when in a city, there should be some life. I fear that if there are only players, the game may feel rather empty. Somebody wants to roleplay the mom with her children in the streets ?
AI monsters on planets seems right : once landed on a new discovered planet, why should the only danger come from space ? The spawn frequency and dangerousity can depend on planet population, the wilder the worse for explorers. A moon with no atmosphere can't have any life (as we know it) so it should be more secure than a nice planet with marvelous trees, lakes and eyes lurking.
as players, we will look for the big things (conquering the universe as a basic start...). But what about low level employement? Human players can be hired to manage a docking bay for example (unload cargo, check the fuel, sort the containers). But will there be enough players for all the small tasks ? These AI could become our automation tools for low level tasks, with rather expensive salaries. Maybe cyborgs we can buy; they rust over time so they need repair/replacement = new economy perspective.
I want to create a clone army! Players have their own feelings, I want cyborgs that don't complain even if they are dumb. To send them as decoys maybe. I fear hiring people for this will quickly become too expensive and you can forget about having a "secret clone factory". Those cyborgs use materials to be built, so scavenging the fallen ones should be possible without impacting the economy.
AI in game is always "dumb". No mather how well it has been coded, it never really learns and after some time a player can find tacticts to fight them easily. If the AI becomes a farming method then no. No auto spawn of pirate/police vessels as this could alter many aspects : economy when looting them as they got their materials from nowhere; if a corp manages to secure a zone and watches the borders, how can the game make sure it doesn't spawn somehting where it should be really hard to get withtout the proper clearence ?
Adding stuff is often nice but balanced gameplay is more important. Let's avoid overloading the game with non critical aspects for the moment.
I would not want any human or alien AI in this game.
in The Gameplay Mechanics Assembly
Posted
Short answer : yes but mostly cosmetical
Longer answer :
Adding stuff is often nice but balanced gameplay is more important. Let's avoid overloading the game with non critical aspects for the moment.