StarMade Dev Update: Introducing Faction Points

Hello Players,

big things are coming:

 

Faction Point System

This system is a big addition. It will shape the multiplayer experience of StarMade, and takes it to a whole new level.

There was often criticism that there is not much to do after building, and this is the first step to change that. A lot more stuff will come in that regard.

This system was planned for almost 2 years now, and I'm finally having the core systems developed to a state where this is viable.
Also, one of the things that were most important to me, was that the design is abstract and can be adopted and changed should there be any need.
In a "lets just add this feature without making any groundwork" approach, I would have probably got it out way faster, but the problems that players and me would run in over time would have taken more time than getting the basics in an acceptable state for it.

The system is an essential part of the galaxy redesign. I've made it available first so existing servers can test it on the current universe structure. A lot of things of course don't matter as much or matter more as long as the structure redesign isn't released.

All numbers I mention in this whole faction point system explanation are all exposed in configs, so they are very simple to change.

But on to what the system actually is:

Faction Points

Faction Points are a new form of currency in StarMade and shall be abbreviated FP from here on out :). They are shared throughout the faction, and in the future can be made physical for reasons I will go into later.

Their value can not be compared to credits and resources, as their total availability doesn't follow the principle of an infinite universe like credits and resources do.

Their existence as the name says depends on the factions of a server. So on a server with more players the overall faction point count will naturally be higher (but the demand is also rising with that)

 

Faction Point Acquisition

A server now does hourly calculations. I'll call this a "turn" from now on.

At the end of a turn the following will happen:

• You get 50 FP for every online member of your faction
• You get 20 FP for every active online member of your faction (see member activity)
• You get 0 FP for every inactive member of your faction (see member activity)

Member Activity

A member counts as active if the member at least spent 10 minutes playing within 48 hours. After 48 hours after logoff, the member will become inactive and the faction no longer gets any FP from his membership.

There are several methods in place to combat FP farming with multiple nicks on the same server.

Territory

One of the biggest things to come with FP is the ability for factions to take territory. You can take a whole 16x16x16 sector chunk at once. 16x16x16 sectors are also known as "Galaxy System".
Taking a sector can be done easily with the faction module on a station or planet. If someone else has already taken the galaxy system, that faction module has to be destroyed before another faction can take the system.
Territory has the following advantages:

• Mining bonus in that galaxy system of 6x (other factions get 3x still in an owned galaxy system so be alert of eventual thieves.
• The faction gets a notice whenever a player enters their territory. You even get a faction news post if that player is an enemy. (No names are transmitted though)
• Scanning range (see scanning)

Faction point spending and loss

Of course you can't just go and claim every galaxy system as fast as possible. The following are the costs explained:

• Each owned galaxy system costs 10 FP each turn
• Each owned galaxy system costs FP in the distance in systems it is from the homebase (or a random owned system when no homebase exists)
• Each owned galaxy system costs FP in the distance it is from a galaxy center (something that will be more clear with the structure update. it is the galaxy system 0,0,0 in this case)
• The cost for center distance will decrease the more total territory is taken. This means, factions will probably move together a bit. Roaming vagabonds are still a thing since they don't use too much points (the first system is free). However they don't have the luxury of a bigger base of course.

You can also lose FP from player deaths

• Each player death costs a fixed FP amount
• Each player death costs also an FP amount times the amount of members in the faction. That means that while you get more FP each turn with a bigger faction, you lose more when someone gets killed. suicide does not count in that regard. There will also be a way to temorarily turn it off for minigames by admins.
• After dying, the player gets a 30 min protection of losing faction points again.

Repercussions for to few FP

Should at the end of a turn the FP of a faction be below zero, the faction will lose the galaxy system that is farthest from the homebase (random if there is none).
As an option for admins to turn on, the home base will also become attackable when the faction loses all its territory and are below 0 at the next turn.

Scanners

This is a new block you can put on your ship or station. Its mechanics work similar to the jump drive as it needs to be charged up to do a scan.
But unlike the jump drive, the scanner will automatically charge. You are also only allowed one scanner per structure.
The basic range of the scanners is fixed, but also depend on the territory you are in. The recharge time depends on how many blocks you place, of course costing more power.

• In an allied territory you get twice the default scan range (as do the owners)
• The owners of a galaxy system ADDITIONALLY get the whole system scanned.
• If you scan in an enemy territory, your scan range is halved
• if you scan in an owned system, you always get the location of the station that has the faction module owning it.

This means with good strategy and infrastructure, as soon as your faction gets signal of someone intruding, you can send a player with a scanner ship into that galaxy system which can find out the exact position.

Scans are a snapshot, so to track moving targets, you need a very good recharge.

Scans are also persistent, so you always, even after logging out and in again, have access to the last 5 scans you made.

 

Future Uses for Faction Points

In the future, faction points will be the main currency for diplomacy and missions. The only way to earn additional FP is to do missions.
But also factions themselves can issue missions. A faction can pay FP for a bounty on the head of another player, or for a mission taker getting them an amount of resources. And many more.

Faction points will also be usable to replenish asteroids in a galaxy system.

GUI

Because nobody would be able to remember all the rules and keep track, the GUI has been expanded with several statistical functions regarding FP and scans.
Just click the "Faction Point" button in the faction tab, and it will tell you exactly how much you gained and lost, listed per type. it also gives you an overview of all your owned systems.

You can access your scans in your navigation panel.

 

Implementation Status

Almost all the things you just read are already implemented. One big thing that is left is the galaxy map, which i hope to finish in a few days.
You can already check out the system in the current dev build.

The spawners explained

In the last update you saw the first occurrence of spawners. This system an abstract system which is not only there to spawn in creatures.
Spanwers have conditions and components.

 

Conditions plenty, and the first implemented are:

• Timer
• Blocked
• Block exists
• Less than x creatures on that structure
• Less than x creatures in that sector
• Player proximity

Conditions can be configured and combined as pleased. If all conditions are met, all components are called. These include at the moment:

• Spawn creature
• Spawn meta item
• Spawn item

There will be many more coming, as the spawners will be a vital part of the mission system planned.

 

I hope you like the new additions,

Thanks for playing StarMade,

- schema