Cargo Ships / NPC Approach (Warnings)

"Reputation lost is a static value. You will not lose additional Rep if you start to destroy/ dismantle the grid."

For clarity, this means if you attack a Faction - you will get a deduction in Rep - say 20% for example.

Once you start grinding down the ship, the deduction will not increase. This is to address the frustration I personally have in SE1. Every block you disassemble, your rep will go down. And I think that discourages players even further from game-styles they may prefer. Give the Pirates their space to shine :)

Yes, one of the major issues in SE1 was the faction system—spacecraft wrecks also formed a "faction," and dead ships would "telepathically" inform each other of a player's attack.

I like part of your suggestion - it would be cool to receive verbal warning from certain vessels - but not all/most vessals and certainly not cargo vessels.

The warnings should be part of the combat game mechanic - perhaps a faction that is similar to a kind of police force that warns you when you are breaching a restricted area.

In terms of how to spot danger, I prefer a specialist kind of radar. So the player needs a special radar (and perhaps the first ship given to the player could have this special radar by default to help new players) on their starship to detect weapons.

I think there’s been a complete misunderstanding of the situation here.

We have two basic possibilities from which everything else stems.

Either the universe is inhabited, or it is empty and uninhabited.

If it is inhabited, who inhabits it? Humans—or aliens?

The SE world should not be a pseudo-functional world like typical RPGs, where imitations of civilization and society operate.

If the universe is inhabited, what role is a space engineer supposed to fulfill within it?

Is he an explorer and builder of outposts for his race/civilization/state?

Then he is an intruder in a foreign star system, and the “native” NPCs have every right—and duty—to use all available means to destroy him. Without any warning. And the means and resources of the "native NPCs" should correspond to this logic.

If space is empty, there should be no NPC factions, no NPC armies, no NPC police forces. At most, there may be the wrecks and ruins of previous settlements and civilizations, in which functional automated defense systems occur sporadically.

So for the "game universe" to function logically, in the star system inhabited by the player or players, there must be no alien NPCs; it must be an uninhabited star system.

There cannot be and must not be any NPC factions with which the player can interact.

At most, there may be remnants of previous inhabitants, debris, wrecks, and ruins.

I like your idea and I want to add to it.

You should be able to “communicate” with any grid on your radar by sending standard messages to NPCs and player-controlled grids.

For example:

“Stay away from me” — asks others to keep distance (beyond firing range)

“Say hello” — a basic greeting including your player/grid name and the target’s name/faction, these messages can be randomized in different forms and flavors.

“Ask for help” — different variants like refuel, recharge, repair, etc.

Beyond simple messages, some requests could be standardized:

“Ask to dock” — request docking permission from friendly/neutral grids. NPC stations could reply with a docking number or even highlight the port by turning on lights around it. Automation blocks (like Event Controllers) could react to these requests.

“Ask to surrender” — useful for piracy or takeovers. NPCs evaluate your strength and may surrender if outmatched, potentially handing over the ship intact or not resisting while you take it.

“Ask to drop cargo” — targets could eject valuable cargo hoping you’ll leave them alone. Attacking after that could result in a bigger reputation penalty.

“Ask to help you” — call nearby military ships for support. Communication range could be larger than combat detection range.

“Ask to leave me/them alone” — useful when escorting or defending. Pirates could evaluate your strength and decide to disengage.

“Ask to cease fire” — if your reputation is just below neutral, you could temporarily de-escalate hostility, dock, and recover reputation through trade or contracts. Useful for accidental reputation loss.

“Ask info” — stations could share trade data (like top items and prices), cargo ships could give faction info, etc. Nice way to learn lore in an immersive way.

There could be many more options. Some would apply mainly to NPCs, others also between players. Overall, this would add more gameplay depth, reduce the need for manual chat, and make space feel more alive and interactive.

npc/player wingmen commands in combat:

'attack my target'

'sort targets/attack all'

'defend me'

'hold fire'

'rejoin formation'

'return to base'

There are many other commands, chainsaw, pincer, banzi, drag, notch, etc, that you could add, these are just the basics.

Comms are a force multiplier, it's how you win. Players online would benefit with their implementation to their gameplay by 'nesting' them in your flight groupings:

-2 ships is an element- an element lead and a wingman.

-4 ships is a flight- with a flight lead, his wingman, and another element, with their element lead and wingman.

-multiple flights is a package- different flight of ships and jobs (escort, bomber, etc) coordinating on a objective.

This is just the standard format, players can do whatever.

So, when you issue one of those 6 commands, you first cue up who to send it to, wingman/element/flight/specific flight in the package/whole package. So, those 6 commands now are 30 commands. That's how to effectively and simply coordinate large groups. Especially when in the middle of a fight. Although SE2 would have to have the ability to plot points on a map for package coordination, and well...to have npc wingmen lol

SE2 has it's 'grouping' system already, it just needs a vertical capability, and players could setup their players/npc as they wanted. Vertical grouping could be helpful for blocks/systems/markers as well. With 4 ships, 1-2 are group A, 3-4 are group B...then go vertical: Grouping A and B are group Alpha. Then again, with other ships, as needed.