I've searched threads and seen a few suggestions, but it's just started raining after being a gloriously sunny day and I just wanted to put my own opinion forward for it as well. Prepare for a wall of text, and grab a cup of tea if you feel inclined to read this... I hope to keep this as coherent as possible. I would very much like ships and space combat to be a big part of the game, not something tacked on just because there is a demand for it. I would like it so it is meaningful towards my 'base' on my planet(s) as well. Firstly, everyone should still be able to travel around in their bog standard shuttle. This is not perceived as a threat by enemies and you will therefore be ignored as you travel around. Higher level planets that house NPC cities with rare and valuable resources should have some sort of defense system to prevent people from simply travelling there and taking it on foot. Whether this is a full blown space station (which you need to disable shields on and then assault by foot to take out) or a group of ships - this could vary from planet to planet and is dependant on the technology and finances of that particular planet. To even have your own combat ready ship, you need to have the facility to house it, arm it, modify it etc. This is a parameter that must be met. I would not expect players to have to create this room themselves, but a blueprint system is used. The size and effectiveness of a combat ship will go up as you create a larger and more advanced hangar to house it - think of the new X-COM's base system where you tag on new rooms, except you are adding 'Hangar Modules'. If you are a group of players in a town/city/base (insert your preference here!), then each player will need to have their own space to house their ship. (Co-op ship combat explained a bit further down). The models system is basically a standard blueprint of different ships, with their standard modifications. The amount of models depends on the amount that Chucklefish can be arsed to make for each class . Obviously the bigger the model, the more components you can switch around. It would also be nice if players have an option to create their own flag/badge through the use of a simple decal creator. I'm talking a square grid and a colour palette and players click the square with said colour until they have a shape or pattern they want. This can go on a set area of each ship and used as a flag on their world. Just a nice cosmetic option to have. Higher levels of modifications obviously means better efficiency on engine/shield components, access to better weapons etc. If a player chooses to stick with a fighter model and kit it out with epic components to make it viable for tougher enemies then this should be their choice. The obvious trade off is they have a higher chance of dodging incoming attacks but have lower weapon damage and hull hit points. Throughout the universe there should also be Legendary type components that can not be crafted, only found via exploration, defeating powerful bosses (Space Bear Pirates?), buying off of advanced colonies via your rare resources, and more. These are obviously more powerful then any Level 5 modification. Legendary ship designs could also be found this way, and would obviously require a lot of rare resources to make as well. This makes it an achievement to truly show off! Crew members - and I am very much looking towards the Faster Than Light game for my inspiration here. Add crew members to certain parts of the ship to increase performance. Crew members can level up over time to increase their efficiency - or alternately send them to the James Wells Space Training Initiative (nudge nudge wink wink), they obviously have their own agendas to fulfil and would need resources to do so! The James Wells S.T.I is a great thing to have. Space Combat. Again, I would take heavy inspiration from FTL. I'm unashamed to say it is a great game, and if that type of combat could be used as inspiration and improved on then take even more of my money. And my pets. The big improvement I would make, co-op crew members. Turrets that can only be manned by co-op partners and offer an extra attack - they don't take up component space or extra resources but are there as an added bonus that you can take advantage of. Each player could also select their own 'co-op perk' which further boosts the players ship capabilities. The turret can be set to Ion/Laser mode to damage shields or hull hit points of the enemy ship. Ship Damage- If your ship takes minor to medium damage then you have the option of carrying out an emergency repair. This would only repair a certain % dependent on your ships repair capability (you can upgrade this capability via modifications, but this could be in place of a damage modifier for example). If your ship takes major damage then you will need to repair it at base at a resource cost. How would combat instances occur? I have the idea in my head, and I will try to explain as best I can. Example 1: There are 3 enemy ships defending a planet. Option 1 - Go in Han Solo. You fight 1 ship at a time, until you have destroyed all 3 ships. If you have to retreat, then the longer you leave it, the more likely that the enemy has repaired as well for your next encounter. If you can't defeat them then you either need to modify and upgrade your ship or think more about your tactics. Hard encounters should be hard, this gives people much more satisfaction when they finally beat it. Option 2 - Group up! You and your friend(s) fly to the encounter and engage the ships 1 by 1 each. The Group Leader would be responsible for matching up which of you takes on each enemy, weighing up strengths and weaknesses of your squadron against their's. To balance gameplay, I would personally recommend that groups can not consist of more than 4 ships so players do not simply zerg through everything. Enemy squadrons numbers to be debated or decided on difficulty. (Maybe there are special encounters though where your squadron consists of more - epic space battle?) Example 2 - It's no moon, it's a space station! There are 3 sections to defeating a space station. Step 1, disable the shields. Whether this is through repeated damage to the shield, or a smartly placed Ion bomb. Crew boarding as well? Step 2, board the station and fight through the defence force. Step 3, inevitably there is going to some powerful Captain of the defence force. Destroy him and the space station is defeated. Gimme that lewt! This can be done co-operatively, or Solo. The possibilities to expand upon this are endless. Starbound is a game that has so much potential to stick around for years and years given updates and expansions. My idea i'm sure is almost a seperate game in itself, and would not be worried at all if this was implemented through a paid expansion. I hope I have explained my idea as best as I can. There is more floating around, but I just can't extract it!
It'd be a nice addition to the game, if not at launch then one of the expansions planned for the game maybe. I can't imagine it being difficult, making a "shoot 'em up" style space combat game with some armada of alien spaceships trying to kill you.
