DUST Search - Planetary Exploration Sites

Alan-Ibn-Xuan Al-Alasabe wrote:

Ulysses Knapse wrote:

Alan-Ibn-Xuan Al-Alasabe wrote:

While I like this idea compared to what we've got, I'd rather see an open world type thing.

Unfortunately, that is currently not logistically possible due to the fact that there are more planets on at one time than there are mercenaries. Multiply that by the number of districts and you end up with a lot of empty space, all taking up server power while mercenaries desperately look for some action.

In the future I would like to see an open-world, but I'm afraid it's just not happening now or anytime soon.

For mental illustration, let me elaborate...

There are 7,200 temperate planets in all of New Eden.

Each has 10-20 districts.

72,000 to 144,000 districts in all of New Eden.

108,000 districts. Can you imagine how much empty space that is?

One day, I hope Dust 514 becomes open-world, but I'm afraid that such a thing may never happen.

I didn't go into the technical details in that post, but the way I'd do open world is the same way EVE does: via instances. So there is an instance of the area outside of base/town/whatever, as well as near any planetary landmarks you may be able to travel to. When you scan down something, such as the mineral deposit in my example, an instance is generated upon arrival. Anyone who travels to that point before the instance despawns (such as by scanning either it down or us down, as in the example) will travel to the same instance and be able to interact with the players currently occupying it.

It creates an issue of coming up with a way to hand wave the fast travel system. In my example I just said we took some dropships and left it at that. Maybe we give aircraft some sort of mini-warp? Or hand-wave it by having people drop to that point from the war barge. But from a technical perspective it's very feasible.


