighters. A Talon and a Tarsus would be good as well. Make certain to make the Talon as brittle as it really is, with the weapons hardwired on, rather than replaceable.
The extra fixers actually seem like a good idea. One for the mercs, one for the merchants, and just some fixers in general. That was another game engine limit that doesn't really require revision to keep the plot clean.
At least remembering that in many ways, Freelancer is a remake of Privateer as they would like to have had it.
* No cheating with communications (i know it was rudimentary implemented in the original but in the remake you can use it extensively, no Kilrathi would turn to friendly if you scream 10000 times at him "Don't kill me kitty!" )
Pretty sure they would. I complained about a particular encounter and was told that the official solution was to do just that with the pirates with the anticipation that you could just talk them out of it.
* Possibility to deactivate shields (100%)
* Afterburner sucks energy to zero and deactivates/activates itself -> if you hit tab further the shields will be lowered 1 level
* F5 switches to turret view
* Possibility to loose equipment while under heavy attack (armor damage)
* Space stations have no "visible" shields (the same as planets)
* Damage report without background image (hardly to read)
* "W" to select missiles or proton torpedo (launcher)
* Heavy damage done to enemies will let them lose parts of their hull (simple 2D sprite)
* Turrets without a radar screen
* Turret view should not be covered by the engines
* Ships that communicate with you should have a white rectangle around
* Destination cross white and bigger (it always should have the same size)
* Radar colors should be: red - enemy, dark blue - friend, bright blue - jump points, yellow - missiles, brown - neutral or objects that can be tractored in (cargo), white - destination cross, grey - bases
* Radar range was if i remember right 15000
* Remove the basic repair feature (should be auto-purchased for free when landing)
* Repair droid takes care of static in MFD screens
* The tractor beam in the original could capture things from a maxium distance of 10,000 km
* If you are removing docking option, D button should be set for Destination as in original
* No spawning, when you die, you should go to the load screen and have to load your game.
* No d*** escape pod.
* Manual control of turrets
* Make the NAV map MUCH more like the original
* no more milspec crap
* when cycling through missiles/torps, allow selection of a single rack (even if two identical are equipped).
* add cargo expander for the Centurian
* 4-way armor values
* 4-way armor damage displayed in targetting MFD
* Cutscene of Steltek towing away derelict base
* Shield cycle by level. If you have Lvl1 shields, they can either be on or off. If you have level 2, they can be on full, on level 1 or off, etc. This should be accompanied by appropriate changes in the shield graphic in the cockpit.
* Torpedo count - can someone confirm that the max torpedo count was 20 in the original? (it is 40 now, at least on the Centurion) I can't remember myself.
* Secret cargo space
* Comm responses in plot-driven missions (apparently this will be very hard to do) as a way of breaking the conversation up.
* Mission Computer should not give cargo missions to Pirate Bases.
* Confed officers should not hang out in Pirate Base bars.
* a waypoint should be scanned when you are very close to it (500k or so)
* Mass driver should fire a round mass-ball not a white proton torpedo like thingy
* Jump bubbles shouldn't absorb weapon fire
* com with c + number without showing what you've send (because it's already shown in you com-selection screen)
General Bugs
* Double-mission when talking to fixer again.
* Make sure you can hear voices over gunfire.
* In campaign missions wait for a enemies with a lot to say to finish talking before they kill you. The messages come much to fast.
* ITTS doesn't currently work in drift/afterburn/match-speed.
* Decrease combat message rate.
* Enforce straight-ahead flight when in turrets. Might just be me, but my ship drifts at same rate if I'm turning when I switch to a turret.
* Damage should affect NPC's ship handling (damaged engine -> drops speed etc.) and MFD should display different damaged sections of their ships.
Thanks!
I had posted more, with more thoughts, guess I posted it in the wrong place, so I'm startin over.
