Couple of ideas/bugs here. None of these spoilers are actually spoilers, just wanted to avoid a wall of text. (A few special planets are referred to, but I kept the references pretty vague, so if you dont know about it, you wont get any info except that such a planet type exists.)
First, a question: How do you equip your ship with found disintigrator cannons? I had a couple, but I couldnt figure out how to get them onto my ship.
Second, quick bug. Drills dont seem to be working. Or, they work, but I generally just mine with my gauss gun or laser rifle. They do plenty of damage, making drills unnecessary.
Suggestion: Intelligent Aliens and their planets
Couple of points here. First, new planet idea. An ALMOST FTL capable alien race, able to send out spaceships within a few (say, 5?) spaces of their homeworld. The aliens would be hostile, but finding a translator device and then succeeding in a quest of some sort would allow you to ally with them and trade with them from that point on....something more lucrative than the current alien planet trade. Alternatively, you could blast through the defending ships and assault the planet, which would require a Dropship-level of power, then loot the planet for a 1-time gain.
Also, in general I think it would look better if intelligent species built, instead of scattered huts and fields, 1-2 villages/towns, with a cluster of huts and fields nearby. This would give you a better idea of which critters are the builders, as the builders would spend much of their time trudging back and forth from hut to field. Also, instead of dealing with the intelligent critters separately, have a "tribe relations" score, where giving them food increases your score with them until friendly, but stealing/attacking makes them angry. Friendly enough aliens could join your security detail, or sell you primitive arts for food etc. As a result of this, the lizard world would probably be split into two warring towns, and you would have to reach a certain level of trust with one band before they offer to hire you.
Last, Uplift! Find (very rare, only on very distant, nebulae planets, deep underground) Monoliths. Monoliths could be used to upgrade intelligence of a species..from animal to tribal, tribal to industrial, industrial to sub-light (see above). Uplifted races would have super-maxed relation scores with their upliftor, of course.
Suggestions: Planet terrain
mountains -- The placement of many, many minerals on top of mountains has made drills less effective and the early game harder, as well as making jetpacks a needed mining tool, where it is plenty useful just as a movement tool. I think early game (IMESHO) is already plenty hard..id like to see more difficulty added in late game, not early. How about two types of mountains, one that takes a lot of time (read: oxygen) to cross but can be down by anyone/needs some cheap equipment, and other that is only crossable via jetpack? Some planets, especially near stations, would have only rough mountains, most would have a mix, and some would have mostly/only unclimbable mountains.
In general, tho, I love the addition of ocean planets. I would just like to see more! especially ice-oceans, where you can walk, but fighting has a chance to break the ice...
Suggestions -- Normal critters
Creature icon -- I dont know about everyone else, but when I see a capital letter, I immediately think "BIG!". How about using a color to denote well-shielded critters, and a capital to designate a creature above a certain size?
Creature regen speed -- At the beginning of the game, the rapid respawn of creatures makes it hard to explore planets, but in the late game it makes it easy to stand around on a planet grinding bio-value, especially if you have a good science officer and elite troops. This is kind of another example of how the game seems to get a lot easier over time. Id prefer it if creatures only respawned after a fairly large number of turns. Of course, some special critters could multiply really rapidly, but only on special planets.
Naming Creatures -- How about being able to name critters? Then when your science officer inspects or you examine them, instead of having to go through 2 pages of description, probably for the 10th time, you would just see "a Grue".
Suggestion -- LRF
Seems underpowered at start to me. Everyone else gets the ship gun, and can shoot pirates from a distance, especially after a cheap engine upgrade. Fighters, on the other hand, start with the short-ranged plasma cannon, and have to duke it out at close range with better-equipped pirate fighters. The number of HP means the LRF normally wins, but a lot of bounty money goes straight back into repairs.
Also, how about escort missions for the fighters? Kind of like delivery, but you have to escort a merchant ship. As it stands, Fighters are designed to be anti-pirate, but their lack of cargo space actually means they see less combat than either Scouts or Transports. You wouldnt have to actually include the merchant ship that the fighter is guarding...just assume that the merchant ship is following the LRF, and add a tag to the LRF as if it were carrying cargo. If the LRF docks at any station but the target station, they get a message that they went the wrong way, and they wont be paid.
By the way, I love the gas giant thing. It really makes being out there for a long time more possible. Maybe a new weapon slot module, tho, a Gas-scoop? then you would have to trade firepower against mission length?
What do you guys think about these? I know its a bit long, but I like to save up ideas before posting.
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Topic: Prospector, a roguelike in development (Read 284959 times)