[UIP] Slice of Life Changes

Discussion in 'General Archive' started by º¤»ĐЯΣΔΜ◊†◊ÐΣМΦИ«¤º, Feb 26, 2021.

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  1. I think at this point, we can ALL agree this game needs some proper changes for it to survive, here are some Slice of Life changes I believe we need in order for it to prosper and the enjoyment to come back. I know some ideas people will disagree with, or changes will be needed within the ideas to make them more likeable, but for the most part I believe they're what's needed.

    Bots:
    Removing bots at this point would absolutely kill the game, since more than 95% of the player base could not give a rats @-- about doing the grind this game demands.
    Halting bots can be an option, or allow it as a legitimate game mechanic.

    Game Design:
    The game is Dull, at one point this game made changes that made if not everyone, most players happy.
    Update portals - Each specific portal once again needs its own design, why are we copy and pasting? It's terrible, and is an actual way to lower player morale.
    ♦ Plutus - Give it the color scheme of Plutus with a bit of an upgrade from default portals.
    ♦ Blacklight - Both the portals to the maps, and the EBG need their own design, use the color scheme of Blacklight NPCs and the design concept as well.
    Exploits:
    Punishments for exploits need to be swift, correct, and just.
    ♦ Honor - We all know people are exploiting a bug to get more honor, it's extremely annoying, you expect me to believe people gain 1bil honor each week? Yeah, and Jesus plays Basketball with me on Saturdays.
    ♦ Duplicated Equipment - We need to put a stop to people who duplicate equipment, it's been around for years, and I for one am tired of seeing people who have an extra 20%+ damage, solely from adding more Lasers to their ship hidden in the background. Same goes for shields.
    ♦ Anything Else - I don't know about every type of exploit in the game, but I know they exist way more than they should, it's ridiculous. Just deal with it and do it right, don't just let a script ban people out right, take them out of the game if the script catches something, investigate properly and then enact punishment.
    Seprom Glitch - I'm going to be honest, I can wholeheartedly understand why people do this, the current seprom production is trash, the best way of stocking up is by farming then crafting it, which isn't always ideal, and having a limit was pointless. Who thought "Well people are glitching high numbers of seprom, lets make a limit so they can't get away with it"? Newsflash, you crippled only normal players, not the exploiters they still have infinite seprom... I'll be touching upon this point further down below.
    PvP Cheating:
    The biggest problem in this game is people who cheat in PvP, no matter what Bigpoint or DarkOrbit wants to deem this game right now, it was meant for PvP, look at the maps, look at the build, it's for PvP, not to grind NPCs all day. Allowing people to continue to cheat in PvP is going to hurt this game beyond repair, I shouldn't EMP and still be locked onto by someone within a micro-second. I shouldn't be seen while cloaked. None of it should exist, if people report these things WITH EVIDENCE, support needs to stop being cheat supporters and investigate accounts, go back to the old days and go in game and see these actions themselves, there is no law stopping you from investigating cheating in your own game, if you say otherwise you only support it, not everyone is dumb.

    Bug Fixing:
    I would actually like to praise the DarkOrbit team a bit here, back when I left, Maint. and Bug fixes were either not done or just took years. Since I've come back, I've seen numerous Syncs and Updates to address such things, though it would be nice to see the pace picked up, it is an improvement. Most of us genuinely thought the Pet Link bugs wouldn't be touched for several months to a year, and I only saw these bugs appear maybe end of December to end of Febuary, that was nice to see.

    Balance:
    There is a drastic difference in balance in this game, we have dozens of ships, and mods, and not to mention the terrible feature of the Orcus and the Unstable Modules.
    ♦ Orcus - Nerf it... It's broken, we all agree it is. Penetration and Damage need to be removed from PvP. A player should not be able to Auto-Lock me and instantly take out 900k hp through 1.5mil shields before I have a chance to react. You can't possible tell me that is balanced. If you don't want to do something as blatantly intelligent as that, remove the Orucs bonus from the non Blacklight Maps. I believe we should still be able to prosper from the Orcus, but not in PvP. I think the Blacklight NPCs and EBG should be the only place the ship shines. It helps give leeway to a new Meta and Ship Choices.
    ♦ Centurion - It gets a massive boost from the Unstable modules. I think it should be able to prosper as a PvP ship, but I think it should be dedicated to the Blacklight maps as well. Let that be the PvP ship for Blacklight fights, and let the Orcus be the PvE ship. This will allow other ships to be picked up outside those maps, and as pre-mentioned, gives leeway to a new Meta.​
    Changes like this are nice and give more enjoyment to the game, and pushes people to Strive for more configurations, ect.

