Work Continuation: Aurora Restoration
04Leonhardt
I came here to laugh at you Join Date: 2015-08-01 Member: 206618Members
I came here to laugh at you Join Date: 2015-08-01 Member: 206618Members
So, currently, after fixing the generators aboard the Aurora, you have no other reason to stick around, especially considering the presence of 1-3 Reaper Leviathans
But what if restoring the generators allowed you to repair and restore other parts of the ship?
This, in turn, would greatly expand your capabilities, and grant several new technologies.
1. Activating the Automated Self Repair Systems
Once the Aurora's generators have been repaired, they will once again become functional, and can be powered like a standard Nuclear Reactor. Once power has been supplied to the generators, your AI companion will link into the Aurora's systems and activate the automated self repair systems. This would turn the lights back on, put out the fires, and remove some of the debris from the interior of the ship. It will take 3 days before the first new part of the ship can be accessed.
2. Activating the Cartographer
The Cartographer is the first room on the Aurora that is opened, though still in a state of disrepair, the player can restore functionality to the Cartographer by using the builder to reassemble destroyed chunks, requiring several electronic devices and parts, as well as fixing broken chunks with the welder. The Cartographer acts as a map, recording where the player goes, and providing a 3D hologram display of the undersea landscape.
Kinda like this, but blue, and a bit prettier looking
Within the Cartographer room, there is also the Archive, which catalogues discovered species and details about them in a sort of encyclopedia format, but is not immediately operational, as it needs to wipe and format the entire system, which would take about half a day.
Restoring the Cartographer will also prompt the Aurora's Self Repair systems to restore the long range sensors, which takes 2 days to repair.
Inside the Cartographer Room, the player can also find a Biological Sensor for their Suit, which activates while they're standing still, and shows the outlines of creatures in the vicinity, even through rock and coral.
3. Opening the Flight Deck
After the sensors have been restored, the Aurora will detect vital components to the self repair system, on an island, a great deal away. In order to get there, the Self Repair systems have unlocked the Flight Deck, where aircraft can be assembled. Currently, only the Blueprints for the Pelican VTOL jet are in the system, which is more than enough to get you to the island. There is also the Blueprint for the Landing Pad Seabase Module, which can dock and construct aircraft and must be built above water.
The Pelican VTOL is a small, 1-man transformable aircraft that can transform between Hover, High Speed, and Submersible mode.
In Hover mode it behaves like a helicopter, moving slowly and hovering using it's bladeless turbines.
In High Speed Mode, it transforms into a jet, moving incredibly fast to cover long distances.
In Submersible mode, it will tuck in it's wings, as its tail rotor rotates to become the propulsion system. Underwater, it has a maximum depth of 100 meters, and is not useful for deep diving.
Would look something like this:
4. The Island
Deploying and entering the Pelican will prompt the player to transform it into Jet Mode, where it will automatically be directed towards the Island.
While in Jet Mode, the player can look down at an "Autopilot" interface which will allow them to automatically set course and fly towards the selected location (At this point, just the Aurora and the Island)
The Island is massive, far larger than the Floater Island, with TWO Reaper Leviathans lurking in the ocean around it tom destroy any Pelicans or players that may fall into the water. Far down below is a Dunes biome, with another Reaper.
However, unlike the Floater Island, this island looks to be comprised of Coral/Sand, with arches and caves similar to those found in the Safe Shallows biome.
Traversing the Island is treacherous, as it is inhabited by Cave Crawlers and Spike Plants, however, should the player reach the other side, they will find the Habitation Module among some wreckage of the front half of the Aurora, as well as a few supply crates, and scrap metal, and a Behemoth Airship Fragment
Grab all that you can carry, as after you grab the Habitation Module, there will sound the deafening roar of a Reefback, and the island will begin to sink,
As the island continues to sink, the player will have to run to their Pelican and escape before the force of the island sinking drags you down to either drown, or meet your death at the maw of a Reaper Leviathan.
Making it back to the Pelican will allow you to fly up to safety, and return to the Aurora. The Island will no longer be accessible.
5. The Hydroponics Room
After flying back to the Aurora, the AI informs you that the Hydroponics Farm has been opened, but several life forms have been detected inside.
The Hydroponics Farm is contained in a large, long room, which is half flooded, and populated by Cave Crawlers, Bleeders, and a Bone Shark.
