Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Old subjects revisited a useful basic Load Lifter and a Translation module
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RandAiden
Sun Jul 10, 2005 9:32 am
#1
Thought I bring these subjects up again as they happen to be pet peeves of mine (though God knows when, if ever, a Dev will actually visit our forum).
So here they are again my fellow DEs:
A useful basic Load Lifter - for some reason these HUGE droids don't come with a slot for even one module in the basic model. This makes them completely useless except as eyecandy. Heck, even an MSE can carry more of a load than this hunk of junk - pretty dumb wouldn't you say?If the Devs are so dead set against giving the basic Load Lifter any slots, whynot give it an inheirent ability to carry 10 items? This way it could still live up to its name and not have any slots! Following this line of logic the Advanced model could carry up to 20 items with a 10 ithem storage module plugged in. That way it could carry more than any other droid....hmmm, say like what a LOAD LIFTER should be used for!!
A Translation module - why don't we have one of these? Yeah, yeah, I know, everyone learns all the languages their first day playing. But how about the ability for droids to do this? I think there was this droid named C-3PO in a couple of movies I saw once who did this....hmm. There wouldn't be any need for new coding on the Devs part, the translation module would do exactly what the languages do now. If the droid was out, the player would see all the chat bubbles as readable basic. If it wasn't out, those languages he didn't know would still be gibberish.Simple and very Star Wars like. I'm sure a lot of people would get a kick out of this!
There ya go, for your amusement or bemusement. Enjoy the ensuing discussion!
Yoda-5499
Sun Jul 10, 2005 7:02 pm
#2
I agree that the Binary Load Lifter doesn't, er, *lift* anything. It should be used for something. It could carry more than the master could. Let's face it, not even Wookiees could carry more than a machine built the carry extremely large loads. It could have up to 50 or more spots. Moving your house would be alot easier, too.
But I have to disagree about translation modules. It would take to much time to call out a droid to talk to another species. Han Solo learned how to understand Chewbacca and Jabba, why couldn't we? Then there's the fact that if we did have those, talking the NPCs would be annoying. Pull 3PO out to talk to someone, put him back, travel, pull him out to talk again. And it would take up a pet slot in the Datapad (that's where pets are stored, right?) It would seem to fit the Star Wars need for droids, but it would be more annoying than helpful for most players. Great idea, I love it, but unfotunately, it wouldn't work out.
But I have to disagree about translation modules. It would take to much time to call out a droid to talk to another species. Han Solo learned how to understand Chewbacca and Jabba, why couldn't we? Then there's the fact that if we did have those, talking the NPCs would be annoying. Pull 3PO out to talk to someone, put him back, travel, pull him out to talk again. And it would take up a pet slot in the Datapad (that's where pets are stored, right?) It would seem to fit the Star Wars need for droids, but it would be more annoying than helpful for most players. Great idea, I love it, but unfotunately, it wouldn't work out.
Yoda-5499
Mon Jul 11, 2005 2:41 am
#3
I thought droids were considered pets and they would take up a spot for a CH. That's what I meant by cluttering up the datapad.
I still think translation droids are a good idea, but still not playable in a game like SWG. It would just take up to much time. If you went to a event of some kind, everyone would have their translators out and it would just take up room. Lag would be increased due to the nearly doubled amount of moving objects in-game (everyone and their droid). And I guess it wouldn't be so bad is all the droids were MSEs, but only droids that could talk could be used (LE Repair Droid and Protocol droid), so lag would, like I said, nearly be x2. If you went on a hunt, everyone would need droids to talk to one another. You see where I am coming from? I'd love to have them, but it wouldn't work out.
I still think translation droids are a good idea, but still not playable in a game like SWG. It would just take up to much time. If you went to a event of some kind, everyone would have their translators out and it would just take up room. Lag would be increased due to the nearly doubled amount of moving objects in-game (everyone and their droid). And I guess it wouldn't be so bad is all the droids were MSEs, but only droids that could talk could be used (LE Repair Droid and Protocol droid), so lag would, like I said, nearly be x2. If you went on a hunt, everyone would need droids to talk to one another. You see where I am coming from? I'd love to have them, but it wouldn't work out.
RandAiden
Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:05 am
#4
Good point. But the ability to learn languages would still be available. The translation module wouldn't replace this feature, it would merely supplement it. That way not everyone is forced to have a translator droid or forced to learn all the languages. Besides, which causes more lag on a hunt, a Protocol droid or that pet bull rancor the CH pulled out?
Yoda-5499 wrote:
Lag would be increased due to the nearly doubled amount of moving objects in-game (everyone and their droid). And I guess it wouldn't be so bad is all the droids were MSEs, but only droids that could talk could be used (LE Repair Droid and Protocol droid), so lag would, like I said, nearly be x2. If you went on a hunt, everyone would need droids to talk to one another. You see where I am coming from? I'd love to have them, but it wouldn't work out.
