FAQ:Feature Requests

This article is an attempt to compile all feature requests for Vega Strike, and give some indication as to their status. This is not a To-Do list. Rather, it's intended to serve as a place to track feature requests, as well as being an inspiration for developers.

Requests & Suggestions

About this page

Fairly regularly, we get a new player who gets the game, downloads it, and sees, "Oh wow, a board to make feature requests, I'll give them all my cool ideas and I'll get to see it in a future version!" However, many cool ideas have already been brought to the attention of the various developers and collaborators of the project, including most of the ideas we see people write down when they show up on the forums and list all their ideas. Indeed, some ideas have been discussed back and forth for months, as people reexamine the code, and borrow (steal) ideas from different inspiration sources. This has significantly to do with the facts of development: It takes a long time to see new versions of non-CVS releases, and even with the rapid development cycle of open source, not everything that is planned has made it into the game yet. - V4X3N

This page tries to synthesize the feature requests and ideas that have been mentioned in the forum (well, most of them anyway). I have split the page in several subsections representing the different aspects of the game to make it easier to read and find your area of interest. Ultimately this is intended as an inspirational repository for the developers. - AeonOfTime

Status of proposals

To be able to find out what status an idea or proposal is in, I have added a status marker ([]) to each. These are the meanings of the markers I used:

[X] This request has been implemented
[Y] This request is being implemented in some form
[-] This request has or is being partially implemented
[R] This request has been rejected (see detail in Rejected section)
[] This request is pending

Updating this page

Feel free to edit this page to add your ideas if they are not listed here; just make sure you follow the general structure of the page so it stays readable.

World

Walkable planets and bases []

3D bases and planets that can be traveled in first person, which may include the following:

In-base fps-style missions (assasinations, package deliveries, etc.)
Planetside RPG-like missions
Highly detailed, procedurally generated planets/cities

This is one of the most commonly requested features. The new OGRE port will make this possible, but a lot of additional work will need to be done in order to implement it.

Crowded docking stations []

We've got all of these ships flying around in a bustling, living galaxy. When you go to dock at a small base, you can see it has 3-4 docking points. Put these two together, and you see that there should be a parking problem, at times. So why not have the base send the player back a message like, 'sorry, we're full. please enter holding pattern zeta while we clear things up. - CoffeeBot

I think, bases would claim the monopoly of force inside their weapon range. So any unauthorized fight in this area would be stopped through the base quickly. The base would first transmit a message like 'This territory is controlled by <basename>, please stop fighting and disable your weapons while staying.' If the ships continue their fight, the base would give a warning like: 'STOP fighting NOW or we will shoot you down' If the opponents still continue their fight, the base would shoot them down, launch it's fighters or place a bounty on the ships. - caotic

I would like to see parking lots or piers and jetties. -Shark

Visible docked ships []

I think it'd be nice if you could see capital ships that are docked to the base. - cshank4

Defense for mining bases []

Give mining bases turrets! My god, I've seen Aera patrols whipe those things out because the things have no defense. - cshank4

Rather than giving the mining bases turrets, I think that independantly controlled turrets should surround the mining bases. -Shark 13:09, 31 December 2006 (PST)

Treasure maps []

Be able to buy treasure maps from guys in bars (pirates! anyone?), which would mark special spots on your starcharts where a shipwreck could be or a special kind of anomaly or whatever. - AeonOfTime

At pirate bases one should be able to buy treasure maps, but that they'd be ancient documents written on PAPER! and using alphanumeric star designations from way back in the third millenium. So you have to figure out what's what. But the thing is, any such piece of paper from back in the 3rd millenium is automatically assumed to mean "treasure", but more often than not, the papers are about anything but "treasures", but rather about curious planets or moons, or, occasionally, about potential spots for inducing the formation of jump-points, or about the presence of archeological finds, or resources. - chuck_starchaser

Additional playroles...

(a.k.a. Vocations)

Explorer/Archeologist []

I think it would be easy to add a third "role" in Vegastrike, besides 'trader' and 'hunter': 'Explorer'. If you specialize your ship and equipment for exploration, you'd probably be interested in "treasure maps" with full awareness of their NOT being treasure maps, but because of their potential for good finds in terms of habitable planets and resource-rich asteroids. - chuck_starchaser

Reporter []

There should be GNN missions, to, say, take pictures of a battle or a fleet or some millionaire, or famous privateer in action, whatever. Started as a joke about Papparazzi. Also, if you happen to see some unusual fight, say confeds and insys fighting each other due to some friendly fire escalation, you could snap pictures of it and then bargain with a GNN representative over how much they are worth...

