News in BCM?

[Guest Dirk1134]

Will there be some kind of news in BCM? That would be great to know what you were about to step into, or just for sheer entertainment. The Universe is so big and dynamic, I would probably just start a game up and watch the news to see what's going on, for fun.

I'm pretty sure there was nothing like this in BC3K (at least I never encountered it, if I'm wrong please correct me) and it would be a great addition to the game. Please let me know if anybody has any info on this

[Real_Lucas]

that would definitely be something cool...like GCNN (Galcom Central Network News) or Galnet or something. I remember that they did that in the game first encounters but the news became very very repetitive over time. I would think that the news aspect would have to be at least a little bit dynamic. Afterall, most of the news in the world is variations on the same stupidity, for example rebellion, cargo theft, assassinations and that kind of thing.

That would be a very cool feature in GCO, making news of other players' exploits in a commentary that makes sense and if the player wants to, can go and investigate (or participate in) the transpiring events...coolness.

[Guest Dirk1134]

heheh.. yep. I just get really annoyed on the original, when I jump into a warzone, and my cruiser is in 15 peices before I have much of a chance. lol. I'd like to know what's goin on! Also it would be really cool if, say, leaders of countries had personalities, and would tend to do certain actions. That might make the news more interesting.

To keep things from getting tedious, they could have a bunch of different wordings for each situation, and it would be really extra cool if they had live (or recorded) clips of what actually is (or has) happened! Just like real news. lol. I seriously would go dock somewhere and watch the games news just cuz it's cool. well. that's my input I guess .. well actually.. I myself am a game designer/programmer, and I'm designing a game of similar scope, not a space game, but a dynamic world of sorts.. I won't give away too much, but for the sake of BCM ideas, I will say that what I like about my world is you can do anything that any NPC can do. Politics, stupid jobs, adventures, etc.. It would be really cool if a future BC game would feature complete non-linearness.. You could the leader of a world, a janitor in a space station, a spy going around getting info, a space pirate, a marine, the mayor of a town on Earth, anything you wanted.. That would be great.. Of course I know that some of that is a little carried away, many of that probably could be implemented in a future version. It would be really awsome to at least see interiors of ships and stations, and the crew walking around doing their stuff! And be able to, rather than be the commander take the job of a marine, or engineer, just to see what it'd be like! And imagine exploring the vast, populated space stations! well.. This is getting long winded.. lol. I'm done with my little idea fest. ;;

[XenoZohar]

This makes a little bit of sense, especially in GCO. Remember, there is a Journalist caste, and the way the "news" could be set up could be a special comm channel devoted to message from these guys, and only they could enter messages into it. For example, if they come into a region where Insurgents and Earthcom ships are duking it out, they could inform people that it's going on, and could just "watch" or even take matters into thier own hands, though they might end up with a dead BC Mk3..

To prevent people from abusing the channel, creat special Journalist fleets, and only the leaders of these fleets (producers, if you will) can toggle a switch to allow someone to start covering the event.

My two cents...

[Game_Ender]

Dirk the Mage, in GCO you will be able to go first person in your own battlecuiser and walk around and watch the crew. Not only in your battlecruiser but all the stations, spacestations, and most of the buildings (not to sure on what buildings will have interiors the you can walk through).

Edit- I am not sure if this a definte feature or wish list item for GCO.

[ 07-30-2001: Message edited by: Game_Ender ]

[Guest Dirk1134]

Yep. GCO is sounding really cool. But I personally like single player games better right now.

I guess the reason is because of PKing. Take Ultima Online:Some idiot decides he's going to get on and ruin other ppls fun. I agree with Role playing Player Killing, But not the no reason slaughters that are all too frequent. So they make a realm where there can be no PKing. Then you are stuck if you need a PvP fight in a role playing game.

There should be penalties to death and murder. Problems with that though: People would just create another char and be idiotic again. Besides. If some innocent persons's connection fails, and they die, it's not fair.

Online RPGs bring out a person's true personality. People are mean. Many kill just to kill. In real life maybe this doesn't happen so much because they are afraid of losing the fight, and dying themselves.. or being imprisoned or worse.

