Everspace 3 wish list!

[Johnny Hazard]

Hey there, fellow Players.
I'm creating this thread so we can dream about what Everspace 3 should be.
Of course, it's not our intention to force the dev's plans... who am I kidding, of course it is!
But maybe we can give good hints about what Players are looking for in this arcade space shooter style.
So, here goes my part...
Everspace 3 should have:

- Seamless "world". As in all data streamed when possible, loading screens disguised as transition loops, systems connected by jump gates and worm-holes Freelancer style. Supra-light travel inside systems. Instead of a black screen with loading dots, make it transition between areas. One of the best used ways for UE4 to do this was using areas connected by portals, and using a loopable transition area in-between the old and new one.

- Old school multiplayer for co-op or pvp. Using peer-to-peer techniques or the old quake 2 style - one player creates a server, and the others can connect to it. Multiplayer could be restricted to specific missions/challenges (single areas, no world travel) or pvp arenas.

- Create your own hero - customize appearance, voice and attributes of the player character. This would require a more solid rpg, of course, and a more open main story, but, hey, there's no true RPG without it.

- No levels. Ignore that trap. It made Everspace 2 really complicated with level scaling vs static levels war. Players would use xp to unlock a big skill table. Consider path of exile style of skill-table. Oh, yeah, and each ship would have one too, and players could evolve it by spending engineer points (like xp, but used for ships and tech)
Tech like modules, weapons and devices would drop with rarities instead of levels. They would have open/occupied slots with different upgrades, and the rarity would define how much upgrades that tech could install. So a grey engine module would have 1 slot, greens would have 2, blues would have 3, reds would have 4, and uniques would have 5, with one already filled with a unique upgrade.
These upgrades, like tech, would also have rarities, and these would increase/add more bonus/penalties to the tech where it is installed.
Players could increase a tech rarity by spending engineer points.

- Dynamic economies. Space stations, bases and cities have their economies, and prices will chance according to demand and supply. Pirate raids, embargoes, epidemics and other factors could wreck and increase those markets, and players could be active helping out these situations.

- Dynamic trade routes. Established routes highlighted in supra-light, where players can follow the market, and scan around for "victims" or distress signals.

- Supra-light exploration. Players could use special technology to scan the system and locate secret areas, bases, distress signals, mysterious encounters, challenges, etc...
This mechanic would substitute the random encounters and the system map already populated with locations. Players would have to buy maps in stations, or scan to locate things.

- Paint your ships like cars. Instead of a simple color palette, players could find/buy/earn paints (mate, bright or metallic colors) thus creating a greater variety of options, and even add patterns to it (stripes, leopard dots, matrix, hexagons, camouflage, etc...) that could mix 2 paint slots.

- Moar devices. Remove ULTS, and add all that stuff as different devices, thus opening huge gameplay options to players. Some devices could still be exclusive, like gunship turrets, but one would have more variety to choose from: pulse turrets, laser turrets, coil turrets, missile turrets, etc...
Much like Everspace 1 devices were used.

- Moar consumables. Yeah. Put all that stuff as consumables. Drones, probes, markers, summon beacons, etc...
Attack drones, shield drones, armor drones, anti-missile drones...
Resource probes, enemy probes, loot probes, structure probes...
Simple area markers, system visible markers, persistent markers, customizable markers...
Summon trader beacon, summon buddy beacon, summon heavy ship support beacon, summon grey-goo beacon...

Fellow Players, feel free to add your wants to the list.
Cheers.

[Pappy]

Well since we are wishing, Everspace 3 should have:

- True MMO. Always online. Multiple servers with different characteristics if you really want to go hog wild. PvP or PvE for example.

- If your hull is destroyed, you do not die but your ship is disabled. To get back into the game another player's ship has to repair your ship to get it going again. Alternatively you can request a tow ship be sent from the nearest starport but that will cost you some cash which is added onto the bill for repairing your ship. How long it takes for the tow ship to arrive depends on how close the nearest starport is. If you really want to add some spice to this mechanic, not all ships can repair your ship, maybe only certain ship types offer that functionality. Maybe there's even a ship that can repair itself? Sky is the limit here but there's no save/reload. You do something stupid you suffer the consequences whatever those happen to be.

