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Speedademon
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In-game economy discussion

09 May 2018 10:27

Space engineer posted basic game play concept and I though we may need deeper,detailed discussion on how economy will work in the game.
So.... here's what I've thought on this topic. Please let me know what you thing about this.

Player Income

1. Science Exploration
Players can make profits by sending scientific data gathered during exploration. As space Engineer posted, players will be able to gather scientific data by using various sensors(telescopes, spectrometers, etc) that are placed on their mother ship, sending probes/crews' shuttles to planetary bodies/asteroids to do more detailed exploration(including taking samples).
Relatively easier explorations(orbital observation, telescope observation, etc) will award players with smaller 'science score' , while relatively harder tasks(sample collection, etc) will award players with higher 'science score'.
Better science equipments will lead to higher score. More valuable data gained from interesting places will lead to higher score ex) Blackhole data will be more valuable than normal stars.
The more science score players get, the more profit they can earn by sending science data back to Earth.

2. Resource mining
Players will be able to mine useful resources on asteroids, terrestrial planets/moons, gas giants(in this case, would be only hydrogen), using specific mining shuttle.
When mining on rocky bodies, players should be able to do more efficient mining by according to resource mapping data(made by players themselves, or one already made by other players).
Some resources will be used by players themselves(hydrogen as fuel, silicon as on board 3d printer material, etc) while the remaining can be sold to market for players profit.
Mining will also require resources tank attached to mothership.

Spending income

1. Buying/upgrading/repairing spacecrafts
If players want new shiny mothership, it will cost some money. Same goes to shuttles. 
As Space Engineer said, many motherships will be capable of upgrading by switching it's modules. For instance, players will choose to upgrade their on board science equipments to better one, which will produce more science score, or upgrade their habitat module to fly with more crews, or better solar panel to gain more power(which will be required to maintain ship and to run various equipments on board)
For shuttle ships however, upgrades will be limited to basics. For example, switching to better thrusters, extra winglets, more durable landing gears(which will reduce ship damage on landing with high vertical speed).
If players ships are damaged, they will require repairs. While smaller damages can be repaired by crew EVA, more serious damages will require players to visit nearby human colonies. Ship damages are very critical to flight.
For example, if one of the thrusters are malfunctioning, ship flight computer will try to maintain normal flight but leading to much inefficient fuel consumption and sometimes not even able to fly. If solar panels are not working, your crews may die since life support system cannot work without power, unless you have alternative power source.

2. Hiring Crews
Not sure if there will be crew system but if there is, players would spend money on hiring crews. There will be minimum numbers of crews required to fly a ship, and more crews will lead to positive effects(more engineer leading to faster EVA reapair and better on board 3d printer operation, more scientists leading to more science data)
If we are going deeper than this, each crews will have different stats(crews with higher stats are better workers) and crews with higher stats will require more money to hire.

3. Buying resources/refueling ship
Players will need some resources for long interstellar voyage. Oxygen for crews breathing, water, hydrogen fuel, 3d printer material etc.
While good players with good ships will be self sufficient by executing mining by themselves, players who are not willing to/ capable of mining will be supplying required resources by buying it. 

Please express your thoughts on in game economy by leaving posts below, so we can have some more discussion.
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Mr. Abner
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In-game economy discussion

11 May 2018 11:37

I've played a few space games over the years, maybe not a lot recently, but a fair number going back to the '80s. There's always resource mining, trading, research, and mercenary work. I don't think I've ever seen tourism as an option. Sight-seeing tours and cruise liners. Not terribly exciting, I'm sure, but there's money to be made from rubber-neckers, and after all, with the current state of S.E., aren't we all just sight-seeing? :)
 
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In-game economy discussion

11 May 2018 14:20

If I'm not mistaken Endless Sky has such an option, at least transportation of small groups from system to system, but yeah a cruise liner could be fun.
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ettore_bilbo
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In-game economy discussion

13 May 2018 04:38

 I don't think I've ever seen tourism as an option. Sight-seeing tours and cruise liners.
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Mr. Abner
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In-game economy discussion

18 May 2018 13:52

Well, I must confess I haven't played Elite Dangerous, but you have to admit — that does not sound like the kind of game one chooses to run a tourism business. :) (Ah... unless it is in actuality a spy agency! That sounds like it might be fun (until you get caught).)

And just to clarify, transporting people is one thing, like a bus or taxi service, it is essentially moving cargo from where it is to where it is needed.  Tourism means taking people to places with spectacular sights solely for the reason that there are spectacular sights to be seen. :)
 
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The Traveler
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In-game economy discussion

08 Jun 2018 14:54

Greetings, new to the forum and first post.

