.map file relation to EoC geography?

Got it, Shane. Thanks!

--
Hot4Darmat

I rewatched the sub entry scene of Abyss again, taking music notes this time.

Basically, there is almost no music. A very faint background, nearly lost under the breathing sounds and radio static. And the music is very simple long tones. Stretched sounding.

The music picks up in volumn but same tones when they enter the control room full of corpses.

It does change to a scuttling kind of sound (no idea the instrument, perhaps violin?) when the crabs are seen near a corpse.

Music does enter when the alien is first sighted, and then when Jammer panics and smashes his regulator. Then you hear really, really full panic music, abrupt strong strings.

Interesting, because my first impression was that mood was set with music, but that is not true. They just use the ambient sounds a diver would hear. Mostly breathing, the thump of (own) boots on metal decking. Voices over radio. They are only using music for key emphasis. But it is fair to note that it is never quiet. There is always sound happening. Silence is as rare as the music, and done for emphasis.

To make a full conversion to this kind of plan, more sound modeling inside the ship would be needed. And it would have to be interesting sound, or strong risk of boredom. Worth thinking on.

Shane has sent a bunch of models to me tonight. I will try to assemble a first pass map tomorrow.

-Gtrout

I've seen silence used in many movies to good effect.

The cessation of background music implies a stillness... or a waiting. It focuses the viewer's attention.

After monotonous music, a sudden dead silence (as a character is surprised) can be like a slap in the face, causing the audience to feel the character's fear.



<font size="1"><font face="Book Antiqua"><font color="black">"Never before in the history of the world had such a mass of human beings moved and suffered together. This was no disciplined march; it was a stampede-- without order and without a goal, six million people unarmed and unprovisioned, driving headlong. It was the beginning of the rout of Civilisation... of the massacre of Mankind."
--H. G. Wells The War Of The Worlds</font id="black"></font id="Book Antiqua"> </font id="size1">

I don't know if any of you played incubation, but the background music for that is pretty creepy. Ideal for the bug hunt that it was. I send some if you're interested.

Jumbo

<font color=gold>[wide beam,Marain clear.tra. @4.28.891.7393+]</font id=gold>
xGCU Grey Area
oGSV Sleeper Service
It's all right. Goodbye and farewell.

I'm not very good at expressing my ideas, so bear with me:
I've been having a similar problem with the systems I am creating. Every time I create a station, I keep on thinking "Whats the point of this station" and "Why would the player want to visit this station".

We've established that the player needs a job, right? so lets give the player a series of missions to do. Lets say you send the player to Station A to kill X, Y and steal Z. But you've gone and created a fully working system with gawd knows how many bodies and stations. But does the player care? Nope, because his/her sphere of interest is restricted to this station.

Lets try another aproach. Put the player in a free-form occupation. We still need to give the player an end goal (I don't regard getting one of everything a goal ) But the player still faces repetition after a while. Seeing as I can't think of a way to continualy vary the players occupation, My idea is to change the universe around the player. Put the player in the middle of wars, and natural disasters.

For arguments sake, lets say the player is a pirate. The player has this nifty trade route between station A and B, lots of cool hardware to get. But a conflict kicks up, or due to your heavy pirateing the cop's set up a station smack in the middle of the trade route. No more goodies.

Lets not let the player get away with anything. If he/she pirates, lets get the police after them. Lets make it VERY difficult for them to leave the system while they're wanted. Make them hitch rides, or find alternate routes out of the system.

Those are just some of my cooky ideas. What do you think?

Cheers,
Greb

P.S after re-reading my post, I see that a lot of my ideas are influenced by a game called Hardwar. Its a prime example of how to keep a free-form universe interesing. Nab it here: www.the-underdogs.org/game.php?id=4234

Some suggestions for more action with "station design":

ALL STATIONS

- some repairunits swirrling around and doing repairs (flitters/drones)
- defence (guards or gunstars) - strength depends on value of station
- audible welcome or warning while approaching + choice or offer to trade - radiochatter - job offers from that station after docking
- fixed layout of (maybe destroable) components/subtargets (shoot the antenna and no distress signal will be sent)
- docking ports for cargo pods - pods docked outside ( to these thin ladder modules ) - caught with jafs collector mode - module seperable with cutting beam, results in undocking all pods
- stations should be a "complex" of stations crowded together
- owner should be recognizable ("LOMAX" - letters/colors)

TRANSFER STATION (Complex)

- depending on visit frequency more or less pod spits and docking ports - (mega)freighters and andersons exchanging goods
- a pod stock

SHIPYARD (Complex)

- (docked) ships for sale
- units doing repair on docked ships
- pod spit or many docking ports for cargo pods with parts/weapons...


PIRATE BASE

-dark - only few red lights (combat lights) - dark painting and maybe rusty - scrap iron floating around - in a small asteroid field
-small shipyard and a small habitat module (crippled danube cruiser?) - some seperate modules - maybe one fixed to a small asteroid (like hotels in original MP)
-some gunstars - spider cannons on some asteroids(!) - a gunplatform
-two small patrol groups (mixed ships - fighters/puffins) - small trading fleet - some tucks handling cargo pods
-pods stored in a hollow asteroid? - some are outside too - like Cals fathers garage, more untidily
-low radio chatter - warnings not to come closer - scrap iron hits your hull


Light INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX - clean

-clean and clear - well lit up
-Stations like in EpicOnline Watts Mining Gunstars - crowded together - some pod spits
-small defence fleet - patcoms and fighters - colored in CI -
-frogs and flitters doing repairs - busy - freighters, tankers and staff transporters coming and going
-radio chatter about repairs and docking orders -


Heavy INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX - dirty

-littered - some nebula? -
-stations with patina - "Smoker"-Stations - pod spits on both ends of big stations - andersons for exchanging pods between the stations
-old gunstars and some dirty spider tugs for defence
-dirty trucks doing repairs - freighters, tankers, gasminers and staff transporters coming and going
- docking and repair orders via radio


MILITARY BASE

- small complex - properly - strong defence - small fleets or combat groups with capital ships - troop transporters
- fighter dockingmodule
- own shipyard
- approach will be intercepted by guards - maybe weapons will be disabled

...