- True ship classes meaning you will have offensive, defensive and support type ship classes. You want to have extra mount points, that's a ship class. You want to be able to equip extra armor and shields, that's another ship class. You want to be able to jump start and repair ships that's another ship class. You get the idea. Go crazy.

- Weapon ammo. Lasers/beams require lots of energy but no ammo. Projectile weapons require lots of ammo but very little energy. Ammo for missile launchers can get quite expensive. Different types of ammo as well such as explosive projectiles, armor piercing, etc with different associated costs. Choosing a loadout for your ship should be a major decision with a lot of repercussions depending how you do it. If you want to use lasers/beams, better get a strong reactor for all that energy. Want to use missile launchers, better be able to pay for the missiles or craft them yourself.

- Weapon types have various other strength's and/or weaknesses. Laser/beam weapons have fairly short range, better have a decent engine to get in close and get away quickly or have heavy armor to be able to absorb the damage you are gonna take. Projectile weapons have better range, but are more susceptible to accuracy issues. Missiles have very long range and can lock onto ships but missiles can be jammed, intercepted, etc. Again lots of room for choices as to which weapons are best for your loadout.

- Full crafting system including ammo, devices, weapons, shields, engines, even parts for these other things. You can't craft everything but rather have to choose what you want to specialize in for your "profession" which promotes trading with other crafters, etc. Become a master crafter and you'll be the envy of everyone in the galaxy.

- Mining system ties into your crafting specialization. So certain type of ores and stuff will be very valuable to you but may not be that valuable to others or vice versa. You'll need to figure out where the best/most lucrative mining nodes are for your particular needs.

- Various different types of experience gain. You can gain experience from combat, but you can also gain experience through exploration or by doing jobs or by trading/crafting etc. Gaining experience in different areas should give you access to perks for that type of experience gain. For example gaining crafting experience should help you some way to craft better/cheaper items. Gaining experience in combat should help you be able to use better weapons for example.

- Various factions. Maybe only certain ship classes are available to certain factions. Maybe trade routes depend upon which faction you are so vendors that are of your faction will give you better deals than vendors of another faction for example. Lots of possibilities here. Maybe you can even gain reputation with other factions that will affect these things.

Other than what I have mentioned above I want Everspace 3 to mostly play the same way that previous games did meaning I want the game to be ship based meaning your avatar is just the pilot of your ship, he doesn't get out and walk around on planets, fight or anything else all he does is pilot the ship. He doesn't even interact with other players or NPC's other than while piloting his ship. I couldn't care less if you ever even see your pilot or can customize his appearance, I'd prefer you not be able to do that as it just wastes effort that should be kept around customization of your ship. Your ship is your character, your pilot has a name maybe and that's about it. Heck you can even name your ship if you want.

[Johnny Hazard]

Naming the ship would be nice. :')

Oh, I have another wacky one. But it's so wacky, that it should go for an Everspace IV. LOL.
So... SPACE LEGS!
Yeah, but since the game is an "arcade space shooter", space legs would be a character controlled top down shooter, in the style of the Original Alien Breed, or the good old arcade commandos and Ikari warriors.
Pump those guns and explore derelict stations on foot. Weird places infested with arachnids that spit acid!
And to top it, bring Elek with you as a side companion, AI controlled, to follow you around and give fire support. Use covers, dash, throw grenades, shoot with your laser rifle, gatling melter or carry a plasma thrower, or a green-goo-gun!
You could adventure with 2 companions max, and assign them positions by pressing Q and E keys. They would actively look for cover, and use combat tactics according to their gear.
Players could even customize their behavior. or even upgrade them with their own skill-tree.

[Geekbyte]

Cool thread.

You know we like to hear suggestions and feedback for our games. We're 100% focused on on EVERSPACE 2 and our expansion, but it's great to read enthusiastic players' thoughts about whatever the future may hold.

[Waahson]

I don't know what the devs have said in the past, and I'm sure the topic has been brought up, but multiplayer to some degree would be amazing.

We can all dream for an arcadey space sim MMO, but I'd settle for something as basic as a hub world/zone with trading, sort of like NMS but better lol. Basic co-op is cool, but I like the idea of being able to interact with random players as opposed to hoping a friend wants to play.

