(no subject)
Yet more space-based braincheese...
Well, yes, there is indeed a plan for a Downtime system. Yes, every bloody game has one now, I know.
Part of the point of having a Downtime system in this game is that I want to make food and water serious issues for the player base to consider, and these tend not to be a problem in the context of a specific event (particularly the first one, where there will likely be quite a bit of food scattered around the crash site). Also, much like Strom, there's a sense of a whole world to explore that I really want to try to capture.
However, there are several very pertinent differences from Strom to take into account.
Crafting is designed to work with a minimum of people. Essentially the only limit to the production of Devices (items) is the availability of appropriate Parts. Parts (of which I intend to list many dozens) can be made from easily accessible and thus effectively limitless raw materials using either a manufactor lab (an automated electromechanical engineering centre) or a nanoassembler. (The latter is far slower but also smaller and requires less energy to run.) The really critical limiter on Parts, however, is the presence of electronic Blueprints that describe the construction of the Part. Needless to say there's going to be a big lack of Blueprints...
You can get Blueprints by performing Research, and you can get prototype Devices and Parts by performing Experiments. You can also find Parts in crash sites in Downtime using the Scavenging skill. You can also use the Jury Rig or Scavenging skills to deconstruct existing Devices into their Parts, and the Jury Rig skill to put together an item from Parts in uptime.
Most characters have cheap access to a range of "Item Knowledge" skills which include an understanding of the construction of a number of basic pieces of equipment, thus bypassing the need for a Blueprint to construct them once the Parts are available. My current idea is that any character with either one of these skills or a Blueprint can automatically construct as many items in DT as they have Parts for. It's just in uptime, with lots going on and no real tools or working surfaces, that the Jury Rig skill is needed.
So for example, a vibroblade might need a monoedge, power coupler, vibration field generator and field modulator. The power coupler and field modulator would be quite common amongst scrap, or at a pinch a power coupler could be extracted from pretty much any other powered item. A vibration field generator would be unusual, since it's likely only really used in vibroblades.
My character has the Jury Rig, Scavenging, Manufacturing and Weapon Knowedge skills. He already knows how to build vibroblades, and can hunt in the crash debris using Scavenging to try to find the Parts. I am lucky and find all 4, so I can use the Jury Rig skill to construct it in uptime, just in time for an alien attack. I had better hope the duct tape holds together...
I haven't decided on character progression yet. Science has a mechanic for improving the character's skill in an area, so I really should come up with one for normal skills.
Well, yes, there is indeed a plan for a Downtime system. Yes, every bloody game has one now, I know.
Part of the point of having a Downtime system in this game is that I want to make food and water serious issues for the player base to consider, and these tend not to be a problem in the context of a specific event (particularly the first one, where there will likely be quite a bit of food scattered around the crash site). Also, much like Strom, there's a sense of a whole world to explore that I really want to try to capture.
However, there are several very pertinent differences from Strom to take into account.
- There will be orders of magnitude fewer players.
- There will also be virtually no NPC minions to look after and manage
- Technology is sufficient to allow long-range transport quite easily
- Technology is sufficient to allow long-range communications quite easily.
Crafting is designed to work with a minimum of people. Essentially the only limit to the production of Devices (items) is the availability of appropriate Parts. Parts (of which I intend to list many dozens) can be made from easily accessible and thus effectively limitless raw materials using either a manufactor lab (an automated electromechanical engineering centre) or a nanoassembler. (The latter is far slower but also smaller and requires less energy to run.) The really critical limiter on Parts, however, is the presence of electronic Blueprints that describe the construction of the Part. Needless to say there's going to be a big lack of Blueprints...
You can get Blueprints by performing Research, and you can get prototype Devices and Parts by performing Experiments. You can also find Parts in crash sites in Downtime using the Scavenging skill. You can also use the Jury Rig or Scavenging skills to deconstruct existing Devices into their Parts, and the Jury Rig skill to put together an item from Parts in uptime.
Most characters have cheap access to a range of "Item Knowledge" skills which include an understanding of the construction of a number of basic pieces of equipment, thus bypassing the need for a Blueprint to construct them once the Parts are available. My current idea is that any character with either one of these skills or a Blueprint can automatically construct as many items in DT as they have Parts for. It's just in uptime, with lots going on and no real tools or working surfaces, that the Jury Rig skill is needed.
So for example, a vibroblade might need a monoedge, power coupler, vibration field generator and field modulator. The power coupler and field modulator would be quite common amongst scrap, or at a pinch a power coupler could be extracted from pretty much any other powered item. A vibration field generator would be unusual, since it's likely only really used in vibroblades.
My character has the Jury Rig, Scavenging, Manufacturing and Weapon Knowedge skills. He already knows how to build vibroblades, and can hunt in the crash debris using Scavenging to try to find the Parts. I am lucky and find all 4, so I can use the Jury Rig skill to construct it in uptime, just in time for an alien attack. I had better hope the duct tape holds together...
I haven't decided on character progression yet. Science has a mechanic for improving the character's skill in an area, so I really should come up with one for normal skills.