The player must return the Habitation Module to the end of the room, which will cause the water to drain, and activate the ship security, zapping the critters.
This also unlocks the Hydroponics Module for Seabases, and activates the Hydroponics Farm aboard the Aurora, allowing the player to slowly grow aquatic plants for food.
After replacing the Habitation Module, the Aurora will be able to map out new areas of ocean for you to travel to, hopefully in a Behemoth Airship if you remembered to grab the fragment from The Island.
What this would Add
New rooms aboard the Aurora
-Cartographer: Maps the seafloor, and catalogues sea creatures, allows travel to other maps
-Flight Deck: Constructs the player's first Aircraft, can produce other aircraft as well.
-Hydroponics Farm: Can grow vegetables and plants for food.
Vehicles
-Pelican VTOL: Small aircraft for scouting and limited underwater exploration
-Behemoth Airship: Large aircraft that can carry Crates, Seamoths, or Exosuits
Seabase Modules
-Storage Crate Node: Attachment point for Storage Crates
-Storage Crate: Large scale storage that can be attached to SeaBases, or removed and transported to carry a vast amount of resources. Can be carried with the Propulsion Gun, or the Behemoth Airship
-Hydroponics Farm: A large Room with two rows of tanks for growing aquatic plants and vegetables.
-Flight Deck: A large, flat platform that can dock and construct Pelicans or Behemoths
Equipment
-Motion Detector: Can reveal hidden creatures in the vicinity
Creatures
-Colossus Reefback: Super sized Reefback housing an entire island
Whaddyathink?
But what if restoring the generators allowed you to repair and restore other parts of the ship?
This, in turn, would greatly expand your capabilities, and grant several new technologies.
1. Activating the Automated Self Repair Systems
Once the Aurora's generators have been repaired, they will once again become functional, and can be powered like a standard Nuclear Reactor. Once power has been supplied to the generators, your AI companion will link into the Aurora's systems and activate the automated self repair systems. This would turn the lights back on, put out the fires, and remove some of the debris from the interior of the ship. It will take 3 days before the first new part of the ship can be accessed.
2. Activating the Cartographer
The Cartographer is the first room on the Aurora that is opened, though still in a state of disrepair, the player can restore functionality to the Cartographer by using the builder to reassemble destroyed chunks, requiring several electronic devices and parts, as well as fixing broken chunks with the welder. The Cartographer acts as a map, recording where the player goes, and providing a 3D hologram display of the undersea landscape.
Kinda like this, but blue, and a bit prettier looking
Restoring the Cartographer will also prompt the Aurora's Self Repair systems to restore the long range sensors, which takes 2 days to repair.
Inside the Cartographer Room, the player can also find a Biological Sensor for their Suit, which activates while they're standing still, and shows the outlines of creatures in the vicinity, even through rock and coral.
3. Opening the Flight Deck
After the sensors have been restored, the Aurora will detect vital components to the self repair system, on an island, a great deal away. In order to get there, the Self Repair systems have unlocked the Flight Deck, where aircraft can be assembled. Currently, only the Blueprints for the Pelican VTOL jet are in the system, which is more than enough to get you to the island. There is also the Blueprint for the Landing Pad Seabase Module, which can dock and construct aircraft and must be built above water.
The Pelican VTOL is a small, 1-man transformable aircraft that can transform between Hover, High Speed, and Submersible mode.
In Hover mode it behaves like a helicopter, moving slowly and hovering using it's bladeless turbines.
In High Speed Mode, it transforms into a jet, moving incredibly fast to cover long distances.
In Submersible mode, it will tuck in it's wings, as its tail rotor rotates to become the propulsion system. Underwater, it has a maximum depth of 100 meters, and is not useful for deep diving.
Would look something like this:
4. The Island
Deploying and entering the Pelican will prompt the player to transform it into Jet Mode, where it will automatically be directed towards the Island.
While in Jet Mode, the player can look down at an "Autopilot" interface which will allow them to automatically set course and fly towards the selected location (At this point, just the Aurora and the Island)
The Island is massive, far larger than the Floater Island, with TWO Reaper Leviathans lurking in the ocean around it tom destroy any Pelicans or players that may fall into the water. Far down below is a Dunes biome, with another Reaper.