I don't know whether he's planning to do something about it or not, or whether he's forgotten about it. The possibilities are multiplicative there: You could get a reputation faster, or avoid a reputation; you could have a fight with a fleet of a faction and avoid the impact of it on your standing with that faction as long as you a) destroy all the ships, b) kill all the ejected pilots, and c) make sure there was no gnn snapping pictures around. If you know someone is a double agent, and you have pictures to prove it, you can blackmail him.

If you get too much of a reputation, you might get paparazzi following you around; but not too many factions hate them, so if you kill them it may get you in trouble. You'd wind up trying to predict and affect the presence or absence of news media depending on the mission you're doing; and in the overall, trying to avoid excessive notoriety. One strategy would be to become, oneself, a reliable gnn contributor, so as to make it a redundant option for them to send reporters to wherever you're going... - chuck_starchaser

Tour Guide []

Ferry tourists between scenic locations. Tours begin and end at the same location.

Inflight events...

[] Having distress calls. - chuck_starchaser
[] Ability to communicate with other ships to ask for help or to offer them pay for escorting you or being your wing for a mission. - chuck_starchaser
[] NPC's that approach you in space to ask for help or to offer you money for a quick job. - chuck_starchaser
[] Things that break sometimes and you have to fix in flight. - chuck_starchaser
[] Mysterious ships one encounters once in a blue moon. - chuck_starchaser
[] Getting info about events in your vicinity that can have an effect on trade, like a drought on planet X in system X. - AeonOfTime
[] Mini-missions like a mercenary challenging you to a little race or dogfight simulation for money... Or even merchants asking you to trade directly in space. - AeonOfTime
[] Space anomalies cropping up accross space, and which you could choose to investigate if you have the right scientific equipment on board. These could then either give you technology or scientific material to trade and even contain precious artefacts that you can use to enhance your ship. - AeonOfTime
[] Shipwrecks! Be able to track down and find ancient ships that can be salvaged entirely or only parts of. You could track them through still functioning beacons on the ship or energy signatures (star trek anyone?). - AeonOfTime
[] Shipwrecks on planet surfaces that are infested with dangerous alien monsters. Before you can get all the valuable items in the shipwreck you have to fight them with weapons like you do in a 3d shooter. This might be an interesting feature with the new ogre engine which should allow such walking inside ships and space stations - Cordess
[] A means of hailing a planet/station/anything you can dock with so that you can ask them to send a list of what they've got in stock, and what their current market prices are for all goods (even those which they don't have in stock, for the purposes of selling). I believe Elite Frontier had this mechanism, and it streamlined trading greatly. - Stevie D. Discussion in this thread.

Station library []

A Station library / encyclipedia would provide a useful repository for background documents written by jackS and others, as well as providing a logical place to access the Map-screen. History articles and Race/Faction descriptions could be available from the library. - unknown

How about a Library Station? T'would be more scholarly. -Shark

Maybe Research Stations and University Planets should have the best libraries? And other places have varying collections: military stuff at military stations (except that the player is a civilian so the military is the last place you'll find out anything about the military...). - peter

Trade Subscriptions []

Subscriptions to publications that give news of trade opportunities or happenings in industry. Should be limited in scope to a particular industry or faction, but should cover a larger astronomical area than "General News", be more thorough in its coverage, as well as/or be more explicit in how it can benifit the player. -Shark and others

Dynamic Universe []

All events are AI-driven. Pre-scripted sequences, with canned dialogue, are possible--but should be triggered by the AI. Imagine a behind-the-scenes RTS, with multiple independent factions, where the player assumes the role of a single unit. -Shark

Dynamic Campaign []

Plot events and/or NPC interactions should be triggered by the Dynamic Universe and real AI/faction interests (and not be pre-written). -Shark

Economy Petri-net []

All items are consumed (except for consumer products) and/or produced (except for natural resources) during the production of other items. -Shark, but suggested previously in the forums

RPG Characteristics []

Stat and skill-based experience system, ala the game Mount&Blade.