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Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 93	Posted - 2013.03.08 04:08:00 - [1] - Quote Currently, you have two ways of playing Dust 514. PVP and Mercenary's Quarters. Exploration Sites would give squads something to do other than PVP. Unless, of course, someone else wants the site... Light Deployment Ship The Light Deployment Ship is a capsuleer-craft that can send down a single squad of infantrymen to exploration sites. So long as the LDS stays above the site, mercenaries can respawn. In hostile space, you might want the infantrymen to come equipped with nanohives and nanite injectors so the mercenaries can continue the mission while the LDS is not present above the planet. The Light Deployment Ship also comes equipped with an installation launcher that allows it to launch installations and vehicles onto the planet's surface, either in a district (general warfare) or an exploration site. The LDS can only support up to four mercenaries, all in the same squad. The LDS must be online in the same system, or the mercenaries lose consciousness and the expedition is failed. if the LDS leaves the system or goes offline, it has a small amount of time to return to the system before this happens. Exploration Sites (General) Exploration Sites are small sites that you can, well, explore. They come in five varieties: Ladar, Radar, Gravimetric, Magnetometric and DED Complex. Only two squads may occupy an Exploration Site at a time. The first to arrive is the defender, whilst the second to arrive is the aggressor. The aggressor cannot benefit from the Exploration Site until the defender is cleared out or forfeits. The defender can benefit from the Exploration Site, but at a decreased rate. All Explorations Sites can have some sort of AI defense, though only DED Complexes are guaranteed to have AI defenders. Mercenaries can call down a ferry from the LDS that they can evacuate on or simply load with ore, gas and salvage for retrieval. Radar Sites Here, mercenaries can hack open containers to receive blueprints and invention supplies. These are the second most likely to be guarded. Unlike normal hacking, Radar Site hacking takes the form of a puzzle. Using codebreakers will make the puzzle easier and quicker to solve, but codebreakers are not required. All data extracted is transmitted automatically to the LDS without delay. Ladar Sites Here, mercenaries can extract gas from underneath the crust of the planet, where rare gas deposits are richest. These are the third most likely to be guarded. Defending NPCs are often already extracting some of this gas. Gas leaks can be found all over Ladar Sites, and they can be harvested with a small piece of placeable equipment called the Gas Well Pump. After extracting the gas, remove the filled Gas Well Pump. If you die, the gas will be lost. After evacuating, all gas is retrieved by the LDS. Gravimetric Sites Here, mercenaries can extract rare materials from small alluvial deposits scattered through the site. These are the least likely to be guarded. Rare ore deposits can be harvested with handheld mining lasers that take up an equipment slot. The ore will eventually fill up the mining laser. If you die, the ore will be lost. After evacuating, all ore is retrieved by the LDS. Magnetometric Sites Here, mercenaries can salvage from vehicle wrecks, structural husks, and corpses as well as analyze ancient technology. These are the third least likely to be guarded. Previously mentioned vehicles and corpses can be harvested for salvage with a salvager. This works in the same way as a mining laser. Ancient pieces of technology can be analyzed with an analyzer, which takes up an equipment slot. Analysis is a puzzle similar to Radar Site hacking. This data is automatically transmitted to the LDS. DED Complexes Here, mercenaries can shoot pirates, rogue drones, and so on. Concord will pay a hefty bounty for clearing it. Further more, DED Complexes can contain elements from other Exploration Sites, albeit in smaller quantities and more randomly. These pirates are not skilled, have inferior weapons and armor, and are suicideally overconfident. They attack en masse like stupid pirates would. Officers will sometimes appear, equipped with Better-than-Prototype gear and backed by a group of elite lackeys. They are cowardly and dangerous, but if you manage to kill them you can get some Officer loot for your trouble.
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 100	Posted - 2013.03.08 21:26:00 - [2] - Quote Logi Bro wrote: something new to do other than Skirmish/Ambush grind What's wrong with grinding? I love grinding.
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 101	Posted - 2013.03.09 14:10:00 - [3] - Quote Alan-Ibn-Xuan Al-Alasabe wrote: While I like this idea compared to what we've got, I'd rather see an open world type thing. Unfortunately, that is currently not logistically possible due to the fact that there are more planets on at one time than there are mercenaries. Multiply that by the number of districts and you end up with a lot of empty space, all taking up server power while mercenaries desperately look for some action. In the future I would like to see an open-world, but I'm afraid it's just not happening now or anytime soon.
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 103	Posted - 2013.03.09 23:43:00 - [4] - Quote Ulysses Knapse wrote: Alan-Ibn-Xuan Al-Alasabe wrote: While I like this idea compared to what we've got, I'd rather see an open world type thing. Unfortunately, that is currently not logistically possible due to the fact that there are more planets on at one time than there are mercenaries. Multiply that by the number of districts and you end up with a lot of empty space, all taking up server power while mercenaries desperately look for some action. In the future I would like to see an open-world, but I'm afraid it's just not happening now or anytime soon. For mental illustration, let me elaborate... There are 7,200 temperate planets in all of New Eden. Each has 10-20 districts. 72,000 to 144,000 districts in all of New Eden. 108,000 districts. Can you imagine how much empty space that is? One day, I hope Dust 514 becomes open-world, but I'm afraid that such a thing may never happen.
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 106	Posted - 2013.03.10 14:50:00 - [5] - Quote Eric Starstrike wrote: Alan-Ibn-Xuan Al-Alasabe wrote: While I like this idea compared to what we've got, I'd rather see an open world type thing. Then the game would be like planetside 2 And right now the game is like Call of Duty. I'm not seeing your point.
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 106	Posted - 2013.03.10 15:12:00 - [6] - Quote Alan-Ibn-Xuan Al-Alasabe wrote: Ulysses Knapse wrote: Ulysses Knapse wrote: Alan-Ibn-Xuan Al-Alasabe wrote: While I like this idea compared to what we've got, I'd rather see an open world type thing. Unfortunately, that is currently not logistically possible due to the fact that there are more planets on at one time than there are mercenaries. Multiply that by the number of districts and you end up with a lot of empty space, all taking up server power while mercenaries desperately look for some action. In the future I would like to see an open-world, but I'm afraid it's just not happening now or anytime soon. For mental illustration, let me elaborate... There are 7,200 temperate planets in all of New Eden. Each has 10-20 districts. 72,000 to 144,000 districts in all of New Eden. 108,000 districts. Can you imagine how much empty space that is? One day, I hope Dust 514 becomes open-world, but I'm afraid that such a thing may never happen. I didn't go into the technical details in that post, but the way I'd do open world is the same way EVE does: via instances. So there is an instance of the area outside of base/town/whatever, as well as near any planetary landmarks you may be able to travel to. When you scan down something, such as the mineral deposit in my example, an instance is generated upon arrival. Anyone who travels to that point before the instance despawns (such as by scanning either it down or us down, as in the example) will travel to the same instance and be able to interact with the players currently occupying it. It creates an issue of coming up with a way to hand wave the fast travel system. In my example I just said we took some dropships and left it at that. Maybe we give aircraft some sort of mini-warp? Or hand-wave it by having people drop to that point from the war barge. But from a technical perspective it's very feasible. Feasible, yes, perhaps. From that standpoint. Honestly, however, there needs to be at least one mercenary online for every district. EVE has ten capsuleeers for every one star system and those still manage to be surprisingly empty. Then again, there are thousands in Jita, and hundreds in other high-sec systems...
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 107	Posted - 2013.03.10 17:46:00 - [7] - Quote Alan-Ibn-Xuan Al-Alasabe wrote: Spend some time in nullsec or, hell, even some of the more desolate high-sec regions (Why do you even exist, Everyshore?). Plenty of empty space. And those aren't even the instances, those are systems. Near as I can tell systems just contain a series of orbital bodies and their coordinates. Those aren't terribly memory intensive. Memory intensive, no. Still, it's seems silly to have more districts than mercenaries.
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 108	Posted - 2013.03.10 23:36:00 - [8] - Quote BulletSnitcheZ wrote: This is a fantastic idea! I don't know why everyone is complaining about "empty space". Empty space is good, especially for players who like to make their ISK from PVE rather than PVP. Empty space in Null-Sec also allows new EVE corporations to start gaining their own territory, which could eventually turn into a huge war fought over the many lucrative resources found in Null-Sec space. Tens of thousands of empty districts isn't really a good thing.
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 110	Posted - 2013.03.11 19:30:00 - [9] - Quote Alan-Ibn-Xuan Al-Alasabe wrote: The "empty space" he seems to be objecting to is districts without players in them. What I don't get is the why. If there's no one in a district...so what? That's just more places I can go and do exploration stuff. Tens of thousands of empty districts with no one to say "GTFO". EVE is different, the ratio is 10 capsuleers per system, not 10 districts per mercenary. There is no system in EVE available to the public that goes an entire day without a single capsuleer flying through. There might, however, be thousands of districts that go empty for days on end.
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 116	Posted - 2013.03.14 21:51:00 - [10] - Quote Vermaak Doe wrote: Actually they're probably plenty of systems that get no traffic in eve That is certainly not true. Every system in EVE has at least one capsuleer in it or go through it every day. Even systems that are completely empty for most of the day can have dozens pass through it at one time or another, perhaps even fighting or mining before quickly moving off.

Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 117	Posted - 2013.03.15 09:59:00 - [11] - Quote Meeko Fent wrote: Ulysses Knapse wrote: Tens of thousands of empty districts with no one to say "GTFO". EVE is different, the ratio is 10 capsuleers per system, not 10 districts per mercenary. There is no system in EVE available to the public that goes an entire day without a single capsuleer flying through. There might, however, be thousands of districts that go empty for days on end. There Can be no Peace in New Eden? If we are constantly Butchering each other in these districts, how will the Mortals do their jobs in Manufacturing plants and the like? I'm just saying that there are too many empty places for people to go and very little risk of them ever getting stopped in an open-world. The fact that you need a starship to bring you to the district might increase that risk, though.
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 126	Posted - 2013.03.21 18:34:00 - [12] - Quote Meeko Fent wrote: Ulysses Knapse wrote: Meeko Fent wrote: Ulysses Knapse wrote: Tens of thousands of empty districts with no one to say "GTFO". EVE is different, the ratio is 10 capsuleers per system, not 10 districts per mercenary. There is no system in EVE available to the public that goes an entire day without a single capsuleer flying through. There might, however, be thousands of districts that go empty for days on end. There Can be no Peace in New Eden? If we are constantly Butchering each other in these districts, how will the Mortals do their jobs in Manufacturing plants and the like? I'm just saying that there are too many empty places for people to go and very little risk of them ever getting stopped in an open-world. The fact that you need a starship to bring you to the district might increase that risk, though. The reason there is an assload of empty space on DUST is because we will never go there. we only visit planets to go to Battle, not go shopping. I have no problem with infinate empty space, because we a never going to touch it. Why wouldn't you touch it? Haven't you heard of industry?
Ulysses Knapse Nuevo Atlas Corporation 242	Posted - 2013.04.15 08:27:00 - [13] - Quote Tap.