My old thoughts are at http://adrr.com/wing/#sequel
except they do not include the long notes and the suggested plot for P3 that I sent to origins (P1 = Privateer, P2 = Righteous Fire, P3 = )
http://adrr.com/wing/priv26.htm and http://adrr.com/wing/priv25.htm are the rough drafts of what I sent in.
Which led to some discussions when I got a call from the guys at Origins.
Too bad Wing Commander was headed into the end game then.
But, I'm glad to see this project, excited about the thought that we might have the "base game + two supplements" that was the standard Origin method and intent until the design crews got edited .... sigh.
However, they tried a different one for Privateer. That one had some interesting limits. It could hold only 66 docking locations, for example. On the other hand, they used it to experiment with a different flight model and a different energy model for the game (and touched on that model in the script, but not the gameplay, of WCIV).
The engine also had other limits.
In that light, I have my comments on the remake.
* Make key bindings more in line with the original
* Increase damage due to collisions
* A solution for the asteroid problem (they need to be dangerous like in the original)
I'm not so sure of that.
I should note that asteroids were only dangerous if you didn't have other ships and they were not larger than yours in game terms. Asteroids materialized and were sucked into ships determined on size and speed.
As a result, on the mission to get the Steltek gun, when you jump into the field with the Kilrathi, until you've killed them, you are actually pretty safe from the asteroids.
In addition, if you flew in "pursuit" mode (using the pursuit camera) you could see and avoid the asteroids rather easily. It took a little bit of practice and the asteroids were no longer that dangerous.
For the most part, dangerous asteroids are a mix for the amount of fun they offer, though they did require thinking.
* Get rid of this 'hulls' thing. you can have one type of armor, and only one purchase of it. Plasteel and Tungsten are the two upgrades you can get...plasteel being the type you start out with, tungsten being the better type (in RF you can get isometal).
* From what I can tell, the drayman is still rediculously tough, should be fixed.
* No being able to tractor in missiles or anything of that sort.
That is a deeper level of detail that it appears everyone would have liked to have had. I don't see any problem with it.
* I've heard that torpedo loadout is doubled and that you can mount tractor beams in weird places -- stuff like that, if true, needs to be taken out.
* Intro added in, preferrably with the option to switch between the original and the CD versions. (Jump animations, too, certainly -- if *Metal Morph* can use them, the Privateer Remake certainly can.)
* No turret AI for players. You work alone.
Again, that is a limit of the engine more than a necessary choice. What would be fair, and something the designers discussed on the bbs, was slaving the turrents to the main guns (which basically affects only the Galaxy).
* No owning multiple ships and carrying them around in each other.
* Proper encounter percentages, per the Playtesters Guide. Ditto for the commodity pricing.
* More original artwork. I [Loaf] have much of this and will send it to Brad.
* In the original privateer there were no light/medium/heavy mounts. One size fit all.
* Remove docking from capships
I actually think that docking at capships is a good idea. Once the 66 base limit is removed, it follows.
Of course only non-hostile bases/docking locations should accept you. In fact, you should probably have to be on extremely good terms to dock.
The real advantage (and only advantage) is that this would give you a save point on the steltek drone mission that is closer to the actual fight so that you don't have to go through the entire routine so many times.
* Remove extra upgrades
* Fix pilot/eject/slave issue
* Remove turret AI
* Remove Kilrathi base and garrisons
If naturally filtered into the game at the logical points, I think they belong. The freedom to expand past 66 base locations is just entrancing
* Add jump and landing anims
* Add "handshake" anims
* Remove extra fixers
* Remove extra buyable ships
Of course the limit on ships buyable is a game engine limit based on the bases reusing the same element.
I would like to see the Demon buyable and the two Kilrathi fighters. A Talon and a Tarsus would be good as well. Make certain to make the Talon as brittle as it really is, with the weapons hardwired on, rather than replaceable.
The extra fixers actually seem like a good idea. One for the mercs, one for the merchants, and just some fixers in general. That was another game engine limit that doesn't really require revision to keep the plot clean.
At least remembering that in many ways, Freelancer is a remake of Privateer as they would like to have had it.
