Alright folks, here it is. Writing the plot for a big ol infinite universe is tough!! So I'm casting a suggestion-y line out to you, community, to get super involved and give me the neat ideas I crave. Use this thread to ask questions, work out threads before posting, and all sorts of cool stuff!
I think a neat way to really exercise the SCOPE of this game, is to have some long-term quests, not just "go here, kill that" type things. For example, perhaps you're given a quest to discover a certain kind of wildlife, but in order to accomplish that, you have to work your way there by exploring, advancing your technology, etc. Or perhaps you're given a quest to build a certain sized city, or structure, so that you have to work to gather suitable materials etc. Plenty of "do this, get reward" quests will keep casual players plenty busy, but we die-hards want to IMMERSE ourselves in this universe. Don't be afraid to ask us to put some real effort into things!
I agree to some point, but the small "go there, kill that" quests can be good for the player who just need to get some quick cash or exp.
Well, one thing to keep in mind is we're trying to keep this microcosmic. You're going to hit a planet, see something telling you that something is afoot, and call your friends to check it out.
Also, be sure to drop plenty of flavor text! We're trying to really capture the idea of a living, breathing universe. Or you can ask me to write the flavor text if your idea is dope!
No no, it's still totally playable in single player. It'll just be like "hey dudes found this thing let's explore it together!" sorta situation
I gotcha. I won't be doing too much in single player, I was just curious. I have an idea, but I'll have to write it up a bit later, my brain's broken atm
Perhaps organizations you could join? Say there's a political party, or multiple and a type or party on the opposite side of the spectrum. Parties may want to take over/remodel planets, and you could side with them or go against them. Maybe with ecological vs technological motivations in mind. Some kind of bounty hunting system could be cool too. I'm thinking implemented as some kind of board you go check for missions to hunt down NPC's This would be a good way to get item drops/access other npc's/planets/ship parts/etc Bounty hunting might also be able to be applied to characters that frequently visit maps It would be cool the Devs playing online (assuming they're ahead equipment wise) could be hunted by groups of smaller players. I'll add more as I think of them.
maybe early on an NPC tells you to catch 50 different types of penguins. He only says it once three times. If you manage to Catch 'em all, you will be rewarded with an interesting addition to your ship, the de-pressurizer. this would let you freely roam the universe (using WASD to move) and find space junk and useful items floating around, beyond the atmospheres of the planets. EDIT: The reason for only saying it once is so that people may forget about it and be surprised when they've been collecting all those epic penguins. Maybe he says it 3 times. Oh wait- He already does