This is intended to be constructive, the only 'negativity' mentioned here is for clarity & to site examples where I've seen this go wrong . . . let me dive right in.
The big question that comes up is "What's the game". Several titles have these great interfaces & quite often the question comes up, what's the objective or "What is the game" (other than a sandbox). I realize there is no end to dreaming what a player wants it to be, but somewhere it needs to translate to the world of possibilities for the guys crunching the code in the background.
My suggestion stems from a difficulty that I've seen in other titles, I could let them remain nameless, but I won't . . . in the house here, one of the boys really likes to play ARK & one of the troubles that persists with that title is that one Tribe can take over a server in more than one way & the gameplay factor really goes downhill. Say a server can support 90 players logged in, well a tribe can have so many players that there really isn't enough room for the 2nd group. Another major problem is that if they're not on 24/7 then they can get raided offline. Where's the time for sleep? The human factor.
So what I've suggested is that the "Gameboard" be seen a bit like a jigsaw puzzle intended for certain areas to only have one group control. Say 3 major control points on a land mass, or 1 or 2 control points on an island, maybe 7 to 9 control points on the mainland. When that clan decides to log in, then their piece of the puzzle would search for maps that have a void in that location, or end up hosting as they merge with other clans searching for hosts with other control points having a void.
How would this translate to a game like "Starbase"
The imagery I have in mind is a bit like 12 sided dice. Typically space maps are seen in hexes, like with a number of titles (Board games & other existing titles . . . no need to specify here). . . If enough players have established a corporation, maybe they could get some type of launch into a dynamic universe. Their 12 sided die would flush up against other players (and a few NPC dice in the mix too -- like just asteroids, blank space, or planets, etc). An object in game could announce a desire for "offline protection" when activated. . . and after so much time (maybe 15-30 min) the group's dodecahedron would become a void & after enough inactivity could be replaced with an NPC random dice-block.
A dynamic environment like this would keep a need for scanning & discovering neighbors & resource objects that could be refreshed.
The next step would be alliances . . . sure a corporation could have one of these 12 sided blocks, and an alliance might be a 12 block of 12 . . . or an area of 144 of these areas that virtually merge with one another. In the case of an alliance, my suggestion would be that the location be much more permanent. If you're stepping up your game that high, then it's time to be a permanent target on the map. Even so, it'd be nice to have some downtime for that human factor. Some of us punch a clock & have a full time job, kids, etc & still want to play. Maybe on the alliance level, offline protection could be somewhat of a commodity. My thought is that 1/3 of the time you're either playing or have someone that can watch your back. Then upto 2/3 of the time be able to be protected, but something would need to be accomplished for 1/2 of that. Think of it as Three 8 hour blocks. . . 8 hours to work, 8 hours to sleep, 8 hours to play . . . well if we gift the player sleep time, then playing to earn that 3rd block could be earned by the collective group. Not necessarily paying to be offline, but some type of token that shows you're not just turtling because you can, but that you've actually participated in freeplay & deserve to be able to take a shower, eat with the fam, sleep & not return to rubble. I'm a bit off of my original suggestion, so I'll wrap up this rabbit-hole . . . maybe earning a resource like crystal / fuel for keeping wormhole access closed (idk) something that can only be harvested in one of those random sections that ends up being a free for all area . . . space is big & maybe players can get their without encountering others . . . and maybe someone set up a drone & is just waiting to pounce & take out a miner, who knows.
Anyway, my main suggestion is to consider a modular "board" that is a bit dynamic & try to think about what makes a game "a game", that it can be played, enjoyed & that there are specific objectives.
As I've only recently discovered your title i can say that I haven't seen such amazing videos, they're promising -- for great gameplay activity as they stand, even if it is a sandbox. There are heaps of objects created & debris looks like it could end up being a real issue . . . I hope some type of self-clean system is in effect.
Whatever you choose, I'm looking forward to seeing what you've created. My brother just told me about the game yesterday & I wish I had the ability to play now, so I'll do my best to remain patient & try to read up on Yolol & see more about where you're at with early access.
