Ever since SFC3 came out, we've all be wondering what would come next. Since Taldren is leaving the states behind, the chances of their doing it are slim to none. That means that the future of SFC is up for grabs for anyone to take. So, here's how I would do Starfleet Command 4: Galaxies at War
Technical stuff:
* First, the in-game engine has to go. The one created for SFC:OP has served us well, but it is time we started anew. In addition to having jaw-dropping graphics and scenery, it would allow us to do many more things. For instance, location based damage. Now, ideally, if you wanted to target an enemies phaser bank, your weapons would actually shoot towards where the hardpoint is located on the model. If you hit, your opponent gets his hull damaged, assuming the shields were down. Additionally, flying over and under ships and stations will be better modeled to eliminate model clipping. If weapons were to miss, it would be even more obvious this time around. Shuttles would launch from where the hangars are located on the model and so forth. User interfaces would be different for each race.
* Second, we overhaul the dynaverse. For starters, we'd see every sector in our territory rather than be completely lost. Each star system would be distinctive and have a name. Each star system's economic status would determine how often it would churn out vessels available for requisition. There would be trade and supply routes that could be attacked by enemies and pirates, disruption of which could affect the economic health of star systems and empires. System blockades by enemy forces shut down econmies entirely. Plus, planetary invasions wouldn't be as simple as "flipping a hex;" this time, you'll need massive troop transports and your fleet will have to protect them as they wage a real-time ground war to take control of the planets in the system.
Alliances would also play a bigger and more major role this time around. For single player, scripted events and plot twists would alter how races interact with each other. Allied races can't attack each other, but may team up in missions. Neutral races may attack each other or team up, depending on the mood of the captains. And enemy races, well, let's just hope for your sake that you're not at a tactical disadvantage. Finally, there would be warring races, where the gloves come completely off. Such functions would be duplicated in the multiplayer dynaverse through appointed race leaders and council members who have the authority to make treaties and declare war on other powers. Also, it will be possible to find a ship from your own side. Say if you wanted to find the fleet commanded by Stephen the w00tmaster, then you'd enter his screen name or name of his ship to find out what sector he was in. This feature would also work for AI ships and single-player hero ships, so if you wanted to partner up with the Enterprise, you could, just be prepared for the toughest missions possible.
* Lastly, in a bit inspired by the latest build of Generations at War, there would be eras. For instance, in SFC4:GAW, there would be two: The Original Series era and The Motion Picture era. Both would have distinctive models, slightly different maps, and different story content. More on all of this later, when the concept of eras gets really interesting.
* Modability, you ask? There will be that too, thanks to the era system. Essentially, modders can create eras filled with their own ships, own maps, own weapons, and even their own races. Say you wanted to create your own Earth-Romulan War era. Now that's possible. You could make a human race, a Vulcan race, an Andorian race, a Romulan race, and whoever else you want to throw in. All the end-user has to do is simply click on what era they wanted to play in through a menu and that's it. It would essentially work the same as mods for Quake 3 and the Battlefield series without necessitating multiple installs of SFC4.
Content stuff:
* Now we come to the real meat and potatoes of SFC. As the title would indicate, we would indeed have Galaxies at War. Returning would be all the races from SFC2 and added in would be the Andromedans, Tholians, and Seltorians. Almost every power would have two sets of models for each era (time permitting). The ruleset will be completely grounded in SFB, so we would have six shields, phasers for everyone, ECM/ECCM, and the like. Basically, you're getting exactly what you asked for and to boot, you can play the TOS era online like SFB online, if you so choose.
* Single player in this game would consist of two major campaigns, one for each era: a Cold War-style campaign in the TOS era and an Andromedan Invasion campaign in TMP. Like SFC3, these campaigns would be heavily plot and story driven, but also like SFC2, they would be completely seperate and not entirely overlap. For example, in the AI campaign, you would have campaigns involving:
Klingons vs. Tholians vs. Seltorians
Mirak vs. Lyrans vs. Hydrans
Romulans vs. Gorn vs. the ISC insurgents left over after SFC2
Everyone vs. the Andromedans
Multiplayer, of course, would be more like it is now, plus the added interstellar diplomacy angle.
Of course, this is all a bit broad and perhaps too far reaching. If it came down to it, work on the TOS era could be dropped entirely, but the era mod system would still be open so that modders could create their own TOS era using models based on SFB. Stay tuned for my next post, when I outline the expansion to this: Starfleet Command 4 - The Next Generation.
Topic: How Rat Boy would do SFC4... (Read 2656 times)