I've noticed NPC decrease dramatically from around 12 members in the server (Lots of NPC's), to around 25 (Barely any NPC's) to around 50 (Almost none). So why not workaround increasing player count to solve the NPC issue? I proposed to double or triple the time before kick out for base idle in order to keep the numbers up a bit. Like if you go to the bathroom, go get a snack or answer a phone call and when you're back you are already kicked out. I suspect the kick out time period is not tempered with the current times and was made when the servers where full? Perhaps I'm wrong and NPC count depends on sector? Just a suggestion to work around this issue.
(07-08-2018, 11:38 AM)Karlotta Wrote: [ -> ] (07-08-2018, 10:20 AM)Wilfred Wrote: [ -> ] (07-08-2018, 12:19 AM)Karlotta Wrote: [ -> ](or even better, downscale all ship sizes, projectile velocities, camera distances, and non-cruise speeds 20 to 50 % to make things look a bit more realistic as well as easier to dock with)
If you want more realism, you'll want higher ship speeds and projectile velocities. And greater distances between solar objects. And bigger planets and stars.
Making planets bigger will make them look weird in the system, plus you'd have to move a lot of bases and lanes. Reducing ship+camera distance instead will have the visual effect of making planets (and stars) seem bigger without breaking the game.
The idea behind what I proposed (and behind reducing certain NPC spawns) is too improve gameplay as well as immersion by making things seem more realistic (planets/bases/gates/lanes relatively bigger to ships/bases and NPCs behave in less stupid ways such as kamikaze attacks on bases and getting stuck in gates) and improve gameplay at the same time (player ships get stuck less in gates and lanes). If you scale down ships and change projectile speeds and camera distances by the same factor, PvP will be uncaffect. If you leave cruise and lane speed the same, travel time and trade profits will remain unaffected. And by leaving radar ranges the same, the probability of seeing other players will be unaffected. Another good side effect of this is that NPC caps don't appear to spawn out of nowhere right next to way, but at larger distance (relative to their size and speeds). And yet another that by reducing thrust speed, it will be become harder to run from pirates and bounty hunters.
Additionally to this, I believe down-scaling ships would make bumping into asteroids in a snub and getting stuck in asteroids with a cap a significantly smaller problem. And possibly NPCs collisions too, since their attack patterns are probably somehow programmed to not collide with smaller vanilla players ships, but not bigger disco ones.
(07-10-2018, 03:46 AM)Karlotta Wrote: [ -> ] (07-08-2018, 11:38 AM)Karlotta Wrote: [ -> ] (07-08-2018, 10:20 AM)Wilfred Wrote: [ -> ] (07-08-2018, 12:19 AM)Karlotta Wrote: [ -> ](or even better, downscale all ship sizes, projectile velocities, camera distances, and non-cruise speeds 20 to 50 % to make things look a bit more realistic as well as easier to dock with)
If you want more realism, you'll want higher ship speeds and projectile velocities. And greater distances between solar objects. And bigger planets and stars.
Making planets bigger will make them look weird in the system, plus you'd have to move a lot of bases and lanes. Reducing ship+camera distance instead will have the visual effect of making planets (and stars) seem bigger without breaking the game.
The idea behind what I proposed (and behind reducing certain NPC spawns) is too improve gameplay as well as immersion by making things seem more realistic (planets/bases/gates/lanes relatively bigger to ships/bases and NPCs behave in less stupid ways such as kamikaze attacks on bases and getting stuck in gates) and improve gameplay at the same time (player ships get stuck less in gates and lanes). If you scale down ships and change projectile speeds and camera distances by the same factor, PvP will be uncaffect. If you leave cruise and lane speed the same, travel time and trade profits will remain unaffected. And by leaving radar ranges the same, the probability of seeing other players will be unaffected. Another good side effect of this is that NPC caps don't appear to spawn out of nowhere right next to way, but at larger distance (relative to their size and speeds). And yet another that by reducing thrust speed, it will be become harder to run from pirates and bounty hunters.
Additionally to this, I believe down-scaling ships would make bumping into asteroids in a snub and getting stuck in asteroids with a cap a significantly smaller problem. And possibly NPCs collisions too, since their attack patterns are probably somehow programmed to not collide with smaller vanilla players ships, but not bigger disco ones.
My apologies for bumping this thread as a relative newbie, but having played original freelancer and other freelancer mods, the vast majority NPCs in Discovery are incredibly easy to kill and present no threat whatsoever to any ship with a freighter shield, even when 6 or 7 of them swarm your ship. Most NPCs don't regenerate their shields and some of them just sit there and let you shoot them. I really think the NPC AI needs improvement, unless someone can explain the rationale for such harmless opponents.
Incorporate npc's into your RP with people. We used to do it, it was more fun this way.
Just ignore their shooting at you.
Also why'd you CD someone as they grind next to a station.
And i rarely ever see them bug out in lanes and jump gates. And if they do clog it up, enter their formation, ez.
(07-07-2018, 10:15 PM)Ruairi Wrote: [ -> ][*]I'm chasing a criminal through a system, and I get tradelane disrupted (while they didn't).
[*]
This can only happen if you're actually no where near the criminal and you've meta gamed the system chat or used tslags net or what ever it was called.
Otherwise they get caught and so do you. there are proximity to when npc's spawn in a lane and they'll spawn on the guy in front of you if you're actually anywhere near him.
Also capital ship patrols are meant to keep you at arms distance from the enemy base.
Or if they spawn out in open space YES! BRING ME AND MY BATTLESHIP BROTHERS PATROLS TO CHILL FARM!
NPC system needs a rework, and this rework is not possible with the current state of the mod.
NPCs were simply nerfed to the max.