However, unlike the Floater Island, this island looks to be comprised of Coral/Sand, with arches and caves similar to those found in the Safe Shallows biome.
Traversing the Island is treacherous, as it is inhabited by Cave Crawlers and Spike Plants, however, should the player reach the other side, they will find the Habitation Module among some wreckage of the front half of the Aurora, as well as a few supply crates, and scrap metal, and a Behemoth Airship Fragment
Grab all that you can carry, as after you grab the Habitation Module, there will sound the deafening roar of a Reefback, and the island will begin to sink,
revealing it to be a colossal Reefback
As the island continues to sink, the player will have to run to their Pelican and escape before the force of the island sinking drags you down to either drown, or meet your death at the maw of a Reaper Leviathan.
Making it back to the Pelican will allow you to fly up to safety, and return to the Aurora. The Island will no longer be accessible.
5. The Hydroponics Room
After flying back to the Aurora, the AI informs you that the Hydroponics Farm has been opened, but several life forms have been detected inside.
The Hydroponics Farm is contained in a large, long room, which is half flooded, and populated by Cave Crawlers, Bleeders, and a Bone Shark.
The player must return the Habitation Module to the end of the room, which will cause the water to drain, and activate the ship security, zapping the critters.
This also unlocks the Hydroponics Module for Seabases, and activates the Hydroponics Farm aboard the Aurora, allowing the player to slowly grow aquatic plants for food.
After replacing the Habitation Module, the Aurora will be able to map out new areas of ocean for you to travel to, hopefully in a Behemoth Airship if you remembered to grab the fragment from The Island.
What this would Add
New rooms aboard the Aurora
-Cartographer: Maps the seafloor, and catalogues sea creatures, allows travel to other maps
-Flight Deck: Constructs the player's first Aircraft, can produce other aircraft as well.
-Hydroponics Farm: Can grow vegetables and plants for food.
Vehicles
-Pelican VTOL: Small aircraft for scouting and limited underwater exploration
-Behemoth Airship: Large aircraft that can carry Crates, Seamoths, or Exosuits
Seabase Modules
-Storage Crate Node: Attachment point for Storage Crates
-Storage Crate: Large scale storage that can be attached to SeaBases, or removed and transported to carry a vast amount of resources. Can be carried with the Propulsion Gun, or the Behemoth Airship
-Hydroponics Farm: A large Room with two rows of tanks for growing aquatic plants and vegetables.
-Flight Deck: A large, flat platform that can dock and construct Pelicans or Behemoths
Equipment
-Motion Detector: Can reveal hidden creatures in the vicinity
Creatures
-Colossus Reefback: Super sized Reefback housing an entire island
Whaddyathink?
Comments
particularly with the hydroponic and cartography
you could go with from the flight deck having say 2 broken shuttles and a some form of interface with the repair system to repurpose them into one of 2 types of boat with the automated repair system
one being a transporter type the other a fast type this allows for the surface travel choice of speed or carrying capacity
See, right now, the game is situated in one particular map around the Aurora.
The entire damn planet is covered in oceans. So, what we would do to load a completely new area, is once we unlock the Cartographer and the Flight Deck/Landing Pad, we hop in our Pelican or Behemoth, and use the flight mode to rapidly fly out to the middle of an entirely new map.
And the Pelican and Behemoth would essentially be flying versions of the seamoth and Cyclops, with the Pelican being tiny and fast, and the Behemoth being large and slow, but able to transport Supply Crates, Seamoths, and Exosuits
I should probably go into the Behemoth more as well.
It's be a large craft that you could enter, like the Cyclops, and would handle virtually the same, but be unable to dive underwater. It's main function would be ferrying crates of resources and vehicles to new maps.
Pelican is your sky Seamoth that can get you there, but only with what you can carry. Gets there quickly, but you gotta sit for the whole ride, and it uses up a good deal of power.
Behemoth is your sky Cyclops that can get you there slower but with a much greater storage capacity. The Behemoth would have autopilot and allow you to walk around the cabin as it travels.
Each area would have it's own unique features and biomes, while some are shared across all sectors.
For example, the Islands Sector will have not one, but several islands for the player to explore, one of which being the Colossus Reefback, which would disappear after the "Find Habitation Module" mission.
The Arctic Sector would primarily be Ice/Arctic biomes, with glaciers that get thicker the further into the corner you go.