Straker_Atrella
Mon Jul 11, 2005 10:20 am
#5
The key would be to keep it simple, yet have it add flavor.
Group and guild chat would be readable without the droid. Only spatial chat would need a droid to understand.
I don't think it would really be that big of a lag issue, people just moving through an area such as Theed wouldn't pull a droid to understand, they would only use one if they had to stop and chat. It's always been a great idea, yet for some reason the developers seem happy with a low droid galaxy, unlike the movies.
IZenegade
Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:31 am
#6
I think Droid engineers should be able to get inside the load lifter and use /forcewtfpwned on every non-DE in the game.
RandAiden
Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:11 pm
#7
Yoda-5499 wrote:
<snip>
But I have to disagree about translation modules. It would take to much time to call out a droid to talk to another species. Han Solo learned how to understand Chewbacca and Jabba, why couldn't we? Then there's the fact that if we did have those, talking to the NPCs would be annoying. Pull 3PO out to talk to someone, put him back, travel, pull him out to talk again. And it would take up a pet slot in the Datapad (that's where pets are stored, right?) It would seem to fit the Star Wars need for droids, but it would be more annoying than helpful for most players. Great idea, I love it, but unfotunately, it wouldn't work out.
No, no, that's not what I meant. The Devs have a penchant for doing the easiest thing possible - in the case of Translation modules everything remains exactly as it is now - right up the Devs alley.
All the NPCs currently speak basic in their dialog boxes. The only ones who don't are player characters. All the chip would do is act like the charcter had learned all the languages thereby turning all the player chat bubbles around him intellegible when the droid was out. Put the translating droid away and the chat bubbles are once again non-understandable. Simple. No hard work on the Devs part (the coding is already there) and a nice little Star Wars touch for us players.
Just remember even Han had to have 3PO translate for him when he wanted stuff from the Ewoks... 
(Oh, and as for datapad slots we have 100. I haven't even come close to half this number. And what DE wouldn't want more people to fill their pads with droids? 
)
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Xrystal
Mon Jul 11, 2005 12:54 pm
#8
RandAiden wrote:
(Oh, and as for datapad slots we have 100. I haven't even come close to half this number. And what DE wouldn't want more people to fill their pads with droids?
Even though the datapad has storage for 100 units of data you can only have 5 droids in storage and I think 10 pets (at Master CH Level) if I remember rightly.
The ideas are sound and perhaps after they have got round to fixing the problems we have been given they will consider giving us something extra.
Atan
Mon Jul 11, 2005 1:40 pm
#9
I guess the easiest way to introduce Translation Droids would be to add quest givers that speak a non-learnable language (like jawa), and you would have to be a smuggler (they get +100 in all languages) OR be grouped with a translation droid to understand him
RandAiden
Mon Jul 11, 2005 6:02 pm
#10
Well as was said before, keep it simple.Having NPCsspeakspecial languageswould force people to have to get a droid with a translation chip. That's bad. It would only make people mad.
Just keep everything as it is now, just make it so the translation chip converts unlearned languages spoken by other characters into basic. Simple. Easy. Useful.
I know as a new player a translation droid was one of the very first things I looked for - boy was I disappointed to find out there was nothing like it in the game. I had to end up begging people to teach me languages Ireally didn't want justso I could play with them.
Wynn814
Mon Jul 11, 2005 8:35 pm
#11
Back in the day, before beta I believe wookiee needed translation droids to talk to other.
Atan
Mon Jul 11, 2005 11:42 pm
#12
RandAiden wrote:
Well as was said before, keep it simple.Having NPCsspeakspecial languageswould force people to have to get a droid with a translation chip. That's bad. It would only make people mad.
Just keep everything as it is now, just make it so the translation chip converts unlearned languages spoken by other characters into basic. Simple. Easy. Useful.
I know as a new player a translation droid was one of the very first things I looked for - boy was I disappointed to find out there was nothing like it in the game. I had to end up begging people to teach me languages Ireally didn't want justso I could play with them.
It would not "force" people to get a Droid, they could decide not to do the quest or take up smuggler 1000? for the languages, if they really hate droids.
There are BHs more forced to buy droids, to hunt their marks.
And as long as the language system as it is doesnt change the translation of spatial would be soon listed as "Working but useless", since everyone can simply learn the languages and avoid needing to buy one. Or they have learned the languages a long timeago...
And as long as the language system as it is doesnt change the translation of spatial would be soon listed as "Working but useless", since everyone can simply learn the languages and avoid needing to buy one. Or they have learned the languages a long timeago...
Straker_Atrella
Tue Jul 12, 2005 7:48 am
#13
People are forced to buy armor, weapons, houses, harvestors, clothes and food, I have zero problem forcing people to buy droids.
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