Re: RPG suggestion?

"CoinSpin" <coin^spam^spin@xxxxxxxxxxx> looked up from reading the
entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
say:


"Xocyll" <Xocyll@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ujtas3hrhfteldkdelkeokd0inpkqb73pk@xxxxxxxxxx
| "CoinSpin" <coin^spam^spin@xxxxxxxxxxx> looked up from reading the
| entrails of the porn spammer to utter "The Augury is good, the signs
| say:
|
| >
| >"Kendrick Kerwin Chua" <kendrick@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| >news:hImdnaFv7OQRuV7anZ2dnUVZ_oqhnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| >| In article <13s67qtj9kui134@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
| >| CoinSpin <coin^spam^spin@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
| >| >"Kendrick Kerwin Chua" <kendrick@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| >| >news:oZmdnSogPqGAXl_anZ2dnUVZ_tOtnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| >| >| In article <scd5s3tvcu1dqqnc76ohaa3o21lceslfs1@xxxxxxx>,
| >| >| riku <riku@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
| >| >| >On Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:27:04 -0500, Ross Ridge
| >| >| ><rridge@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
| >| >| >>David Alex Lamb <dalamb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
| >| >| >>> What's a sandbox game?
| >| >| >>
| >| >| >>It's a term most commonly used to describe Grand Theft Auto clones
| >and
| >| >| >>other games influenced by the relatively non-linear freeform
gameplay
| >in
| >| >| >>GTA 3. Many RPGs and other kinds of games could be considered
| >sandbox
| >| >| >>games, like say Oblivion, but the term generally isn't used to
| >describe
| >| >| >>them.
| >| >| >
| >| >| >Is e.g. SimCity a sandbox game?
| >| >|
| >| >| SimCity is very likely the first sandbox game. Establishing
consistent
| >| >| gameplay rules and not defining a specific end goal are the two
things
| >| >| most sandbox games have in common. An RPG that is also a sandbox
game
| >| >| might have a primary quest or objective, but you're not required to
| >follow
| >| >| it and you're generally not restricted from playing more after it's
| >been
| >| >| completed. Currently, most people think of a single-character action
| >game
| >| >| and not a big-picture god game when they talk about sandbox games.
| >| >
| >| >Don't forget Elite! It was totally open-ended, and came out 5 years
| >before
| >| >SimCity :)
| >|
| >| Oh hell, I'd forgotten about that one. The 3D space combat disqualifies
it
| >| from being part of the RPG category in most people's minds, but the
| >| freedom to explore and the unscripted interactions definitely make it a
| >| sandbox. This is a game crying out for a modern remake, if there's no
| >| problem with the licensing or the rights. I wonder if the current crop
of
| >| gamers would find interstellar commerce entertaining at all, though.
| >|
| >
| >Freelancer tried to be a spiritual successor, and succeeded in some
| >respects. It was fairly open-ended, and you could run around doing
whatever
| >you wanted wherever you wanted, but there was still that pesky need for a
| >semi-linear storyline that pulled you back in here and there if you
wanted
| >to really advance.
|
| That was sort of as problem, but the issues go much deeper than that.
| 1. Things like "Planet Sprague is too far out for them to communicate
| with (in the same system), yet Juni can call you when you are on the far
| side of known space the moment you've made enough money to trigger the
| next story mission.
| 2. The route mapping which won't let you plan a route through jumpholes,
| but automatically does just that as soon as a story mission triggers and
| you're told to go somewhere.
| 3. Totally static economy.
| 4. Most of the weapons/ships are locked out until after the story is
| done.
| 5. The biggie: The ships/weapons in the game get stronger and stronger
| as you progress, but this means that the later "nations" are *Massively*
| more powerful than the early ones.
| There is no way Liberty could fight off an attack from Bretonia, much
| less Kusari or Rhineland, since all their equipment is hopelessly
| inferior.
| 6. Idiotic *** like being told to get a new ship in Bretonia since the
| Bounty hunters are looking for you, but through the entire game every
| NPC pilot from every faction refers to your ship as Freelancer alpha
| 1-1.
| What's the point of getting a new ship when your transponder is
| broadcasting your real identity?
| 7. Other idiotic *** like Trent saying that his friend is "the
| equipment dealer on Leeds" - one equipment dealer on the whole planet -
| yeah that makes sense.
|
| I've played the game many many times in spite of those, but only since
| it's so modable - more unlocked content and/or new ship models makes it
| fun in spite of the idiocies.
|
| It could have been so much more with a little rational thinking applied
| to the design.
|

Yah, well... It WAS a MicroSuck title, so expecting rational thinking might
be stretching it... heh

It's funny, but I picked up Space Rangers 2 recently and have been playing
that a bit... It has some really weird flaws, but I've got this image in my
head of what the *** love child of Freelancer and Space Rangers 2 would
be like... Imagine a game with the flexibility and non-linearity of SR2,
the open fluctuating economy of SR2, the massive variety of ships, weapons,
equipment, and upgrades of SR2 - and the flight dynamics and combat systems
of Freelancer (which could still use a little tweaking)... Possibilities...

For that sort of thing I think I'd really rather have a 3d
Freelancer-like version of Escape Velocity Nova.

Tried SR2 but it never really grabbed me the way EVNova did.


Oh yeah, addendum to #2 above - not only would the route mapping thing
plot through jump holes, it would plot a course to the mission objective
through jump holes you didn't even know about.

Xocyll
--
I don't particularly want you to FOAD, myself. You'll be more of
a cautionary example if you'll FO And Get Chronically, Incurably,
Painfully, Progressively, Expensively, Debilitatingly Ill. So
FOAGCIPPEDI. -- Mike Andrews responding to an idiot in asr
.