Skunk works
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 6:13 am
Hello.
So, I got my first red item. I must say, it's a sweet little reactor. I have a few random thoughts and questions.
First and foremost, love it. Coops, I have always said that I think it was a very intelligent design choice of yours to make weapon modification templates ("Poorly Restored", "Pristine", "Military Grade", "Jurry Rigged", etc.). When you make one weapon, you immediately get a dozen or so weapons added to the game. This actually adds a sheen of verisimilitude. You don't just find a dozen Potato Cannons, you find Potato Cannons that people have messed with, broken, fixed, tried to fix, tinkered with, or made a counterfeit.
Bob seems to be more of a "special project" version. You are finding something unique.
With the names, is the ADV a "tinkered with" version of an existing model, or is the name randomly generated? I found an "Enhanced Predator Hathor Reactor". Is the Predator Hathor Reactor a new model series? Or was that name created by Bob? I notice there is no version number (most reactors have versions 1 through 4), so I am wondering if that is unique, or are there now Predator Hathor Reactors mk1-mk4 now floating around? For weapons, will they start appearing as "Pristine", "Poorly Restored", etc.?
And to that, as a more open question to everyone, would it be worth having three dedicated posts to the ADV weapons, reactors, and expanders, where people can post and archive what they find?
I had one small critique, and I may be the in the tremendously small minority about this, but I'm actually not a fan of the tight level range, +1/-4. To me, that makes loot generation feel rather artificial, and I think is a bit of a trope of RPG's. I do understand the value, as you tend to find a lot of useless items. However, the useless items tent to make fine gifts for new players, and are a steady source of SubMol material.
It is very clear a lot of thought went into this, but if I could suggest: double the level spread, and have 10% of items found be truly random. There is no reason for the laser cannons to disappear. Let 10% of generations bypass the new system and use the old list.
On a somewhat related note, I thought you could rarely find items like refineries. If loot is open to non weapon/reactor/expander items, how is the captain's level brought into this? If Staffium AMR's are in the list, can you only find them if you are levels 24-29?
Lastly, might there one day be Bobs for other kinds of items? A mining scanner with reduced energy requirements would be very valuable, as those things devour power. A unique factory that has +1 unit production or -1 unit input would be a sort of "alien artifact" equivalent.
Thank you for your time. I'm off to find more rare loot.
So, I got my first red item. I must say, it's a sweet little reactor. I have a few random thoughts and questions.
First and foremost, love it. Coops, I have always said that I think it was a very intelligent design choice of yours to make weapon modification templates ("Poorly Restored", "Pristine", "Military Grade", "Jurry Rigged", etc.). When you make one weapon, you immediately get a dozen or so weapons added to the game. This actually adds a sheen of verisimilitude. You don't just find a dozen Potato Cannons, you find Potato Cannons that people have messed with, broken, fixed, tried to fix, tinkered with, or made a counterfeit.
Bob seems to be more of a "special project" version. You are finding something unique.
With the names, is the ADV a "tinkered with" version of an existing model, or is the name randomly generated? I found an "Enhanced Predator Hathor Reactor". Is the Predator Hathor Reactor a new model series? Or was that name created by Bob? I notice there is no version number (most reactors have versions 1 through 4), so I am wondering if that is unique, or are there now Predator Hathor Reactors mk1-mk4 now floating around? For weapons, will they start appearing as "Pristine", "Poorly Restored", etc.?
And to that, as a more open question to everyone, would it be worth having three dedicated posts to the ADV weapons, reactors, and expanders, where people can post and archive what they find?
I had one small critique, and I may be the in the tremendously small minority about this, but I'm actually not a fan of the tight level range, +1/-4. To me, that makes loot generation feel rather artificial, and I think is a bit of a trope of RPG's. I do understand the value, as you tend to find a lot of useless items. However, the useless items tent to make fine gifts for new players, and are a steady source of SubMol material.
It is very clear a lot of thought went into this, but if I could suggest: double the level spread, and have 10% of items found be truly random. There is no reason for the laser cannons to disappear. Let 10% of generations bypass the new system and use the old list.
On a somewhat related note, I thought you could rarely find items like refineries. If loot is open to non weapon/reactor/expander items, how is the captain's level brought into this? If Staffium AMR's are in the list, can you only find them if you are levels 24-29?
Lastly, might there one day be Bobs for other kinds of items? A mining scanner with reduced energy requirements would be very valuable, as those things devour power. A unique factory that has +1 unit production or -1 unit input would be a sort of "alien artifact" equivalent.
Thank you for your time. I'm off to find more rare loot.