Interested in a Traveller-inspired video game?

[CyborgPrime]

Do you like video games? Do you like Traveller? Do you have an opinion?
Help me gather more info on what users want from a Traveller-inspired video game!

https://www.cyborgprime.com/component/tags/tag/gaming-survey

 

[Spinward Flow]

Survey: DONE.

 

[CyborgPrime]

Survey: DONE.

thank you for your interest and input!

 

[Nathan Brazil]

Done. With choices with 5 only choices allowed? Pshaw.

I would like to point that of the previously published DOS game, the first Megatraveller 1: The Zhodani Conspiracy used Classic Traveller ruleset very well, even to the point that police went to arrest/kill you for wielding inappropriate Law Level weapons, outside the starport, NPC reactions based on who asks, even a gambling hall where you can tell someone's Gambling 1 is clearly inferior to Gambling-3. My only complaint is personal combat was in real-time and was a bitch to run 4 characters with the interface presented. I still love turn based games more due to my feeble dexterity. Otherwise the game was awesomesauce for the early '90s.

So yea, do all the rules. the rest is graphics and presentation.

 

[Spinward Flow]

So yea, do all the rules. the rest is graphics and presentation.

Pretty graphics are eye candy.
They get you noticed.

Depth of gameplay is what sustains interest and keeps people playing.
That's what gives your game longevity and replay value.

Guess which one is more important (in the long run)?
The flash in the pan ... or the slow burn addiction to wanting to keep playing for the FUN of it ...?

 

[Timerover51]

NO.

 

[aramis]

NO.

Me, neither; I already have some (for the Apple II). Probably different reasons.
I don't object to the idea, so long as it's not canonical.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

I don't object to the idea, so long as it's not canonical.

I read the website.

Help me gather more info on what users want from a Traveller-inspired video game!

Well then. I read your website. You are going non-canon on stories. Good enough. Too much dissent on that front. Sorta agreeing with aramis there. There should only be one showrunner at a time for canon.

The Big Enchilada: You listed MgT2 and Cepheus Engine rulesets. Do you intend to get a license from Mr. Miller and Matt Sprange for MgT2 or just Marc for some other form of Traveller, however that works. I see this as a sort of decision tree. If you can't/won't get a license you need to go Cepheus. Vehicle and Starship operations/combat are different in MgT2 than in Cepheus, so different coding is needed even before graphics (it sucks to design and write code one way then rip it and start again) so knowing upfront sets constraints on the project. Story of course then graphics. A new campaign setting is hit or miss. In turn, a sandbox is not as immediatly inviting unless you create an engaging initial setting anyways but has more lifespan.

I like the sandbox. Like the old Forgotten Realm Unlimited Adventures or Neverwinter Nights. Besides the my issues with real time combat NwN was otherwise pretty cool. While not perfectly transferred D&D rules for NwN you got to see your numbers and options on your character sheet with a reasonable expectation of those numbers mean in-computer and in-tabletop.

 

[kilemall]

Star Citizen is kind of this. Just a warning, any such game will be compared to it.

 

[Dragoner]

Last computer game I played with any frequency was Civ 3, which I stopped as it was a huge time sink.

 

[whartung]

Star Citizen is kind of this. Just a warning, any such game will be compared to it.

You mean the other game might actually ship?

Simply, if someone were to create a "science fiction video game", and if it's not going to be "canonical", then there's no reason to tie it to Traveller at all. As everyone like to quip that Traveller is a "generic sci fi RPG", and anything you might like about the game mechanics (for any edition) is going to be washed away in the game interface anyway.

I think it's Baldurs Gate? Isn't that a D&D video game? I played it a bit once, and if anything the D&D mechanics got in the way of the "game". I think most folks enjoy these games for the world and game play, but pen and paper mechanics and gameplay are a far cry from video game gameplay.

I remember playing a game called "Breach" on the Macintosh long ago. It was, essentially, a Snapshot like individual scale tactical game. It was "ok" to play. I personally enjoyed another game, which had tactical robots in a city. But the second game was more a "plot out your entire turn and hit go", so both sides then went simultaneously. This was a much more interesting game than the typical Snapshot/AHL style of game, even if automated. It was more dynamic.

 

[Nathan Brazil]

I remember playing a game called "Breach" on the Macintosh long ago. It was, essentially, a Snapshot like individual scale tactical game. It was "ok" to play. I personally enjoyed another game, which had tactical robots in a city. But the second game was more a "plot out your entire turn and hit go", so both sides then went simultaneously. This was a much more interesting game than the typical Snapshot/AHL style of game, even if automated. It was more dynamic.

I did not get into Breach. I got into the sister game Rules of Engagement (PC ver.). For me, at that the time it was pretty good slice of game.

Simply, if someone were to create a "science fiction video game", and if it's not going to be "canonical", then there's no reason to tie it to Traveller at all. As everyone like to quip that Traveller is a "generic sci fi RPG", and anything you might like about the game mechanics (for any edition) is going to be washed away.

My point exactly. I would hope a game of some sort will come out of this CyborgPrime. I know the lure of the name is STRONG, but the license is the reality. Still I'll be a cheerleader for a Cepheus game. It is similar to Classic Traveller and like the many Cepheus books already published you can probably even blurb "classic 2D6 science fiction" (but you should check first. I is a dumkopf not a lawyer). DON'T use magic lawyer inducing words. OTOH easy for me to say, my capital and effort is not at risk.

Is it still worth your while? Meh, I dunno.

 

[whartung]

Still I'll be a cheerleader for a Cepheus game.

