Adjust populations: consider system faction, core systems, habitable planets, existence of asteroids etc., and a random inclination toward change
I would think that it would take some rather large economic changes to affect the population to the point that consumption/production would be altered (what is actualy being simulated the pop being implied) Note I am not saying that this is not valid, just to be triggerd big changes would have to happen.
I was thinking that the population is always changing. But only by a small amount. Then (for example): after many game hours, the player notices that a particular system (and others nearby) is getting somewhat busier than it was before. The player then attributes that to something that they have noticed ("I have found more mining stations ... More mining activity") even if it is not actually directly related in the simulation.
Stations of any size might be too costly to dissasemble, they'd just be abandonded. Perfect for pirates or other unsavories to co-opt!
Hmm, yeah I suppose so.
[*]Adjust policing; consider current state, faction, stations, and population[/list]
I would add to policing: attack probibility.
In adition I would add the flip side:
Adjust pirate attacks; consider policing and trade wealth on a route
Yeah, I like that.
policing: how many police are spawned
attack: how likely enemy factions are to attack
Just 2 of possible "system profile" variables (besides others mentioned before) that VegaStrike could read when simulating a system.
greenfreedom10 wrote:
I was thinking that the population is always changing. But only by a small amount. Then (for example): after many game hours, the player notices that a particular system (and others nearby) is getting somewhat busier than it was before. The player then attributes that to something that they have noticed ("I have found more mining stations ... More mining activity") even if it is not actually directly related in the simulation.
I agree here actualy, I'm thinking that the changes would take longer, but constant changes over time. My thinking was that those moving in and those moving out would generaly come as a wash, baring a major change in economy. I also wonder if the changes would be enough to alter entrenched patterns. Looks like the details are coming to gether.
Speaking of mining... How about mining stuff yourself? Pick up a MB4 mining machine, find yourself a pristine asteroid and drill away... And of course in a finite+persistent universe, resources get depleted as you use them so the same asteroid remains used up once you've exhausted its resources, making you explore more...
(and now everyone knows that my _real_ goal in life is to become a rock hermit )
make me a sandwich
make: *** No rule to make target 'me'. Stop.
Have yet to encounter an mb4, but I like the thought. Perhaps a mining beam to mount on a ship in conjunction with a tractor beam? A dedicated mining pod would work. A gas collector upgrade to use in a nebula? Then again... why just ship an automated factory? Many possibilities here!
Probably because there aren't any in VS. I was using the MB4 from an earlier game series (Frontier Elite, First Encounters) as a metaphor. It the latter, at a certain point a MB4 is even used to advance the hand-coded main plot.
make me a sandwich
make: *** No rule to make target 'me'. Stop.