Exploration Improvements?

[xX_Tyvier_Xx]

I'd like to start by saying that I have been extremely impressed with the leaps and bounds this game has gone through over the course of it's development. From flying around hockey puck planets to developing full fledged factions. Truly amazing stuff!

This being said, I'm having a hard time getting friends of mine engaged in the game. I think the main reason for this is a sheer lack of reason for exploration. As of right now the game has some really intricate and unique space stations, planets, and asteroids, but there's really no reason to dock your ship and explore these other than to look and them and say, "well that's neat". I would like to see some kind of treasure added to the game, and Mobs to be spawned to make the acquisition of said treasure difficult.

When looking at other block based games there are always materials that one strives to find rather than build. Lets see something in Starmade that can't be mined or manufactured! I think it would be really cool to put a randomly placed treasure chest on a station that the player would have to leave the ship to find, forcing them to maneuver the corridors and evade enemies. This could also give players more of a reason to board enemy ships.

I'm sure someone else has brought this up before and I don't mean to be repetitive. If anyone has links to other threads on this, please share. Thanks!

 

[IronDusk33]

A completely random, of the cuff suggestion;

Make the crafting requirements or recipes for high-end parts only spawn in abandoned or aggressive stations. For example you can only create jump drives after visiting and exploring an abandoned station. Higher end things like warp gates teleporters can only be crafted after destroying an aggressive station. Obviously they could still be bought from stations, but pursuing the means of production for them could be a good objective.

 

[xX_Tyvier_Xx]

That's a great idea! My thoughts immediately go to the cloaking device. I know the devs have been working to put a usable cloak in the game while keeping it balanced. Maybe some devices in the game will make a ship very strong, but can only be found on hostile or heavily AI populated stations. Another one could be a "warp drive". While the jump drive allows you to jump several sectors at a time. Maybe a warp drive will allow you to instantly warp anywhere in a galaxy, like a portable warp gate...

Again, good thinking!

 

[Drybreeze]

I like this suggestion. Not necessarily treasure in a chest though. Maybe for example you need to retrieve a blueprint from a computer that allows you to create specific blocks. In turn this blueprint can be traded, so it becomes valuable. Perhaps like EVE it only licenses a certain number of reproductions, and so creates a need in the community for treasure hunters to continually be facing bosses or whatever to gather new ones, and impacts the economic value of them depending on how many people are finding and selling them... blueprints for modules like jump drives or whatever, as you say. Perhaps not core modules, but buffs for modules, or "effects" that indicate status.

For example you can only have red missile effects with an effect module that was retrieved in the above-mentioned way, so anyone engaging in battle with someone firing red missile trails knows that they successfully navigated that particular challenge and instantly knows they're dealing with a player of a particular status.

They are giving purpose to specific stations in upcoming edits, but the idea of giving people rewards for climbing out of the core and running about stations is a good one.

 

[xX_Tyvier_Xx]

I like the idea of downloading blueprints or schematics to a certain type of block from a computer or database. Definitely more of a space-age feel than a literal treasure chest. Very nice!

The only problem I see with finding colors for effecting weapons is role players might have a hard time getting their ships to fire faction specific colored weapons. ie. green turbolasers for Star Wars Star Destroyers, Red phasers for Star Trek Federation ships, etc.

At the same time, that would give faction oriented players that much more of a reason to explore stations and/or planets!

 

[Madman198237]

Colors would likely have nothing to do with it. Maybe certain effects could be "researched" at distant stations (Indestructible? Or respawning?) and you must raid them to retrieve these blueprints/research notes/assorted other McGuffins in order to use the technology. Say, several-block-wide cannon blasts, or lasers with some bonuses against armored blocks (Not systems or shields).