Archived Post
02-24-2010, 02:45 PM
In Star Trek, it was always the crew that came up with the innovations. Instead of going to Memory Alpha, our Boffs should be the ones upgrading our gear.
Upgrades would be projects, which would require base components, resources, personnel (Boffs), and time. A ship could have one project at a time.
A) Components - creating an upgraded component would require a number of base components equal to the Tier (so Mark I and II gear would require 1 base component, Mark III and IV would require 2 base components, etc.). The resulting product would always be the upper Mark of the tier. Components with special attributes (higher quality) would yield better results.
B) Resources - projects would require resources, the same kind used now for Memory Alpha. Higher tiers would require higher grade resources.
C) Personnel - one or more Boffs are assigned to a project. Boffs could have technical skills in lieu of space skills or ground skills, resulting in some Boffs you keep around for projects but don't assign a console and/or take on away missions. The more skilled the Boff in the technical skill, the better results.
D) Time. Completing a project would require man-hours. I could see either one measured by logged-in time, or total time (meaning your projects progress even while logged off). Assuming logged in time I would suggest man-hours = Tier + Mark /4. A Mark II item would take 40 minutes with one Boff, a Mark X item would take just under 4 hours (though at that point you should have more spare). Using the off-line method a ballpark figure might be Tier x Rank /2, which would require 1 hour for a Mark II and 25 hours for a Mark X.
Finally there should be an element of chance. This is experimental research, so you won't always get the same results. To keep the system from being frustrating, there should always be some improvement, but there should be degrees of of success which combine the quality of inputted components, Boff skills and some luck.
Upgrades would be projects, which would require base components, resources, personnel (Boffs), and time. A ship could have one project at a time.
A) Components - creating an upgraded component would require a number of base components equal to the Tier (so Mark I and II gear would require 1 base component, Mark III and IV would require 2 base components, etc.). The resulting product would always be the upper Mark of the tier. Components with special attributes (higher quality) would yield better results.
B) Resources - projects would require resources, the same kind used now for Memory Alpha. Higher tiers would require higher grade resources.
C) Personnel - one or more Boffs are assigned to a project. Boffs could have technical skills in lieu of space skills or ground skills, resulting in some Boffs you keep around for projects but don't assign a console and/or take on away missions. The more skilled the Boff in the technical skill, the better results.
D) Time. Completing a project would require man-hours. I could see either one measured by logged-in time, or total time (meaning your projects progress even while logged off). Assuming logged in time I would suggest man-hours = Tier + Mark /4. A Mark II item would take 40 minutes with one Boff, a Mark X item would take just under 4 hours (though at that point you should have more spare). Using the off-line method a ballpark figure might be Tier x Rank /2, which would require 1 hour for a Mark II and 25 hours for a Mark X.
Finally there should be an element of chance. This is experimental research, so you won't always get the same results. To keep the system from being frustrating, there should always be some improvement, but there should be degrees of of success which combine the quality of inputted components, Boff skills and some luck.