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Sardaukar
Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: October 08, 2002
Posts: 1656
|  Posted: 2009-02-07 14:18
This sounds incredibly similar to an existing freeware simulation, actually- "Orbiter". At least, that's the way it seems.
If you or someone made this, though... of all the games I've ever played, the ones I've loved most were the difficult ones that equipped me to deal with the challenges. Throwing in X difficulty doesn't do any good without giving players the proper tools to engage them- reacting, planning, experimenting, executing, etc- fleshing out the gameplay by utilizing those tools.
So, when it comes to the UI, you really want to make their position, momentum, and gravitic influences clear. Independence War 2 handled the first two very well, by representing your momentum as many short lines flying past your view (the HUD is displayed on a head-mounted screen ingame), with your angle relative to that easily determined by looking at the angle of the lines and which way they were going across your vision, and how long they were (speed).
As for the gravity bit, I'd have a ring made of 360 divided segments, in the center of your view, that expands and distorts according to the forces pulling on your ship. At either corner of the screen, you'd have a more accurate view of these forces in the form of two colored circles- front and back- upon which the force of gravity would be represented as discolorations. This is how 3D radar was displayed in older space combat games- you could easily figure out where things were relative to your view by seeing where on the circles they were; In the same way, you'll be able to see where you're being pulled and how hard by seeing where the discolorations are on the circles, and how dark they are. Different gravitic sources may be assigned different colors.
And as for a reason to be flying... with these gravity sensors and displays, I'd make the game about the exploration of space. Fly a surveyor craft, hunting for strange signatures, marking Lagrange points as anchors for new space facilities, finding wrecks, etc. Play as a freelancer, staking your claims, competing against other players or AI, and then selling or otherwise exploiting those claims for ship upgrades and supplies. I'd throw in the ability to call for a refuel or have a backup recharging low-output power source, so that you won't be lost in space (without seriously failing at navigation) but losing precious time and money waiting for help or getting home.
As for the rest of the UI, I turn again to Independence War 2. The game simply has the best user interface I've ever seen in any space game. Go grab the demo to be convinced and inspired.
[ This Message was edited by: Sardaukar on 2009-02-07 14:50 ]
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Gejaheline
Fleet Admiral
Galactic Navy
Joined: March 19, 2005
Posts: 1127
From: UGTO MUNIN HQ, Mars
| Posted: 2009-02-07 14:44
I-war 2 had an excellent interface for spaceflight and for letting you keep a handle on your velocity, although I never managed to get myself any ships except the terrible cargo tug.
As for the radar, I found that the Freespace (2) radar was excellent for getting your bearings on a particular target: The centre of the circular display was dead ahead, and the edge was dead astern, with a half-sized circle indicating the point where an object was directly beside you, i.e. perpendicular to your heading. The dots would get brighter the closer they were to you.
[ This Message was edited by: Gejaheline on 2009-02-07 14:45 ]
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Lark of Serenity
Grand Admiral
Raven Warriors
Joined: June 02, 2002
Posts: 2516
| Posted: 2009-02-07 15:40
for combat - missiles dont enact force on a vessel if launched properly (ie. detach and then fire)
another possible game mode would be who could get from A-B using the least fuel.
itd be interesting to have a setup where 2 factions have control of 1 planet each, and have to A) calculate using their planet and moons to get to the enemy planet and attack an orbital station or something, and B) strategize about how to deal with the various possible approaches the enemy will use. approach A being out of firing range of approach B when they pass each other for instance, or do you leave some ships behind to defend and hope they dont send their entire fleet/leave their entire fleet, etc etc.
maybe a trajectory indicator, that gets less accurate the longer it is (splays out into a dotted line cone) would be good for reducing the otherwise absurd difficulty =P
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Sens [R33]
Admiral
Joined: September 27, 2008
Posts: 1020
From: Edge of th...
| Posted: 2009-02-07 15:44
I could see scenario matches where squadrons battle it out from respective carriers, possibly exploiting a system's resources to develop technologies, repair and build new ships, ect.
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Kanman
Grand Admiral
Pitch Black
Joined: August 26, 2005
Posts: 1017
From: Virginia, United States
| Posted: 2009-02-08 18:44
Orbiter is an awesome game! I like the Shuttle-A. Very real looking (with regard to the planets and moons at least). I put my shuttle facing Jupiter, starting from the moon and gave it all the fuel is had. Then I set it to time speed X1000 and went to bed. When I woke up (9 hours later), I had been swung way out to the other side of the solar system from my intended destination thanks to the sun. I think I might calculate myself a really well planned path and when its ready, set it off before I go to class in the morning. That night I will sit down and land it gently.
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Genxun
Cadet
Joined: September 21, 2005
Posts: 1
| Posted: 2009-02-09 12:38
The HL2 mod Erernal Silence got space combat down quite well in my opinion. Steam recently endorsed it so if anyone wants to play, my steam ID is Zanerkend
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