We live in eternal hope!
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But have the devs stated that PVEers should have reason to buy this game? If its true open world PVP all the time, then that answer would be no…even though the game looks amazing. Maybe it could be like how I hear Eve is, with some high security regions for PVE?
Battlescape will take place in one sollar system and will be PvP only. As Flavien said, the closest you’ll get to PvE is attacking a base, probably with automated defence turrets.
PvE requires AI enemies of some kind. At the moment, with current funding, it’s a bit out of reach, since any implementation would likely be pretty basic and therefore unsatisfying.
It’s better not to muddle the game’s message at this point and keep it pure. Simplicity is key! Yes, it will be open-world, PvP, team-based rounds, but the planet technology should be able to pull in more than just your average shooter fan.
I dont want the devs to change their game if PVE is not what they had planned. Im just not into PVP anymore and dont want to buy a game that is PVP only, even if it does look neat. I just wanted to be sure the online play of this game was PVP only, thank you all for confirming that for me. I know now not to buy this game for the online play.
I am a firm believer that some amount of PVE content is absolutely essential if Battlescape is to stand a chance of success. The simple fact is that some PVE content will be needed to attract players to empty servers. Player numbers will initially be relatively low because there is very little marketing budget and so players can’t be confident of servers filling with players soon after they join. They need an incentive to go there other than the PVP game.
I expanded on this point of view previously.
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True! Might this be something other than npc combat? Taking out transports, attacking weaker targets and scouting?
Stationary AI defence turrets would be much easier to program than NPC ships.
A handful of turrets of various calibres (anti-fighter, anti-bomber and anti-capital) on each facility would make them a potent PvE challenge for anyone.
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Acording to the Battlescenario commic that could be a possibility.
Tgey provably need to programm some AI for turets on player ships anyway.
Heheh, completely off-topic, but the typos in this made me chuckle. 
Mobile? Or have you been replaced by a semi-intelligent AI with marginal spelling abilities, possibly solving our difficulties with NPCs?
I hate touchscreen “keyboards”… also was in a hurry.
So yes. When you see all these typos in my posts thats probably the reason.
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I don’t see how a large scale multiplayer game could exclude PvE content. Without it, the players are just shooting at each other mindlessly. The PvE content shapes the PvP encounters, so PvE content is mandatory.
Shooting at NPCs is not PvE content that structures a multiplayer game, so don’t waste time on AI. A proper example of PvE content structuring gameplay is Unreal Tournament’s Onslaught matches. There, each team tried to activate a network of nodes that incrementally gave them access to new resources while simultaneously trying to prevent the opposing team in their efforts.
Battlescape will need solo and small group tasks to accomplish which can be contested by an opposing force. If the group tasks are then made hierarchical, larger groups can be kept occupied.
Solo task: a powerup that can be easily located and easily obtained. They will tend to cause solo players to congregate and fight.
Small group task: activating a fighter repair station. These are shared resources that a team likes to have for itself and to deny to the enemy. This is the Onslaught model. The task can be accomplished slowly by one player, and more quickly by multiple.
Large group task: activating a capital repair station. There are a dozen power nodes (stations) that must be activated and held while the repair station itself is activated. The power nodes are separated by enough distance to prevent a single group from being able to defend all power nodes simultaneously. The repair station itself is notoriously slow to activate, and it is preferable to bring in larger support ships (which themselves require support structures that must be activated).
The capitals would be used in the grandest goals of the game, permitting a team to deactivate the opposing team’s major hardpoints - stations and big ground installations. If those are networked together then you’d have an EVE Online style task of rolling up an enemy team’s network of major infrastructure.
If the topology of the connected nodes is always procedurally-generated then there would be something different to each match. Note that having a defined topology means that players intuitively know where the fights are - the boundaries of the graph. It would also give scouts something very important to do - identify the current state of the enemy’s topology.
Like I said, this is the sort of stuff that structures multiplayer PvP gameplay. It’s all very simple stuff to implement. Just some static models with some state behind them and a simple UI in front of them. The players just need something to fight over.
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I think what @crayfish had in mind was the no players scenario and that needs to be addressed with some sort of single-player PvE content.
What I meant was will there be an option of some type for PVE only play maybe as in safe policed areas like high security areas in Eve , not if there will be PVE mixed with PVP. Some players, such as myself, are not really into PVP so we dont want to have it in our games much at all or at least have the option not to have to mess with it.
PVP in survival games for example is brutal and you can lose several days worth of gathering and building in one night from one enemy player guilds raid…sometimes when you are not even online. So you come back, and your entire base and everything in it is completely destroyed. Or in a space base game like this, you have to constantly be on guard from player attacks, and might lose your ship to constant threats of pirate players extorting money from you(freelancer discovery), or just general gankers. Ive lost my fast twitch reflexes that used to be good, due to a nasty sleep condtion. So Ive got away from PVP any more and now focus on PVE and COOP, its MUCH less frustrating for me. I want to enjoy the game more, explore, and in space type games focus on making crazy amounts of credits through trading/mining etc without worrying about some PVP weasel trying to gank me hehe.
No, there won’t. The discussion has moved on from your original question which I think has been answered multiple times now.
However, your talk about loosing assets that you’ve spent time working for suggests you don’t really understand Battlescape’s proposed gameplay. There will be no base building or accumulation of assets. Matches may last multiple days but players can drop in and out like in multiplayer FPSs like Battlefield, etc.
I’m sorry if you don’t find Battlescape’s gameplay attractive but I hope you keep an eye on I-Novae Studios in the future!
Such as capturing a point, probably defended by AI turrets?
JB’s point was that there will be objectives such as capturing infrastructure and facilities, and those objectives could be tackled by single players alone on the server.
A single player couldn’t win a whole match, but there’d be something for them to do until other players joined.
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Aha! I get you now. There are different types of pvp: RPG style (persistent characters that may incur loss on death) and traditional FPS (where deaths are usually a statistic followed by a quick respawn).
Battlescape will not be an RPG like Freelancer Discovery. It’s an fps game (Planetside 2 in space… Sort of). This means that if you’re pursuing solo goals and happen to get shot down by other players, you’ll likely be able to quickly respawn and try again!
As for progress, we have no details yet, but there may be account-based unlocks. Plus, you should get a variety of standard ships to choose to fly each time, such as the current interceptor, bomber and corvette. (Bigger ships may have to be earned each round of the game through participation in objectives).
So, if you’re afraid that pvp ruins all your progress, it may not be true here! If you want a quiet exploration and mining game however, then fair enough, this might not be for you! (Unless you fly around in the basic offline exploration mode that will probably have very little to do other than fly and practise not crashing!)
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Ok thank you my friend.
As long as we are still talking about PVP and no official response from the devs has happened yet, then Im fine with the way the conversation is going, it helps me learn more about this game. And thanks for the info on losing resources etc, this sounds more and more like a fast pasted FPS type space game then just a exploration/survival etc type game.
The official response is that, as has already been mentioned, I:B will primarily be PvP. A minor PvE component is planned for combat against factories, land bases, and stations as well as their defenses and the transport ships of the opposing teams carrying resources. While we understand I:B won’t be for everyone we do hope to be able to provide more ambitious experiences in the future and we certainly appreciate you taking the time to ask!
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That’s about the equivalent of capturing objectives on a Battlefield map while you are alone on a server, it’s sad to call that engaging gameplay. 
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