And I'm on a tangent... Really there is no simple answer to the MMRPG problem, there are answers, but people don't like them. It is just a game, anyway, and if people can just ignore the idiots, more power to them.

[Herro]

Well if someone is a raider/gam /assassian there going to kill someone... its there "role" and besides theres the cops(aka police caste) and there will be zones that will be patrolled, PvP is just another form of roleplaying (remembers back to diablo) the thing is, if your scared of multiplayer... dont play it.

Just my 2 cents

[ 07-30-2001: Message edited by: Herro YuY ]

[Guest Dirk1134]

BTW, just so you all know, I'm not saying I hate MMRPGs. In fact, I play Ultima Online all the time! I love it. I'm just pointing out the glaring problems they have, that cannot be fixed easily until the technology improves. UO forever! When the BC online games comes, I might switch to it. ^^

[Epsilon 5]

If you play as a Diplomat and encounter a raider or assassin, you know you'll probably get killed, and you can't do anything about it but flee. (or call for armed forces...)

That's what I call "reality"

The only problem is those who will play police and start killing innocent traders and paramedics, or even challenge military guys.

That's what I call being stupid and/or mean. SC, do you have anything planned to prevent those guys from doing that? (or doing that again?)

[Supreme Cmdr]

I will probably put in some sort of news bulletin in some later BCM patch for single/multi player.

As for GCO, journalists (NPCs or humans) will play a big role in how news is handled in the game. It will be killer.

[XenoZohar]

Whoa, I was right.

[Real_Lucas]

very cool indeed.

[Steve Schacher]

quote:

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Will there be some kind of news in BCM? That would be great to know what you were about to step into

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You could always park your BC next to the jumpgate and send a probe through first.

[Cmdr Nova]

Let's start with my views on MMOG's, meaning all styles, just not RPGs. I love MMOG's because it makes the game more dynamic, and gives it more 'soul' and depth. Of course there is the problem of PKing, but, I think we'll solve that later.

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XenoZohar, about the Journalist fleet idea... I like the idea, but since you're new, I'll help you get some facts straight.

I'll remind everyone who's fogotten, and teach you newbies a thing or two about UCV's. UCV's as in Explorer, Police, Scientist, Raider, Assassin, Diplomat, Mercenary, Paramedic, Trader, Commercial, and everything else that isn't GalCom/EarthCom/Insurgent.

Fleets are not an option for indies (which is what we've come to call UCV's). It is for GalCom/EarthCom/Insurgent types only, and GalCom/EarthCom/Insurgent types must be in a fleet (I'm pretty sure).

If you want to make some sort of organized group of indies, you're free to do so. You need some people to work with you, and need to follow the stuff that's been written in these locations: Fleet FAQ, the Asset Choices Page, and probably the Misc. Race/Caste Forum, and possibly the RPG Discussion Forum.

Calling those groups 'clans' is prohibited (by SC, Derek Smart; President of 3000ad, Creator of the BC series). You can make guilds, corporations (most likely for trader, commercial, jounalist), and most other names you can think of, as long as TacOps and the SC approve them (having a Crime Ring to play police against would be nice).

See the Misc. Race/Caste Forum if you're interested in becoming an Indie! The list is above, although Journalist doesn't seem to be available in the Fleet DB (yet).

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Game_Ender, I'm pretty sure that SC said it (FP in Ships and Stations) should be in GCO. That means, it's around "wish-list" status, although I'm sure it'll be at the top of that list. Of course, it's been a while since that was posted by SC. Things change, so I think he'll have to shed some more light on GCO's special features. Of course, his (and most other people's) priority is to BCM, so we can give him some slack.

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Epsilon 5, I'm worried about that, as well. I definitely wouldn't do that, since I used to be a merc, and have made enough enemies now. But, still that would pose a major problem. Looks like I'll have my work cut out for me, takin out 'Good-Cops-Turned-Bad', instead of infiltrating Assassin and Raider guilds..... Perhaps SC or someone will come up with a good idea of solving that, soon, or at least before BCM's multiplayer comes out.

