I took "What additions would you make to the game to be more vivid and lively" to be features and graphics. Sorry if I miss understood.
I'd wish for: * POI BG Sound: Hanger bg noise / Space Station noise (ships docking, hydraulics, vents, wrench/pipes climping, not-understandable-radio-voice…. ;; some of the Default TS bg sounds remind me of the Windows XP Desktop background) * 'Nameable' NPC with selectable appearance (similar to Traders) for PDA quests and …. * Dialog System to interact with NPC* NPC's that could 'lift off' a TS/O and leaving/entering a planetary playfield (to vanish). (SV/CV, class Limit 4-5) * NPC Crew with 'functions' (Limits 1 per function, or requires an assignable bed -> max ?)
A. For planetary playfields I would like so see... Aquatic wildlife. Varied terrain on the poles (with plant/wildlife). Rivers/streams/waterfalls. Volumetric water that reacts to changes in the landscape and structures. Predation between the various lifeforms and factions. (The player is not the center of the world.) NPC factions reacting to each other. Caves NPC HV's & SV's on planets B. For space playfields I would like to see.. Detector that is usable in space, lets give the radar dish a function. More planetary types. An animated warp jump sequence. NPC SV's in space.
So happy Eleon made this post! Yes to all the suggestions! Are things like this truly possible? I know I’m speaking from a selfish place but considering I have already gotten my money’s worth and then some (700+ hrs) I would absolutely wait and donate to see some of these suggestions come to fruition! These have been mentioned but my top favorites are: - more environmental features - rivers, waterfalls, fauna, caves - go crazy! Unique plants and animals for each planet! - more unique native races for each planet besides the Talon - NPC dialogue - even simple lines that give context to the world like in old JRPGs - more story related missions - Zirax and Polaris vehicle patrols of all types. Seeing them fight each other would be neat and if you are close to a battle if you are friendly with them they can ask for help I guess for me it comes down to environment, story, interactions
It would be interesting to see how the animals also react to the Zirax, which attack them as well, since in general these animals are aggressive. I imagine being attacked by Raptors, then I run to a place where I see Zirax troops. Then both the Raptors attack me and the Zirax and also these the Raptors. The herbivores should be upset if you pick up vegetables in their vicinity since it is their food and they defend it. It would be more real to see that the Zirax react when you shoot at them from a distance. It is frustrating to see that they do not bother looking for you if they are shot in the chest and continue their normal patrol like a mosquito bite. Nor is the partner upset if he sees the first one fall with a shot to the head. It is as if he looks at it and says "Ok we all have to die" and continues walking. It would be interesting or at least more fun to gain reputation in another way instead of pest control in factional areas. For example, I would like to see the Zirax attack other factions' places and they launch a call for help. It is in you to go or not. When you repel the attack you receive reputation points. This should be random and early in the game to move on to attacks on your base when you have one. It would be interesting complement. In the idea of factions also the idea of escort missions or calls for help of freighter q are attacked by Zirax or pirates and the reward is in reputation or epic or mineral weapons. Following this someone mentioned a bounty hunter !! And my head exploded !! For now we only receive attacks directed to the base but we do not receive attacks towards us. I thought about it this way: If you resist attacks to your base for a period or amount of attacks, they go to look for you with bounty hunters (a ship differentiated from the drones). With attacks both in space and on planets. Only the detected vessel warning arrives but the attack is not direct, but they search you for the zone in a random way. In other words, they find you or not if you move around the planet or space. But if you spend a lot of time in one place (for example, a space station for more than 30 min), they look for you directly there or wherever you stay for a long time, like when you mine an area or you are looking an abandoned building. I do not know if the idea is understood. Translated from Spanish
A. Hostile NPCs that "investigate" disturbed earth, ideally drones and PVs detect the disturbance then NPCs show up to investigate and guard so the player is forced to explore more or attack. B. POIs in space that spawn drones, orbital patrol vessels and freighters