* No cheating with communications (i know it was rudimentary implemented in the original but in the remake you can use it extensively, no Kilrathi would turn to friendly if you scream 10000 times at him "Don't kill me kitty!" )
Pretty sure they would. I complained about a particular encounter and was told that the official solution was to do just that with the pirates with the anticipation that you could just talk them out of it.
* Possibility to deactivate shields (100%)
* Afterburner sucks energy to zero and deactivates/activates itself -> if you hit tab further the shields will be lowered 1 level
* F5 switches to turret view
* Possibility to loose equipment while under heavy attack (armor damage)
* Space stations have no "visible" shields (the same as planets)
* Damage report without background image (hardly to read)
* "W" to select missiles or proton torpedo (launcher)
* Heavy damage done to enemies will let them lose parts of their hull (simple 2D sprite)
* Turrets without a radar screen
* Turret view should not be covered by the engines
* Ships that communicate with you should have a white rectangle around
* Destination cross white and bigger (it always should have the same size)
* Radar colors should be: red - enemy, dark blue - friend, bright blue - jump points, yellow - missiles, brown - neutral or objects that can be tractored in (cargo), white - destination cross, grey - bases
* Radar range was if i remember right 15000
* Remove the basic repair feature (should be auto-purchased for free when landing)
* Repair droid takes care of static in MFD screens
* The tractor beam in the original could capture things from a maxium distance of 10,000 km
* If you are removing docking option, D button should be set for Destination as in original
* No spawning, when you die, you should go to the load screen and have to load your game.
* No d*** escape pod.
* Manual control of turrets
* Make the NAV map MUCH more like the original
* no more milspec crap
* when cycling through missiles/torps, allow selection of a single rack (even if two identical are equipped).
* add cargo expander for the Centurian
* 4-way armor values
* 4-way armor damage displayed in targetting MFD
* Cutscene of Steltek towing away derelict base
* Shield cycle by level. If you have Lvl1 shields, they can either be on or off. If you have level 2, they can be on full, on level 1 or off, etc. This should be accompanied by appropriate changes in the shield graphic in the cockpit.
* Torpedo count - can someone confirm that the max torpedo count was 20 in the original? (it is 40 now, at least on the Centurion) I can't remember myself.
* Secret cargo space
* Comm responses in plot-driven missions (apparently this will be very hard to do) as a way of breaking the conversation up.
* Mission Computer should not give cargo missions to Pirate Bases.
* Confed officers should not hang out in Pirate Base bars.
* a waypoint should be scanned when you are very close to it (500k or so)
* Mass driver should fire a round mass-ball not a white proton torpedo like thingy
* Jump bubbles shouldn't absorb weapon fire
* com with c + number without showing what you've send (because it's already shown in you com-selection screen)
General Bugs
* Double-mission when talking to fixer again.
* Make sure you can hear voices over gunfire.
* In campaign missions wait for a enemies with a lot to say to finish talking before they kill you. The messages come much to fast.
* ITTS doesn't currently work in drift/afterburn/match-speed.
* Decrease combat message rate.
* Enforce straight-ahead flight when in turrets. Might just be me, but my ship drifts at same rate if I'm turning when I switch to a turret.
* Damage should affect NPC's ship handling (damaged engine -> drops speed etc.) and MFD should display different damaged sections of their ships.
Thanks!
I had posted more, with more thoughts, guess I posted it in the wrong place, so I'm startin over.
My old thoughts are at http://adrr.com/wing/#sequel
except they do not include the long notes and the suggested plot for P3 that I sent to origins (P1 = Privateer, P2 = Righteous Fire, P3 = )
http://adrr.com/wing/priv26.htm and http://adrr.com/wing/priv25.htm are the rough drafts of what I sent in.
Which led to some discussions when I got a call from the guys at Origins.
Too bad Wing Commander was headed into the end game then.
But, I'm glad to see this project, excited about the thought that we might have the "base game + two supplements" that was the standard Origin method and intent until the design crews got edited .... sigh.