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While writing the above, I noticed that the Journalist caste is not available in the Fleet DB, and it isn't marked in the Fleet FAQ.

Oh well, besides; like SC said, their job will be in GCO, not BCM, and the Fleet FAQ and Fleet DB has only been updated for BCM. They can always add more, and update later.

Still waiting for BCM, and noticed the quote in your sig, SC! Hehe, "Its READY when its ready, and right now it ain't ready."

I think I'll use the popular confusing acronym:

IRWIRARNIAR!!

This is Nova, over and out.........

[Cmdr Nova]

(Excerpt from GCO FAQ)

Q. WHAT PLAY CHOICES WILL I HAVE?

A. You have all the play choices present in BCM, and much more. Here are the races, castes and careers that you can play:

• Alien Races: Terran, Syrion, Kandorian, Empirian, Vesperon, Droidan, Falkerie, Mandorian, Gammulan, Zelon, Valkerie,

  Credian.

• Castes: Earthcom, Insurgent, Military, Explorer, Colonist, Scientist, Raider, Police, Assassin, Diplomat, Mercenary,

  Paramedic, Criminal, Trader, Hacker, Journalist, Tourist.

• Careers: Commander, Elite Force Pilot, Planetary Support Pilot, Elite Force Marine, Mobile Infantry Marine, Space Force

  Marine.

Doesn't this mean the Criminal, Hacker, Journalist, Tourist, and Colonist castes should also be available in the Fleet DB? Or are you guys waiting for something? No major gripes from me, but I'm just wondering.........

[ 07-30-2001: Message edited by: Cmdr Nova ]

[Guest Dirk1134]

I agree the MMRPGs are more dynamic. I have always been attracted to dynamic world programs. Ultima 7 was what started my whole obsession, with it's NPC schedules. Daggerfall was kind of cool. I remember getting my hands on the original version of BC3k, and think wow.. This is amazing. Even though there was the unfortunate early release, I was still a huge player of it. Then with 2.0, I was absolutly amazed.

Now I can tell you it's my life dream to make a virtual world that acts like a MMRPG, only things happen for a reason. That's a dream that is coming true. I will say that I have actually designed and tested an NPC conversation program that dynamically generates things to say based on weather, their hobbies, their relationship with your char, current events in the world, things you have just said, what is going on around them, etc etc etc. They even ask you questions. The interface allows you to answer and say many things that just wouldn't be possible in many games. It's actually quite amazing.

Another reason I prefer dynamic worlds offline is because I can study them. I can create scenarios, I can re-run scenarios, I can graph information, and.. well.. you get the idea.

But still there is something appealing about MMRPGs. Something amazing...

I can't wait until BCM and GCO are done! I really look up to the Supreme Commander as a game designer. His ambition is amazing. Thanks!

[XenoZohar]

Nova: Yeah, I knew that there aren't any "Fleets" devoted to Journalist. I ain't THAT new here, just a new poster. Though, anything is possible. SC may decide to add a fleet for them after BCM is out and he's working on GCO (only an idea....and he did say Journalists will be mostly important for delivering news in the earlier post).

As for the "Fleet" thing, I was using the general term (a large conglomeration of ships). A corporation would actually sound better in reference to Journalists...

Heh, thanks for the lesson. Though I knew all that you posted, I appreciate it.

[rhett]

I'm going off on a side question, so apologies ahead of time:

Will there be some form of rudimentry multiplayer released in a patch after BCM ships? Or is multiplayer going to be held of completely untill GCO? Thanks. BTW, I think a news service would add ALOT of deapth to the game. It would be cool.

[LordDavid]

quote:

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Originally posted by rhett:

I'm going off on a side question, so apologies ahead of time:

Will there be some form of rudimentry multiplayer released in a patch after BCM ships? Or is multiplayer going to be held of completely untill GCO? Thanks. BTW, I think a news service would add ALOT of deapth to the game. It would be cool.

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A patch to add multiplayer for 16 people is scheduled to be released sometime after BCM ships. With it, you would be able to do bacically anything in multiplayer as you could in single player.

[rhett]

Thanks LordDavid.