Addendum for the vehicle thread: skills?

[blank_redge]

Addendum for the vehicle thread: skills?

(The vehicle thread, for those who missed it:)

http://www.cyberpunk.net/forum/en/threads/85-In-game-Vehicles!

While I'd love to see a rich variety of vehicles from the Cyberpunk universe, should it make sense to be able to just "get in and go" for any vehicle?

I get that, as players, we're supposed to be the stars in our own story, but if I (as in me, the person) were to hop in an actual M1 Abrams or a Harrier jump jet, I wouldn't have the first fracking clue as to how to get it started, let alone piloting it.

While there's a certain level of gratification in a "Grand Theft Auto / Saints Row / etc." playstyle, where if you can jack it, you can pilot it, I don't think it's befitting for aspiring 'punks to just be able to giddy-up and go in whatever they can get their grubby little hands on.

Not without the appropriate skillsoft, that is. Which brings me to skills, as related to driving/piloting.

Someone properly trained in a given skill-set is going to be better at that activity than a layman, of course. In Long Beach, CA, they run a Grand Prix event every year, with a mix of celebrities and professional race car drivers, all driving the same model of car.

Naturally, the pro drivers whup the everliving snot out of the celebs every year.

I think skills (or skillsofts) should improve the way a vehicle handles in your capable (or incapable hands.) Someone who has a trained skill or a skillsoft of 3 in cars should not be able to compete with a Michael Schumacher or a Mario Andretti.

I think the in-game mechanic could work as the vehicle you're piloting handles / reacts better, the more points you have in the given piloting skill. Someone with a lot of points in AV piloting should be able to make that AV dance in comparison to someone who was only able to pawn an assault rifle for a skillsoft 1 AV piloting chip.

 

[walkingdarkly]

Well since we'll be in 2077, there should be a few smart-link cars where you have to jack into the car to drive it and you should have to be careful jacking the car do to some kind of feedback security system that would give you a shock or pop if you try to jack that particular car. And I'm for your character's skill giving better handling for certain vehicles unlike GTAs where Nico can drive just about anything including military vehicles.

 

[braindancer12]

Well since we'll be in 2077, there should be a few smart-link cars where you have to jack into the car to drive it and you should have to be careful jacking the car do to some kind of feedback security system that would give you a shock or pop if you try to jack that particular car. And I'm for your character's skill giving better handling for certain vehicles unlike GTAs where Nico can drive just about anything including military vehicles.

You are right

 

[luciustarkin]

Agreed with what's being said :

1 - Skills : The more skilled you are, the more you are able to handle the vehicle. If no skill : no vehicle.

2 - Smartlink : making the vehicles easier to drive (maybe with added infos)

3 - Security : It seems to me that most of the cars should, at least, have some of alarm. Then you could add active defense (APEX stationary defense system anyone ?) for some cars, or even some illegal "feedback cybersecurity" like described by WalkingTheDarkly.

I still think that car theft should be treated boldly by the NCPD or we'll face the GTA syndrome : any car is mine. The more a car is difficult to get, the more it will seem precious (except if it's a car for a one time drive into some corporate tower).

 

[blank_redge]

I still think that car theft should be treated boldly by the NCPD or we'll face the GTA syndrome : any car is mine. The more a car is difficult to get, the more it will seem precious (except if it's a car for a one time drive into some corporate tower).

[minor tangent]

Agreed overall. I think that the p.o.s. front-wheel drive econobox with mismatched body panels in the bad part of town should be easier to boost than the new Maserati or Audi sports aerodyne in the fancy part of town, and I think police response should be appropriate to the part of town you jacked the car in (from lackadaisical / nonexistent police response in the slums to remotely shutting down the aerodyne and swarming on you in the fancy part of town.)

[/tangent]

 

[wisdom000]

You know, if this thread were just about skills in general, and not merely as they pertain to vehicles, I would feel more comfortable putting it in the guide...

However it puts more emphasis on the importace of vehicles, and i am all for that...

SO I am at a conundrum.

In the meantime... I don;t think skills should necessarily reflect the accessibility of rides... unless the character doesn;t ahve any skill in them at all... try to pilot an AV without at least a 1 in the skill, and you go shooting off at full speed into the building next door...

But I do think driving should get easier the more skilled you are... the vehicles more responsive... an easy way to implement it would be to have it reflected in turning radius... the better your skill, the tighter you can turn at speed... In other words, start out with driving being as hard as it is in GTA 4... then have it gradually get better, until you can drift around corners and hit the gas without just making donuts everywhere you go...

For weapon skills... the skill should determine the random spread of shots... getting tighter and tighter, till at ten, the bullet goes where you want it.

Perusasion, people gradually react better and better to you, vendors offer better prices...

 

[blank_redge]

I do think driving should get easier the more skilled you are... the vehicles more responsive... an easy way to implement it would be to have it reflected in turning radius... the better your skill, the tighter you can turn at speed... In other words, start out with driving being as hard as it is in GTA 4... then have it gradually get better, until you can drift around corners and hit the gas without just making donuts everywhere you go...

For weapon skills... the skill should determine the random spread of shots... getting tighter and tighter, till at ten, the bullet goes where you want it.

Perusasion, people gradually react better and better to you, vendors offer better prices...

*nods*

Firearm / people skills as you describe above seemed both logical and obvious to me, which is why I was focusing on skills as pertaining to vehicles specifically.

Yeah, I was figuring both turning radii and control response, with a skill of 1 feeling like the vehicle controls are muddy, to 10, where controls feel fantastically responsive.

 

[ekocrunippogem]

I like the idea of having to earn/learn skills to do just about anything, including operating vehicles. Makes everything much more rewarding when you level up.

Also, being able to just grab anything like in GTA..that is definitely boring. I think open world is done right when you can see everything but can't do everything (skill-wise) right away..this kind of forces you to appreciate the game and discover/savor what it has to offer based on the progression/evolution of your character. I love open world exploration but dislike sandbox ability from the start, basically.

Especially in a game where you're not supposed to be a god-like, leader of man character! Even if I earn the ability to do certain things I never want to feel powerful, like I can do anything in this kind of game.

 

[walkingdarkly]

Well I brought up smart-link because of my Corp character who had a Mitsuzuki MSX900 that had smart-link/cybercontrols as his personal transportation. And I'm looking at what's already been said about driving skills, where the lower your skill the worse you are at driving a particular vehicle. But then there is of course chips, smartlinks and Cybercontrols which increase and or aid you in driving certain vehicles.
For driving skills, I think the best game to look at for how it has been done with your skill level letting you handle cars and bikes differently is GTA: San Andreas. In that game, with a low skill level for bikes you spun out easily or just fell of if you curb checked yourself, while the better you got the better you turned on a dime and stopped. Which is similiar to blank's example with AV piloting and what you posted Wisdom.

Though it does make me wonder how cybercontrols and smart-linking your vehicle could work in a video game enviroment..

 

[blank_redge]

Though it does make me wonder how cybercontrols and smart-linking your vehicle could work in a video game enviroment..

The way I figure it, if controls get more responsive the more points you have in the given piloting skill, skillsofts and a smartjack would be good, but hard points into the skill and a smartjack would be better (since in the PnP game, skillsofts typically maxed at +3, unless a GM made an exception.)

 

[wisdom000]

*nods*

Firearm / people skills as you describe above seemed both logical and obvious to me, which is why I was focusing on skills as pertaining to vehicles specifically.

Yeah, I was figuring both turning radii and control response, with a skill of 1 feeling like the vehicle controls are muddy, to 10, where controls feel fantastically responsive.

I see you put up just a basic skills thread, but I like em both, so up on the guide they go...