Master List of Unused Ideas for Plugs

spacecowboy

Seen in local paper:
"Old Plug Needs New Home -- never before released ideas are lying around in creators' braincases unused, creators wish to release them to public domain."

The Age of Exploration has finally come to an end, after a long, mournful swansong. Of course, one of the strings may end up resurrecting itself like the phnix rising from its own ashes -- but the rest of it needs its own Dr. Frankenstein. So, here is where QT and I will post the ideas that we have no intention of ever using. Anybody who also cares to do so is more than welcome.

DISCLAIMER: On paper, all these work. Your mileage may vary.

Well, I guess I'll start it off with these:

Flare-Riders: Design a good-looking star, and design a weapon that is a good facsimile of a solar flare. Give it a HIGH impact, decent damage and a good fire rate, and make the star a member of a xenophobic government. Now create a really cool-looking ship, one that looks like an interstellar hot-rod. Give it zilch armor and good shields, with a high shield recharge rate. Make it fast and light. Now, when the ships try to land at the star, they'll end up getting knocked around by the 'flares'.

Pilot's License: Stole this one from Ares. Make a shän of a guy in a spacesuit. Give it no fuel/energy/whatever and 0 tons of cargo and mass space. This is an escape ship, but not one you want to be stuck in for any length of time. Now, set all ships so that you can't buy them without a pilot's license (outfit using the contribute/require fields). This means that until you get your license (which takes most of your money and quite a bit of time (cröns)), you can't buy anything. Now, this license will expire after a period of time -- say six months. Now, once your license expires, you get this nice invisible mission that grants you an outfit that is illegal everywhere -- you get shot at by big beefy ships wherever you go. Also, next time you land, you're captured by local officials and tried and convicted for flying on an expired license. You're imprisoned for two weeks, and fined 50,000 creds. Not cool. So keep your license current.

More will be forthcoming.

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Suddenly, the little scoutship disappeared and then reappeared right behind the alien warfleet. The gravitic ship's captain hailed the armada. "You are going to be destroyed, but I will give you a choice as to how you want to spend eternity: big pieces, little pieces, or quarks?"
Dead silence.
"Quarks it is, then."

mrxak

Flare-Riders sounds pretty funny.

nwa728

Flare Riders? Heh, I have ships in Rift called Flame Riders.

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Apparently, common sense isn't so common...
~Nick

spacecowboy

Quote

Originally posted by mrxak:
**Flare-Riders sounds pretty funny.

**

It was taken pridelessly and shamelessly straight from the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

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Suddenly, the little scoutship disappeared and then reappeared right behind the alien warfleet. The gravitic ship's captain hailed the armada. "You are going to be destroyed, but I will give you a choice as to how you want to spend eternity: big pieces, little pieces, or quarks?"
Dead silence.
"Quarks it is, then."

Quantum Transcendence

This may be used in a forthcoming plug-in of mine, but it doesn't hurt to share it.

Onboard Security System

1. Create a ship with certain require fields set. Set an ncb on capture (Call it 1)

2. Create an outfit that has the appropriate contribute fields set. Set an ncb on purchase (We'll call it 2). Preferably, this outfit would not be available until one had gotten a certain distance in a string.

3. Create a cron that activates when: b1 & !b2.

4. Give the player a lethal bomb when that cron activates.

Basically, if the player does not have the outfit, the ship blows up. I intend to use it with a very advanced fighter. Can be captured, but you tend to die. You can purchase stolen ships, but they blow up too. Only if you have this "Purchase Authorization" will the ship remain intact.

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Pretty much, Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation.
-Steve Jobs

mrxak

Heh. Boarding my përs in any of my Nova plugs grants you a bomb :D. Die ****ers!

Skyfox

Quote

Originally posted by spacecowboy:
Pilot's License: Stole this one from Ares. Make a shän of a guy in a spacesuit. Give it no fuel/energy/whatever and 0 tons of cargo and mass space. This is an escape ship, but not one you want to be stuck in for any length of time. Now, set all ships so that you can't buy them without a pilot's license (outfit using the contribute/require fields). This means that until you get your license (which takes most of your money and quite a bit of time (cröns)), you can't buy anything. Now, this license will expire after a period of time -- say six months. Now, once your license expires, you get this nice invisible mission that grants you an outfit that is illegal everywhere -- you get shot at by big beefy ships wherever you go. Also, next time you land, you're captured by local officials and tried and convicted for flying on an expired license. You're imprisoned for two weeks, and fined 50,000 creds. Not cool. So keep your license current.

Heck, that was so MY idea! Buy a lisence so you can get ships, I didn't even know anyone else tried doing that, Anyway, its already in my plug.:p

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"...yet gradually we recovered, venturing cautiously back into the void of space afraid of what we might find there."

Bohemian Muskrat

Decoy ships. These would be ships of varying functionality which would look like either less or more powerful ships. It is of course easier to make a ship look stronger, such as a destroyer with cruiser skin built over it, but perhaps certain capital ships can be fitted with a fake freighter frame. Another option is decoy missiles to distract point defence systems, as well as missiles designed to look like fighters to distract the player. I might end up using some or all of these but I felt like sharing anyway.

