[GAME] EmptyEpsilon

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  • edited June 2016
    Final post, then I'll go do something else: Is it possible to fire beam weapons at independent/allied ships?
    Nope the "friend or foe detector" prevents this.

    The GM scanning/description editing would be good. I'll put it on my todo list.

    For GM/Script <-> crew position interaction, I'm still thinking on the details of this. As I do want some general mechanism for this.
  • I achived my network booting stuff:
    https://github.com/daid/EmptyEpsilon/tree/master/netboot

    Note, that it will take Linux experience, and about 3 hours of work to set this up. However, it saves us a lot of time during setup, as we do not have to copy over and start games on every machine. And if a single machine is giving problems, we can quickly swap it out. (We have about 12 machines now)

    I did the last tests yesterday, and everything is running perfectly now. I even added a tool which allows you to edit configuration per client, and reboot/restart clients on demand from the network boot server. Which means I can quickly update the game to newer versions, but also setup autoconnect so that different machines auto boot and auto connect to a server when it becomes available, and join the game on the first ship as a certain crew position.
  • Hrm. I'll be checking this out.. managing 6 bridges at shows this could help a lot.
  • Feel free to ask questions when you try this. Know that you will need to make a dedicated Linux install for it.
    I first tried USB boot installation, but half my donor laptops refuse to properly boot from USB. And in the end, this required less hardware and less work to keep running.
  • I'm thinking a VM or a Docker container (or a couple) would be good for setting up netbooting.
  • I will test this but does it work with a linux or a windows version ? Because I am some issues with my linux version (warp, science lag, display of radar) and I search for a alternative for windows.

    Anyway, did someone test EE with windows XP ? and with a windows 7 portable edition ?
  • el.tito said:

    I will test this but does it work with a linux or a windows version ? Because I am some issues with my linux version (warp, science lag, display of radar) and I search for a alternative for windows.

    The whole netboot is linux, and is for running multiple machines all with the same linux version.

    The problems you are having sound a lot like one of our laptops is showing. The problem with that one is that the GFX card simply has no decent linux support and thus everything is slow. Engineering works "okish" on this laptop.

    I haven't encounted XP installations in quite a while. But it runs fine on Windows Vista.
  • I've got some XP boxes to test on. The last time I ran it on XP it worked fine.
  • edited July 2016
    Hi alltogether,... I thought a littlebit.
    image
    This Picture shows the "needs" to each Station. The more "needs" you have the more your Crew need to interact.

    Comms, is most active, he helps Weapons with reinforcements. Gives Helms Waypoints for Long ways and Resupply on the Road. Shoots drones for Science.
    No fixing needed here I think.

    Next is:
    Science, he gives Information to Weapons (Shields and Beams frequenz), also gives Helms information about Speed, Distance and Direction of other Ships.

    There is a lot of Stuff you could add here.

    You could give Weapons to change the Targeting to "Hacking".
    So you have to decide as a Captain
    - keep pounding on the Leviatan
    - give the Science Officer a try

    Difficulty:
    Weapons needs to give away Beams, can't shoot other Ships in that Time. Maybe Cooldown for Beams?
    Helms need's to stay in Range.
    Science needs to "Hack" (Minigame? -> Random choice possability 1 or 2 Options?) the System of the Enemy Ship.
    - Destroy Subsystem.
    - Get Information about not found Enemy Ships.
    - Steal Energy or Supply (Weapons?)
    - Random Event: Get a feedback and get one of your own Systems destroyed.

    This idea could be also done without Weapons but that way Captain needs to decide what to prefer. (Would be no Option if you still got Multiple small fighters against you or worth the Risk?)

    Another Idea (maybe more simple): Science could become also some sort of Teleport station to "support" Egineering with repair material, by Teleporting Wreck parts or Asteroid chunks into the Ship (Scanning for Metal inside the Asteroids and Scrap in Wrecks) to speed up Hull repair or give overall possability to repair Systems.

    Let's go to:
    Helms, has more then enough to do by playing the driver and keeping Weapons in a good shooting Position.

    Now:
    Weapons, Shields Beams and Weapon-Supply should be enough. Maybe that Hacking part? Or Mining?

    Last one:
    Engineering, till now he is only Repairing the Ship, or boosting Weapons or Helms... I know you didn't like the Sensors but please give it a try and ask for feedback.



