Flying Dangerous

Today I’ll be taking a crack at the latest contest from Crazy Kinux. I’m not an expert at fiction writing but I love reading the blog banters and thought this would be a good chance to participate and maybe ask a dev some questions about EVEs future. I had a slightly different plan for what to write here initially but I feel the DUST announcement gave a lot of options to make the changes fun and decided to revise somewhat.

The goal is to write an article on planetary control and how that would be implemented in EVE. Your article needs to cover what features, game mechanic, game design you would like to see implemented if (or when) planetary control/exploration/exploitation becomes available in EVE.

You’re required to write a two-part article. The first part needs to be a fiction piece that tells a story based on the feature (or game mechanic, game design, etc…) that you would like to see implemented, while the second part would be the actual description of how that would work in game. Each part of your article needs to be a minimum of 300 words (600 word minimum for the whole article).

I’ll be judging the entries and will pick the 5 best articles, amongst which I will randomly choose the winner. This lucky blogger will get to interview a CCP Dev during a MicroWarpCast podcast, with yours truly as host! Details on the podcast will be provided to the winner prior to the show’s recording.

The Suspense is Killing Me…

The ship shuddered into warp, ripples of folded space reflecting of the smooth curves of the Gallente transport. Jumping into the middle of a war zone was usually considered insane, but for the Capsuleer it was a way of life. The difference this time was he wasn’t in a warship bought and paid for. Instead he was piloting a Operations Transport, filled to the brim with the latest in micro-controller and cloning technology. His corp had purchased one for the pure thrill of launching planet side operations. The conflict itself was just a game to them, if they lost less then the other Alliances then it was a good day. Their enemies of course had higher stakes in the conflict. If a few more sectors on the planet fell one way or another control of the system might change hands.

The pilots goal sounded so simple on paper, warp in, move to orbit and then hold position for as long as possible so the ground pounders in their sister corp could get in on the action. As his ship approached the warp out location the others in the escort fleet converged together. The warp bubble collapsed and suddenly his vision was filled with hundreds of lights, dancing and burning above the small world. There was nothing a transport could do in a capital ship fight so he selected the planet and desperately told the ship to enter orbit. There was no missing the transport, and even as a neutral the other Alliances would do their best to stop him. His shields were torn away in a seconds and the armor repair modules had been activated before the ship left warp. If it weren’t for the speed gained from entering into low orbit he would have been destroyed in a heartbeat.

As the transport pulled into orbit his overview showed several more ships of his type nearby, as well as over a dozen smaller warships. He adjusted his speed upward, loosening the path his ship followed around the planet. Although the transport was small it still couldn’t fight the gravity well of the planet enough to allow for combat maneuvers. The overview lit up again and he was finally joined by what remained of his escort. Like the DUST troopers on the planet he and his escort were already as good as dead. All that mattered was to stay alive for as long as possible.

The pod pilot activated the micro-controller relays on his ship and waited. It didn’t take long for a response. The conflict was attracting a lot of attention and both his comrades and mercenaries linked up to be thrown into battle. Without standings his ship wouldn’t discriminate on who dropped through but his corp wasn’t cutting anyone a deal on equipment. The drop pod launcher began to cycle sending marines or cargo down every few seconds. The timing didn’t matter, only that it could continuously feed more blood and iron into the battlefield. The escorts had already begun to skirmish with the other frigates in orbit. The fact that only the smaller ships had made it through was of little recourse, the Operations Transport would be destroyed eventually.

The Capsuleer then did what he and his immortal kin do best. Waited. Soon, he would die.

…but not If the Capitals do first.

The concept of planetary conquest in EVE in very complicated. So much though that even I had problems simplifying my ideas down to something that could be conceivably done. The first part of my idea is something that I was shocked to find I couldn’t do that moment I started playing, orbit a planet. It took me a while to figure out what orbit meant on the UI as my first assumption was that it must be for holding position around planetary bodies. Orbiting is one of the few things humans can actually do in space right now and anyone who has read hard sci-fi novels such as the great 2001: A Space Odyssey knows there’s a lot you can do with just a little fuel and a bit of momentum. So, the first part of my concept is a new operating area closer in orbit to the planets we will be fighting for. I would limit user control based on the size of the ship, letting speed be the primary way of controlling how you fly. Faster speeds mean wider orbits, slower mean tighter. The size of your ship would limit you to whether or not you could hold a good orbit. While a Battleship could indeed orbit a planet, the strength of the gravity at “drop” height might force it to stay at maximum speed for fear of been drawn in and sunk. The firepower provided could turn the tide of combat but you would also be vulnerable to being slowed down so much by tackling ships that you could lose the ship. Of course, you’ll have to break through any defending ships in high orbit first, and if they are in it for the sovereignty they are going to do their best to stop you.

My second idea revolves around the DUST 514 announcement. I feel like letting players in EVE control the areas of operation for DUST trooper might be a little to grand at this point but I think CCP has shown that EVE will only continue to get more and more grand in it’s vision. Even if Capsuleers are not going to be directly related to the deployment of combat troop clones I think there has been build up towards the DUST trooper technology in the fiction as of late. With the proliferation of sub-dermal micro-controllers I think we will soon see a breakthrough that can allow implanted clone troops to be controlled remotely by living soldiers. These drone soldiers could then be deployed anywhere in the cluster, their minds sent streaming across the fluid router network. The role of the Capsuleer in this would be providing a buffered array to allow clones to be created locally. This theory/idea also lets the DUST troopers retain their combat experience in a way that fits with the canon. Once the Operations Transport has been destroyed then soldiers on the ground will be reduced to their last life so to speak. The transport could also provide a means for the two communities to exchange materials and goods. CCP mentioned that they want there to be many modular and adaptive item choices for DUST troops and I know I want to make a few isk off them. Whats the point of paying them if well can’t get that money back through equipment purchases.

To summarize the basis of my idea:

• Break through or sneak past any ships at 0 on the planet
• Enter an orbit around the planet and position yourself
• Use new ship types and modules to light a beacon for DUST players to fight under
• Profit!

I think anything involving planetary bombardment would be too much to ask right off the bat, also I think CONCORD would have a problem with us nuking cities from orbit. Although, based off what we’ve seen so far, I think anything could be possible.