Multiplayer trading

[Pixel of Life]

Long story short, I came up with an idea that could be a potential replacement for "real" multiplayer, at least until (if) such a thing is implemented. I propose multiplayer trading - here's how it works:

In the upcoming career mode, you will need both resources and money to keep your space program running.

But what if, for example, you have an excess supply of materials but not enough money to build new rockets? Or if you have a shortage of materials and plenty of money, but you're too lazy to mine resources? You would, of course, sell things to other players or buy something they have put up for sale. You could sell your hard-earned materials on an online marketplace of sorts, in exchange for money. For those who like to manufacture things, there would be the option of refining the raw materials into various spaceship parts which could also be sold to other players. Finally, for players who prefer building, there would be the possibility of putting entire spacecraft up for sale. And of course, this would work the other way round as well - you could buy materials, parts and spacecraft instead of doing the hard work by yourself. Sure, such a system would have it's downsides, but the advantages would far outweigh them.

KSP is gaining more and more recognition among people, and that in turn motivates the developers to keep working on the game. I think it's safe to say that at this rate, we will be getting regular updates for a loooooong time after the release of KSP 1.0. Now, the materials/parts/ships trading system might not sound like much, but it would certainly be a beginning. Also, keep in mind that it could theoretically be implemented while the game is still in Alpha or Beta phase! Just imagine how much more potential such a system would have a few years from now when KSP and its userbase have grown much, much bigger and better

Thoughts, ideas and criticism are welcome.

[TheAndrewTaco]

It sounds like this would be an MMO-style exchange/market. Would be difficult to implement, but I love the idea

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

This idea is actually, good. Not the average multiplayer guff I heard before, I do agree.

[Necandi Brasil]

I really like this idea... but it needs more work on the core concept... Only resources and money are allowed to be traded ? Why not designs , techs and other stuff ?

[TheAndrewTaco]

I really like this idea... but it needs more work on the core concept... Only resources and money are allowed to be traded ? Why not designs , techs and other stuff ?

Trading techs from the tree would be kind of cheaty, because for some amount of money or resources you could acquire any tech effortlessly, thereby killing off a core concept of career mode.

Also, the tech would rapidly spread through the market until it becomes worthless because everyone would have it.

[cloudx]

This actually is and idea that I would be happy about being put in the game. Each player could have their own space program, and exchange resources and money. This is actually a good idea.

[togfox]

I like this idea in the OP. Need a killer craft that can reach eeloo? Spend real life time building one and have fun that way, or cut to the chase, buy one on the market, and fly instantly - thereby jumping to the fun straight away.

You'd have to be careful though with buying ship designs. Some will simply suck and not do as described. There needs to be a strong dose of buyer beware and perhaps some community managed rating system so those that do buy can go back and rate its usefulness and value.

Restricting the trade to base materials or similar would be a far easier starting point.

This whole idea is complex - for sure - but this would offer something I've not seen in other games.

[Pixel of Life]

I really like this idea... but it needs more work on the core concept... Only resources and money are allowed to be traded ? Why not designs , techs and other stuff ?

These could, of course, be added to the game later, when the core of the trading function would be complete. But as TheAndrewTaco said, it might not be a good idea to trade techs because it would take all the fun away. Togfox's "starting out small" concept would most likely be the best way to start developing such a system - develop the core first, and when that's working, then add new things that you can exchange in the marketplace Here's a couple more ideas on what could be traded:

- Kerbals! Hire other players' better trained kerbals for your own missions, in exchange for an amount of money. The original owner of said kerbal would get a small slice of the money you earn by actually using the kerbal. It's a win-win situation - both would benefit from such a thing.

- Resource maps? Seeing as there will be mining, there must certainly be a way to locate the things you're looking for. Also, since the planets are being improved and new ones are added, there's plenty of exploring to do - one could also trade maps of interesting locations.

The original idea and these suggestions are based on the planned features, but of course, as KSP is developed, more and more potentially tradeable things are added into the game

[jwenting]

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/showthread.php/36863-What-not-to-suggest

Major features

Multiplayer* [1]

Weaponry* [2] [3]

trying to sneak in multiplayer through a backdoor is still multiplayer.

[togfox]

The OP should rename the thread to "trading system".

oh - and stock vs mod would also play a part. There will be stock resources and mod resources (kethane) so - yeah - a few issues to work through.

[Beeman]

I'd be okay with something like this, though I'd only want to be able to see or interact with my friends' space program.

An in-game social feature might not be that bad of an idea at all, actually. Could involve more than just trading craft files or various resources. Maybe you could have like a basic profile for your space agency and other players could have a look inside of your museum or at an interactive encyclopedia of some of your exploits. Or something like that.

[Pixel of Life]

trying to sneak in multiplayer through a backdoor is still multiplayer.

This is not your average multiplayer where people can directly interact with each other. Requests for such a thing are the ones that annoy Squad because it would be near impossible to implement. This is different.

The OP should rename the thread to "trading system".

oh - and stock vs mod would also play a part. There will be stock resources and mod resources (kethane) so - yeah - a few issues to work through.

Unfortunately, I can't change the thread name anymore As for mods, I'm wondering if it would be possible to connect Spaceport to the market system so that if you buy a mod part, it would automatically download the mod or the part in question. This would allow the system to work with all the mods that are on Spaceport.

[T-Pilot395]

Maybe have something scan through the said design for any unrecognised, A.K.A mod parts which you do not have, and then warn you before "purchasing" it.