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Thoughts and Suggestions on Exploring (longish post)
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Myriad Blaze
Common Sense Ltd
Nulli Secunda
#1 - 2014-02-23 02:18:15 UTC  |  Edited by: Myriad Blaze
(Note: since the following is too long for a single post I need to break it down into three parts.)


Very recently it was said, that loot spew is going to be removed (https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=4259845#post4259845).
I think this is great news and it motivated me to write down a few thoughts on exploring: Big smile


The Vision

Exploring in EvE Online should be a profession that set incentives not only through loot but by being exiting, challenging, sometimes wondrous or even amazing. Exploring should be about discovering, overcoming obstacles, being resourceful. It could involve solving a puzzle, being exposed to dangers or a treasure hunt.


Survey

In the current game exploration has several elements and some are more obvious than others.
Most people think of relic and data sites when they talk about exploration. But if you look closer you'll realize that combat sites, ore and gas sites and wormholes are also a part of exploration. And there's more: Escalations and Landmarks. And if you think one step further even existing celestials could play a role in exploration.


Bottom Up Development

If we want to change exploration - no matter how big our scope is - we need to start with the “little” things (like individual sites and mini games). Those can be later combined to create the bigger stuff (like missions, escalations and epic arcs).

Odyssey introduced the mini game for archeology and hacking sites. Basically I think that was a great idea and a step into the right direction. However, it was only one step – (hopefully) the beginning of a journey that leads to exploration mechanics that are way more advanced than what we have now. In my opinion the next step(s) should be the improvement of the existing mini game and the development and addition of new, different mini games.


Mini Games

Currently there's only one mini game for everything and that's clearly not as it should be. When I think of data sites I think of computers and electronics. And when I think of relic sites I see gears, levers and mechanical items. The goal should be to have different mini games for different types of sites that reflect the nature of the site. And it would be a good idea to have two or three (or more) mini games for each type to add diversity.

Mini games are (usually) quite simple by nature and either involve some kind of puzzle (like the existing mini game), a “one on one” against a more or less creative KI or a combination of both elements. If you browse the web (or look at some old – non computer – games) you'll find numerous examples that could be used for a mini game (and especially some of the non computer games involve quite a lot of strategic thinking and shouldn't be discarded as being “too simple”).

For examples here's a short link list (in no particular order) to games that would be great as a mini game in EvE (imho):

Mancala (description on Wiki): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mancala
Gomoku (Gobang) (description on Wiki): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gomoku
Nine Men's Morrils (Merels) (description on Wiki): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Men%27s_Morris
Chinese Checkers (description on Wiki): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_checkers
Connect Four (description on Wiki): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connect_Four
Mastermind (description on Wiki): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastermind_%28board_game%29
Auditorium (flash game, link to game website): http://www.cipherprime.com/games/auditorium/
Impasse (flash game, link to website): http://www.kongregate.com/games/wanderlands/impasse
Interlocked (flash game, link to website): http://www.kongregate.com/games/nikital/interlocked
Little Stars Little Wars (flash game, link to website): http://www.flashgamesnexus.com/flash-games/Little-Stars-Little-Wars.php
Minim (flash game, link to website): http://www.kongregate.com/games/atomiccicada/minim
The mini game from Paradroid (website with description and pics): http://bestretrogames.blogspot.de/2012/07/paradroid-commodore-64-1985.html

(continued in part 2)
Myriad Blaze
Common Sense Ltd
Nulli Secunda
#2 - 2014-02-23 02:18:36 UTC  |  Edited by: Myriad Blaze
(part 2/3)

Improving The Existing Mini Game

The current mini game already includes some nice ideas. But I think there's still room for improvement. Atm it seems to be mostly luck. There's no logic element and tactics are simple.

Lets start by taking a look at the utility subsystems. Depending on the difficulty you can find Self Repair, Polymorphic Shield, Secondary Vector and Kernel Rot. When you find them you can add them to a small utility bar in the mini game and after the mini game is finished these utilities are removed (you start each mini game with an empty bar).

I'd suggest to include a persistent utility storage, that is tied to the corresponding skill. The storage should have 2 or 3 places per level of the skill. When you find a utility in a mini game you should be able to drag it to the storage instead of the utility bar. To balance this you might want to reduce the number of utilities to be found. Or maybe go one step further and change the utilities to be tradeable items. In the end some of the rarer utilities could be worth more than the items stored in the container. To add some degree of tactical thinking it shouldn't be possible to drag utilities FROM the storage once you've started the mini game. Considering the size of the utility bar you would have to make some choices when you “preload” your utilities.

Also I'd like to see more utilities. Some examples:

Short Circuit – allows to bypass a defensive subsystem without destroying it by “jumping” 3 nodes in a straight line (this does not allow access to the nodes that are greyed out by the defensive subsystem).

Probe – gives the location of all subsystems on the grid without revealing the nature of the subsystem.

Logic Worm – the Logic Worm starts with 150 attack and 100 defense points (subject to balancing) and can be placed on any revealed node that is adjacent to a node that is not revealed; each turn the Worm moves to an adjacent node that is not revealed (if more than one adjacent node is not revealed the direction is random) which lowers his attack and defense by 10 points; if the node contains a defensive subsystem both strike simultaneously; if the node contains a utility subsystem the utility subsystem is destroyed costing 20 defense points; the Worm is destroyed when the defense points drop to zero or when no more legal moves are possible (no more adjacent nodes that are not revealed).

