Has anyone actually done this?

Stage-Clear

I can't say that I've ever seen this in any plug-in - it may exist somewhere, but it seems like an appropriate thing for EV in all its forms, the simple Stage-Clear game.

It would probably be much easier to do this in EVN than in EVC, though in EVC its perfectly possible as well.

Quite simply put: it's a game where you're given money at each stage, buy whatever you like, move on to the next stage where you must eliminate the opponents with what you have. At the end of the stage you get a monetary bonus, can rearm, choose from a few new ships that might come up, and move on to the next stage.

A simple way to do this...

-You start with, say, a non-ship (like an escape pod) with some starting credits, and must choose 1 of 3 ships available at the first planet: say a shuttlecraft, a scoutship, and a courier.
-There are a few weapons available.
-You go to the spaceport bar, accept the mission.
-You may only jump to one system - the next system.
-In that system, there are no planets or anywhere to land, and you -cannot- jump back to where you came from. The ships you need to kill are waiting for you there (the first level might be, say, 4 shuttlecrafts or something).
-From this combat system you may jump to only one system, the next one in the series - and from this system you CANNOT jump back to where you came from, so defeating the ships you're ordered to kill is an all-or-nothing scenario - you cannot reload or do anything of the kind.
-> This effectively nullifies the non-strict play mode because if it so happens that your weaponry is insufficient for a level, then it wouldn't matter if strict play was on or not - if you can't win, you can't win, and that's all there is to it.

-The system after the combat system is where you go to land and claim your reward for beating the stage, the jump to the next system is only revealed once the mission is completed. At this planet you may once again pick from something like one of 3 ships, and there's a few outfits available.
-The game gets harder as you move on...

Of course, some other notes on what there would, or wouldn't be...
-The systems with planets would have no ships hovering around them, meaning that there's nothing for the player to "gain" by "wandering around the galaxy" - the rewards you get are the rewards you get.
-> Though you could presumably set up some levels with auxiliary ships for the player to plunder as bonuses. These, and fighters, would be the only ships the player could have any hope of capturing, which might give a slight bonus, but not an extreme one.
-> Multiple missions could be offered at a planet if one wanted to guarantee that a certain very specific variation of ships came up (say, 1 Kestrel, 1 Condor, and 2 Banshees - use 3 missions with a düde for each ship type), since randomness could presumably throw the game off completely in terms of balance.

There's really not much more to add, it's a rather simple concept, but would be a pain to balance. Could be a really fun challenge, however, if it had say...80 levels?

This post has been edited by ThoraxAntburner : 20 February 2010 - 09:25 PM

Nobody has done it that I'm aware of. However, I had a very similar idea long ago that eventually evolved into Colosseum.

True Josh, but this seems more like a gauntlet scenario with some rewards in between stages. I like this idea, and would love to see it come to fruition. Just one question: will the player be forced to by a new ship after each stage or can the player keep their ship if so desired and simply upgrade it further?

I ask you this question simply because I see no reason for you not to make it yourself, being your idea and all.

Before I respond to you, darthkev, I should need to ask what Colosseum is, first.

That being said, the intention would be that the player is not forced to change ships after each stage - he can upgrade however he wants whenever he wants with whatever is available. The key point, basically, is money management - if you use your resources badly, then you don't have enough to beat a stage and, the game is over.

I can and probably will make something like this eventually for Classic (though it won't come anytime soon), based off of the plug I'm currently making for myself, because it seems like a good template for it.

However, I realize most don't play Classic so it would make more sense to make it for Nova. I do have Nova, the thing is that I have zero experience with editing the Nova engine and quite frankly have simply avoided it because there's just too much stuff to do: I'd want a helper for this sort of thing...

Colosseum is a TC by JoshTigerheart available from the addons page as Part 1 and Part 2. Both are necessary. The player is a fighter pilot who has full control over the layout of the ship, and who fights in duels. Plus some other stuff.

A TC for Nova need not use any features that aren't found in EVC. So you can design it how you would for Classic, and ignore the new resource types and fields.

QUOTE (darthkev @ Feb 21 2010, 12:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

True Josh, but this seems more like a gauntlet scenario with some rewards in between stages.

You misread me. I didn't say Colosseum was this, but rather it evolved from a similar idea and concept to this. Years and years ago I originally had an idea of a plug with ten systems arranged in a line. You started at one end and worked your way towards the other at whatever pace you wanted. However, the ships in each system got progressively stronger. As you only started in a Shuttlecraft (this was only a quasi-TC idea for EVC, same ships, outfits, and weapons), you couldn't just rush to the end. There were no missions, so you'd have to outfit your ship and raid the others nearby for credits and cargo to fund your advancement. Each system had a limited selection of weapons and outfits, so to get stronger you'd eventually have to advance. I do not think I ever decided how to make the player win.

Four years ago in the middle of classes in high school the idea popped back into my head and I thought about doing it with Nova, since I actually could do it now. Tweaking that idea around eventually led to Colosseum.

Anyway, back from memory lane, you probably could ignore a lot of the features added in Nova to do something like this. Most of Nova's resources actually are not that difficult to learn via trial and error and the more complicated ones, like crons, can safely be disregarded for a project like this.

One note: in Nova you cannot have 1-way jump-links (at least, not without some workaround). One way to achieve the no-turning-back aesthetic: you may want to have a mission that, upon blasting off, immediately warps you to the next system where combat happens. The player could still reload if he/she died, though.

Sounds like fun! I'd play it.

I don't like that one, n64mon. I think it'd be better if the player could choose when they went to the next system. This way the player can upgrade their ship, try it out by flying around a bit, maybe fire off some shots, and change some things if they don't like it. With your idea, n64mon, that wouldn't be possible.

Still, it's up to Thorax since he/she (no gender specified) is making it.

If the mission is refuseable you could still fly around the system as much as you'd like. You just make a mission that ask if you want to move to the next system and moves the player onAccept or somesuch.

Okay, I sit corrected. Your method would be possible with that exception, n64mon.