Here is the latest info on the Smuggler Revamp! Read on for the entire article.
Smuggler Update: Smuggling Experience
Hello Folks,
Here is the first of two documents for the Smuggler upgrade.
Please remember that this is all concept, nothing in this document is set in stone. What that means is once things start to get worked on, it can/may/will be altered depending on issues that arise.
Smuggler – Smuggling Experience
Overview
The smuggler’s life is defined by danger. He is paid to be discrete, to avoid conflict, and to get his goods delivered on time. In the Star Wars film, we see Han Solo use his abilities to smuggle people through an Imperial blockade and we hear stories of his previous trouble with angry employers.
This experience will be introduced to Star Wars Galaxies through a smuggling quest system. Smugglers will move contraband from one location to another, with enemies at their heels and only their chosen companions and their trusted ship to aid them.
Receiving a Smuggling Contract
Instead of using the terms mission or quest in game, we will refer to a smuggling assignment as a contract. A smuggler will receive a contract and goods from one of his contacts. Contracts are available at any time, but a smuggler may only have one open contract at a time. Fictionally, we assume that most smugglers will be asked to transport moderate sized loads of goods and that the contacts don’t like smugglers to have mixed priorities (or increased exposure to interdiction).
Smuggling contacts will be placed throughout the SWG world. There should be at least one contact per planet. Some space stations will also serve as contacts. Contacts will be associated with certain neutral factions as well as GCW factions:- A contact who works for Jabba could be located at Jabba’s Palace.
- A contact for the Empire might be found in Bestine.
Each contact will have 3 contracts available at any one time. The list of potential contracts will come from a large datatable of goods and delivery destinations. The system will mix and match goods & delivery destinations and destinations will be graded by difficulty. For example, a contact may have a load of giggledust for Anchorhead, a load of explosives for Mos Eisley, and an encrypted data disk for an anonymous pilot in orbit around Dathomir. Every 24 hours, the contact’s script will pick 3 new contracts (to keep each contact interesting).
When the system goes live, we can have it slowly dole out emails to smugglers telling them where contacts are. “My name is Kulgrim the Finn and I hear you are smart and discrete. We’ll see. I have a package that needs to be delivered. Come see me at the cantina in Mos Entha.” Etc.
Once a player receives a contract, they have a certain amount of time to complete it in. The time will depend on the difficulty of the mission. The time might span from 1 hour to several days.
Delivering the Goods
Delivering the goods won’t be as easy as walking (or flying) from point A to point B. Smuggling is illegal after all. The smuggler will face several challenging events that will try to obstruct their progress. Events will be pulled out of a datatable and a smuggler may face more than one during the course of carrying out a contract.
The kind of events the player will face will depend on whether he is in space or on the ground, the composition of his group, and the difficulty of the contract. Some examples of smuggling events are:
Ground Events
- A rival smuggler wants the contract and thinks he can take the goods from the player. After an exchange of words (and potential skill checks to smooth his way out of it) a battle ensues.
- Thugs from a rival faction arrive to shake up the smuggler a bit and convince him to stop dealing with his current contact.
- Storm troopers (or whatever planetary occupying force) appears to perform a convenient “routine scan.” Maybe they’ve been tipped off…either way it smells fishy and a fight might ensue.
Space Events
- Pirates enter the sector and try to take the delivery by force.
- Similar events to those under ground, but in ships instead of on foot (rival smugglers, etc).
Getting Paid
Once the smuggler arrives at his destination with the goods, he’ll want to be paid. Successful completion of a contract is worth credits, but also a portion of the goods delivered. This system will replace the current method of crafting spices. In the new system, the smuggler will pick up a load of spice and deliver it, receiving a crate of spice and a few credits as payment. The type and quantity of spice (or any other reward) will depend on the difficulty of the mission.
Option: Failure to Deliver
This is an optional system in which failure to deliver the goods on time results in repercussions. Each time the smuggler fails to make a delivery, they receive a “deadbeat” point. Each deadbeat point has a drawback:- 1st Point: Reduced reward for completing their next contract.
- 2nd Point: More reduced OR no reward for completing their next contract depending on the level of the Smuggler
- 3rd Point: NPC bounty hunter randomly dispatched to take the smuggler out. (No reward for a successful contract.)
- 4th Point: Powerful NPC bounty hunter randomly dispatched to take the smuggler out. (No reward for a successful contract.)
Successful completion of a contract reduces the deadbeat count, so a smuggler would have to blow off several missions in a row to become hunted.
Generally, smugglers aren’t going to blow off a mission without reason. Events will create opportunities for betrayal and failure. A rival smuggler NPC might be pacified if the smuggler gives up their contract for a small fee. A corrupt Imperial patrol might be willing to let the smuggler go if he shares some of his delivery. An interested third party might offer a better price. The idea is that the player can risk long term reprisal for short term gain.
That’s why we reduce the reward given to smugglers for their first few points of going deadbeat: once they start down the path, it becomes more profitable to continue to be a cheat and risk the bounty hunters.
Source
Smuggler Update: Smuggler – Slicing
Hello Folks,
Here is part two of the Smuggler upgrade documents. Please remember that this is all concept, nothing in this document is set in stone. What that means is once things start to get worked on, it can/may/will be altered depending on issues that arise.
