Hello Starbound Community. In a previous post, I expressed my enjoyment of the infiltration quests that the Outpost gave you during your progression throughout the game. To me, that was the highlight of the game: being able to go into an area with no inkling as to what has happened, what is the threat, and what techniques should be carried out to ensure satisfaction. That is why I recommend distress signals: random events that are not triggered within the outpost, but occasionally brought to the player's attention when the player accesses S.A.I.L. It could bestow rewards similar to Erchius Mining Facility, but it could also bestow ore/upgrades for the player's assistance in dungeons with variety in difficulty instead of just having the difficulty being static. Any thoughts on this are welcome.
There are challenge rooms that can be found randomly underground that are similiar to going on a mission... only a lot smaller and less dangers.
That is true, but at the same time, more long scale areas that involve infiltration can be a moment's reprieve when players are down on their luck in finding a challenge room. It provides more chances for variety in the game, which could also boost the duration of entertainment.
Perhaps they could add in other missions that aren't for upgrading through the tiers of the game but rather just there for a challenge with a nifty set of items in each one. They would be side-missions. I did add that suggestion into my thread about the idea of an Ocean Temple.
I like that concept; this suggestion was very similar, but broader in its interpretation. I didn't go into detail with what dungeons, but that is a good idea to add to the topic to diversify it from challenge rooms/other quests.[DOUBLEPOST=1441087047][/DOUBLEPOST]Some examples could be: Desert Shrines, Avian Sacrifices, and a Apex Test Subject Outbreak. In addition to Ocean Temples, these all would be some interesting distress signal quests.
If they do make special challenge/side missions I'd like to see one where you swing around using naught but a single grappling hook..... or something along those lines.
Kind of like a treetop area? Walking on platforms, and killing the resistance within the carved-out tunnels of the tree, only to go out the other end to swinging to the next platform? The way I picture it sounds somewhat peculiar to implement given the size of most trees within starbound, but the possibilities of that mechanic are interesting.
I suppose I was thinking more along the lines of swining through caves over pits of lava or over bottomless pits. Something a little similiar to that secret quest at the bottom of the outpost.
Well no reason you couldn't be swinging around using trees that are so high off the ground you die from falling to high.... also a dual grappling hook mission could require you to deal with walls that are all covered in those electric things or saw blades. Another swinging thing could be swinging along the underside of Avian pirate ships to get from one end to the other.
Sorry, should have specified that's what I imagined. Swinging underneath one pirate ship to the bottom of another. Perhaps the story was you were taken prisoner one on ship and having found a bunch of ropes or a single grappling hook you need to swing until you can find some way into the ship near the hold where you could procure some equipment to fight with.... or potentially keep it stealth based the whole way through and destroy the ships with the push of a button(s)?
I would believe you would probably be imprisoned on the ship with a sleeping guard or something. Break through the cage, open a crate to find 1-2 grappling hooks, a weak ranged weapon, and a slightly stronger melee weapon. As you progress, you can collect armor and weapons from the enemy to improve your chances of survival, and at the end of the first ship, you get back your loot. In the end, you obtain the captain of the fleet's loot be reaching his ship at the end and taking slaying him in battle (may involve a horde of avian pirates spawning similar to the Erchius Horror).
And in some cases, you don't know if you are the prisoner or the one trying to break free the prisoner, which adds more variety in those types of missions.
I also wouldn't mind some completly stealth based missions or missions would potentially different ways to finish it. Like one where you can bust into a place and wreck it up, or another way to approach is to actually talk to the boss of the place and come to an understanding (by possibly retrieving something for him)
Or by getting the choice of taking the long ocean path with hostile, aquatic animals, combined with the danger of jagged stalagmites and stalactites on the edges, or a horde of hostile soldiers on the land path.
Well either way I hope that Chucklefish happen to see this thread and at least consider it. That's all we can really ask for I suppose.....
I had something different in mind when I saw the name of this thread. As of Pleased Giraffe, nearly all the quests and missions are started and finished at the Outpost (or ship), which acts as a quest hub and is always easy to access from the ship. There have been complaints about this since having all these quests in one place diminishes the exploratory flow of the game. For variety, it should be possible to start and finish quests in different locations in the universe. The Outpost is a pre-made and static location so there either needs to be other outposts in different locations… (defined locations can be a problem because of the large scale of the Starbound universe) Your colonies is another possibility. Or there could be quests on the procedurally generated planets and locations - which includes places you have not yet visited before. Thing is, it can be much harder to find a specific person on a random planet compared to in the Outpost. That's where distress signals come in. During your travels, the ship or some device you have could detect signals from nearby planets. Then you could make the choice to travel to that signal. On the planet it could indicate from what direction the signal is coming from. Or the quest could start immediately from radio contact upon beaming down - like when SAIL contacts you during a mission. Most of the quests would also have to be randomly generated and examples could include the ones from this similarly named thread. Bring me something, deal with this threat, bounty hunt, help me get to somewhere, do something on our planet, I just want someone to talk to and so on. It doesn't always have to be quests, a mysterious signal from a nearby location could also indicate a random event, maybe a special ruin, miniboss, limited time trade deal, artefact or even a trap. Basically, what I'm describing here is a different way of receiving quests, a way that involves actual travel and exploration instead of just teleporting to the Outpost.
statement: i can imagine having a distress signal quest, where it randomly displays a signal a certain jump distance then spawns the quest giver with their stuff there after the planet is seeded. concerned: i do not think the game's code has anything for that though, so it'd be a long way off in designing.
