- Joined
- Nov 14, 2014
- Messages
- 25
- Reaction score
- 30
I think planets should be a lot bigger (more space to build), and not all load at the same time (less lag). There also need to be more kinds of planets, and variation within a single type (so not all forest planets are the same, not all savannah planets are the same, etc.).
As much as I'd like to see ocean planets, the question remains as to how liquid water that ships can pass through would be coded in such a way that your ship wouldn't be flooded with water upon entering it, since the planet's water blocks would overlap with your ship's blocks.
But more planet variety, and bigger planets, needs to be a thing. Ideally there'd be a lot of different planet types, with the hot ones being found closer to their stars and the cold ones being found farther out, with different planet-exclusive resources to be found on each planet type. There'd be alien wildlife and generated structures to be found on planets, which would also be different for each planet type. And not all planets of a type would have all of the same plants, animals, resources, structures, etc, that can be found on that type, so that once you've seen one volcanic planet or one tundra planet, you haven't seen them all. They would also vary in topography, so that one taiga planet might be really flat, while the next would be more mountainous, and so on.
Some animals would be peaceful, and others dangerous. Some would be small, like birds or mice, others medium sized, the size of players, and some would be much bigger than players. Some structures would be friendly, others hostile, and others long-abandoned, some with traps or monsters inside. Some would be small structures like houses or turrets, while others would be full-blown planetary bases or dungeons.
There could be small airless moons orbiting rocky planets, or orbiting stars as dwarf planets, and you'd also be able to find large rocky planets orbiting gas giants. Some planets could have rings in the form of dense belts of small asteroids encircling the planet.
Since planets already rotate in order to produce a day and night cycle, it might not be out of the question to have them actually orbit their parent stars, and to have moons orbiting their planets. Even asteroid fields could potentially orbit around stars.
Planets could be valuable as a source of exclusive and renewable resources. You could be able to farm plants and animals on planets with the appropriate climate, for various purposes, including providing food for NPC crew members, and making items that give players and crew supportive buffs. You could be able to build drills on planets that would slowly extract resources from the planet core, with each planet having a different resource to extract. Planets would also, of course, be a good place to build for defensive purposes because, on a planet's surface, there are less angles for enemies to attack from. This is already a reason to build on planets but would be even more of a reason if they were bigger and less laggy. Maybe there could be civilian NPCs that would pay you rent to live in houses you build for them, and some NPCs would specifically want to live in houses on specific planet types. Maybe there could be valuable "treasure" items to find throughout the universe, and many of them would only be found in specific structures on specific planet types.
There are a lot of potential gameplay mechanics that planets could be used for, but they all require planets being more diverse, less laggy, and larger.
As much as I'd like to see ocean planets, the question remains as to how liquid water that ships can pass through would be coded in such a way that your ship wouldn't be flooded with water upon entering it, since the planet's water blocks would overlap with your ship's blocks.
But more planet variety, and bigger planets, needs to be a thing. Ideally there'd be a lot of different planet types, with the hot ones being found closer to their stars and the cold ones being found farther out, with different planet-exclusive resources to be found on each planet type. There'd be alien wildlife and generated structures to be found on planets, which would also be different for each planet type. And not all planets of a type would have all of the same plants, animals, resources, structures, etc, that can be found on that type, so that once you've seen one volcanic planet or one tundra planet, you haven't seen them all. They would also vary in topography, so that one taiga planet might be really flat, while the next would be more mountainous, and so on.
Some animals would be peaceful, and others dangerous. Some would be small, like birds or mice, others medium sized, the size of players, and some would be much bigger than players. Some structures would be friendly, others hostile, and others long-abandoned, some with traps or monsters inside. Some would be small structures like houses or turrets, while others would be full-blown planetary bases or dungeons.
There could be small airless moons orbiting rocky planets, or orbiting stars as dwarf planets, and you'd also be able to find large rocky planets orbiting gas giants. Some planets could have rings in the form of dense belts of small asteroids encircling the planet.
Since planets already rotate in order to produce a day and night cycle, it might not be out of the question to have them actually orbit their parent stars, and to have moons orbiting their planets. Even asteroid fields could potentially orbit around stars.
Planets could be valuable as a source of exclusive and renewable resources. You could be able to farm plants and animals on planets with the appropriate climate, for various purposes, including providing food for NPC crew members, and making items that give players and crew supportive buffs. You could be able to build drills on planets that would slowly extract resources from the planet core, with each planet having a different resource to extract. Planets would also, of course, be a good place to build for defensive purposes because, on a planet's surface, there are less angles for enemies to attack from. This is already a reason to build on planets but would be even more of a reason if they were bigger and less laggy. Maybe there could be civilian NPCs that would pay you rent to live in houses you build for them, and some NPCs would specifically want to live in houses on specific planet types. Maybe there could be valuable "treasure" items to find throughout the universe, and many of them would only be found in specific structures on specific planet types.
There are a lot of potential gameplay mechanics that planets could be used for, but they all require planets being more diverse, less laggy, and larger.