The big question that comes up is "What's the game". Several titles have these great interfaces & quite often the question comes up, what's the objective or "What is the game" (other than a sandbox). I realize there is no end to dreaming what a player wants it to be, but somewhere it needs to translate to the world of possibilities for the guys crunching the code in the background.
My suggestion stems from a difficulty that I've seen in other titles, I could let them remain nameless, but I won't . . . in the house here, one of the boys really likes to play ARK & one of the troubles that persists with that title is that one Tribe can take over a server in more than one way & the gameplay factor really goes downhill. Say a server can support 90 players logged in, well a tribe can have so many players that there really isn't enough room for the 2nd group. Another major problem is that if they're not on 24/7 then they can get raided offline. Where's the time for sleep? The human factor.
So what I've suggested is that the "Gameboard" be seen a bit like a jigsaw puzzle intended for certain areas to only have one group control. Say 3 major control points on a land mass, or 1 or 2 control points on an island, maybe 7 to 9 control points on the mainland. When that clan decides to log in, then their piece of the puzzle would search for maps that have a void in that location, or end up hosting as they merge with other clans searching for hosts with other control points having a void.
How would this translate to a game like "Starbase"
The imagery I have in mind is a bit like 12 sided dice. Typically space maps are seen in hexes, like with a number of titles (Board games & other existing titles . . . no need to specify here). . . If enough players have established a corporation, maybe they could get some type of launch into a dynamic universe. Their 12 sided die would flush up against other players (and a few NPC dice in the mix too -- like just asteroids, blank space, or planets, etc). An object in game could announce a desire for "offline protection" when activated. . . and after so much time (maybe 15-30 min) the group's dodecahedron would become a void & after enough inactivity could be replaced with an NPC random dice-block.
A dynamic environment like this would keep a need for scanning & discovering neighbors & resource objects that could be refreshed.
The next step would be alliances . . . sure a corporation could have one of these 12 sided blocks, and an alliance might be a 12 block of 12 . . . or an area of 144 of these areas that virtually merge with one another. In the case of an alliance, my suggestion would be that the location be much more permanent. If you're stepping up your game that high, then it's time to be a permanent target on the map. Even so, it'd be nice to have some downtime for that human factor. Some of us punch a clock & have a full time job, kids, etc & still want to play. Maybe on the alliance level, offline protection could be somewhat of a commodity. My thought is that 1/3 of the time you're either playing or have someone that can watch your back. Then upto 2/3 of the time be able to be protected, but something would need to be accomplished for 1/2 of that. Think of it as Three 8 hour blocks. . . 8 hours to work, 8 hours to sleep, 8 hours to play . . . well if we gift the player sleep time, then playing to earn that 3rd block could be earned by the collective group. Not necessarily paying to be offline, but some type of token that shows you're not just turtling because you can, but that you've actually participated in freeplay & deserve to be able to take a shower, eat with the fam, sleep & not return to rubble. I'm a bit off of my original suggestion, so I'll wrap up this rabbit-hole . . . maybe earning a resource like crystal / fuel for keeping wormhole access closed (idk) something that can only be harvested in one of those random sections that ends up being a free for all area . . . space is big & maybe players can get their without encountering others . . . and maybe someone set up a drone & is just waiting to pounce & take out a miner, who knows.
Anyway, my main suggestion is to consider a modular "board" that is a bit dynamic & try to think about what makes a game "a game", that it can be played, enjoyed & that there are specific objectives.
As I've only recently discovered your title i can say that I haven't seen such amazing videos, they're promising -- for great gameplay activity as they stand, even if it is a sandbox. There are heaps of objects created & debris looks like it could end up being a real issue . . . I hope some type of self-clean system is in effect.
Whatever you choose, I'm looking forward to seeing what you've created. My brother just told me about the game yesterday & I wish I had the ability to play now, so I'll do my best to remain patient & try to read up on Yolol & see more about where you're at with early access.