Well, I guess, to me, what would you take from it? There are several "Star Trader" games that are all very similar to LBB2, even still today. Most of them are pretty boring, to be honest, but that's me.

Take the D20 combat system? 2D6 combat system? I don't know how the MT PC games worked, but combat is pretty lethal, so you'd want to keep it to a minimum, or bump up the "cinematic"-ness of it (i.e. T2K style where it's lethal to NPCs, but not so much to you).

Combat heavy dungeon crawls work with D&D style, mostly because you have healing, and single blows are typically not lethal to healthy characters (though not always true as any veteran of Moria/Angband and Dragons can attest...do NOT wake the dragons!).

So, if it's not combat heavy, then it's story, discovery, and puzzle heavy. Cepheus is "no story". You're not going to be hunting long lost "Ancients" artifacts on the Spinward Marches. Now you're basically making you're own content -- may as well make everything else as well.

 

[Shadowrunner]

I would like to see a game that offers the spaceship combat like Eve or Freelancer but also to be able to get out of the spaceship and walk around, trade, infiltrate a building, carouse, fight as in Deus Ex or Half-Life. Various tools, lockpicking, electronic tools, hacking computers etc.

Ultimately it would be fantastic to be able to do that in a multiplayer environment and not Apple or Console, but a PC game with free-roaming, different classes of characters and players would need to co-operate to achieve certain goals. Does not need to have the best graphics, but a decent amount of players and decent amount of options within the game.

Players would have the ability to join another player's starship and use skills to help repair, operate gun turrets, or act as a marine. Delivering players to a target etc. In a multiplayer game you would not have increasing skill levels, weaponry, you would give new players a chance.

 

[Spinward Flow]

I would like to see a game that offers the spaceship combat like Eve or Freelancer but also to be able to get out of the spaceship and walk around, trade, infiltrate a building, carouse, fight as in Deus Ex or Half-Life. Various tools, lockpicking, electronic tools, hacking computers etc.

Sounds a lot like Star Trek Online.

In that game, all Cryptic did was change the character avatar (either a humanoid or a starship) and modified the movement physics (gravity habitat or ships in space) and then let 'er rip. It gives the illusion that personal combat and ship combat are different when the whole thing runs on the same systems (using different stuff to complete the illusion).

It actually works reasonably well, all things considered.
Of course, Players were way more interested in space combat than ground combat, so there are definitely playstyle preferences to consider with that kind of differentiation of environments to play in.

 

[Timerover51]

Last computer game I played with any frequency was Civ 3, which I stopped as it was a huge time sink.

I still play it, but I amretired and somewhat limited in what I can do. I do modify it a lot, and some of the people on the Civfanatic site like the mods. I also still play Agr of Mythology, Age of Empires II and III, along with Rise of Nations. I modify Age of Empires III and Rise of Nations as well. I am not into video games. I have more of a builder mentality rather than "blast everything in sight". Logistics over tactics.

 

[whartung]

Logistics over tactics.

I use to love Total Annihilation. One thing that stood out in this game compared to all of the other RTS was that resources were unlimited. You never ran out of food, or whatever. In TA it's Energy and Metal, and as you grew the tech tree you just made more and more.

Add to that the ability to queue orders and set waypoints, and it was not untoward to have automated operations going on constantly.

In the end the games boiled down to keeping up a patrol to extend line of sight so that your forward defenses could take out invading forces from long range. Once your base was stabilized, you could start creeping outward and performing offensive operations.

Against the CPU, the games inevitably ended up being "hose on hose". By this, you had two widely separated bases with endless armies marching between them. Based on where they met, and how far it was from the respective bases, would give you a guide as to who was "winning". When "the hose" finally reached the enemy base, you cracked it open, wreaked havoc, and claimed victory.

While it was combined arms, it was not as "Rock/Scissors/Paper" as many other games are. In many ways, it was just brute force. Streaming heavy armor in to a base was something to behold. The game was very kinetic, with lots of explosions, shrapnel flying, etc.

I remember boosting my computer to 400Mhz so that I could play with 500 units.

 

[Dragoner]

I still play it, but I amretired and somewhat limited in what I can do. I do modify it a lot, and some of the people on the Civfanatic site like the mods. I also still play Agr of Mythology, Age of Empires II and III, along with Rise of Nations. I modify Age of Empires III and Rise of Nations as well. I am not into video games. I have more of a builder mentality rather than "blast everything in sight". Logistics over tactics.

Convoy to victory. I used to annoy the other mod makers for panzer general 2 by suggesting we add supply units like in Avalon Hill's Afrika Korps. Civ Fanatics had a lot of good downloads, and I am also more of a builder, micromanager too, sort of what I do, as a glorified accountant in real life. I saw Age of Empires, looked nice, though I avoided them, needing spend more time with my sons, then in front of a screen

 

[Timerover51]

I saw Age of Empires, looked nice, though I avoided them, needing spend more time with my sons, then in front of a screen

I understand where you are coming from. I was retired at 26, and have been an empty nester since 2011, I have some time to spend on computer games that take a while. I did have plenty of time to spend with my kids.

 

[CyborgPrime]

Well, I kinda want it to be a mash-up of star trader but with a Traveller feel

I develop content with respect to the Traveller SRD and the OGL. I avoid canon bc i don't want to argue about it with anybody - so I come up with my own stories in a vaguely Traveller-feeling universe.

I already asked Matt S to look it over and he said it was so far removed from Traveller actual that it's no problem.

It's not going to be anything like Star Citizen (still in beta after 10 yrs - so not really a competitor to anybody anyhow) it's going to be more like JRPG style.

I'll make more games down the line in other engines - I just got CORE certified so I'll be devving for that as well.