The Starmade pet brainstorming thread

[Magrim]

Since rp is going to be the focus of the next several updates and with the fauna update incoming, I wanted to start a discussion about the possibility of having a pet.

The idea I got in my head is to have craftable floating droids that follow you and perform basic tasks, kind of like the ones in the star war universe and other sci fi shows.

Spoiler: Old way of constructing droids. Check out my second post for a better way

First thing you would do is craft a chassis in a factory. Note; this will be a meta item. The chassis by itself will do nothing, you will have to add system blocks to it in order to give it functionality.

I'm thinking you will put it in a shipyard like you would a blueprint. When you do that, a bounding box, of undetermined size, will appear in the shipyard, representing the internals of the droid and allowing you to place blocks "inside" of it.

It will of coarse need a bobby ai, power reactors and thrusters just to fly around. If you want it to do more then you will need to add other systems to it.

Give it weapons and shields to make a combat bot or place a medical cabinet in it to heal you every 20 secs. How about a shield supply computer and modules along with shield rechargers and capacitors to allow it to supply your character with a shield. Give it a storage chest to turn it into a pack mule. Give it a radar jammer, cloaker and camera to create a recon droid you can take control of and scout behind enemy lines.

After you place your blocks you will construct it as you would any other ship but instead of it giving you a clump of system blocks you will get a cute little droid you issue commands to.

Anyway, that is my idea for a pet. What do you think and what ideas do you have for pets in Starmade?

 

[Amadeus]

I am not sure if I agree on the building aspect of this, but I think that the idea of a robot following you around with various functions is a good way to introduce a functioning companion system to the game, as in something that's better than the NPC you can buy at the shop. I think that maybe if you had a base droid that you could buy, with different models that have different perks, and modules that you can affix to the droid that alter both its appearance and performance would be a good idea.

 

[Mariux]

I want a robo cat with a jetpack that shoots lasers from its eyes.

Just sayin'

 

[Magrim]

I am not sure if I agree on the building aspect of this, but I think that the idea of a robot following you around with various functions is a good way to introduce a functioning companion system to the game, as in something that's better than the NPC you can buy at the shop. I think that maybe if you had a base droid that you could buy, with different models that have different perks, and modules that you can affix to the droid that alter both its appearance and performance would be a good idea.

The building aspect, for me, required specific qualities:
-It needed to be similar to the current building process.
-Low impact. (only one meta item and one entity developed for this proposed feature)
-No drop-down menus or alternate instanced "build" worlds.
-Use existing in game tech to create your droid. (which is why I chose the shipyard and current system blocks)
-Be highly customizable

Don't get me wrong, I like your idea of different parts to alter the appearance and performance, but it does seem a tad limiting and perhaps wont fit in starmade. The ships we build now are only limited by our imagination in that we don't buy a set fighter or destroyer chassis with different perks then affix our modules to it.

But you did get me thinking. What if instead of a droid chassis meta item, we had a droid core? You spawn it in the world like a normal ship core. Upon entering build mode you are greeted with, again, a bounding box. You will then build your droid with system modules as outlined in the op but, also design the looks of it as well. When you first activate this droid the blocks you placed will disappear and be replaced by an entity that looks exactly they way you built it but be contained in a meter ^3 space.

 

[FatCobra]

What about having droids attached to ships. Going around repairing or moving cargo etc.

 

[Magrim]

What about having droids attached to ships. Going around repairing or moving cargo etc.

Absolutely. That was the idea i had in mind for the pack mule droid.

 

[SomethingSlimy]

Amorphous Blobs.

Can we communicate with them? Not currently.

Can they communicate with each other? Yes, it appears so.

Are they intelligent? We don't know.

Do they like getting fed? Yes.

 

[Magrim]

I want a robo cat with a jetpack that shoots lasers from its eyes.

Just sayin'

There is only one robo cat with a jetpack that shoots lasers from its eyes but, to speak his name aloud is to bring absolute destruction.

Amorphous Blobs.

Can we communicate with them? Not currently.

Can they communicate with each other? Yes, it appears so.

Are they intelligent? We don't know.

Do they like getting fed? Yes.

A fitting pet for someone with such a name

 

[FatCobra]

Now that I think about it I WANT A TRIBBLE. For no reason other than it would be fraking cool.

 

[Zaphord]

Now those X-wings can have a actual astromech droid on board.

 

[Magrim]

Now that I think about it I WANT A TRIBBLE. For no reason other than it would be fraking cool.

As long as you genetically engineer them so they aren't born pregnant, then i see no issue haha

X-wings can have a actual astromech droid on board.

I think my idea could be adapted to accommodate you sir.

But, seriously guys, i want your ideas about new mechanics involving fauna, not just the types of pets you want. Like gene-splicing critters together to create new creatures with different stats or combining tech and oganics to make cyborgs. How about mutating your crew to make hideous crab-like monstrosities?

These examples might not fit in starmade but, I know there are plenty of super creative people on the forums.