Put a resource scanner into the lifepod, integrate thermometer and compass into suit on loot.
EvilSmoo
Join Date: 2008-02-16 Member: 63662Members
Join Date: 2008-02-16 Member: 63662Members
Doesn't need any range upgrades, and could be slow, but a new player is NOT going to know where to get things. This would help. And they can't move the pod, so regular room and any Cyclops room is not obsolete. Also, it could have a much more shallow range than a real scanner room, but cover more starter zones. And have a few key hard-wired fragments to scan for, normalizing progression. It's an emergency survival scanner for key elements, not a prospecting scanner- it IS in a lifepod, and next to a fabricator.
Currently, a player hits an early progression wall when they start in on making tools. Stalkers might discourage kelp forest exploration, for example. Heck, the first time that I saw a Reefback, I turned around because I didn't know they were totally passive.
And this is coming on Xbox and PS4, those players are MUCH less likely to consult a wiki. And much more likely to just shrug and return the game to the store.
Titanium and Quartz are easy, of course. But a new player might not realize how to get coral for bleach. A new player won't know where to go to get some silver to start in on base building. A new player DEFINITELY won't know to pop out to floating island to scan some stuff and get farm things. A new player might have NO idea how to get crashfish powder, the PDA is just not that chatty. If they can go up to the wall of the pod, select the element in question, and get an idea how to get the resource they need, they will be MUCH less frustrated.
Also, we know how hot/cold we are. We have nerves, just like we know how hungry/thirsty we are. Put a temperature icon on the hud permanently, and when we loot a thermometer, put in the actual number and bar.
Currently, a player hits an early progression wall when they start in on making tools. Stalkers might discourage kelp forest exploration, for example. Heck, the first time that I saw a Reefback, I turned around because I didn't know they were totally passive.
And this is coming on Xbox and PS4, those players are MUCH less likely to consult a wiki. And much more likely to just shrug and return the game to the store.Titanium and Quartz are easy, of course. But a new player might not realize how to get coral for bleach. A new player won't know where to go to get some silver to start in on base building. A new player DEFINITELY won't know to pop out to floating island to scan some stuff and get farm things. A new player might have NO idea how to get crashfish powder, the PDA is just not that chatty. If they can go up to the wall of the pod, select the element in question, and get an idea how to get the resource they need, they will be MUCH less frustrated.
Also, we know how hot/cold we are. We have nerves, just like we know how hungry/thirsty we are. Put a temperature icon on the hud permanently, and when we loot a thermometer, put in the actual number and bar.
- <font color="blue">Blue</font> would be cold (cold damage?)
- <font color="green">Green</font> for any reasonable temperature
- <font color="orange">Orange</font> for up near the heat-damage level
- <font color="red">Red</font> for taking minor heat damage
- <font color="red">Flashing red</font> for severe heat damage
- <font color="blue">Flashing blue</font> for severe cold
Comments
This. Make different options (compass, thermometer, signal rangefinder) that are all part of an integrated system. The base system costs one computer chip and comes with.. let's say compass. Add thermometer with another chip, and add signal rangefinder (that reads any signal location currently held in inventory) for another chip.
Actually, maybe make a mini-map with player-built items and wrecks + signal locations available with the addition of a CPU (requires compass to function, and rangefinder for signal locations)?
It pops up a list of everything in the area, you go up to the wall, select one, and hit "scan." Upgrades increase range and speed, but I only ever bother with range. Stick the HUD chip in a tech slot and you get to see all the things that scanner rooms find.
Harsh comments follow:
Capitalization and paragraph structure is important. They affect how everyone on the forum perceives your intellect. The best point in the world could be ignored if typed by someone who ignores grammar.
Gameplay flow is important. Some sort of realistic approach is ALSO important. The lifepod fabricator is intended, lore-wise, to be used in conjunction with locally-sourced materials. Putting in a early-game limited scanner fits that well, and also helps along gameplay when the player is disoriented and learning the game. Also, console players are less likely to tolerate a game that forces them to look up wikis to learn basic gameplay.
The POINT is for the scanner in the pod to kinda suck. It's to point us at some silver and other useful materials, instead of having the player be totally lost. Distant vague hints about finding diamond/magnetite at the mountain, distant vague hints about finding edible plants on the floating island. I've been pointed at kelp for seeds, and again for fiber once I got the knife. Having a survival scanner to ask for tips like that would make initial startup much more straight-forward. And you can always just ignore it and swim around.
Are you cold right now? Hot? Suffering burns from scalding temperatire? You know the answer to this question. All the time. Integrating full temperature and compass functionality simply removes a bit of busywork on top of reporting to the player what their character knows. The tech slots are better used for HUD upgrades and signals than basic information. And having them slot in as upgrades just provides the player with pleasure at making their suit better.
Look at these things from the POV of someone who just installed SN for the first time, not from the POV of yourself, who knows exactly where to get any given resource and scanner fragment.
...And also, the pod is exactly intended to be a starter base. That is 100% of the point. It is a starter base that you cannot accidentally destroy, that cannot lose power, that is a safe refuge where the player can heal, craft, and decide what to do next.
You just can't build anything new in it.