Fuel Use

The new fuel using features for Unstable Space are designed to limit the players exploration of new star systems. And give the player a few more worries as a long distance trader. As you know from the design document, all player ships and wingmen now have limited fuel capacities. This gives them a limited number of jumps they can make before refueling.

Something that we have never talked about is how far should player ships be able to go before they need to refuel? How many jumps? How many days of operation should a ship be able to support before it needs to tank back up?

We might want to have different classes of ships have different answers. For instance, a SNRV might have only 1 or 2 jumps capacity. But a long distance freighter would have 4 or more. The longest run in Middle States is about 12 systems.

A 2 system capcity lets a ship jump into a system, and jump back home. No military ship should have less than 2. But we might want to give Patcoms less fuel than corvettes (one reason a corvette might be a preferred ship) and both of those might have less fuel than a tug.

Our current feature set supports having ships with different fuel capacities. So a player might purchase an extended range vessel with extra fuel. Do we want more wingman choices? Where would these extended fuel wingmen hang out?

Another set of related issues is what stations support refueling? Do we want all stations to allow the player to refuel? Or should it be limited to only a few types of stations? For instance, we might only want the player to refuel at Waystations (where most ships fuel), police and navy depots, and pirate bases. This would make life more interesting for a player who has made some factions angry. And it is important to sort out, because we might have to add/change the stations that are placed in each system.

Also note the player can hire large capacity tanker ships. A pirate or long distance freighter might hire one to allow raids or cargo hauls into hostile space.

Opinions? Feelings on how tough life should be for our players?

I like the idea of different ships having different fuel capacities and hence ranges. This seems intuitive enough. I would assume that larger ships have a greater range, smaller a lesser range. I would also think that 'fighter' type craft would have a much shorter range, as much of their bulk would be devoted to weapon systems. A similar sized 'commercial' ship, such as an SNRV should have a greater range.

When considering how tough we should make life, I am leaning towards 'not too tough'. Fuel capacity is a very cool addition, but we should not get carried away. If refueling the ships becomes a constant and inescapable chore, it will very quickly become annoying. It reminds me of food in Ultima VIII. Having to keep your party constantly topped up got tiring after awhile. How great the range of any ship is should be balanced against how onerous or task intensive refueling itself is. If we allow refueling at any station, then the player can just top up his fleet at the end of every run. In this case we could have ships with smaller fuel capacities. Restricting refueling to special stations would necessitate having ships with greater capacities, if only to prevent the player being forced to add a trip or two to a fuel station in every journey. However, having to make those trips to a seperate station would add some interest and change to a pilot's routine.

I think I would prefer to see refueling at specialized stations, combined with ships with fairly large fuel capacities. Just enough to force the player to make a trip to a fuel station every now and then. Perhaps a situation where one could make 2 or 3 small trips without refueling, but any larger trips would need to have a refueling trip planned in.

As always the same question presents itself: How deep should the simulation be?

If it becomes so deep that die-hard simmers can immerse themselves in it, then the casual gamers disappear. Making both groups happy is the real challenge.

I've been delving into Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri again and cannot fail to be impressed with the depth of the game. It's easy for the casual gamer... but there are so many elements submerged 'beneath the hood' that the more obsessive gamers can really dig in (for years!). I feel this is an excellent model for simulation complexity.

In light of this, perhaps it would be advantageous to allow the player to refuel at any station they dock to (almost automatically, but provide a quick prompt to allow the player a choice).

Keep the gas prices moderate, so that the casual player doesn't have to worry about it on a 'daily' basis. But place some good cheap-gas stations in more out-of-the-way locations.

In this manner the casual player can ignore the fuel prices as long as they're doing well. But the die-hard simmer will find the good spots to fuel up and save some credits.

Just my two cents.

Good ideas! They spark off this one: As the player builds a bigger fleet, they will need more fuel at one time. We could limit the fuel supply at each station. Players with large fleets will need to visit the "fueling depot" kinds of stations to get the quantity of fuel they need.

For the beginning player, fuel won't be an issue. As the player gets gets better and more powerful, it does become something that needs tracking. This way it also works as method of slowing down the players spiral to wealth and fortune.

If we lean towards "not to tough" then we should put some of the best mining locations very very deep.

I like the difference in pricing. I think we could do that easily, at the same time we put in difference in volumn.

I like Shanes idea, because it doesn't really 'punish' the player. It just rewards more creative/advanced players. However, I also think that the average jump range of any ship should be balanced down, since they will be able to refuel anywhere. This will then limit the 'deepest' mining locations to players who can figure out how to operate at such long range. Keep in mind that any mining systems we include can't be thaaat deep.

I still wonder though, whether having refueling at any station will be just too easy...

Just a couple of thoughts to add here, as most of my views have already been expressed by the others. I like the idea of different capacities for different ships, giving players something more to think about when considering ship model purchase. I like the idea of having different prices, and out of the way rewards. I also like the idea of damage that can cause fuel to leak away, forcing more rapid refueling, and making players have to keep their ships in good repair.

I think about three jumps is a good limit (or thereabouts) before the player needs to face fueling. Insystem travel doesn't noticeably consume fuel does it? What about the serious dogfighter. Maybe we could tax thrust overrides and heavy manoeuvering thruster use a little more, so that the player that flies hard and fights hard goes through the fuel faster. Is this possible?

Finally, could the player who has gotten ahead a little and doesn't want to constantly micromanage all the time, eventually be able to either purchase a fuel tender (to follow and replenish the fleet), or a fuel making device, or an emergency fuel reserve add-on, or a material needs/fuel manager for his crew (who has a budget, and whose main job is to constantly arrange for and ensure that the fleet is constantly being met by tenders to keep the fuel needs met)...someone or something that costs alot extra, but allows the player to forget about managing fuel details as they get to be bigger and bigger fish.

My 2 cents