Fragments - Problems and solutions?
xRei
Join Date: 2016-08-23 Member: 221645Members
Join Date: 2016-08-23 Member: 221645Members
I noticed recently a lot of posts talking about how players are having trouble finding fragments for [insert important thing here].
Fragments represent an interesting game mechanic for sure. For one, they reward exploration. You have to swim around a lot to find them.. however the balance has shifted more towards them being found in or around wrecks. This also has advantages and disadvantages too. On the plus side, it adds some consistency.. You know precisely where to find the fragments and can be sure to find -something-. Some of the transmissions will even lead you to them.. but not all of them. And that's a bit of a downside. If you don't find the wrecks, you may have trouble getting the items and unlocks you need. You could just add more transmissions or PDA entries which lead you to the wrecks.. but that sort of feels like it takes away from the exploration factor a little bit if something to points you to the exact spot you need to go to.
One potential idea I had was this.. Make the scanner room available much earlier on and allow it to scan for wrecks on a per-biome basis.
The scanner room is useful but I'm not sure it's features are so powerful that it would be unbalanced to have access to it sooner rather than later.
It does give the player one additional choice in how to locate their fragments/wrecks if they are at their wits end hunting for transmissions/PDA's or by swimming around.
It's consistent and direct. It has an almost guaranteed payoff. Although I could see it being a little 'too' powerful as well, potentially removing from the exploration aspect too much.
There would have to be some kind of limitation so that it's not just another version of the PDA/transmission entry. Perhaps it can't ping the location of the wreck, or it only tells you whether or not technologies you don't already possess were detected in the area.
And thats really the core of the issue.
Exploration vs Signposts
Kind of hard to perfectly balance around them..
Fragments represent an interesting game mechanic for sure. For one, they reward exploration. You have to swim around a lot to find them.. however the balance has shifted more towards them being found in or around wrecks. This also has advantages and disadvantages too. On the plus side, it adds some consistency.. You know precisely where to find the fragments and can be sure to find -something-. Some of the transmissions will even lead you to them.. but not all of them. And that's a bit of a downside. If you don't find the wrecks, you may have trouble getting the items and unlocks you need. You could just add more transmissions or PDA entries which lead you to the wrecks.. but that sort of feels like it takes away from the exploration factor a little bit if something to points you to the exact spot you need to go to.
One potential idea I had was this.. Make the scanner room available much earlier on and allow it to scan for wrecks on a per-biome basis.
The scanner room is useful but I'm not sure it's features are so powerful that it would be unbalanced to have access to it sooner rather than later.
It does give the player one additional choice in how to locate their fragments/wrecks if they are at their wits end hunting for transmissions/PDA's or by swimming around.
It's consistent and direct. It has an almost guaranteed payoff. Although I could see it being a little 'too' powerful as well, potentially removing from the exploration aspect too much.
There would have to be some kind of limitation so that it's not just another version of the PDA/transmission entry. Perhaps it can't ping the location of the wreck, or it only tells you whether or not technologies you don't already possess were detected in the area.
And thats really the core of the issue.
Exploration vs Signposts
Kind of hard to perfectly balance around them..
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