Discovery Gaming Community

Earlier on I was thinking about Agiera and how to give them benefits that would accurately portray them as an IT / research company, along with a slight manipulative and dystopian feel that accompanies most of the Libertonian corporations. This in turn led me to think of other factions, and ideas branched and networked from there. All of these ideas are based around internal equipment (like the armour upgrade). Below I'll list my ideas for Libertonian factions and expand from there. All of these things would be implemented via FLHook (I noticed that more and more people are learning to use it - back when there was that unofficial battle server, the host learned how to use Hook to make his own commands, for example). Here goes:

Liberty

Quote:Agiera.

Equipment: Data Node Transmitter

Infocard: This technology allows the ship it is installed in to function in a similar manner to the data nodes in trade lanes and jump gates. As transmissions are bounced off the ship to extend their range, they are also downloaded into physical hardware located aboard for the corporation to analyse at a later date. These data-collectors usually store one petabyte of information per unit. Criminal groups such as the Lane Hackers place great importance on interdicting these storage units for the information they contain.

Outcome: When the equipment was installed, a cargo unit called a 'Data Archive' would be added to the cargobay of the ship once every set period of time. It could be sold on Pueblo Station, or Mactan (for example if a Lane Hacker killed the Agiera player and tractored the goods). They wouldn't be able to be brought anywhere.

Restrictions: Could only be mounted on fighters - the lower cargo space would prevent people from idling in space to farm the commodity - alternately, have FLHook disable the generation if the ship is detected as idle in space. The equipment would only be available for purchase with the right ID, IFF and possibly ship combination (the IFF and ID system is already used to purchase some ships). So an Ageria IFF and ID would be required (or a Special Ops ID with no other specification, in order to allow SRPs with this specific equipment).

Quote:Lane Hackers.

Equipment: Subversive Datathief

Infocard: The Datathief is the final result of many a renegade Agiera employee and is a combination of many subverted USI protocols and security patches. This tool effectively transforms the Lane Hacker agent it is used by into an electronic leech, sucking information from the trade lanes. Gleaned information is downloaded into physical hardware located aboard for the Hackers to analyse at a later date. These data-collectors usually store one petabyte of information per unit. Legal groups such as Ageira and Interspace Commerce place great importance on retrieving these storage units to safeguard the information they contain.

Outcome: When the equipment is installed, a cargo unit called a 'Stolen Data Archive' would be added to the cargobay of the ship once every set period of time all the while it is located within 500m of a trade lane. It could be sold on Mactan, Pueblo or Newark (for example if an Agiera or Interspace player killed a Lane Hacker and tractored the goods). They wouldn't be able to be brought anywhere.

Restrictions: Could only be mounted on fighters - the lower cargo space would prevent people from idling by the lanes to farm the commodity (which would probably be dangerous enough as it was anyway) - alternately, have FLHook disable the generation if the ship is detected as idle in space. The equipment would only be available for purchase with the right ID, IFF and possibly ship combination (the IFF and ID system is already used to purchase some ships). So a Lane Hacker IFF and ID would be required (or a Special Ops ID with no other specification, in order to allow SRPs with this specific equipment).

Quote:DSE

Equipment: IDA Tool

Infocard: The Infrastructure Diagnostic and Assessment Tool was designed as a joint project between DSE and Agiera. By assessing the structural integrity of the Trade Lane and Jump Gate infrastructure in realtime, it allows repairs or maintenance actions to be ordered far quicker than ever before BY DSE technicians. Diagnostic dump reports are downloaded into physical hardware located aboard for DSE to analyse at a later date. These data-collectors usually store one petabyte of information per unit. Criminal groups such as the Lane Hackers place great importance on interdicting these storage units for the information they contain.

Outcome: When the equipment is installed, a cargo unit called an 'Infrastructure Maintenance Log' would be added to the cargobay of the ship once every set period of time all the while it is located within 500m of a trade lane. It could be sold on Planet Pittsburgh, Pueblo Station or Kansai Research Station (for example if an Lane Hacker killed a DSE player and tractored the goods. Kansai because Kusari is trying to steal gate/lane schematics there or something). They wouldn't be able to be brought anywhere.

Restrictions: Could only be mounted on fighters - the lower cargo space would prevent people from idling by the lanes to farm the commodity - alternately, have FLHook disable the generation if the ship is detected as idle in space. The equipment would only be available for purchase with the right ID, IFF and possibly ship combination (the IFF and ID system is already used to purchase some ships). So a DSE IFF and ID would be required (or a Special Ops ID with no other specification, in order to allow SRPs with this specific equipment).

Quote:Liberty Rogues.

Equipment: Deathmatch Cage

Infocard: The Liberty Rogues are renown for stooping to any depraved level to earn a little extra cash, and this business venture does nothing to disprove this legend. Many Rogues have taken to retrofitting portions of their cargo bays to accommodate a secure pen in which captives can be coerced into fighting to the death - all recorded and televised on certain underground transmission stations, of course. The pilot cum fight organiser can expect to earn a slice of the gambling profits derived from the fight he or she has just hosted.