[Johnny Hazard]

Oh, I have another idea:
-create a merc - Let players create a custom mercenary. From facial features, body type, voice, ship and gear, and a complex behavior tree to make him/her unique when summoned. Then, Players could get a code string from it, and publish it online. Placing that code string in the game for a hired mercenary would make him come and follow the player in space.
Then we could rank these mercs, and vote for the ones we like best.

[CABAL]

Originally posted by Johnny Hazard:

Hey there, fellow Players.
I'm creating this thread so we can dream about what Everspace 3 should be.
Of course, it's not our intention to force the dev's plans... who am I kidding, of course it is!
But maybe we can give good hints about what Players are looking for in this arcade space shooter style.
So, here goes my part...
Everspace 3 should have:

- Seamless "world". As in all data streamed when possible, loading screens disguised as transition loops, systems connected by jump gates and worm-holes Freelancer style. Supra-light travel inside systems. Instead of a black screen with loading dots, make it transition between areas. One of the best used ways for UE4 to do this was using areas connected by portals, and using a loopable transition area in-between the old and new one.

- Old school multiplayer for co-op or pvp. Using peer-to-peer techniques or the old quake 2 style - one player creates a server, and the others can connect to it. Multiplayer could be restricted to specific missions/challenges (single areas, no world travel) or pvp arenas.

- Create your own hero - customize appearance, voice and attributes of the player character. This would require a more solid rpg, of course, and a more open main story, but, hey, there's no true RPG without it.

- No levels. Ignore that trap. It made Everspace 2 really complicated with level scaling vs static levels war. Players would use xp to unlock a big skill table. Consider path of exile style of skill-table. Oh, yeah, and each ship would have one too, and players could evolve it by spending engineer points (like xp, but used for ships and tech)
Tech like modules, weapons and devices would drop with rarities instead of levels. They would have open/occupied slots with different upgrades, and the rarity would define how much upgrades that tech could install. So a grey engine module would have 1 slot, greens would have 2, blues would have 3, reds would have 4, and uniques would have 5, with one already filled with a unique upgrade.
These upgrades, like tech, would also have rarities, and these would increase/add more bonus/penalties to the tech where it is installed.
Players could increase a tech rarity by spending engineer points.

- Dynamic economies. Space stations, bases and cities have their economies, and prices will chance according to demand and supply. Pirate raids, embargoes, epidemics and other factors could wreck and increase those markets, and players could be active helping out these situations.

- Dynamic trade routes. Established routes highlighted in supra-light, where players can follow the market, and scan around for "victims" or distress signals.

- Supra-light exploration. Players could use special technology to scan the system and locate secret areas, bases, distress signals, mysterious encounters, challenges, etc...
This mechanic would substitute the random encounters and the system map already populated with locations. Players would have to buy maps in stations, or scan to locate things.

- Paint your ships like cars. Instead of a simple color palette, players could find/buy/earn paints (mate, bright or metallic colors) thus creating a greater variety of options, and even add patterns to it (stripes, leopard dots, matrix, hexagons, camouflage, etc...) that could mix 2 paint slots.

- Moar devices. Remove ULTS, and add all that stuff as different devices, thus opening huge gameplay options to players. Some devices could still be exclusive, like gunship turrets, but one would have more variety to choose from: pulse turrets, laser turrets, coil turrets, missile turrets, etc...
Much like Everspace 1 devices were used.

- Moar consumables. Yeah. Put all that stuff as consumables. Drones, probes, markers, summon beacons, etc...
Attack drones, shield drones, armor drones, anti-missile drones...
Resource probes, enemy probes, loot probes, structure probes...
Simple area markers, system visible markers, persistent markers, customizable markers...
Summon trader beacon, summon buddy beacon, summon heavy ship support beacon, summon grey-goo beacon...

Fellow Players, feel free to add your wants to the list.
Cheers.

And little more big ship like corvettes and frigates. I love big space ships.

[Johnny Hazard]

Originally posted by CABAL:

And little more big ship like corvettes and frigates. I love big space ships.

I remember the fun I had with Rebel Galaxy 1, despite being 2d space.
Flying big ships with many turrets and broadside cannons was a joy.
Imagining it in 3d space... that would be a blast!