Suggestions to make exploration more interesting

[TENTACLE BOSS]

I want to start out by saying I love space, specifically the idea of other planets because of my fascination with the things that I do not know exist but may really be out there, or the things I do not fully understand. Such as the concept of alien life-forms that may be present on other planets, different and unique minerals and substances, foreign atmospheres, scales and shapes of planets and creatures, differences in gravity and what a world with different gravity may be like, etc. All of these things made me initally fascinated when I picked up this game and went on a journey in my tiny shuttle, to explore planets. It is an amazing feeling to be looking at a planet and letting your imagination run wild, wondering what could possibly be there on these foreign worlds, so you can imagine that I want more from the planets in the game. This is an alpha, so I understand and respect the lack of some content that may be in the full release. However, I would like to make some suggestions:



Aliens

With unique planets and terrains, should come unique life forms, life forms that tell a story. Perhaps one planet could have a friendly civilization of an alien species similar to ours, who are willing to exchange unique goods with passing pilots. Another could contain a species extremely adaptive to living on a planet consisting almost entirely of lava or water. One may contain a single species or creature, hiding in a cave of a planet that seems mostly deserted, one planet may have nothing living there at all, as a result of an implied apocalypse of some sort. (Invasion, meteor shower, etc) In short, I would love to be able to travel to some planets, and discover wonderful and unique inhabitants, some friendly, others aggressive, some serving unique purposes, others out rob you or hijack your ship, some even out to kill you.



Planets

Terrain variation is great, but other unique traits, such as lava streams, lakes, mist, would be a nice addition. Also gravity variation, a planet that jams your radar or encumbers your movement with certain harvestable substances and very high gravity could provide a really interesting and even intense experience, especially with friends riding on board a ship together. Things like shooting stars and meteors would be cool too. Also a planet that acts like a central civilisation for pirate factions, covered with valuables and hostile units could present a fierce adversary even to the most experienced factions.



Nebulae

When I had explored some planets, I set out to travel into the sun to see what would happen, and there was a beautiful effect when traveling into it, as an eerie light enveloped the screen, and I wondered what would happen as I went further. I think this effect could rarely be used in nebulars as you travel the galaxy, clouds of various gasses and dust of different colours that rarely envelop unique sectors and planets. If you want to see a fantastic example of what I mean, just watch this video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd8KPzJP0_U



Unique/Rare Exclusive Minerals/Substances

I would love some rare blocks that can be found exclusively within certain planets which do unique things to ships or players or stations, or that are vital ingredients to manufacturing even rarer and more useful substances, that are also found in low quantity. This would encourage players to hunt deep within the caves and chasms of various planets in pursuit of them, be it for money, or a ship, or who knows what other fantastic things they may do. And who knows what obstacles might stand in their way.



Cores

I think some planets should have a core like (or unlike) Earth. Such as a big ball of molten lava at the center of them, or ice so cold that it can freeze whoever touches it. In short, interesting centers of planets, maybe even ultra rare cores could consist of amazing treasures such as rare minerals and other valuables.



I appreciate any of you taking the time to read this and would love to hear your feedback!

 

[Visitor]

Given the shape of the planets, I don\'t think cores can be made in a way that would make it worth the time and effort needed to add them. Aliens, though not necessarily as a sentient species, and planet features are already in the plan, so wait patiently. I am indifferent about nebulae but I certainly wouldn\'t want even more resources - we have plenty, especially as they have different levels of \'purity/procesing advancement\'. Adding new recipes and not making everything sellable by shops would be enough to make some stuff really rare.

 

[TENTACLE BOSS]

Well surely then the cores would become rectangular instead of spherical, it could be done. And I heard about species, i.e critters, but I was hoping for something more interesting personally, hence my suggestions. Well okay, maybe not more resources, but how about rare ship components that can be found exclusively and rarely on certain planets? Like alien weapon variations that cannot be massed produced, unique looking hull variations, or something new entirely?

 

[ne3zy]

I agree with all, I would love to see this implemented we also need double-sided planets like Donuts explained in his suggestion !

 

[Stormclouf3]

It would be great if the alien technology and stuff could be found on randomly generated spaceships (maybe with high power turrets so that it isn\'t a walk in the park to get advanced equipment) that had crashed onto planets! Also, going with this alien technology thing, there could be special, super rare, alien shops that sold the alien items in low quantities. This would allow players to get enough of the items so that they would actually use them--I won\'t replace items on my ships with better counterparts unless I can obtain enough of the better version that my ship becomes more powerful because of it. Basically what i am trying to say here is that the alien items\' rarity has to be balanced by their advancement, because otherwise no one would use them. Also, the alien stuff shouldn\'t be just upgrades of the standard equipment, it should be items that are strange but powerful; such as a weapon that did random amounts of damage and the more adjacent modules there are the more likely the chance that it will do a higher amount of damage. Planets inhabited by aliens or pirates would be a very interesting and fun challenge, and interesting shaped planets with different amounts of gravity would be very cool.