post your plug-in ideas

here's some of mine

Personal Shipyard:

Shipyard to store multiple ships that you've bought instead of trading them in. Would add a second option in the shipyard to buy and not trade in. Small monthly fee goes up the more ships you have.

Spiritbridge:

Starbridge with red markings on it's hull. Would look hella cool.

Escort formations/Escort Group Assignments:

Different formations for escort fleets+Customizable categories for ships ie.,
manticore and two fighters in same command group in 'E' key menu.

+Escort Fleet Capacity:

More escorts!

-Grunt work:

Less missions in repeating missions.

No more auto-save landings:

From now on you have to pause the game(p key) and save it manually instead of it reverting to the last planet you landed on when you die.

Gas Stations in certain Uninhabitated Systems:

Exorbanant Fees and your ship is disabled for several seconds while refueling. chance of being a trap set by marauders or pirates. Still when you're out of fuel and there's no one around, it's a lifesaver and it wouldn't subtract a whole day from your calendar like landing does. Possible option to set your own trap at gas station when other traders go there to refuel.

new system

Independent Confederacy:

Confederacy of 6 System States that grew out of the original 12 vell-os colonies. The increasingly non-pyschic(and Greek) populaton peacefully declared independence from the Vell-os 50 years before the Vell-os--Federation war. Civilian army, constantly feuding states, advanced culture, fearless warrior poets, beatiful planets and a rich democratic history.

7 Systems

14 Ports (9 Planets, 6 stations)

Arsenal:

Confederate Carrier-(Fed Carrier with Gold and Red markings--all carry 6 confed vipers except for flagship which has 8 and engine upgrades which has 4)
-Flagship Class
-Heavy Missile Class(Hellhound, Gravimetric, EW, and EMP)
-Foreign Upgrades Detected(Fusion pulse, Blasters, Hellhound missiles, disabling radar missiles, matrix steel, shield buffers, 150 mm railguns)
-Engine Upgrades(Speed/Turning)
-Weapons Platform(200 mm, 150 mm, and 100 mm rail guns)
-Ion Capabilities(Ion(cannon) Turrets, Crown of Thorns)

Confederate Destroyer-(Fed Destroyer with Gold and Red markings)

-Carrier Class(Confed. Vipers)
-Heavy Missile Class(Hellhound, Gravimetric, EW, and EMP)
-Foreign Upgrades Detected(Fusion pulse, Blasters, Hellhound missiles, disabling radar missiles, matrix steel, shield buffers)
-Engine Upgrades(Speed/Turning)
-Weapons Platform(200 mm, 150 mm, and 100 mm rail guns)
-Ion Capabilities(Ion(cannon) Turrets, Crown of Thorns)

Conf. Starbridge(Starbridge with Gold and Red Markings)

-Gunboat Class
-Speedboat Class
-GSboat Class(in the middle)
-Foreign Upgrades Detected(Fusion pulse cannons and rail guns, light blaster and medium blaster turrets.
-Heavy Missile Variant(Hellhound and EW)

Confederate Anaconda (Anaconda with Gold and Red markings)

-Heavy Fighter Class (lance, light blaster, 100 mm rail gun)+cargo+shields and armor
-Gunboat Class (chain gun, raven rocks, light cannon, light blaster)+shields and armor
-Beam Variant
-Missile Variant (Radar/IR/Raven)

Confederate Viper (Fed Viper with Gold and Red markings)

-Heavy Fighter Class (light blaster, radar missiles, lance)+cargo+mass-speed+shields and armor
-Gunboat Class(chain guns, raven rocks, light blasters)+mass-cargo-speed+shields and armor
-Interceptor(Speed-light cannons, radar missiles)+speed-mass-cargo+armor-shields

Confederate IDA Frigate: ( IDA Frig with Gold and Red markings)
-Blockade Runner(EMP Torps, 200 mm Railguns, lances, grenades)+cargo
++speed -mass
-Support Platform (rail guns, light blaster turrets, vipers)+mass--speed
-HCC--Hostile. Conditions. Command. (vipers, light blasters, railguns, medium blasters, heavy blaster turret.++mass -cargo +speed

Confederate Zephyr: (Zephyr with Gold and Red markings)
-Scout/Exploration Craft (2 bio relay lasers)+mass+cargo--armor+speed+shields
-Diplomatic Envoy (1 biorelay laser)++cargo+shields+armor+speed-mass

Systems and Planets:

System: Hella

New Olympia: Colorful and diverse Capital Planet

Services: Shipyard, Outfitter, Bar, Tradecenter, BBS

Zeus: Large Civ Station

Services: Shipyard, Outfitter, Bar, Tradecenter, BBS

Troy: Large Military Station

Services: Shipyard, Outfitter, Bar, BBS

System: Pelos

New Sparta: Warlike Military Planet One jump away from border

Services: Shipyard, Outfitter, Bar, BBS

System: Delia

Athenia: Technological Science Planet

Services: Shipyard, Outfitter, Bar, Tradecenter, BBS

System: Alpha Centauri

Corinthian: Border Planet, rich and famous, beautiful, newly colonized

Services: Shipyard, Outfitter, Bar, Tradecenter, BBS

Medium Defense station BDS-1 Zeus

Services: Outfitter, Bar, BBS, Trade Center

System: Beta Centauri

Doric: Ancient Planet that was former Vell-Os colony, now decaying society wrought with crime, poverty and overpopulation

Services: Shipyard, Outfitter, Bar, Trade center, BBS

BDS-2 Hermes: Small Border lying Defence Station -Hermes

Services: Outfitter, Bar, BBS, trade center

System: New Persia

Susa: Huge border lying Planet with massive resources and a huge military presence, constantly vying for control of Confederate Assembly.

