Star Wars Galaxies: Smuggler Changes - In Concept - Slicing

Hello Folks, [/strong]</div>
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<div>Here is part two of the Smuggler upgrade documents. Please
remember that this is all concept, nothing in this document is set in
stone. What that means is once things start to get worked on, it
can/may/will be altered depending on issues that arise. </div>
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<div>Smuggler - Slicing</div>
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<div>Overview</div>
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<div>Jury rigging hardware is an iconic element
of the Star Wars smuggler. Han Solo was known for his ability to make
modifications on his ship or equipment and to barely keep things
running in the face of trouble. In our game, we have chosen to call
this slicing, a slight misuse of the term. Slicing is a core element of
the smuggler profession in SWG, its one of the primary methods in which
smugglers are able to make money and impact the game environment and
economy.</div>

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<div>The current slicing model lacks detail and
gameplay. A smuggler is able to slice a limited number of values and
the results of the slice are random. In addition, certain items let the
smuggler bypass the slice completely and always succeed. The goal of
the slicing enhancement will be to give smugglers more control over the
results of their slices, as well as improve the gameplay element of
slicing. Finally, smugglers will be giving some slicing options that
can be used inside POB ships.</div>
<div>
Gear Slicing (Weapons & Armor)</div>
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<div>Every piece of sliceable equipment, such as weapons and armor will have a customization level from 0 to 100. Sliced effects placed on a weapon by Smugglers will increase the customization level. </div>
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<div>Weapon Customization</div>
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<div>A smuggler's slicing skill level determines
how much customization they can apply to a weapon and what kinds of
customizing effects they can apply. A smuggler with 20 points of
slicing skill can apply 20 points of customization to a weapon. A
master smuggler with 100 points of slicing skill can apply 100 points
of customization to a weapon.</div>
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<div>The category of effects the smuggler can
apply will be dependent on the type of item modified. A weapon could
have its firing speed decreased and its damage output increased. Within
each category of effects are a series of increasingly effective
modifications:</div>
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<div>Select Customization: DL-44 (Weapon)</div>

• Increase Firing Rate
1. Rebuild weapon body.
2. Reduce barrel weight.
3. Streamline load mechanism.
• Enhance Weapon Damage
1. Replace stock capacitor.
2. Overcharge energy core.
3. Embed experimental core booster.
• Increase Critical Strike Chance
1. Mount improved range finder.
2. Notch and file grip.
3. Install feather-touch trigger pull.

<div>Each customization within a category is
dependent on installing the customization before it, but customizations
from different categories can co-exist. For example, the player
couldn't "Reduce barrel weight" until they have performed the "Rebuild
weapon body" option, because the two come from the same category.
However, the player could "Replace stock capacitor" and "Rebuild weapon
body" because they come from different categories.</div>
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<div>The quality of a bonus increases as you do
more work in that category, but each bonus contributes to the weapon's
over all customization score. A smuggler can't increase a weapon's
customization beyond his own skill level and the customization can
never be more than 100. So the player could mix and match low end
customizations from different categories, or go for the high end
customization in a specific category.</div>
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<div>The names of categories will depend on the type of item (ranged, melee, armor, etc).</div>
<div>
Weapon Failure</div>
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<div>As a weapon's customization level increases,
it's propensity for failure also increases. There are two types of
failure: out of tune and broken.</div>

• Out of Tune is a temporary
  decrease in a weapon's function. This is not the same as hit point
  decay and it will not cause the item to become deleted. The higher the
  level of customization on a weapon, the more out of tune the weapon
  will become per use. The effects of this state will depend on the item.
  A weapon will do less damage. Armor will absorb less damage. A weapon
  may be retuned by any smuggler.
• Broken items cannot be used.
  A weapon that is out of tune has a chance to break. Broken items cannot
  be used until a smuggler repairs them.

 
<div>
When the slicing game begins, a wireframe version of the weapon's model will appear in the "wireframe model" window. </div>
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<div>When the player presses the start button,
the progress bar will begin to fill up. When the progress bar fills up
completely, the slicing operation is done and the modification is
applied to the weapon.</div>
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<div>As the progress bar fills up, special
events, written as text, will appear in the slicing event area. For
example, while "overcharging the energy core" to get a damage bonus,
the event "The weapon core is heating unexpectedly!" might appear in
the event area. When this happens, the four buttons above the wireframe
model become active, each with an option written below. These are the
event responses. Different results will happen depending on the
response the player picks. If our heating unexpectedly event fires, the
four choices might be: A: Vent Core, B: Increase Core Power, C:
Decrease Core Power, D: Ignore. Ignoring the option would do nothing,
resulting in a chance of the event causing a reduction in the quality
of the customization. Venting the core might prevent any damage from
the core heating, but would move the progress indicator back.
Increasing power would be a bad choice in this case, doing so would
lower the quality meter. Decreasing the power would be the correct
choice and would increase the quality of the customization. The order
of the responses will be random, requiring the player to read for the
correct response and select it in time.</div>
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<div>The player must pick the right responses to
increase the quality of the customization they are performing. When the
progress meter is full, the final results of the customization are
scaled by the amount of quality from 0 to 100%. A 0% mod would count as
not having been applied.</div>
<div>The speed at which events appear and the
diversity of events will depend on the difficulty of the slice being
applied and the current complexity of the weapon.</div>
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<div>Tools of the Trade</div>

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<div>The previous tools for slicing, like laser
knives, will be removed and replaced with a "Smuggler's Tools." The kit
of tools will have a high number of charges, so smugglers won't have to
worry about constantly crafting slicing tools.</div>
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<div>Weapon Customization Display</div>
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<div>Customized attributes will be displayed when the weapon is examined:</div>

<div>Customization: 40%</div>

<div>Rebuilt body.  +5% To Hit
Reduced barrel weight. +5% To Hit
Custom capacitor.  +5% To Damage</div>

<div>This can be displayed below the standard weapon statistics.</div>
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<div>Terminal & Container Slicing</div>
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<div>Terminal and container slicing will remain
relatively unchanged. They will use the mini-game, but for now there
won't be multiple levels of terminal and container slicing.