    Some personal things I'd like to ask:
    - I put a Z83 Mini PC and a Acer T232HLAbmjjz 10xTouchscreen.
    Now I have the issue, I need to double Tap or to swipe to get a reaction.
    I putted touchscreen=1 at the Settings.ini. Any Ideas to fix it to "tap only"?
    - Also, please add Wrecks to analyze for Science (Game and GM) and Artifacts for GM (with writeable Data)
  • Now I have the issue, I need to double Tap or to swipe to get a reaction.
    I putted touchscreen=1 at the Settings.ini. Any Ideas to fix it to "tap only"?
    I have this issue as well on my touchscreen Windows 7 laptop (Lenovo P40 Yoga) and it seems to be an SFML input issue. SFML never receives the tap from the OS as a mouse click. Touchscreen mode doesn't change the behavior.

    Notably, the Wacom stylus input (which uses Wacom's touch services) works fine--only finger input (which uses the OS's touch services) requires tap-and-drag to register input. I haven't found a workaround yet.

    I'm not sure that this can be fixed in EE or the SeriousProton engine, and the SFML devs haven't accepted it as an issue. I haven't tested it in Linux due to lack of drivers for the touchscreen, but I haven't tried it in months and things might've changed on that front now that this laptop's been out for a while.
  • Engineering, till now he is only Repairing the Ship, or boosting Weapons or Helms... I know you didn't like the Sensors but please give it a try and ask for feedback.
    The problem with Engineering is that it's one of the busiest stations during combat but does much less between combats (mostly power management and shield recharge, even then only until they're stabilized). Eng does even less in non-combat scenarios and can be replaced by auto-coolant and auto-repair.

    But adding another system for Engineering to manage doesn't really solve that problem. Scaling sensor range or scanning minigame difficulty to system power just means players will park it at 125%/20% coolant. On the other hand, impeding radars and scans when the sensor system takes damage takes every other station out of the game while Engineering shuffles repair crews toward it--IMO it's not worth it to make every other station less fun just to give Eng another ball to juggle.

    I think Eng could better use more stuff to do between or outside of combat altogether.

    If transporters and cargo make it into the game, managing those would be a good fit for Eng/Ops (and fits the fiction). Beaming players from one ship's stations to another ("capturing" ships), beaming cargo/passengers/repair crews to and from ships and stations, beaming sensor probes and supply drops into the ship--all things Eng can take on when its combat responsibilities aren't dominant, and all things that give it more hooks for interaction with Relay, Science, and Helms.

    There's no way to repair hull away from a station, so a mining/salvage minigame could also be a good fit--it wouldn't pile onto combat responsibilities, and it'd provide a non-combat interaction between Eng and Sci (scan asteroid/wreckage, find one that has the needed materials, link it to engineering for transport).

    Maintaining and equipping fighters/drones could also give Engineering more to work on, but only on carrier ships.
  • oznogon said:

    I think Eng could better use more stuff to do between or outside of combat altogether.

    One thing I was thinking about for the Engineer(or even a Engineering Team) was to keep the engines or reactor calibrated during extensive use of the Warp or Jump Drives. With the engines/reactor being "out of alignment" heat or more energy would be used when the drives are active.
    oznogon said:


    There's no way to repair hull away from a station, so a mining/salvage minigame could also be a good fit--it wouldn't pile onto combat responsibilities, and it'd provide a non-combat interaction between Eng and Sci (scan asteroid/wreckage, find one that has the needed materials, link it to engineering for transport).

    Mining asteroids might be good place to get materials for extra parts, like the hull. They are already in game. We'd just have be able to target them and not just blow them up with beams. Maybe have a setting for weapons to "cut" them up. Then engineers could convert those pieces from raw materials to useable parts. These raw materials could be used in trade or for upgrades at space stations.

  • edited July 2016
    Also, please add Wrecks to analyze for Science (Game and GM) and Artifacts for GM (with writeable Data
    I've been experimenting with using scans in scripts to trigger ship events, like scanning an asteroid to regain some hull.

    I've also tried turning a ship into an artifact with the same model when it's destroyed, then having events trigger when scanning the resulting artifact in order to simulate these transporter events (like ship upgrades, repairs, resupply, or replacing the artifact with a new damaged player ship and moving the crew onto it when scanned).