Power Overload – doubles the attack points for 3 turns but halves the defense points for the same time.

After utilities lets take a look on defensive subsystems. We have Anti-virus, Firewall, Virus Suppressor, Restoration Node and System Core (the Data Cache is not really a defensive subsystem itself because it contains either a defensive subsystem or a utility). I think it wouldn't hurt to have more defensive subsystems (well, actually it would hurt … that's the point, isn't it? Twisted). Some suggestions:

Barricade Protocol – this subsystem has high defense and low offense values and spawns one Firewall subsystem each turn, which appears on a random node adjacent to the Barricade subsystem; when all adjacent nodes contain a subsystem (no matter what type) the Barricade subsystem places a Firewall subsystem on top of itself (effectively destroying the Barricade subsystem).

Blackout – this subsystem has low defense and no offense; when destroyed it will hide all nodes that were previously revealed (it does not reset the grid).

Self Destruct Sequence – a distinguishable subsystem with medium defense and no offense; when destroyed it will start a short countdown; after 10 turns (or fewer if loot spew is active) the installation is destroyed (this would be a great subsystem to justify the loot spew mechanic – a system that self destructs spews the loot in all directions, giving the Capsuleer a chance to grab at least some of the dough).

At last lets take a look at the grid. For starters I'd like to see the contrast between hidden and non-existing nodes increased. Then I'd like to see the addition of tunnels (or bridges) on some maps. A tunnel (or bridge) would connect two nodes which are not adjacent to each other. It could be displayed using a curved line (maybe this line should be a bit thicker, also it should have a distinguishable color) which could use the space between the existing connections. Also maybe it's feasible to make some grids dynamic (at least in part). A dynamic grid would change its structure each turn. Existing connections vanish and new connections grow.


Escalations

Like combat sites, data and relic sites should give escalations (sometimes). The escalation could be triggered by accessing a specific item from one of the containers. Besides escalating to other data and relic sites the escalation could also lead to a combat site, complex, rich ore or gas site or something new (see below; it should give at least a good hint on what to expect). It would be a nice idea to tie the escalation to a specific item that gives the general nature of the escalation upon inspection. Such an item could be traded via contract or direct trade if the explorer who found it is not prepared to do combat or does not want to harvest gas or ore.


(continued in part 3)
Myriad Blaze
Common Sense Ltd
Nulli Secunda
#3 - 2014-02-23 02:19:25 UTC  |  Edited by: Myriad Blaze
(part 3/3)

New Anomalies / New Sites

Just some suggestions:

C0 Wormholes – a new kind of unstable wormhole space. C0 wormhole pockets are the dying remnants of collapsed wormhole space. Very small and very rare they have no sun and only a single planet with a few moons perhaps. Some C0 wormholes might come with no celestials at all. C0 wormholes should have a high chance of containing at least one difficult (good) data or relic site (perhaps several). Unlike in normal wormhole space these come without Sleepers as the Sleepers were destroyed when the original wormhole pocket collapsed. C0 Wormholes – especially if part of an escalation – could contain a treasure site (see below). A C0 wormhole pocket only has a single unstable wormhole (no connections to somewhere else). When it collapses the pocket collapses, too. Ships within the wormhole pocket are forcefully ejected from the wormhole to the point in K-space the wormhole pocket was connected to.

Comet – a huge ball of gas and ice that can be harvested (I know..., this has been suggested before).

Treasure site – these sites only come as a part (the end part) of an escalation. The treasure site could contain a valuable ship – assembled, equipped and ready to be boarded – or a huge stash of minerals or reactions or something similar (at least more than any subcap besides an industrial could carry). In case of a ship it could be found sitting in a hollow asteroid or be docked to a destroyed installation.

Supercap wreck – we have new wrecks for supercapitals. I think they would be an awesome background for a relic or data site. Or even better, the wreck itself is the treasure and can be salvaged.

Rogue moon – maybe this moon was catapulted out of its orbit when another celestial came to close. Now it's wandering through space on its own. This moon moves with high velocity and might be out of reach soon. Better check it out now. What is that? Looks like a destroyed mining installation. But the storage silo seems to be intact. (Might come with a pirate base or something else, too).

Dimensional rift – works like a wormhole but only one way. You might end up anywhere. Even in deadspace.

Charged nebula – a huge cloud of partially ionized gas. It's mostly harmless but it prevents the use of ship scanners (you can not use d-scan to detect other ships, you do not appear on d-scan, you can not be probed down) and decreases the effectiveness of targeting systems (increased lock time, decreased locking range). Pirates often use such nebulae to hide themselves.


Exploration Missons And Epic Arcs

Now that we have the ingredients we can put the pieces together and look at missions and arcs that are geared towards the exploration profession. Currently such missions doesn't exist. Given the nature of exploration I'd say that such missions shouldn't be available from agents. Although they could involve an agent at some time. Furthermore “mission” isn't the right label in this context perhaps. What I mean would rather qualify as a special kind of escalation. A treasure hunt that gives hints and clues that lead to the next site, a landmark with another clue or an agent with some information. An arc would be the same but much rarer to find, with more steps to be taken and a (much) higher reward at the end.


Closing Remarks

Phew... when I started writing this I didn't think it would get this long. Shocked
And tomorrow I will probably realize how much I forgot to mention. But for now I'm out. Cool