You might consider looking at oolite, an open source version of Elite for ideas on economies. http://www.oolite.org/ The model is fairly simple, buying and selling various commodities between planets in different systems. The system government, or lack of, Corporate, Feudal, Anarchy, Democracy, Dictatorship, etc. along with the primary raw materials or commodities they produce or desire influences the prices. Some planets are good for purchasing raw material, other producing finished goods, and so on. Asteroid mining can be done, (again with the proper equipment installed on the ship) the raw materials and occasional gems can be sold. There are also contracts for ferrying passengers between systems (if your ship has the requisite passenger module installed), the payment dependent mostly on the distance that needs to be traversed. Some governments also issue contracts for destroying pirates. There are several other aspects, upgrading ships, buying completely new ships, purchasing add-on modules, etc. All in all the economic system in oolite is fairly well developed and straightforward to use.

Cheers. 
 
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ettore_bilbo
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In-game economy discussion

13 Jun 2018 04:32

And just to clarify, transporting people is one thing, like a bus or taxi service, it is essentially moving cargo from where it is to where it is needed.  Tourism means taking people to places with spectacular sights solely for the reason that there are spectacular sights to be seen.
in Elite there are both, you can transport people from a station to another, or transport people in touristic sites along the galaxy (red giants, neutron stars, ammonia worlds, or systems with a famous background story in-game). You can also land on planets, for now only planets without atmosphere, and visit fumaroles, geysers or alien antiquities... 

Quite funny though a bit repetitive in the long run
 
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Orion
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In-game economy discussion

19 Jun 2018 09:05

There are so many things that influence a economy. In fact countless of factors. (Ship) Expenditures alone in this kind of game could include:

- Crew Wages and Insurance (excepting non legal crew like for instance slaves)
- Crew Maintenance (nutrition, habitation, entertainment, training, computer systems)
- Ship production (pre-production, contracts, resource availability, location in universe/planet)
- Ship Maintenance (fuel, damages, wear, waste, cleaning)
- Ship Regular Expenditures (taxes, parking fee, licenses, equipment, munition)
- Ship Upgrades (engines, armor, fuel, weapons, size, cosmetics, facilities)

Maybe an idea is to look at what modern day military navy ships cost in production and maintenance to get some reference. Quick note, the presence or lack of orbital mechanics makes quite a big impact on the costs.
 
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Orion
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In-game economy discussion

19 Jun 2018 09:16

To expand on the topic. If you think about a economy as a whole there are numerous factors that can effect the system.

- Stock markets
- Supply and demand
- Disasters (natural and man-made)
- War and peace
- Politics
- Gambling
- Crime
- Value loss (for any reason)
- Tourism
- Population and Transportation
- Infrastrucutre
- Loss of production and products
- System failure (political, bank, internet crash, etc.)
- Taxes
 
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The Potato
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In-game economy discussion

27 Jun 2018 11:16

I would just make resources reasonably difficult to attain and find, this way, people who are too lazy to mine would pay for resources mine by others. And if we make shipbuilding a reasonably difficult task, people who are too lazy to ship build would pay for ships built by others.

And this would lead to a symbiosis in which shipbuilders pay for resources to build their ships by giving their built ships to miners who use it to mine for resources that shipbuilders pay for to build their ships.

This is just one example of how it could work.
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The Potato
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In-game economy discussion

27 Jun 2018 11:23

I just realize that there are NPCs in the game plan, disregard the last post. 
"The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honoured and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage labourers."
 
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In-game economy discussion

13 Jul 2018 15:41

После успеха игры сабанавтика нужно делать акцент на исследования
 
BananaMapper
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In-game economy discussion

28 Oct 2018 19:03

Better Idea here. How bout we let the players make their own economies. If there is going to be an MMO option for this game, there should be a player made everything. Taking EVE Online a step further.
 
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Re: In-game economy discussion

05 Aug 2022 04:02

If you’ve played Stellaris, then you know that there are many ways to accomplish the same goal in the game; some of which are more efficient than others. There is a wide range of techs and buildings available, all with different benefits and costs. 
The easiest way to get around in Stellaris is through space travel. When using colony ships as a method of transportation, you can travel from system to system at a rapid pace. Because each ship only holds a single citizen, not every planet in a solar system will allow for colonist expansion. These limitations do not apply to ships operating independently as they can be sent anywhere within a star cluster or even throughout the universe if necessary (although this option is usually reserved for special circumstances). 
Colony ships can also be used as vessels for transporting large numbers of citizens on long journeys between star systems. With enough passengers and crew aboard the ship, it can function as a deep-space cruise liner for your civilization. 

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