    I think the interactions are worth it, but it's a question of whether we want those interactions to always be available rather than per-scenario as a scripted event.
  • > Science needs to "Hack"

    A friend of mine had a kind of funny idea for a "hacking" minigame. You've probably seen the silly CSI: hacking scene where two people type on the same keyboard at the same time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Y2zo0JN2HE And you may have seen http://hackertyper.com (if not, go there and start typing).

    So my friend's idea for the hacking minigame is when you want to hack into the enemy ship, the captain announces that we will attempt to hack, and then everyone on the bridge has to type as fast as possible all at the same time, and if everybody types fast enough, then the "hacking" is successful.

    Well, this is probably a more fitting idea for "Space Team" than the games on here.


  • edited July 2016
    How about Comms and Science need to type in several numbers like the Selfdestruct code? Both need to do it to unlock the next Numbers. Maybe with a Countdown and/or a set of numbers (3-codes for a simpöe fighter or Transportship, 4-5 for medium class, 6 for Heavy class ships) depending on Difficulty and Shipclass, a little bit like Science Scanning. Btw that way Science and Comms have something to do to Help win the Battle.

    Btw. I love the Game!
  • @Tolotos I disagree on your image and conclusions from it. Because you oversimplify. You should make the lines different thickness for the amount of information and the frequency of updates. Then you will see that relay isn't as active as the rest.
    You also forgot the captain. He/she needs info as well.
    I think the interactions are worth it, but it's a question of whether we want those interactions to always be available rather than per-scenario as a scripted event.
    This is the very important question. As everything added to the base game is added on all scenarios. So we need to take care that it works well or is just available for scripting.
  • edited July 2016
    @daid you are completly right. I will overthink it and make two different supply images. One in Combat and obe Off Combat but since the Captain needs information and status from every station most of the Time I didn't put him into the Supplyimage.

    The purpose of the GM-Console is to interact and Manipulate the Situation on the Run. Or to make a not Scriptet Scenario at all. (Maybe if the Storyteller is not into Scripting...) So to give more possabilities and Variants to interact or "play" with the Bridge, something like an Artifact (since they are already implemented I assume) with Information to reveal by Scanning for GM would be overwelming even for scriptet games (if the bridge is stuck and needs a hint).
  • daid said:


    Oznogon said:

    I think the interactions are worth it, but it's a question of whether we want those interactions to always be available rather than per-scenario as a scripted event.

    This is the very important question. As everything added to the base game is added on all scenarios. So we need to take care that it works well or is just available for scripting.
    Notably, Eng doesn't have any truly interactive hooks for scripts. The best they can do is power systems to a certain point or repair arbitrary damage assessed by a script. Weapons, Science, and Relay all have direct interactions that scripts can hijack (targeting, scans, and comms scripts), and since Helms controls ship positioning scripts can interact with it through proximity events. But outside of events like the opening of Birth of Atlantis, Eng can't trigger many events without some serious contrivances (like "power the reactor to 130% to initiate the transport" or "repair the arbitrary system damage we just assessed to convert the scanned asteroid for hull repairs").
  • Which is why I'm planning to add a scripting interface which allows interaction with any station. Both information (display text "X" to station "Y") as well as interaction (add button with text "X" to station "Y" and call function "Z" when it is pressed)
  • image

    It shows, in combat everybody has to do something and yes you were right @daid ,Comms is the one that has the least to do while in Combat. His objektive is to call for reinforcements and giving the Captain information about incoming Enemys in range of Sight of friendly Units.

    Engineering has enough to do by playing Piano on the Energy Levels, repairing the Ship and keeping the Captain informed on Shipstatus and Energy reserves.

    Science should be also busy by looking up Frequencies and keeping the Captain informed. Also tacitcal suggestions for the Captain or Escape-routes.

    Weapons and Helms also busy enough.

    So as my conclusion out of that thoughts: Hacking or taunting for Comms? But on the long run, if we get Carriers it's Comms job to coordinate the Fighters.
    But till then "Hacking" is a nice ability for Science and Comms. Because after Scanning all Objects, Science could also be somewhat needy in terms of "Give me something to do please!".
    Just a suggestion. :smile:


    image
    Here we got the "real" Gaps.