Smuggler – Slicing
Overview
Jury rigging hardware is an iconic element of the Star Wars smuggler. Han Solo was known for his ability to make modifications on his ship or equipment and to barely keep things running in the face of trouble. In our game, we have chosen to call this slicing, a slight misuse of the term. Slicing is a core element of the smuggler profession in SWG, its one of the primary methods in which smugglers are able to make money and impact the game environment and economy.
The current slicing model lacks detail and gameplay. A smuggler is able to slice a limited number of values and the results of the slice are random. In addition, certain items let the smuggler bypass the slice completely and always succeed. The goal of the slicing enhancement will be to give smugglers more control over the results of their slices, as well as improve the gameplay element of slicing. Finally, smugglers will be giving some slicing options that can be used inside POB ships.
Gear Slicing (Weapons & Armor)
Every piece of sliceable equipment, such as weapons and armor will have a customization level from 0 to 100. Sliced effects placed on a weapon by Smugglers will increase the customization level.
Weapon Customization
A smuggler’s slicing skill level determines how much customization they can apply to a weapon and what kinds of customizing effects they can apply. A smuggler with 20 points of slicing skill can apply 20 points of customization to a weapon. A master smuggler with 100 points of slicing skill can apply 100 points of customization to a weapon.
The category of effects the smuggler can apply will be dependent on the type of item modified. A weapon could have its firing speed decreased and its damage output increased. Within each category of effects are a series of increasingly effective modifications:
Select Customization: DL-44 (Weapon)- Increase Firing Rate
- Rebuild weapon body.
- Reduce barrel weight.
- Streamline load mechanism.
- Enhance Weapon Damage
- Replace stock capacitor.
- Overcharge energy core.
- Embed experimental core booster.
- Increase Critical Strike Chance
- Mount improved range finder.
- Notch and file grip.
- Install feather-touch trigger pull.
Each customization within a category is dependent on installing the customization before it, but customizations from different categories can co-exist. For example, the player couldn’t “Reduce barrel weight” until they have performed the “Rebuild weapon body” option, because the two come from the same category. However, the player could “Replace stock capacitor” and “Rebuild weapon body” because they come from different categories.
The quality of a bonus increases as you do more work in that category, but each bonus contributes to the weapon’s over all customization score. A smuggler can’t increase a weapon’s customization beyond his own skill level and the customization can never be more than 100. So the player could mix and match low end customizations from different categories, or go for the high end customization in a specific category.
The names of categories will depend on the type of item (ranged, melee, armor, etc).
Weapon Failure
As a weapon’s customization level increases, it’s propensity for failure also increases. There are two types of failure: out of tune and broken.
Out of Tune is a temporary decrease in a weapon’s function. This is not the same as hit point decay and it will not cause the item to become deleted. The higher the level of customization on a weapon, the more out of tune the weapon will become per use. The effects of this state will depend on the item. A weapon will do less damage. Armor will absorb less damage. A weapon may be retuned by any smuggler.Broken items cannot be used. A weapon that is out of tune has a chance to break. Broken items cannot be used until a smuggler repairs them.
This creates a system by which players risk their customized weapons failing in exchange for better bonuses. It also applies a type of temporary decay that isn’t directly related to the weapon’s hit point decay, which may be circumvented by an anti-decay pack.
The Slicing Game
When a smuggler chooses to initiate a slice, a dialog will ask what kind of modification the player wants to apply. Once the player selects the slice, the slicing game begins. The slicing design allows for flexibility in fictional content, so that the slicing events and event responses make sense for the kind of item being sliced.
Slicing Game Mockup:
When the slicing game begins, a wireframe version of the weapon’s model will appear in the “wireframe model” window.
When the player presses the start button, the progress bar will begin to fill up. When the progress bar fills up completely, the slicing operation is done and the modification is applied to the weapon.
As the progress bar fills up, special events, written as text, will appear in the slicing event area. For example, while “overcharging the energy core” to get a damage bonus, the event “The weapon core is heating unexpectedly!” might appear in the event area. When this happens, the four buttons above the wireframe model become active, each with an option written below. These are the event responses. Different results will happen depending on the response the player picks. If our heating unexpectedly event fires, the four choices might be: A: Vent Core, B: Increase Core Power, C: Decrease Core Power, D: Ignore. Ignoring the option would do nothing, resulting in a chance of the event causing a reduction in the quality of the customization. Venting the core might prevent any damage from the core heating, but would move the progress indicator back. Increasing power would be a bad choice in this case, doing so would lower the quality meter. Decreasing the power would be the correct choice and would increase the quality of the customization. The order of the responses will be random, requiring the player to read for the correct response and select it in time.
The player must pick the right responses to increase the quality of the customization they are performing. When the progress meter is full, the final results of the customization are scaled by the amount of quality from 0 to 100%. A 0% mod would count as not having been applied.
The speed at which events appear and the diversity of events will depend on the difficulty of the slice being applied and the current complexity of the weapon.
Tools of the Trade
The previous tools for slicing, like laser knives, will be removed and replaced with a “Smuggler’s Tools.” The kit of tools will have a high number of charges, so smugglers won’t have to worry about constantly crafting slicing tools.
Weapon Customization Display
Customized attributes will be displayed when the weapon is examined:Customization: 40%
Rebuilt body. +5% To Hit
Reduced barrel weight. +5% To Hit
Custom capacitor. +5% To Damage
This can be displayed below the standard weapon statistics.
Terminal & Container Slicing
Terminal and container slicing will remain relatively unchanged. They will use the mini-game, but for now there won’t be multiple levels of terminal and container slicing.
Source
