Different types of crewmen and crewmen XP

[raven grotto]

Have different classes / species of crewmen depending on the system you're in, and/or your affinities with given factions, and each could have pros and cons, like a given race could have +20% movement speed in ships, another could breathe in space and have 100% more speed outside ships, another could carry twice as much energy but have 20% less speed, etc, etc. Kinda like Faster Than Light, ngl, but I really think it is among the many things that could make managing, and thinking your crew layout ahead something more meaningful and interesting, atm it just feels like pressing a button whenever you can. It's a shame really especially when you see that they all have names, different hairstyles etc, but at the end of the day you don't really care for them. Having some sort of XP system as where they'd get better at something the longer they do it, but they could not become like excellent at everything (like if a crewman who's experienced in manning weapons stars supplying engines more often, he'd get better at supplying engines but his weapon proficiency would decay), and crewmen would also go to roles they're better at similar to an extra priority system balanced with the distance to subsystems etc

Another idea would also be having a captain for your ships when they have at least 40 or 50 crewmen, with some sort of skill tree, and he'd look different and sit in the cockpit/bridge ; and after for each say 80 crew members that could make a lieutenant pop in the ship that could boost nearby crew members for instance ; parts related to chain of command could be added, like officers quarters and speakers to relay orders (those are just ideas on the fly though :p)

What do you think about that? Any suggestions, and other ideas about crewmen?

[proper blade]

i think crew roles/proficiencies would be exceptionally painful to micro

[astral jay]

I think equipment or some other way to modify crew abilities would be a better approach. Things like the fire extinguisher suit, which makes crew immune to fire and able to extinguish it, but unable to handle other tasks while working on that.

forklift walker, aliens style, could work for logistics and construction.
hover lift carts or ceiling rails (like on naval ships) would also be cool for delivery. The drawback could be that they stop traffic in the opposite direction, so you'd need wide hallways to make them work well. They might not benefit from conveyors.

[loud sleet]

while i can understand the system, but it will be a pain to manage. it's just a 2nd or 3rd layer of complexity.
simplicity tends to be better

[glass ivy]

I've always wanted to have actual different crew types and XP progression, but the main issue is figuring out ways for crew to actually improve and be better at certain things that aren't just "walks faster".

[wraith lark]

Would a issue not be how every crew does super easily so all that hard exp is going to be gone quickly and someone would make a ship purely for making them gain xp , also they could gain xp for combat , healing , ship repair , accuracy , durability , walk speed , mining speed , flight speed , ship control giving more command points when commanding a ship

And how would this work in pvp modes would all start maxed or would they start at the bottom

[wraith lark]

Would the be a creative mode thing where you can set their stats , this would just add a unnecessary grind and rpg mechanic giving ships advantages over other ships if they have the exact same build but just better crew due to a number going up due to luck on what they were doing in that battle

[odd jungle]

Then you have pvp

[wraith lark]

That’s what I was mentioning

When I said due to luck of what your crew was doing gaining xp becoming faster and doing better in battle

[thick edge]

Maybe as the commander, you could unlock ship-wide orders you gain as you level, and orders have an effect on crew performance. Things like:

“Battle stations” for a small weapon/shield buff.

“Brace for impact” to reduce crew damage taken and give a chance to avoid being spaced when their part is destroyed.

“Alert damage control” Fire fighting bonus

“Alert security” bonus to fighting of boarding parties

“Raise the colors” small crew heal and temporary buff to crew speed.

[dim crown]

this sounds like commanders abilities from Forts

And i'm all into it

[weary raptor]

what if you make a point system where crew can do things faster or better? like faster at picking up items or more accurate at shooting with cannons.

[odd jungle]

||give any weapon +100% damage||

[wraith lark]

Seems a tad bit high for a xp system or even a commander skills