[] strength stat: can withstand more Gs or personal damage before succumbing.
[] intelligence stat: increases the rate at which one can improve skills.
[] weapon-accuracy skill: increases the size of the hit-box surrounding a target.
[] hacking skill: increases one's ability to break into docked ships or sabotage subsystems.
[] gambling skill: reaps additional credits in bars.
[] diplomacy skill: increases influence with NPCs/factions.
[] leadership skill: increases influence with wingmen.

Discussion threads: 1, 2

how about also a:

[] merchant stat: increases the price you can sell items for and decreases the price you can buy things for -Jesse_The_Midget

Blending walkable (or flyable) planet and explorer []

Once planets are walkable, you could pretty easily add the explorer function (which is a GREAT idea) by allowing one to purchase different types of scanners (differing in power/range and what they can scan for (radiation/age/foreign tech) for the ship, then scanning as you go around. Maps could be used to guide one to a specific planet, or location, or type of tech there. Maybe scanned areas could be mapped in the Library. xopher425

Flight mechanics

Seamless planetary flight []

The obligatory suggestion - be able to fly from space seamlessly to a planet's surface and land. [Official thread]

Autopilot as option [Y]

As an option, the autopilot would be awesome. You could fly with SPEC when you are in the mood, and use the autopilot if you are in a rush. - AeonOfTime

Heat management [Y]

The game really needs to implement some system of heat and temperature. I believe this had already been discussed in the effectors thread, but I don't think it needs to be that complex. [...] When the temperature of your armor approaches their heat-shielding rating, your armor will start to take damage. Until your ship blows up. There would be an indicator on your hud for external temperature, armor temperature, and hull temperature. - pifactorial

Atmospheric entry []

[Official thread]

Shield/Power Plant/Stealth Management []

Similar to Heat Management, except you manage your shield distribution, power-plant output, and sensors profile. -Shark

Interdiction Devices []

SPEC intediction devices, either in the form of equipment, missiles or mines. -Shark, discussion threads: 1

Gravity []

Gravitational fields surrounding spatial bodies. They should determine the maximum SPEC speeds, as well as influence trajectories. These should not pose a real danger to the player (normally, given VS's large acceleration rates), but should merely serve to add tactical flavor (interception, etc., as well as some real dangers during tense fights!). -Shark, but discussed at length, previously, in the forums.

Minefields []

A drone weapon with projectiles that automatically deploy themselves into grids (spherical or rectangular?). -Shark

Unattended Mining Operations []

Set up an unattended mining operations on asteroids. This requires the purchase of a mining droid that drills through the asteroid and deposits unprocessed ore in a repository that you can dock to with your ship. I envision this droid to look soething like a modern-day oil rig. -Shark, discussion threads: 1, 2

Regions of Space that cause different status effects []

Regions of space that affect sensors, disable shields, or cause radiation damage. -Shark

Devices required for contraband scan []

Only ships with the required hardware should be able to initiate contraband scans. Discussion threads: 1

More intelligent NPC tactics []

NPC pilots should know when to run or hide, or when they're not having any effect. Discussion threads: 1

Parcelling cargo based upon scale []

Bulk goods should go in larger containers. Discussion threads: 1

Requiring crews for larger ships []

Large ships, like capital ships, have stations that need to be manned. Discussion threads: 1

Multiple locations for single mount []

Missiles etc. could fire from several locations yet count as a single mount so refilling would be easier. see forum for details Discussion threads [1]

=Modification to SPEC dynamics []

One problem with the current SPEC drive system is that if you are anywhere near a ship, you lose your SPEC ability, as if you had approached a planet. This, in most cases, removes any possibility of bugging out of combat with a ship, and if you're flying something like a Plowshare, you don't stand a chance against a Pacifier and 2 Hyenas anyway, but you can't get away and may as well press the self destruct button. Basically I'm just asking if you could make it so you can still SPEC in the presence of ships. If you want to maintain some form of SPEC interference caused by ships, you could make it so your SPEC speed slows down to about 200 or so, but it doesn't deactivate. 200 is still a reasonable speed to escape from a firefight. COMMENT:SPEC system actually seems not to be affected by presence of ships(v0.5 beta), and I think it actually should, because now its not possible to dock on a larger ship. And I would expect you should not be able to run away with SPEC. I would expect your options should be when meeting a superior opponent:fight, give up, call for help.

