I have three games of Endless Sky:
Malcolm Reynolds, my first game. Trial and tribulations as I learned the game. I started with a shuttle, as it let me have both cargo and passengers, which seemed perfect. Diversity!
With this character, I've done all the in game content. I've replaced my Dreadnoughts with Wanderer Derecho's, which have like 4x the hull! The game has even told me that if I want more content, I should write it myself.
My flagship is a bactrian.
Wedge Antillies, captain of an interceptor. I did a lot of escort work, and captured a couple of other fighters. With the millions from that, I upgraded to a blackbird.
Once you hit a blackbird, the game is easy. It paid for itself in a day, as I took on pirates and sold their ships. Then I got a Mule.
Now, I have a bactrian as my flagship.
Han Solo, captain of a cargo ship. This is the most sluggish, as transporting cargo doesn't make nearly as much money as taking over other ships. I've upgraded a couple of times, and am hoping to get a mule soon. At that point, I start doing anti-piracy and then buy a bactrian.
With this character, I'm trying to take jobs more and take out pirates less. It isn't working well.
Because no matter the start, the game has one overwhelmingly dominant economic move: Murder pirates, sell their ships. Then, buy a bactrian. Then, it gets easy.
I'm kind of sad that the game has a dominant playstyle. And a dominant spaceship.
Am I wrong? Am I missing something? How do I fix it?
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This sounds like a common problem in games with ongoing development from the user base.
ReplyDeleteSomething exciting and risky -- usually combat -- draws more attention, and develops robust systems and an increasing power arc.
Something the game is ostensibly about but isn't as powerful/risky lags, and thus doesn't allow you to go as far or nearly as fast.
The risky part is important. When things get risky, and the consequences can be dire, they want as many levers to push the odds as they can get their hands on -- which usually leads to that robust system and power arc.
Trade good demand doesn't quite have the same zing.
Inside the game, there's probably no way to fix a designed-in dominant play-style with exponential profit and no serious down-sides.
ReplyDeleteIf you really want to fix it, you could learn to code well enough to mod the system to treat captured ships differently in the market than more "gently used" vessels. You could have some pretty hilarious dialogue: "Look, I gotta knock off a million credits on cleaning costs alone! You have any idea how hard it is to get baked-in entrails off of a bulkhead?"
Then back it up with a supply-problem in terms of pirate vessels ... if you kill a lot of pirates, there are less pirates. Good for merchants! Bad for you.
And, of course, you can (and should) have pirate sabotage when you're in port. Don't try to ambush them in space ... that's just feeding them creds! But torch their motor while they're in dry-dock? Seems fitting vengeance.
Maybe kill some crew. Death benefits are expensive.
Jesse Cox Agreed. The easy solution is really big jobs, like setting up an entire new colony.
ReplyDeleteTony Lower-Basch Or, conversely, be really reasonable about economics in discussion with the developers, as opposed to learn a new language.
If nothing else, the player shouldn't be selling things at 100% It should be easy to sell things at, say, 75%. That shouldn't even require a new variable, simply multiple the sell price by a constant value.
Sure, it'd also be great that any ship that is taken in combat is additionally reduced in price, so go from 75% to maybe 60%.
And base the death benefits off the retail price. That might be too much, but something akin to that.
I'd also like to see jobs that hit multiple factors at once ... like "Cart this huge number of people and this massive load of cargo, to jump-start a planetary economy."
ReplyDeleteUpdate: Han Solo now has a Blackbird, which has forward mounted guns and a crew of three and is fast, with extra bunks for boarders or passengers, and a decent amount of cargo space.
ReplyDeleteThis seemed about right. Except now, the dominant move is to murder pirates and sell their ships.
And, Tony Lower-Basch, absolutely, having missions that float the ego like "we're looking to build a new civilization on the outer rim. We're sending 10,000 people, food and supplies for three months. Pirates will be attacking, so we need to load this onto super powerful ships. You know, like yours".
That is, make it a mission that requires high cargo, high pax, and high toughness. Something only the PC can do.
Off topic: is Offworld Trading Company any good?
ReplyDeleteGeorge Austin I've heard good things, but I doubt it'd run on my laptop.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Nichols I dunno, minimum specs call for a 9 year old CPU (though those don't come with 3 year old integrated graphics you'd need, too...)
ReplyDeleteok, so, i just registered for the google groups and am now looking at the mod board for where I could be of some assistance.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember enough C to be useful, but I can maybe write dialogue that sounds reasonable!
Oh god, Wedge now has a fleet and I'm planning to do the free worlds quest line that way, with a fleet well beyond what anyone else can muster. Like taking Abrahms tanks into WW2.
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