Outcome: When the equipment is installed, a large portion of cargo space would be removed, probably more than the Mk 8 armour upgrade takes up (20-30?). If the Rogue had two non-allied pilot commodities in its cargo bay, it could elect to start a fight (for example, any pilot that isn't a Rogue, Hacker, Outcast, Molly or Junker) by typing "/fight 'pilot 1' v 'pilot 2'." So, for example "/fight Liberty Navy v Civilian", at which point a message (like the cloaking one) would be displayed, stating "Player 'x' is hosting a deathmatch between '1' and '2'." After a minute or so, another message would appear stating "Player 'x's deathmatch has finished - 'pilot' was victorious", at which point the losing pilot commodity would be deleted as 'dead'. It would be replaced by a credit card of some amount to represent gambling payment. This could also be a stimulus for player gambling, like the 'dice' and 'coin' commands.

Restrictions: Could only be mounted on fighters and maybe freighters - given that two pilots and a command would be required to start the action, no idle timer would be needed. Credit cards would maybe have to be scaled to the pilot that was killed. So a cheaper one for low-pay ones like the Civilian, and much, much higher for things like a Fleet Admiral of any sort. I'm not sure how the pay-off would work, but I can see Rogues doing this sort of thing. The equipment would only be available for purchase with the right ID, IFF and possibly ship combination (the IFF and ID system is already used to purchase some ships). So a DSE IFF and ID would be required (or a Special Ops ID with no other specification, in order to allow SRPs with this specific equipment).

Next idea to be posted: Interspace.

basicly a good idea ( only we have countless factions - and they ll all wish for something nice and u nique )

but there is also a technical issue. - ships can only have so many equipment slots. - and i think we re already maxed out. ( but i might be wrong there )

' Wrote:basicly a good idea ( only we have countless factions - and they ll all wish for something nice and u nique )

but there is also a technical issue. - ships can only have so many equipment slots. - and i think we re already maxed out. ( but i might be wrong there )

Ah,several mods have already figured out how to add extra slots for equipment,both internally and externally.Freeworlds,Nightstalkers,WTS,and a few more.

good to know - gotto browse the starport then - i m sure there ll be something posted there...

that d only leave the lore / balance - which can be done... if its only "little" items that add to the factions characteristics in a very minor way.

something like extra slot for
- outcasts: cardamine container = a very minor agility upgrade
- police factions: police scanner boast = allows cargoscanning at 6k

etc. - i d support that.

' Wrote:basicly a good idea ( only we have countless factions - and they ll all wish for something nice and u nique )

but there is also a technical issue. - ships can only have so many equipment slots. - and i think we re already maxed out. ( but i might be wrong there )

Hmm. That would be a problem. If like gafwmn said, the slots issue has been fixed elsewhere, this wouldn't be a problem. Otherwise, it would a tactical / RP choice between armour and a faction specific perk.

I would be most interested in doing this sort of thing for factions that have no real draw factor - or maybe they do, but don't have any way to differentiate ingame. For example, Ageria has all this amazing technology, and a near enough monopoly on most high-end stuff in Liberty, but no way to represent it besides shipping Gate/Lane parts, which isn't even all that profitable anyway.

Similarly, there's the Lane Hackers, which are pretty much the exact same argument, but on the other side of the coin. Currently, not much differentiates between them and the Liberty Rogues, given that they're both pirate groups that operate in the Core and Border systems around Liberty.

EDIT: Jinx, that would be exactly the sort of thing I'd be proposing. The Police factions in particular need some perks.

Another idea,just sure how it would fly though,would be to contact either Nightstalker,Gibbon(?- at Gizmo studios), or Crabtree directly for info.

New edits added to the first post.

Updated from Agiera, to Agiera, DSE, Lane Hackers and Liberty Rogues.

They use the Date Node Transmitter, IDA Tool, Subversive Datatheif and Deathmatch Cage, respectively.

Double post. Could a moderator delete it, please?

I want that Cage, now.

Quote:When the equipment was installed, a cargo unit called a 'Data Archive' would be added to the cargobay of the ship once every set period of time

Requires FLHook plugin, might be computationally expensive. Doable though.

Quote:When the equipment is installed, a cargo unit called a 'Stolen Data Archive' would be added to the cargobay of the ship once every set period of time all the while it is located within 500m of a trade lane.

Same as above, only even more computationally expensive since it requires the plugin to also check a player's proximity to a tradelane.

Quote:When the equipment is installed, a cargo unit called an 'Infrastructure Maintenance Log' would be added to the cargobay of the ship once every set period of time all the while it is located within 500m of a trade lane

Same as above.

Quote:- outcasts: cardamine container = a very minor agility upgrade

AFAIK, cannot be done since there would be a need to patch the client's memory in realtime, and this can lead to many bad things happening (not to mention it would need another client-side library to be developed). Ship statistics cannot be altered from the server either, the client loads the statistics, the anti-cheat sends a hash calculation to the server and the server kicks offending players. There's no facility to change client files other than the autoupdate, and this is not feasible in this situation.