NPC Personal Shop Keepers & Adventurer's HUB

I kind of feel like you shouldn't just be able to create hubs. Maybe you could find a planet with a few shops already there, and you have to expand it.

 

Perhaps you could recreate HUBs by finding run-down abandoned ones? Or take the parts needed to build your own elsewhere?

 

I like the idea of making your own facilities, but i'm not sure if they should be shops or something more along the lines of employees, the latter makes more sense, as nobody can run a store for just one other person. There'd have to be some sort of reason for them to set up shop if they're running a store. Perhaps a large enough hub will have a merchant that wants to move in for both you and your employees' benefit.
I'd like to see different styles of hubs that you can construct. One is the adventurer's hub that you explained, but there's other facilities that are expansive enough that you have to give them consideration in and of themselves.

A lot of these are just things that give the camp a feeling of a bit more purpose.

I think that the mechanics should be that you have to draw people in, depending on the type of expedition, you'll have different locations that you can place them, an ore rich outcropping for miners, a ruin site for archaeologists.

the mining site, your employees will be miners (preferably they'd be able to do some actual mining while they're there, even if it is a basic strip mine.) as well as engineers and specialists. They'd have a variety of metals (Perhaps ores that they obtained in the mine) for sale. Some engineers will have facilities and skills that you don't, so you can pay them to smelt your ores with an increase in efficiency (perhaps something like 10-25% more than if you tried to smelt it yourself.) A demolitionist will be able to sell you explosives, and you might even be able to take him to a location and REALLY blow something sky-high. Guards will shoot at anything that moves and will also be a source of quests, telling you to deal with something that they can't. Other traders and facilities will be temporarily available from the convoys and barges that will occasionally make a pass through your camp, remember to check your schedule so that you're there on time if you want something.

the second is the archeological digsite. This is a more scientific exploit, and will be populated by people with a bit more finesse than the miners. Here, you'll find people dedicated to unravelling the mysteries of their site, they'll pay well for artifacts that you find in your travels, and will occasionally sell a functional relic. The archaeologists will be the most quest-oriented community that you can build, with various expeditions into their site (which can be a dungeon), and they want a skilled and well-armed guard. Still more might be something about pirates/aliens/ancient machines taking or wanting to take something valuable that the digsite dug up, and you have to protect/get it back. Shops will include fast digging machines that don't break many blocks at a time but are about equal in rate compared to the miners. And a relic store for things that they've uncovered.

the outcroppings/relic sites will be the "draw" that other posts are talking about. I'm not sure if they should be handled as being a planet-wide condition, or if they should be in a limited location. If they were planet-wide, you could place it anywhere, which is liberating, but finding a planet that's both rich in ores and containing relic sites would be difficult. If they were regions, then you'd have to place it in the region, limiting you in a different manner.

EDIT: I wrote a bit of a wall of text.
And, this is two ideas, i'd like to see something that's in space, as well, maybe some sort of nebula-gas-processing plant or something, as a center of industry. It'd give quests that will often lead to planetoids/asteroid fields tracking down space pirates. Merchants would be a bit more generalized, selling equipment and rare refined elements. Or you might be able to find a system/non-planet location that you can build a space station variant of a planetside base.

 

Updated~
Twice~
Thrice~

 

I can't even describe how much I want this. Back in Terraria, I build a MASSIVE castle, and it served two purposes. One, I gathered a bit of every Biome and moved it to my castle, and two, which took a good deal more time, was to make uniquely suited rooms for each NPC to live in and sell their wares. I'd absolutely adore the ability to build a town, and for each type of shop you wanted to open, you had to have a shop built to entice that particular type of NPC.

Want a Merchant? He's gonna need a counter, cash register, shelves.
A Medic? Better break out that operating table, and med lab. And for god's sake, no dirt floors unless you like going into septic shock after surgery.
Need a Weapon Vendor? Well he needs gun racks, and a smithy to forge swords.
Want to entice that Not-Technically-Legal Vendor who just so happens to "know a guy" to sell you some weapon's grade Plutonium? Better make him a place the Feds won't come snoopin'.

Yes, yes. Very much so, yes.

 

Dayum, that's an impressive build you got there, holy crap. What's the maximum build hight in Terraria? Does it even have one?
(I wish Minecraft didn't have a build limit, that would be amazing.)

Anyway, I like the idea of having certain people require specific items/blocks in their room(s), would make more sense than the vendors just willing their wares into existance. Perhaps some will even bring their own stuff and place it in their room(s), so that you don't have to build everything.

Also, unlike in Terraria, I want to get some information that an NPC is coming, perhaps they contact me and say "I'm this guy, I sell stuff like this, and this is what I need when I come down in this amount of time." so that you can prepare, and you have to prepare fairly quickly.

I would also like certain spoiled NPCs to need specific room qualities, kinda like Dwarf Fortress. In order to meet these demands, you'll have to place items, make bigger rooms, and add more rooms. Other NPCs will need a separate forge/workroom in order to do their jobs correctly. That'd be a nice touch and prevent every room from just being an NPC bunk.

 

The waterfall reservoir in the center is the absolute height limit, so yeah, it got pretty big. Especially considering I spent almost a week living in a hole in the ground that was eventually converted into the crypt.

And also, thumbs up for anything Dwarf Fortress/Dungeon Keeper related. I adore both those games, and would love a little taste of that in Starbound.

 

I like this idea, you've built it solidly and throughly. Only thing I could suggest is having the town and npcs that show up differ on your Race.Get a lot of Tech and weapon dealers with Apex, Sword and Amour vendors for Glitch, and of course, Saloons and gun dealers for Novakids. Humans would probably have a mix of all of them (But really, who cares about them?)

 

I can't believe you built that. Did you do it all yourself? Speaking of waterfalls...

 

Yeah, it was built before the Hallow patch, so it's a bit outdated, but god do I love that castle. Starbound's version of Biome Castle is going to be even more insane because of the infinite worlds to harvest from, and all the pets I'm going to house there. (If the devs allows you to keep multiple pets wandering around the place)

 

BLAM! Updates.

 

You sound like you've played some EVE online

 

You got my vote.

 

I don't really know you, but there is Zelda Music and a picture of Mr.Barten from the Milk Bar in your post which means you must be awesome! :catface2:
Also: YOU WROTE A GODDAMN POEM! Nice work there!
Well yeah and your idea is good too

So with this post you just won yourself...let's see...348 Cookies. *ka-ching*
But what are cookies without milk? NOTHING! Well...I don't have milk but I have this:
Enjoy!

 

Uhh~ Thanks!