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-Bohemian Muskrat

slimshady

That Pilot's license seems like a really good idea...
I'd like to add that to my plug....?

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Enough about the fat lady. Your obsessed with the fat lady! - Jeff Goldblum

Captain Bob

Real-time target indicators
make a smart missile with the tightest turning radius available. Give it 0 speed, and make the sprite look like a bright colored arrow. When you'r in the heat of battle, trying to take out a carrier while worrying about its fighters for instance, you have a reminder of your ultimate target's position, even if he drifts off radar.

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nighthawk

Quote

Originally posted by Bohemian Muskrat:
but perhaps certain capital ships can be fitted with a fake freighter frame. Another option is decoy missiles to distract point defence systems

both of these are in a plug i'm working on based on the honor harrington series. the q-ships are pretty scary in it (you attack a freighter and suddenly it pops out several lac's and starts pumping out missile pods like you wouldn't believe), but i'm having trouble geting the penaids (the decoy missiles) to work well (because they're not meant to be decoys, they're supposed to be outfitted w/ ecm suites to confuse point defense, which means they need to submunition into several invisible point defense targets)

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you want to know if i'm moral enough to join the army, burn women, kids, houses, and villages, after being a litterbug?

spacecowboy

Quote

Originally posted by nighthawk:
**both of these are in a plug i'm working on based on the honor harrington series. the q-ships are pretty scary in it (you attack a freighter and suddenly it pops out several lac's and starts pumping out missile pods like you wouldn't believe), but i'm having trouble geting the penaids (the decoy missiles) to work well (because they're not meant to be decoys, they're supposed to be outfitted w/ ecm suites to confuse point defense, which means they need to submunition into several invisible point defense targets)

**

First off, feel free to use any ideas posted here -- that's why I started this thread, so that people could get together and exchange ideas. Second, why does it need to submunition into invisible munitions? Have it sub into little shiny metal flakes: chaff. Wonderful stuff, first developed by the Germans in WWII. Lights up any radar screen like a Christmas tree.

And while we're talking about point defense, here's an idea for you: make nearly all -- if not all -- turrets point defense weapons. If done incorrectly, it takes a lot out of the game. But if done correctly, it adds an amazing level of realism: TURRETS ARE NOT CONTROLLED BY THE CAPTAIN!!! For example: if you're in a Heavy Fighter, and your wizzo (Weapons Systems Officer -- Air Force slang) has a rear-firing swivel light blaster, you don't fire it. He/she does. And you don't fire your turrets and your primaries at the same time: turrets are controlled by your Tac command (in a smaller ship, just the Tac Officer). However, forward firing primaries (fixed and swivel) and secondaries are all controlled by the pilot/captain. So this way, when you've finally captured that Heavy Weapons Platform Manticore, and you want to pound that Fed Carrier halfway across the system with your railguns, you won't lose all your energy by your Crown of Thorns firing at the same time -- very very annoying. This kind of allows your ship's weapons to work as well as the AI's.

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Suddenly, the little scoutship disappeared and then reappeared right behind the alien warfleet. The gravitic ship's captain hailed the armada. "You are going to be destroyed, but I will give you a choice as to how you want to spend eternity: big pieces, little pieces, or quarks?"
Dead silence.
"Quarks it is, then."

Masamune

Not a bad way to do Chaff, spacecowboy. I've been consistently bummed that decoy flares where dropped from the Nova engine. Make the subs keep subbing for a while into guided shots with no turn and little to no speed. Not real anti-missile stuff, but would definately make a hole in the enemy's defences for your missiles. I might have to use that in Sephil Saga.

BTW, is your name supposed to be a Cowboy Bebop reference? That show went a long way towards inspiring my current project, is all.

I'd like to contribute some ideas of my own, but I think all of them are getting used right now!

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~Charlie

Quantum Transcendence

Quote

Originally posted by spacecowboy:
** <stuff about pd>
**

Unfortunately, you then have to make all of the turrets disabling only, or make them very weak. Otherwise your Ultra Tleilaxu Armories Spectrum class Hyperplasma turret opens up on the little shuttle you're trying to board and destroys it with one shot.

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Pretty much, Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation.
-Steve Jobs

HeWhoMustNotBeNamed

Quote

Originally posted by Quantum Transcendence:
**Unfortunately, you then have to make all of the turrets disabling only, or make them very weak. Otherwise your Ultra Tleilaxu Armories Spectrum class Hyperplasma turret opens up on the little shuttle you're trying to board and destroys it with one shot.

**

I get around this by giving most larger ships pd turrets (sometimes lots of em) but keeping the "big guns" reserved to player control. It's like the captain giving permission to shoot down anything that gets too close, but not blowing everything out of the water unless he says so.

