Hey everyone. Alpha 11 is going to see the addition of the mission system to Space Impossible. This news post is a bit late in the Alpha development cycle, as it's taking a bit longer than the last few Alpha Updates.
Missions are based on the star system and will consist of five types: Combat Target, Combat Clearing, Trading, Exploration and Collecting. Combat Target - One, or several, specific targets must be destroyed. The target(s) may be in one region or in several. Ex: Destroy Captain Duncan. Combat Clearing - A number of generally defined targets must be destroyed. These will almost always require visiting several regions. Ex: Destroy five Ticeroy vessels/stations. Trading - You'll encounter people and places that are looking for certain items. Provide this specific item for a reward. Ex: A trader is stranded and wants a new engine. Exploration - These missions will require visiting certain regions and doing something within the region. (NOT INCLUDED IN ALPHA 11). Collecting - These missions will require the player to mine and/or collect a certain number of tiles. (NOT INCLUDED IN ALPHA 11). Missions will be available to everyone in the star system, and may be used to gain and/or lose faction, gain currency and/or items. They won't have to be accepted, rather are open to multiple people who can all contribute to completing that mission. Missions can fail, especially Combat Target, if the target becomes unavailable. One mission may be tracked by each player.
Additionally we're trying out the addition of a star system map. This will let you see neighboring star systems, including the predominant faction.
As part of the mission system, AI will now respond better to a player's faction, so not everyone will try to kill you out right. You'll be able to see your standing with each faction as well from a new menu screen. The real exciting thing about this update is that we're laying and expanding on the groundwork for your actions to have real meaning in the space around you. It also means re-adding Trading (buying/selling) is also one step closer (A12 or A13 depending), and now with real differences between factions. As always we thank you for your patience. We think it'll be worth the wait!