For planet playfields... The option to have a a planet as a single biome like we had before the major playfield update. For example, it can be very difficult to create a desert planet that doesn't try to spawn oasis and little pockets of life, or create a planet that is one big sand dune rather than rocky dirt. We could then have some very themed scenarios. I'd like to see more stuff in the sky with me - Single or grouped Zirax patrols SV (not drones), Polaris convoy with security escort, etc Dynamic ship wreaks. At the moment we only have static human wreaks. What if the game could spawn in wreaks randomly with the same notification we get when asteroids hit. Also, how cool would it be to come across a fresh Zirax wreak with the crew still loitering about (see my comments below about animated fire and electrical sparks ) For space playfields... More indications of travel and other races - navigation buoys marking commonly used travel paths, picking up random pieces of radio signals (might be a good way to indicate who is in the area and provide a use for the radar disk or antenna?) Hidden loot caches and features (not POIs) to discover. Give us a reason to explore! For the builders... More dynamic decals/textures/stamps - scorch marks, blast marks, blood marks, puddles, etc. Something that can be applied to block like symbols usign the paint/texture gun. This would bring POIs and ship designs to life! We could use these to indicate danger or lead the payer down a path. Imagine the abandoned mine with a trail of blood leading to a door lock override... Animated blocks that don't serve a purpose other than decoration - mechanisms or components, steam, smoke, fire, plasma, electrical sparks, water tanks, consoles, etc. We do have one of these already. Its called a radar dish ...overall though I would say the presence of humanity. By this I mean people not ships. This could be something passive like personal logs that can be found in Human themed POIs that give a little backstory (no quests needed!), more abandoned human outposts with signs of people living there (maybe even signs of a fight), some more escape pods (old and decaying) and even some human remains - something that says "we were here!" not just "this is where our stuff fell out of the sky". This would simultaneously make us feel more connected to the universe and more isolated as the only survivor. Less passively, then actual human colonies, outposts and ships where we can interact with and even get missions and even our faction rating. I think there are a few small things that could be added that would really add depth to the game.
A. For planets... I would like to see more environmental effects and variable lighting. This would improve visual fidelity and make the different planets more unique (and alive). I'd also like to see some more varied sound design, especially when it comes to the ambient tracks. B. For Space... I'd like to see more NPC vessels passing by planets, or more space stations that are allied with certain factions. It would also help if the factions fought with each other, so ownership of the space above the planet changed.
I'd love to see some neutral npc traffic. Imagine having NPC SV's come in to land at a trade outpost on a planet or in space, having a hovertank column patrolling a desolate wasteland. With this you could also have procedually generated missions attached to it. Maybe there could be a bounty board or mission giver on a station that gives you some npc's to hunt down for money, and other such things. Maybe even on pvp servers the zirax could put a bounty on a player who attacked their bases and you can take up the contract to hunt them down.
Some new biomes on planets would be nice. Arid Canyons/Mesa: Sheer, banded canyons for Arid planets (Grand canyon-esque), with streams or narrow rivers at the bottom. Temperate Pine Forests: We have spatterings of snow-covered pine groves on the snow planet, but there's no non-snowy densely packed pine trees for a temperate planet. Hell, there's not much in the way of large densely packed pine forests on snow planets either. There's more to a forest than just sticking trees on grass. Especially for pine forests where pine needles would carpet the ground. Tropical Rainforest: A more vibrant kind of "forest" found around the equator of temperate planets. Contains Palm trees, some of the larger trees and a number of new low bushes and short trees (No birch or oak); making traversing it with an HV impossible without a harvest module. The biome floor should not be grass (leaf litter). Petrified Forest: A... unique biome type. Consisting of tall, massive, stone, tree-like structures close enough together to form a canopy over a dirt/rock floor, covered in rocks. These stone "trees" have thin trunks and would be tall and wide enough to allow SVs to fly underneath the overhanging canopy with some space to spare. Concept for this comes from several games, but primarily from an episode of Love, Death + Robots (below. But ignore that horrid music that someone put on it). Desolate Planet: Either as a biome for the barren metal planet or as a planet/moon surface in and of itself. Desolate would be a dark, lightly fogged, sinister-looking, lifeless landscape of rock and gravel; Completely covered in sharp crystalline spires of rock, punctuated with massive canyons and huge overhangs of solid rock. The concept is based primarily on the asteroid surface from Armageddon. Seeing as huge canyons aren't really a normal terrain generation, i'd guess as a planet it would have an inverted height system, with the normal terrain surface being considered a kind of mountain. With the ravines and canyons being at regular ground level.