    Weapons,... waiting for Enemies.
    Comms,... gathering Information, sending Probes,... maybe calling for Supply and at Maximum setting Waypoints and Planning the Route.
    Science,... also gathering Information, maybe finding Enemys by the use of the "Radarlines" and Probes. Well yes thats all I assume.
    Helms is the Busdriver. Should be busy enough all the Time.
    Engineering keeps boosting Helms or Energy preserving.


    I like the Idea of interacting with different Stations. Keep it going! *thumbs up*
  • Currently have plans to run empty epsilson for about 5 to 7 people at my local game store this Saturday at 1800 pst. I have the current build with my ships and music added in. I will post more information when time comes, I need to get a VoIP setup for it if anyone wants to join over the net. Of course I'll post a link to my Dropbox for the game with my files.

    I plan on playing starship horizons as well.

    Will take pictures if I remember to do so.
  • I agree with what I think the conclusion reached by Tolotos is. Weapons is definitely the "down-time" station in the current build. (You're still light years ahead of Artemis on this front, but that's neither here nor there) What if they had some kind of mini-game to incrementally power up phasers? Call it "Phaser Optimization" or something; it could even be the same mini game science plays to scan. Maybe each successful optimization increases phaser damage by 0.5% permanently.

    This is why I wanted them to get the text window to chat with the GM, incidentally. Our group will be running with a GM most of the time, so from our perspective that fixes the issue.
  • edited July 2016
    Anything that requires beams or weapon tubes assumes a ship has them. Some fighters don't have tubes, while some missile ships might not have beams or might only have mine tubes.

    To be more generic, that minigame could take the form of weapons drills. Maybe the ship spawns short-lived drones that orbit the ship and take damage only from specific beam frequencies or weapons. It would fit the fiction of performing readiness drills without duplicating Science's minigame, and it better suits the skills Weapons uses in combat. In fact, that could probably be implemented now via scripting, especially once scripts have a way to add interface components.

    Alternatively, the Weapons minigame could realign shield emitters for a marginal increase to base shield recharge rates. Again, this assumes a ship has shields, but shields are more reliably present than beams or tubes, and shield recharge rates are valuable without being as potentially imbalancing as adding to weapons DPS.

    Either way, a running concern would be that it's repetitive busywork that weapons feels obligated to do in order to optimize the ship. It doesn't have the variety of Engineering's "piano playing" (great term) or Science's scans.

    Another thing I've considered is letting Weapons reroute excess power (for instance, only if shields are fully charged, weapons aren't loading, and beams aren't on cooldown) to temporarily boost other systems. It could give them a non-combat interaction with Engineering, something to do while cruising (bumping power to engines or the reactor), and something to do in non-combat crises (rerouting power to impulse to escape a black/wormhole gravity effect, or to boost shields to survive a minefield or asteroid collision). This also fits the fiction.
  • I honestly don't think it is that odd that a "weapons officer" has little to do outside of combat...
  • Maybe it's not that bad,.. so he is the Official Coffee-maker-Officer in non Combat Status :smiley:
  • edited July 2016
    Weapons should either be fighting a battle or preparing for one.

    Maybe if the ship has fighters that could be launched, the weapons officer would be responsible for tweaking them to handle desired payloads, shields settings, etc. Basically preparing for the next possible battle.
  • It's definitely not odd from a realism standpoint, you're correct.

    I'm just thinking from a gameplay standpoint, it's preferable not to have a station that consistently has a lot of down-time.

    On TNG, Worf manages weapons and security teams, although I can't imagine what would be keeping security teams constantly busy, or what form that would take.

    Unrelated: I know this thread earlier talked about implementing larger celestial bodies, and I'm curious how difficult that would be to implement. Forget orbit, gravity, and even scale; I think it would be really cool to just see really big planets and stars on the viewscreen, and it could lend itself to some cool battle options. Does that appeal at all?
  • Our "inactive" players are usually in charge of drinks ;-)

    As for planets. It will come at some point.
  • daid said:

    As for planets. It will come at some point.

    Once I get around to updating my code :)

  • Also, I pushed a pretty big change today which isn't 100% complete. So if you are running from source, be warned.

    I changed the hotkey system, the new system makes more sense as it allows for more and better key hooks. But only the hooks for helms are written right now.

    The new system will also allow for actually setting the hotkeys ingame at some point. As well as making the difference between ctrl/alt/shift.
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