Services: Shipyard, Outfitter, Bar, Tradecenter, BBS

BDS-3 Zoroaster: LARGE Border Defense Station

Services: Shipyard, Outfitter, Bar, BBS

System: Cronus

Titan 1: Uninhabited/long gone Vell-Os colony

Hades: Fiery gas giant.

Services: None

what do you think?

This post has been edited by Myrmidon : 19 March 2007 - 11:21 PM

Let's see...of the ideas you've posted,

Personal shipyard, escort formations/group assignments, escort fleet capacity, turning off auto-save, and gas stations would all require engine modifications. That is to say, you cannot do them in a plugin. You could probably arrange some facsimile of the gas station by having a stationary pers ship in the system that you could comm to refuel if you were out, but that's hardly the same thing.

Now, it's good to have ideas! Your Vell-Os confederacy would be eminently doable, for example. But it's important to recognize what is impossible, what is merely very difficult, and what is simple with the plugin system.

you sure? i think i've seen stuff like this done before, and i'm almost positive i just now saw a plug that allowed personal shipyards

There are such shipyard plugins for EV/O because these two games have a very limited number of ships and outfits available. For Nova it really is impossible within the resource limits.

@myrmidon, on Mar 19 2007, 10:47 PM, said in Plugin Ideas Thread:

here's some of mine
Personal Shipyard:

Shipyard to store multiple ships that you've bought instead of trading them in. Would add a second option in the shipyard to buy and not trade in. Small monthly fee goes up the more ships you have.

Possible, but very messy and difficult, according to Belthazar. He also says its not really worth the effort either given much simpler methods of using plugs to grant whatever ship you want.

Modifying shipyard options, however, is not possible.

Quote

Spiritbridge:

Starbridge with red markings on it's hull. Would look hella cool.

Possible.

Quote

Escort formations/Escort Group Assignments:

Different formations for escort fleets+Customizable categories for ships ie.,
manticore and two fighters in same command group in 'E' key menu.

Impossible.

Quote

+Escort Fleet Capacity:

More escorts!

Possible via missions to grant mission escorts and using bays to launch fighters. For regular escorts though, the limit is 6 and cannot be changed.

Quote

-Grunt work:

Less missions in repeating missions.

Possible.

Quote

No more auto-save landings:

From now on you have to pause the game(p key) and save it manually instead of it reverting to the last planet you landed on when you die.

Impossible.

Quote

Gas Stations in certain Uninhabitated Systems:

Exorbanant Fees and your ship is disabled for several seconds while refueling. chance of being a trap set by marauders or pirates. Still when you're out of fuel and there's no one around, it's a lifesaver and it wouldn't subtract a whole day from your calendar like landing does. Possible option to set your own trap at gas station when other traders go there to refuel.

Possible, but not in that sense. Best you could do is use certain ships flying around to refuel you or stations named something like "Bob's Gas Station" with no services and the desc reads that they are automated or something.

Quote

new system
Independent Confederacy:

<snip>

Possible. A bunch of work, but possible.

If you'd like to make some of this stuff real that is possible, you'll need an editor. EVNew is your on Windows, Mission Computer, Rezilla, Resedit with Nova Tools, and EVONE if you're on a Mac. To make graphics and sounds you'll need other programs, like Wings 3D. Good luck with your project.

Hmm some interesting ideas. I think I'll steal that gas station one for my own diabolical usage. It's good to see some new blood on the EV:DC. Just don't take on too much at once or you'll burn out.

The PlugPack had a player-owned shipyard, but it was a totally different idea - instead of storing his/her own ships, the player could build new ones and sell them.

(edit)Grr. Double post.(/edit)

This post has been edited by Nil'kimas : 20 March 2007 - 06:02 PM

for the shipyard couldn't you just make a bay that could hold any type of ship and had 0 mass and cost
and you could deploy your old ship from that bay and switch with it then recall the other ship to the bay

are elements of what I just said possible?

This post has been edited by Myrmidon : 20 March 2007 - 08:39 PM

@myrmidon, on Mar 20 2007, 06:38 PM, said in Plugin Ideas Thread:

for the shipyard couldn't you just make a bay that could hold any type of ship and had 0 mass and cost
and you could deploy your old ship from that bay and switch with it then recall the other ship to the bay

are elements of what I just said possible?

No.