The Dunes Sector would be a spawning ground for Reaper Leviathans and other predators.
The Abyss Sector could be where the Sea Emperor is found.
Kelp Jungle Sector would be a vast Kelp Forest mixed with Safe Shallows and Mushroom Forest areas.
Volcanic sector would be a shallower version of the Inactive Lava Zone, but with volcanoes breaching the surface with various islands, constantly spewing lava, with regular eruptions that spew volcanic rocks across the entire sector.
Grand Reef Sector is mostly Grand Reef, with some Mushroom Caves, and Dunes near the Surface.
And finally the Lush Shallows sector would be primarily comprised of a variant of the Safe Shallows, where predators are able to regularly spawn.
This is all just wild brainstorming at this point.
"But Leonhardt, why wouldn't you just be able to swim to these new sectors, thus negating entirely the necessity for air travel?"
A good point, but considering how damaged the Aurora was in the crash, I doubt the sensors would reach that far without first deploying some kind of uplink relay, as well as the presence of monstrous sea creatures patrolling The Void between sectors.
Also loading times and such.
Well, there is the Warper that will more than likely appear in the next update since I've seen some of the devs working on it. It can open teleportation gates which we may be able to harness in the future for traveling between bases or map areas like you've described.
Yeah that'd be cool, but how would the warp know where to go unless you go there and place a receiver node, first?
teleporters should require large amounts of power and space in order to connect a stable portal.
Warpers get away with using them because they teleport to random places, and the portals are only open for a few seconds.
If we want to lock down where the teleporter goes, and keep it open for longer/open it whenever, we need a bit more to control it.
Plus, we wouldn't want to open a portal underwater, with the end portal above water. Unless you want the entire ocean inside your base.
That's a nice little speech you wrote, but the game still needs to have more content, and give people a reason to play more, longer.
If you have a different idea, feel free to make your own thread.
He may be referring to the Stasis bomb comment of mine. That idea of mine was a kinda weak idea which is unlikely to happen. I was just shooting off ideas for how we could build a way to warp between areas without being attacked by say Reapers or something like that.
The introduction mentions something shooting the ship down so the little helicopter should have to be left until after that is sorted out. Preventing ships from being shot down during the repairs would also allow you to fly the aurora off the planet to get more people and finish the job you were sent to the planet for.
The Aurora was shot down while it was still in space.
Meaning the thing that shot it down could see it from almost anywhere on that side of the planet.
A little VTOL hovering less than 100 meters above the ocean isn't going to attract the same kind of attention.
Plus, the VTOL would be super useful in tracking down whatever it was that fragged the Aurora.
Oooooooor, the ship could just turn on the fire sprinklers. Part of the deal with the ship opening up was that it would clean up some of the debris and put out the interior fires.
Though, I suppose a "Auto Repair systems offline on this level" warning could explain it.
Still though Heat Resistant Suit = Yes
Unless it can't walk on land, of course.
After that, the heatsuit becomes as pointless as the radiation suit right now after repairing the reactor (except for exploring volcanoes maybe), so you can use other suits to access other passages (or use the stillsuit if you're constantly running out of water). You could use the pipes for creating a drained cave, so you could make an area with floaters that you have to drain in order to explore it and reach new fragments.
I actually mentioned this in my post.
You just use the welder to put stuff back together.
Use the builder to replace things that were completely destroyed.
I like the idea of water pumps, but don't really see a practical reason to add them in.
To be completely honest, draining a cave sounds like it would be a massive undertaking, coding wise, since it's not a definite, solid area like a Base. What if you accidentally terraform a hole in the wall?
They could be used for pumping water out of bases, of course, but just seems tedious.
Especially since the base already has some kind of draining system. Of course it would be neat if there was a desalinization plant module that you could add on to your base to get fresh water whenever you need it along with a proper plumbing and electric system. At night the bases get kinda dark to see your character even with 3000 power
A desalination plant would be a fantastic addition, but having an easy source of unlimited water would kinda remove some of the challenge of needing enough water to survive. I mean have that and a stillsuit and you might as well not even have a Water meter.
I'd also like for bases to be dark if they don't have any power.
Sure they could have a tiny generator built in to supply power to emergency lights on the floor, but I shouldn't be walking into the Apple Store when I slap down a Corridor in a deep dark cave.