Extrinsic Rewards for scanning/studying Flora/Fauna
1badninja
Oklahoma Join Date: 2017-03-19 Member: 229043Members
Oklahoma Join Date: 2017-03-19 Member: 229043Members
I mentioned this in a long discussion on Steam about the ecosystem. And due to the lengh of the posts and not getting any response I dont think anyone actually seen it. So I'm going to somewhat repeat myself here and try to be straight to the point.
Ok, it comes off as odd to me that there is no real reason to waste time scanning many of the flora/fauna. There is no real motivation to take the risk or time to always be watching for new species and trying to scan each one. It also seems odd that you dont learn anything new or useful for studying lifeforms on a strange alien planet.
I realize it would be illogical and a ton of work to add rewards or useful info to each species. I also realize it be quite random given how many different species there are. But I think I came up with a way for it to be a fairly small feature to add, as well a way to control it so its not random. And in a way the would inspire/motivate the player to hunt every new species regardless of risk or the time it takes to find them.
Say I scan a creature in safe shallows, I go read the PDA entry... at the end of the entry it says something like "Detecting an unknown material in the bone of this creature... Further analysis required." I scan tons of creatures now trying to get more info on this material. But nothing.
Now I find my way down to the grassy Plateaus, finally I scan another creature that only lives at this depth or deeper, and it gives me a little more info on said material... but still incomplete. Long scenario short, after scanning 3 or 4 creatures or plants at different depths/biomes I end up discovering a blueprint based off of this material for some sort of upgrade.. say a pressure compensator, or air tank, or whatever. Maybe there are only 4 different blueprints or qhatever that are gained from scanning flora/fauna in this same manner. But its enough to inspire the player to get their hands dirty and observe the world. To make it even less work, use blueprints that already exist as the reward... say one of the O2 tank upgrades, bioreactor, pressure compensator, etc... just let them be discovered as I stated. And have the final species of flora/fauna needed for the blueprint be discovered just at the last depth before they can go no further. So as to make sure the player isnt getting over powered stuff too early. And getting it just in time to let them progress deeper. Would be cool if some of these rare creatures/plants that are you have to venture into caves or harder to find scary places to be able to scan them. To make it a bit more exciting.
Doing it like this, you'd only have to add code to a small handful of flora/fauna species and change what triggers the awarding of blueprints. And it would give the player, a lot more to look for and scan than just wreckage. Which would increase play time by a large amount.
Hope I explained it well enough. What do you guys think?
Thanks.
Edit: Also I realize so.e people may not want to be forced to scan almost everything in sight to be able to advance in the game. I dont even want that. So maybe only use blueprints that arent necessarily required to go deeper or win the game.. only use the ones that just make life a little easier or nicer.. for instance the last O2 tank upgrade, the repulsion cannon, bioreactor, etc... this would. Make it mlre of an optional sidequest for cool/useful things. I personally really enjoy optional quests with cool rewards like that.
Ok, it comes off as odd to me that there is no real reason to waste time scanning many of the flora/fauna. There is no real motivation to take the risk or time to always be watching for new species and trying to scan each one. It also seems odd that you dont learn anything new or useful for studying lifeforms on a strange alien planet.
I realize it would be illogical and a ton of work to add rewards or useful info to each species. I also realize it be quite random given how many different species there are. But I think I came up with a way for it to be a fairly small feature to add, as well a way to control it so its not random. And in a way the would inspire/motivate the player to hunt every new species regardless of risk or the time it takes to find them.
Say I scan a creature in safe shallows, I go read the PDA entry... at the end of the entry it says something like "Detecting an unknown material in the bone of this creature... Further analysis required." I scan tons of creatures now trying to get more info on this material. But nothing.
Now I find my way down to the grassy Plateaus, finally I scan another creature that only lives at this depth or deeper, and it gives me a little more info on said material... but still incomplete. Long scenario short, after scanning 3 or 4 creatures or plants at different depths/biomes I end up discovering a blueprint based off of this material for some sort of upgrade.. say a pressure compensator, or air tank, or whatever. Maybe there are only 4 different blueprints or qhatever that are gained from scanning flora/fauna in this same manner. But its enough to inspire the player to get their hands dirty and observe the world. To make it even less work, use blueprints that already exist as the reward... say one of the O2 tank upgrades, bioreactor, pressure compensator, etc... just let them be discovered as I stated. And have the final species of flora/fauna needed for the blueprint be discovered just at the last depth before they can go no further. So as to make sure the player isnt getting over powered stuff too early. And getting it just in time to let them progress deeper. Would be cool if some of these rare creatures/plants that are you have to venture into caves or harder to find scary places to be able to scan them. To make it a bit more exciting.
Doing it like this, you'd only have to add code to a small handful of flora/fauna species and change what triggers the awarding of blueprints. And it would give the player, a lot more to look for and scan than just wreckage. Which would increase play time by a large amount.
Hope I explained it well enough. What do you guys think?
Thanks.
Edit: Also I realize so.e people may not want to be forced to scan almost everything in sight to be able to advance in the game. I dont even want that. So maybe only use blueprints that arent necessarily required to go deeper or win the game.. only use the ones that just make life a little easier or nicer.. for instance the last O2 tank upgrade, the repulsion cannon, bioreactor, etc... this would. Make it mlre of an optional sidequest for cool/useful things. I personally really enjoy optional quests with cool rewards like that.
Comments
"In my opinion, this idea already has developers in my head and I think after the official release it will be supplemented. Players can only wait. "
ok that was a pretty hilarious translation
Anyways, I like this idea. A bioshock-style stat-increase system for scanning might not work well, but giving the player some new blueprints would.