• You cannot make a bay that can hold any type of ship. Every bay is keyed to a specific ship type.
• You cannot switch your flag to another ship after having captured it.
• Even if you could switch ships, your new ship wouldn't have the mystical hold-anything ship bay, so you wouldn't be able to recall your old ship.

• You cannot make a bay that can hold any type of ship. Every bay is keyed to a specific ship type.

but with a plug in editor couldn't you create a bay/ship that holds a ship like the one you're about to sell, and then you could make it with 0 mass and cost so you could buy many of them. you just couldn't mass produce the plug

• You cannot switch your flag to another ship after having captured it.

yeah this poses a problem

• Even if you could switch ships, your new ship wouldn't have the mystical hold-anything ship bay

unless you specified it as an outfit in the plug-in editor

Okay, so now you're suggesting that any time you want to save your ship, you'd create a new plugin to represent your ship just as you have it right then. Am I understanding you correctly?

This is when its just easier to make copies of the pilot file in question, using the copies to try different ships. Or use/make on of many plugs that gives you ships, makes them free, lets you choose your ship via the char resource, etc. But pilot copies are easier.

@derakon, on Mar 20 2007, 08:24 PM, said in Plugin Ideas Thread:

Okay, so now you're suggesting that any time you want to save your ship, you'd create a new plugin to represent your ship just as you have it right then. Am I understanding you correctly?

yep, I guess it's kind of impractical, but I think it'd be worth it to be able to keep all your old ship with all it's outfits.

and to Josh, that's one of my problems with Nova, don't get me wrong it's probably one of the most fun and replayable games I own, but i think there are a lot of features that would make it far more solid if ambrosia would just take the time to update it with more gameplay changes. like your example, i think that having to create multiple pilot files and basically pretend the two ships exist in the same game is retarded, the game should be made so that you can do these things already, either that or the developer should be willing to release patches that will allow the people who paid $30.00(a buttload of money for a game that's been out as long as Nova), the amount of replayability and fun basic gameplay they expected when they bought the game, and I'm not talking about my plug ideas.

whatever though. just a random rant.

This post has been edited by Myrmidon : 20 March 2007 - 11:54 PM

You wouldn't be able to keep all your outfits anyway. Nova ships are limited to 4 weapons each.

And yes, the Nova limitations are at times arbitrary and it'd be wonderful if we could change them, but Ambrosia doesn't own the source to Nova; they simply publish it. The owner of the source is not interested in making changes at this time, and he's also not interested in releasing the source so that other people can make changes. So right now your only option for fixing these problems is to re-implement Nova your own way.

Have fun with that.

@derakon, on Mar 20 2007, 10:07 PM, said in Plugin Ideas Thread:

You wouldn't be able to keep all your outfits anyway. Nova ships are limited to 4 weapons each.

And yes, the Nova limitations are at times arbitrary and it'd be wonderful if we could change them, but Ambrosia doesn't own the source to Nova; they simply publish it. The owner of the source is not interested in making changes at this time, and he's also not interested in releasing the source so that other people can make changes. So right now your only option for fixing these problems is to re-implement Nova your own way.

see I didn't know that Ambrosia didn't own the source code, I thought part of the deal with atmos was that they got ownership of that.

Quote

Have fun with that.

yeah right

ATMOS doesn't own the source either, actually. Matt Burch owns the source. He wrote the first EV and its scenario. Then Pac wrote the second EV's scenario, and Matt upgraded the engine slightly for it (adding things like basic particle effects and a slightly improved AI). Then ATMOS wrote the third scenario, and Matt upgraded the engine even more (mainly adding extra sprite displays) and ported it to Windows. All the time, Matt's retained ownership of the engine. Ambrosia has always just published the game.

As I understand it, Ambrosia provides two different services. First, for the players, their in-house game developers will write games. Second, and much more commonly, they help game developers who are not part of Ambrosia to get their games through the last mile of testing, polishing, and preventing piracy, and then publish the game for them. I don't know how long you've been watching the site, but the Upcoming section has links to development logs, and each log has been maintained by a different, non-Ambrosia-member person. Unfortunately I don't know how to retrieve old devlogs that aren't displayed on the Upcoming page any more, or else I could get you some examples.

@derakon, on Mar 21 2007, 01:07 AM, said in Plugin Ideas Thread:

You wouldn't be able to keep all your outfits anyway. Nova ships are limited to 4 weapons each.

Actually, a ship can come with eight weapons and eight outfits, although the A.I. cannot use most outfits (asteroid scoops, cloaking devices, and...ummm, not much else). A pers can have four additional weapons, for a total of twelve.

Ah, my mistake. Thanks for the correction.

I think each, or at least one government needs a super star fortress of some kind. Basically, a semi-mobile doom station that basically has almost no limit to its destructive power. It would have to be incredibly expensive, but obtaining one would ensure near-immortality. Movement wouldn't even be real movement, but rather in-system space folds mediated by a secondary weapon. It could launch small capital ships like fighters if you so desired, or could afford. Despite the sheer power of some ships in the game, there is a certain level of power that the ships in Nova have thus far not been able to get you to.