We have a lot of shooters where players are fighting for a higher prestige rank and new unlocks. What if there would higher meaning in the fight? Goal, that would make a real difference. I offer to combine Project Nova and Eve Online by introducing Ship Assault mode.
In short: In EVE universe a new ship type could me made - assault boarding ships. They will “stick” to a gig ship and soldier team will start a fight inside for a control of enemy’s ship.
In Project Nova game, Team A (represented in EVE by frigate/destroyer size transport ship) will board a ship of Team B (represented in EVE by capital size ship). If team A will win the match, than, in the EVE, pilot of the transport ship will take control of the capital ship. Goal of the battle for troopers is to get to the control panel (both teams can infiltrate each other ships) and hack/override it (mechanics could be similar to hacking in EVE, so it will ask for an effort), destroy enemy spawning location and eliminate all remaining hostiles, or destroy power relay to destroy enemy’s ship.
This could attract more new players into the EVE through Project Nova.
A new mechanics of assault transport and capital ships:
A new module slots will be introduced - inner slots. They could be fitted with assault or defence modules ((a) - active; § - passive):
-> turrets (a) - will assist defending team with additional firepower;
-> reinforced doors (p/a) - will take more effort and time to pass through;
-> armory § - provide additional weaponry/ammo amount/type to the soldiers;
-> recharging system § - will improve soldier shields;
-> cybernetic module (a) - provide implants for soldiers’ clones;
-> improved PCU system and antivirus § - make hacking more difficult/easier;
-> drones (a) - additional AI forces, or even could be a criteria for filling empty player spots with NPC;
-> improved assault/defence machinery (a) - will make time of the match longer (for assault team purposes) or shorter (for easier defence);
-> self destruction charges (a/p) - will destroy the capital ship in case of lost battle preventing taking control of it (can be triggered also by hacking);
-> improved sensors - will make soldier’s minimap more detailed and can show enemies when overheated;
-> repair systems (a) - repairs destroyed doors, turrets, even spawning point when overheated.
Mechanics of the match for Project Nova (PN) player
EVE players can link their EVE accounts with PN accounts. When transport ship will dock to the capital ship in the EVE, timer will start (30-60 min; longer timers could be useful if there will be many simultaneous battles). During that time, in the PN a special lobby will be offered. Priority of joining sides will be given to the members of assaulting/defending corporations, and these player can not join the opposite side (if applicable). When half of waiting time will pass (or joined corporation players will allow it, or if in the first 10 min no corporation players will join), free places will be filled with outside players/mercenaries or AI. Pilot of each ship will see the list of connected to the battle players and will be able to disconnect any player from his team (in case of spotted spy/traitor; all we know how it is in the EVE, don’t judge).
For easier visualization of the battle mechanics, imagine Battlefield 2142 Titan assault (miss that game a lot). Soldiers will try to pass through each other defences and fulfill objectives (hacking the main system fraim, destroying the enemy spawning point and eliminate every one of them, or destroying enemy ship’s power relay to destroy the ship).
Hacking, that will give control of the big ship to the pilot of the smaller ship, will be time/skill consuming (like existing hacking in the EVE, or similar idea). But, alternatively, soldiers will be able to hack easier another enemy ship’s systems (disable some high, middle, or low slot module/-es of ships in the EVE).
Soldiers from the big ship also have several victory opportunities: survive the assault (match timer), infiltrate transport ship and destroy it’s power relay or hack and force it to undock, or destroy enemy’s spawning point and all attackers.
Mechanics of EVE during the battle:
For both pilots, progress of the battle could be seen on the special minimap.
Pilot of the capital ship could not do much with attached ship, as enemy’s ship size is too small. He can try to get to the friendly space so his ship could be recaptured/destroyed by his allies in case of failed defence. Or continue the battle (if applicable) with another enemies or whatever he/she was doing.
Some inner modules will be active, will require capacitor, and can be overheated. As assaulting ship will have much smaller capacitor, pilot of the transport ship will be required to keep an close eye on his modules, like in the standard PVP battle.
Both pilots can give orders/directions to their teams through minimaps. This will give more flexibility by using right modules in the right time.
Maps
In the beginning, 4 map types would be more than enough (one for each fraction, to represent it).
Additional notes
Aimless shooting and explosions inside the small transport ship after some point can lead to the decompression (inside the small ship players will start to take small but consistent damage).
For bigger ships, multiple assault stages are needed (bigger ship, bigger distance should be concurred to get to the ship’s main systems).
Only one assault transport can be docked at any single time (as first team is docked in the weak point to get to the ship’s systems, it’s pointless to dock another place that is less valuable; plus, capsuleer’s ships are not designed for crews, so there is not much free space anyways).
Assault time is present as capital ships will have self defence systems that will undock assault ship after X time.