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"Damn, everybody wants something up their ass today! Yeah, I'm cool like that." - forge

Quantum Transcendence

Quote

Originally posted by Russell Quintero:
**I get around this by giving most larger ships pd turrets (sometimes lots of em) but keeping the "big guns" reserved to player control. It's like the captain giving permission to shoot down anything that gets too close, but not blowing everything out of the water unless he says so.

**

I understand that concept, I was merely pointing out the problem with making all turrets point defense weapons.

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Pretty much, Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation.
-Steve Jobs

HeWhoMustNotBeNamed

Quote

Originally posted by Quantum Transcendence:
**I understand that concept, I was merely pointing out the problem with making all turrets point defense weapons.

**

And I was merely suggesting a workable compromise.

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"Damn, everybody wants something up their ass today! Yeah, I'm cool like that." - forge

Vast Deathmaster

The Polycon TC has point defense turrets (at least, I think they're turrets). Beam Tubes. Though I don't believe theyare disabling. It seems that the average capital ship only does well with 2 to 4 of them. But it is rather fun when you get swarmed by small ships and they get taken out by this auto defense system.

Hmmmm, if only I knew graphics and animation. I'd create a Pun Cruiser that has a literal Auto Defense system that chucks cars in the way of incoming missles!

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Ivanova: "I can only conclude that I am paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate."

spacecowboy

Quote

Originally posted by Quantum Transcendence:
**Unfortunately, you then have to make all of the turrets disabling only, or make them very weak. Otherwise your Ultra Tleilaxu Armories Spectrum class Hyperplasma turret opens up on the little shuttle you're trying to board and destroys it with one shot.

**

Okay, QT (or should I say Cutie for the inordinate lack of intelligence you've shown in this particular post). We've gone through this several times before. Open up Nova and play the Unrelenting (yes, it's got QLB turrets). Now, get a Comara Standard Viper mad at you -- one IR missile should do it. No, don't use the EMP torp. We're trying to AVOID overkill here, remember? That's right, IR missile. Only one. ONLY ONE! Good. Now, don't fire on it anymore, and wait for it to get near you. Your kulbies will open fire as soon as it get within range. Notice that once it is disabled, your kulbies stop firing.

THAT'S RIGHT, ladies and gentlemen: PD weapons DON'T FIRE ON DISABLED TARGETS. They only fire on enemies. Once a ship is disabled, the point-defense turret will cease-fire. Now, that Ultra Tleilaxu Armories Spectrum class Hyperplasma turret may still do enough damage to wipe out all the shuttle's shields and armor with one round and proceed to destroy it (kinda like how it's hard to disable a Viper with a Nil'kimas Raven), but then it wouldn't make any difference whether the weapon was fired by the player or the computer.

Please don't anybody take offense at the above. All of the scathing criticism was directed solely at QT, whom I know IRL and therefore have every right to flame. Don't worry, I'll probably hear about it tomorrow.

And no, Masamune, my handle wasn't inspired by that show -- I'll be perfectly honest with you: I've never heard of it. My handle reflects the fact that I'm from Ocala, smack dab in the middle of Marion County, smack dab in the middle of Florida (one of the most agricultural counties in the state), the fact that I'm a dual-enrolled (means I'm a nerd in high school taking college classes) Engineering student at Central Florida Community College, and am currently planning to transfer to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (one of the best, if not the best, universities in the country for) and major in Aerospace Engineering, with emphasis on Astronautics. After that, while using my God-like intelligence and mad engineering skills, I shal build an empire with my bare hands and become the (url="http://"http://www.eviloverlord.com/")Evil Overlord of All Humanity(/url).

Hrm. I'm gonna hafta come up with some more stuff to put here... Hrm...

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Suddenly, the little scoutship disappeared and then reappeared right behind the alien warfleet. The gravitic ship's captain hailed the armada. "You are going to be destroyed, but I will give you a choice as to how you want to spend eternity: big pieces, little pieces, or quarks?"
Dead silence.
"Quarks it is, then."

Quantum Transcendence

(rant)As you pointed out, the little shuttle will be destroyed with one shot by a pd turret. However, you fail to take into account that humans actually have brains. A player will use a less powerful secondary weapon, and will refrain from firing the Tleilaxu Muad'dib-killer laser turret. A pd weapon fires no matter what. So if you are trying to disable that viper with a Raven, you'll use Wraithii. Unfortunately, if you're CPL is point defense, it'll fry the viper without your consent. Furthermore, this is a game. Not sure about you, but I want to do the flying. I don't want to watch the computer fly my ship, fire my weapons, and do my missions. Also, as you point out, pd weapons only fire on enemies. I've had a fair number of ships with nothing more than turrets and raven rockets. What if I want to fire my long range Shai Hulud turreted railgun at a Fed Cruiser? You're going to make me get in its face and fire a raven rocket at the ship so that it gets mad. I would prefer to be able to open up with my turrets first, and stay far back.(/rant)

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Pretty much, Apple and Dell are the only ones in this industry making money. They make it by being Wal-Mart. We make it by innovation.
-Steve Jobs

(This message has been edited by Quantum Transcendence (edited 04-10-2003).)

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Master List of Unused Ideas for Plugs