In-Flight UI

Nearest hostile key [X]

It would be great to have a nearest hostile key in addition to the next hostile key - this would always switch to the nearest hostile target to avoid flipping through them with H until you find out the one just 1000 metres to your left. - AeonOfTime

done in SVN: r and R. also check out other nearest* keys: k, K, ctrl-k. - peter

Target last ship to hail you []

Like nearest hostile, except it targets the ships which have established communications with the player in order of least time elapsed to greatest. - glarbl_blarbl

Turrets status display []

In the HUD, have additional indicators near the current weapons summary that display information about any turrets installed on your ship: whether the turret AI is active, and what their current state is (damaged 50%, destroyed etc...) - AeonOfTime

Make HUD radar display proportional to mass []

It would be cool if you could tell from your radar screen which contacts are planet-sized. - glarbl_blarbl

I think differently-classed objects should receive different icons in the UI. -Shark

Intersystem inflight economic database []

How about having the ability to browse commodity prices, news and missions in nearby systems while flying? That way you could really plan ahead. Even place your orders in advance. - chuck_starchaser

Trajectory Indicator []

Some kind of hud lines or something that would tell me which direction I'm travelling would be good. It could be something as simple as a box or a cross or something that shows the direction my ship is travelling in. I don't expect gravity plays much of a role in bending trajectories (or that the planets move around the star, for that matter) but adding a little "reality physics" like using gravity as a slingshot, etc. might be kind of fun too. - unknown

Something like this would be really helpful so you could know if you're actually heading towards the destination when you engage SPEC. There are a couple ways this could be implemented. Perhaps a circle (just large enough to contain the cross hairs) could appear designating the current direction. Also it might be nice if the trajectory showed up as a special symbol on radar. This way you would have a better idea of your direction in relation to other ships. - shadow_slicer

Show dockable targets and factions in starmap []

It would be useful for the map screen to show you what dockable planets and stations are present and what faction is in control in the system you have selected. - unknown

In-flight web-browser []

I play now a fiew month eve online And fiew idea's think a can use in the mmo version of vegastrike. And one of my idea's is a in flight web browser. -www2

Better tracking/warning for enemy missiles/torpedoes []

BTW the torpedo launchers on the cap ships are quite annoying as you often just blow up out of thin air. Maybe you could introduce some better warning system that at least gives us the opportunity to effectivly dodge those things. - Zel

Ability to use the camera controls while paused [X]

This makes it easier for screenshot-takers to find the perfect angles for action shots-Halleck

(Edited to include all camera controls. -Shark)

Translate or "free" cam []

Camera which can be moved independently of the ship, even while paused. This would be useful for capturing screenshots and gameplay footage, as well as "system browsing". -Halleck and ace123

Threads:

Feature Request: Free Cam forums thread
A Call for Screenshots forums sticky

Third-person View w/ Ship Control []

A third-person, behind-the-ship view (kind of like the chase cam), complete with custom HUD and controls, like in the game WarHawk. -Shark

"Sniper" Cam []

A zoom lense for weapons that can take advantage of this, as well as decreased control sensitivity when in use. -Shark

"Sensors" View []

A third-person view that is automatically zoomed-out to the limits of a ship's secondary sensors. Ships smaller than stations should be represented using dots instead of meshes. Orbital paths/gravitational fields should also be visible in this mode. One should be able to set autopilot waypoints or select targets using the mouse. -Shark

Personal logbook []

A personal databook for storing notes or quest data. Discussion threads: 1, 2

Missiles smoke []

Missiles and torpedoes should have some kind of smoke trails, allowing to see them arriving/hitting your target.

Intelligent Autopilot []

Autopilot should be able to navigate the quickest or most economical route between gravitational bodies. Discusiion threads: 1

Base UI

Describe why upgrade X cannot be installed []

In the ship upgrades screen, display a short note describing why you cannot install upgrade x (already installed/higher version installed/ship not capable etc.) - AeonOfTime

Specialized repair console []

In the ship upgrades screen, have one section specialized in repairs that lists all damaged components and makes it easy to select which ones to repair without having to click on all upgrade sections to check if there are damaged components hiding somewhere. - AeonOfTime

Expand/Collapse all buttons []

In the computer screens with expandable lists, have buttons 'expand all' and 'collapse all' to be able to expand or collapse the tree of all available items without clicking on the individual sections.