    New Players:
    We need to make new players enjoy this game, the only problem with some features for newbie protection are they can be abused by bots, which I don't think we should allow. We need to enact a gifting system, but one that requires specific things, and those things should take some time and consideration to avoid abuse. Uridium Wars allowed for CREDIT based items to be gifted, that's not something that is really worrisome with abuse, so why not do something of that nature?

    Skylab:
    I like to think the Skylab isn't AS BAD as people state it to be. I've built 3 ships, and though it took a wee bit of time, all 3 ships accomplished it no problem. However, production is slow, and the storage is low.
    ♦ Increase Storage - We need to increase how much the skylab can hold, it's too low, as the game progresses so does the need for resource usage. Bigger NPCs? Well, I need to use more Prom/Sep to do higher amounts of damage.
    ♦ Increase Production Rate - For the love of god, it takes way too long to get resources up, I'll send all of my sep and blow that in a nights worth of PvP, and then be stuck for a week. I'll send ALL my Prom to bash out gates for the weekend, and then have to wait 2 weeks for that to fill up. These just push people to cheat as mentioned above, I truly believe we need change in this department.
    ♦ Build Timers - Gonna be real, a week+ to get 1 upgrade done for the Seprom module is ridiculous, and that's not even to get it to level 20... It takes months to finish the skylab, approximately 3 and a half, which lets be real, no new players wants to stare at that, and not to mention Client doesn't support the ADs watching to lower timers.​

    Events:
    This one is simple... For the love of god, make new events and update the old ones. Things like Invasion gate are worthless to veteran players, there isn't enough to gain out of it, leaving newbies unable to prosper from it. Also, if everyone is botting and making more out of normal maps then they see no need to play the Invasion Gate. Though I thought it was Odd when I went into Invasion and so no one botting it, then heard that players earned more botting in outside maps than in there. I get some players come up with Godawful ideas for Event changes, but please, as the Dev team, think on the subject.

    UI & More:
    We need to update how the game looks visually again, it's been years. We also need a sleek new design for the backpage and it's old sections. Clan looks the same, looks way too damn old, same with other locations, give it a revamp, it's not hard.

    Clan Battle Stations (CBS):
    The CBS was a magnificent idea in my opinion, it gave more push to PvP and gave the players something to do and work towards. However, changes need to be made.
    ♦ Increase Hull HP - Players can easily target the hull, ignoring all other parts of the CBS and the players. Anyone who says you're defending poorly on this subject clearly lacks knowledge of the game and PvP. There are numerous factors to allowing a CBS to be destroyed so easily
    1) Target the Hull Only: Takes 1 to any number of players to just hammer the Hull with Moth and Penetration mods to kill it, no matter how many people are defending it, or how many upgrades it has, all it takes is Insta Shield, EMP, Pet Link, and Techs to deal a mass amount of damage to hull before death, not to forget cheaters having it easy.
    2) Bio Mines: Many people understand Bio Mines are dumb, they're used by cloakers for cheap kills, and to make CBS killing easier, it's not 'tactical' it's just a cowards way of avoiding the fighting they lack the skills in. And if you say "Well use the Anti-Mine tech". It doesn't work, or at least 99% of the time, because everyone I speak to calls it a joke of a tech since it does nothing.
    ♦ New Features - We need to add new things to the CBS. As mentioned above, cloakers and mines are a huge issue, if DO won't remove or nerf the Bio Mines, a new Module needs to be made for the CBS. In the Center, where you place the Hull and Shield, I think a 3rd Slot is needed, where you can place 1 or 2 modules.
    1) Anti-Mine Module - Every X amount of seconds (Can be adjusted with levels) the module will send out a wave that blocks the usage of mines and or disables them. The range can also be increased with levels, so it can be increased from a part of the hull to reaching the modules, but not outside of the modules.
    2) Anti-Cloak Module - Every X amount of seconds a type of EMP wave is released that Decloaks anybody within it. This can also be adjusted with upgrades with Time and Range. It should also not go past the modules.
    ♦ CBS Repairs - The current function for repairs is dreadful. A full LvL 16 Repair Module does nothing and still takes hours to repair a module let alone the hull. And it doesn't work while the CBS is under attack. The feature to repair via Uridium is also trash. 500 Uridium, for what, 75k-100kHP? That's awful, you literally spend 500 Uridium to stop a single x3-x4 shot. It needs to be adjusted for more usefulness.​
    NOTE: The Wiki says there is another module, Engineering Bay, never seen it, what is this? I see what it supposedly does, but never have I acquired it, nor have I seen it in use...

