Perk suggestion thread

[Aleksandar]

Ok, after looking thru the perkDispatcher I realized that no perk has it's own code. Rather, the game calls checking functions that alter the state (damage/sensors/whatever).

So here's my initial list:
- AC Proficiency: increases ROF by 5% with all ACs (gunnery, right?)
- BFG Proficiency: increase damage by 10% with all big guns
- Laser Proficiency: something small laser only. maybe 5% damage.

Here's the obvious list (of Character Decisions):
Fighter pilot.
Has more fighting skills in his starting package.
- Kamikazee
favors infighting and dodging in bursts. higher damage and rof. also rockets.
- Ace
pretty much the standard Ace package. piloting, gunnery and whatnot
- Missile Specialist
this becomes a subtree, thus freeing up space.
- Sniper
go figure.

Pilot pilot.
Has a better piloting starting package, mediocre sensors, not so great fighting.
- Dogfighter
similar to kamikazee but instead of acting in bursts, he's just good at flying and shooting up close.
- Scout
very fast and stealthy.
- ???

Engineer pilot
Has an excelent sensor starting package, mediocre fighting, not so great piloting.
- Hacker
has hacking abilities.
- Repairman
has all the carebear skills.
- ECM guy
has premium ECM/sensor skills.

Support pilot
Medium at everything since his advancements don't offer much in terms of firepower. Has buffing/debuffing abilities.
- Summoner
has summoning abilities. I was thinking two or three branches.
- Squadron Leader
leadership, instructor, that kinda crap. but in a good way.
- Shield Specialist.
good at recharging his and fleet shields and depriving the enemy of his shield.

Ran out of ideas, but the main idea is for every one of the four starting pilots to become a class instead, and then make mutually-exclusive decisions during the game. So both the Ace and the Missile Specialist have a certain amount of Assault perks, but each having a different set of perks under it.

[Goblin Wizard]

It's only an idea but maybe you'll use it.
All perks in game give bonuses. There are only positive modifiers. I've been thinking about perks like common rpg Berserk ability - huge damage and rof bonus with greatly reduced defense/armor (in this case shield cap/shield regen/piloting or sensor range). This maybe connected with storyline choices. For example when you choose to work for a faction you get two perks: one which gives you some advantages and other with penalties.
I'm slightly bored with only better,better,better perks. I'd like to see more rpg in this game with some tough choices.

[Aleksandar]

Originally Posted by Goblin Wizard

It's only an idea but maybe you'll use it.
All perks in game give bonuses. There are only positive modifiers. I've been thinking about perks like common rpg Berserk ability - huge damage and rof bonus with greatly reduced defense/armor (in this case shield cap/shield regen/piloting or sensor range). This maybe connected with storyline choices. For example when you choose to work for a faction you get two perks: one which gives you some advantages and other with penalties.
I'm slightly bored with only better,better,better perks. I'd like to see more rpg in this game with some tough choices.

Was totally planning on using those. Dunno about tying them into the story... maybe later. For now, I need four super-sized tech-trees but more on that when I get some of it down on paper.

Someone mentioned there wasn't any problem cramming all the skills into one giant tree, the main problem was you couldn't scroll the display. Simply resizing the graphics and editing the .ini files should work although you'd have to scale it for all pilots.

Ditto the active perk icons above each pilot's icons; they supposedly stack higher and higher until you have so many they're rendered out of sight. Resizing the icons and finding out where the size is defined may fix this. Fortunately passive perks aren't displayed, but on the flip side we can't choose to toggle passive perks on/off. E.g. if you have a bunch of perks with bonuses and penalties you might want to have only several in use at a time - unless you want the player to permanently live with all the bonus/penalties.

[Aleksandar]

Well, actives will be mutually-exclusive for the most part. So, if you become a Sniper, kiss Dogfighting sub-tree good bye. Basically, the current four "trees" will become class stubs. Each having a set of common skills, like gunnery_1 2 and piloting 1_2.

The sub-specialization comes in a bit later, and it's a one-time choice. No going back from it then.

Most of the pilots you get throughout the game turned out to have a better skill tree than my Hero. And I even *got to pick*. I feel that should be really remedied. The hero should always be wtfbbqhax in comparison to npcs in these kinda games imho No way anyone can steal his thunder.

Besides, it adds replayability and innovation since *all* skills (and a few new ones) will be available to the player through a certain path and a certain class. No more of that "awww, why can't I have this cool skill" feeling while leveling up crap pilots

[Goblin Wizard]

Just an example how perk tree may look PIC

[Aleksandar]

Once I make my own jpeg draft, I'll post it here somewhere and we can discuss implementation. I want to get feature-locked before I start the implementation since I know ton of stuff will need testing, debugging and more things will pour in once I start coding existing ones.

Until then, feel free to post any concrete perk ideas. I just need a name and effect - whichever perk comes to your mind will find a place within one of the major trees or it's sub-trees. The more the merrier.

As for the passives vs actives... Passives will be somewhat balanced. Actives are the reason d'etre of your characters, so there's no need to tone those town for the sake of AI. In fact, sub-trees are all about granting certain actives and passives to extent, so those actives will all have 5 levels. The abilities that currently don't meet that will be extended (summons in particular will be reworked) and the items that don't live up to the skills will be bumped (dumbfire missiles and missiles in general) but I already see where this is going - going over weapons after I'm content with my character options.

So, additional character options, more and better weapons... add to that your mothership mod and the ability to purchase SW/SW2 pilots/stuff.... and we've got an unofficial expansion