Multiple-choice conversations [X]

multiple choice dialogs (at the bottom at the screen, or as a pop-up, I don't know) that'd give writers a lot of flexibility. Besides empowering writers with the ability to do actual dialogs, it gives player the ability to negotiate, to investigate, to strike special deals, to add fine points to a mission--everything you can think of. And of course, multiple choice still can do the 'yes' and 'no'. - CubOfJudahsLion

Cargo/ship/upgrade/weapon compare screen []

As the title already states a screen where it is possible to compare the various items. Maybe having the seperations cargos, ships, upgrades, weapons as they all have their special attributes and more important infos. - unknown

In-base Starmap []

It would be great to have a starmap you could consult while at a station. That way, you could make intelligent choices about hauling cargo. Having this accessable from a Station Library would be the way to go. The other solution would be to add such functionality to the mission computer. E.g. except the Accept button for a chosen mission there could be a Map button that would, when pressed, show the route to the target star system of the mission. Or the map could be accessible from the info screen. E.g. except the Pilot and Ship buttons there could be a Map button. Red circle with an arrow and 'YOU ARE HERE' text would be informative thing too.

Economic index []

It would be nice if there was some kind of economic index, so you could tell what the buying and selling prices are for a given commodity. That way, when you are on a base that seems to have a lot of seafood, you can tell whether or not you're being ripped off. Maybe it should also just show the prices of the last time / 3 last times, otherwise it would be just too predictable. Being a newbie in space usually also means you have to find out about goods. - unknown

Maybe require some sort of a subscription-based service to provide the necessary database (see the Trade Subscriptions request). -Shark

3D Models of Merchandise Instead of Sprites []

Rotatable 3D models for all cargo/ships/upgrades instead of 2D sprites. -Shark

Ship Hardpoint Display []

Some sort of a display showing a model of your ship, as well as all hardpoints/device slots. Applies to In-Flight UI, as well. -Shark

Card Mini-game []

Gambling for credits in bars. -Shark

Miscellaneous

In-game configuration console []

An configuration interface accessible from within the game (and thus platform independent as well).

What one should be able to configure:

Key bindings (by pressing them, not writing something code-like)
Joystick and mouse configuration
Basic graphic settings
....

"Data Reload" button, so you could modify things in the units.csv and hit 'reload' to see changes without having to reopen the game. -Jesse_the_Midget

latest active forum thread

Network play [Y]

The second most commonly requested feature is network play. Most people seem to want a massively multiplayer online game (MMO), and one day in the distant future this may become a reality. However, rudimentary network support is being actively developed. A "quake in space" deathmatch gametype should be available in the near future, possibly the next release.

Feature to be able to write down some notes and having a diary function ingame []

It would be nice to have some place in the gui menu to write down some (personal) notes that are saved with the game when saving the game. This is a very handy feature in a RPG game, because you will no more need real paper to write down some small things like what you want to do next, what you have planned or what you did in the past etc.. - Cordess Related forum thread

Ability to control several ships directly []

A commander mode (most likely third-person) to facilitate the control of multiple units, simultaneously. I would recommend this in a seperate branch of VegaStrike (an RTS, perhaps), as this would give players an unfair advantage over others. -Shark

Time and its benefits []

Time would be a great feature to add. You could then add a Bank (First Interstellar Bank - Where the Stars bank!), so that players could borrow money or open a savings account, or even buy stocks. This would add a whole new strategy to the game. xopher425

Network and multiplay

clans station[]

clan/squad system
clan/squad owned starbase(how hard is that to do?)

And of course, theres got to be a limited numbers of systems(25-40) on the game universe so you will not end up with 99% unexplored areas with everyone getting lost in the long run.Paslowo

Rejected or impossible to realise Requests & Suggestions

Display UI using SVG [R]

Use SVG to display all in-game UI elements. Shark 12:29, 27 October 2006 (PDT)

Switch to Lua instead of Python [R]

Translate all Python code to the Lua scripting language. -Shark, discussion threads: 1