    Update 2/28/2021:
    Laser Graphics:

    It's high time the laser visuals get upgraded. For years the players have complained that the loss of the original graphics was a negative effect. For years DarkOrbit has ignored our cries for the original visuals that we loved so much. Is it bad to have what we do now? No, but they should still SPEAK as a visual.
    ♦ LCB-10 (x1) - Use a color befitting the one set in the ammo itself, I can't tell what it is exactly, but it has a Lime Green look to it.
    ♦ MCB-25 (x2) - Re-introduce the Blue Laser Effect.
    ♦ MCB-50 (x3) - Re-introduce the Green Laser Effect.​
    Upgraded Visuals:
    ♦ Full LF-4 - Give each Laser visual a slight Gold Aura.
    ♦ Full LF-4 Paritydrill - Give each Laser visual a slight Yellow Aura.
    ♦ Full LF-4 Magmadrill - Give each Laser visual a slight Red/Candy Red Aura.
    ♦ Full LF-4 Hyperplasmoid - Give each Laser visual a slight Neon Green Aura.
    ♦ Full Unstable LF-4 - Give each Laser visual a slight Black Aura.
    ♦ Full Prometheus - Give each Laser Visual a slight Purple Aura.​
    NOTE: Visuals in the game give meaning, they talk, they make the players feel. Ignoring such a thing can harm the game, and the players want to continue. The fact the Volley Shots like in Prometheus were introduced is a sign of progression, but from what I've read, it was introduced a while back with the other Lasers that were implemented. The visual on those should be thought up by the Dev team. I understand that some of these weapons aren't Meta, and not many focus on them, but regardless, attempting to make something out of them is still useful, and not difficult.

    Shield Graphics:
    From my understanding, the Saimon based shields have a slight visual difference, with stars seen in them? I'm going going by word of mouth on this one. But that being said, there are new Shields in the game, so it's high time the visuals are updated for those as well, to show what you've got.
    ♦ Full Bo2 Shield Generator - Introduce a Faded Purple effect around the shields.
    ♦ Full Bo3 Shield Generator - Introduce a Faded Gold effect around the shields.​
    NOTE: As mentioned before, I understand something like the Bo2 isn't in the Meta anymore, but introducing change, and visual effects is important nonetheless.

    Engine Trail Effects:
    Why not introduce a feature for new visuals on the Engine Trails? Many games have such visuals, so why not touch upon it yourself?
    ♦ Add some basic Engine Trail - Mods to the shop, ones that cost Credits, and ones that cost Uridium. Ex. Blue, Green, Red.
    ♦ Add some BattlePass Engine Trails - Mods that can be earned that are relevant to their events. Ex. The previous Valentines Event could have a Pink Trail with Hearts.
    ♦ Galaxy Gate Awarded Engine Trails - Why not make some based on the Galaxy Gates as well? Make them RNG based.​
    The Modification slot can be placed in the Generator section right below them.