I'd LOVE a decorative use for gold ingots. Like gold blocks with the same textures, shapes as concrete
*sniff* Is the peasant speaking...? *Xoar K'thul the other Zirax overlord in the vicinity looks over whilst impaling a skull on one of the many spikes adorning his dark throne* "Why yes, I believe it is" *Kal Draknon leans down from his similarly grotesque macabre authority* "I believe he wishes to use gold for some shiny baubles" *Xoar K'thul begins to eat his latest meal from the black pits* "I say let them, silly peasants"
Just keep it simple. Flowing water and proper lighting. With this we get waterfalls, we can incorporate water into our builds properly, we get actual dark caves and lighting doesn't bleed through walls. The world will become more interesting and dynamic as a result.
Flowing water would change the entire game, that would be amazing. I also think that the terrain should have more sharp edges. Everything is very round right now, which makes it look artificial.
A. For planetary playfields I would like so see... *Like everyone else I would love to see water get updated with creatures both aggressive and passive. *Weather for water like strong currents and alien algae bloom that can cause dmg or power outages for water vehicles/bases. *Air turbulence that can push you when flying in storms or bad weather. *NPC HV's and SV's free roaming and maybe base attacks hit a third Teir and Hv's and SV's come with drones and Troop transporters? *Giant Raid bosses that spawn in on planet and in POI's on planets. Drop one of kind loot. *Rare creatures that drop rare chemicals/hides/materials that can be used for certain end game technology. B. For space playfields I would like to see.. *Temporary space play fields that spawn for quests. Example would be rescue mission to retrieve data/technology/npc off a planet that is about to be hit by a giant asteroid or comet! *I know a lot people say black holes, but I want scary black holes that can destroy your ship. Maybe technology upgrade lets you get closer or something but I hate the one's in NMS, they are lame!! *Space weather (Others have suggested just backing) *Space Creatures Large that can destroy your ship and small ones that can damage or knock power out(others have suggested im just backing up the idea) *Home worlds to Zirax and Poloris - Max rep will allow you passage to the planet to buy special things you can no get else where. Working for the Zirax you would have to get stealth tech and do quest that leads to info on a weak part of Poloris defense to stealth past and land on the planet. than you have access to end game POI's that yeild unique loot. Same thing working for Poloris, you get stealth tech and got to Zirax home world with info on weak part to stealth past and land on the planet to do end game dungeons. As a note- I am aware end game is far off, but I thought I would throw some idea's in?
I started a new game last night with the purpose of this thread in mind and I would like to make the following very simple suggestion to make the game more lively and vivid: Surprises. The unexpected. More 'Oh!' moments. We need more things that we can't predict and that keep us on our toes. Base attacks certainly do this to a point but this is still quite predictable. What about trap-door spiders (or other non-arachnid creepies) that jump out at you if you get too close to their concealed location. They don't have to chase you and could be fixed in location with a long reach or ranged attack. A variation of this would be a camouflaged or disguised creature (like the plant monster) that blends with it's environment or doesn't move until he player is close. Underground caves and caverns. These might catch us off guard when digging and present a fun challenge if falling in unexpectedly. They could also make an excellent place for base or even just a temporary refuge Hidden locations that do not appear on a radar, such as a small wreak or ruin that we would really have to find rathre than follow a waypoint to. These could contain special rewards. To reference myself... ...so anything that might happen to catch us off guard or that we can't predict.