    Inventory Sorting:
    We desperately need to be able to sort out the Inventory. And I don't mean the background Inventory, I mean the one available when Equipping a ship. It's quite frankly annoying having to scroll through it all, we should also be able to adjust by Levels. Currently Levels are just thrown all over the place, some Lvl 16s will be at the top mixed with level 5s, while other Level 16s are in the middle or bottom. Simple Adjustments that would make everyone happy.

    There are definitely more changes I've thought of and currently just can't put my finger on. But these are somethings we should honestly work on or discuss. Please avoid flaming or ranting in here so the Mods/Admins don't move to close the thread, as it only gives reason to silence us. We need to address change in this game to save it. Share this thread with others, keep it alive. We the community need to act in order to see change, in order for this game to revive to its glory games, we need to stop sitting idly by doing nothing.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2021
  2. I've updated the post, I just wanted to make it aware to others that I did so. I hope this isn't considered spam by the mods.
     
  3. dedgme

    dedgme User

    Mostly agreed. I hate shooting red lasers 24/7 despite progressing, long time ago you got cool blue and green lasers once you had set of LF3s on ship, nowadays everyone shoots red (or white/any special ammo) which is super boring and dull and resident sleeper.

    I would add something to actually make cubikon missions doable. X-6 maps are filled with bots, at least on pve server, and you have no chance to score first hit, so I would make it count despite not being first to shoot (will make missions way easier), or change every cubikon mission to be either (either kill as it is now, or deal damage equal to number of kills this is harder (but at least possible to do lol) because you pretty much need "solo kills" instead of doing small amount of damage but getting 1st hit)
     
  4. I just go to enemy maps and pop everyone off cubes lol. But yeah some missions are hard due to bots.
     
  5. dedgme

    dedgme User

    I would but I can't, I'm chilling on pve server and bots have pve status, so no one but aliens can pop them, there's like 10 "people" going the same route, from one spawn to another, circling cube next to each other with perfect precision, as in formation.
     
  6. Been awhile since I've worked on this thread, I left for a year (again) and built a PC and have come back. I plan to make updates to this idea, and me and a clan member will be doing Podcasts of DarkOrbit. The chances of saving this game still exist. Some ideas are out of date on here, and I will adjust them later. But I want to bump this regardless.
     
  7. VulturePvM

    VulturePvM User

    I agree the game does need a little spice again, but in all honesty I think the most important thing they should work on is getting the game off Java. Something that can support these changes first before anything. The game as is now runs like trash on both mine and my wife's pc's and my wife's is a monster. It runs the same whether using her 3060 or my 965 that should say everything right there. I know the game has been looked to for its low graphic overhead. Yeah but now days even the 200$ laptop from Walmart isn't even being fully utilized. The client is so outdated that the game doesn't even run like it should, and we still have 90% of our computers completely unutilized. There is no reason for this game to stutter down to under 25fps fpr any reason on a 3060 and a ryzen9
     
  8. Trust me, I have a near $4000 PC and i still get lag. The idea of pushing for Unity is there too. That will also put a stop to bots mostly.
     
  9. VulturePvM

    VulturePvM User

    as much as i would like to see them go, there such a large % of the player base now. Maybe if there were enough changes to keep them interested at the time they are forced to stop, they wouldn't altogether up and leave.

    PS, I really really like the idea of laser updates. the firing one red shot everyonce and awhile when shooting x4 really bugs me (especially the sound)
     
    Last edited: Jul 27, 2022
  10. I think DO should do a legal GG bot, cause as someone who has spammed out gates, I can tell you, it gets mentally exhausting. And Gates give the ammo to keep people playing.
     
  11. VulturePvM

    VulturePvM User

    I agree fully, i go through a full 8+ hours of ABY ammo in a week or two, and i seriously debate is it worth it every time it hits time to build ammo back up.
     
  12. I agree about retaining new players, I feel that Bigpoint has a big responsibility to ensure that all new players enjoy the game. At the same time, us players also have to start "looking after" these new players.

    I'm going to be setting up a clan on the PVE server with the sole purpose of helping new players and making the game enjoyable from the get-go.
     
  13. VulturePvM

    VulturePvM User

    Would totally join you if I didn't have to start over. with the state of the game I have the urge to keep playing but not enough faith to devote my energy to starting over.
     
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