One of the most appealing parts of Starbound for me is its potential for roleplay, and I think that making the world as interactive and immersive as possible is a wonderful way to facilitate it. To that end, I've really given a lot of thought to computers in Starbound, and have compiled a small list of features I'd like to see for them. 1. Text Editing Computers would be able to create, edit, and save text files on the server so that they could be viewed by anyone. The integration of the logbook feature into this would be incredible, as the ability to import pictures of creatures or items from the game world in order to create scientific documents would add another layer of depth to roleplay possibilities. 2. User Accounts Players would be able to create Accounts on computers, which could be accessed from any computer in the game world. Files can be protected individually by passwords. Files can be sent freely between players and computers, opening new development territory for hidden lore and histories to be found on ancient, inactive computers in the game world, and then sent back to your homeworld for study (or even decrypting!) If ancient computers could be unearthed in temples, turning them on would link them to your network, adding any data files found on it into the User Account of the one who turned it on. From there, they could be redistributed to other players or public/private accounts the player can access. CLARITY EDIT: User Accounts come in three flavors: User (No password, but can only be accessed by its creator and limited to one per player character), Private (Creators of Private accounts can specify who is allowed to see the account.), and Public (Anyone can access files, but only its creator can create, delete, or edit files). After creation, an account cannot be deleted except by its creator, and cannot have its type changed except by its creator. So, if I set up a computer on a new planet, my login screen would have a list of Accounts that I could log into. - Scott Hammond (User) - The Shape Ship Officer Log (Private) - The Shape Ship Information Network (Public) - Research Lab Archives (Public) The creator of a non-User account can specify characters who have file creation privileges, and a server administrator can delete any Account as they wish. File creation privileges allow players to create their own files, and edit and delete any file that they themselves created. The creator of an account can edit or delete any files on a network of their creation. Tell me what you think. Would this be a good addition, or a waste of development time for a novelty?
In my opinion, this is mandatory to have in the game. Absolutely necessary. The possibilities are endless. Everyone could benefit from this. Perhaps even a mobile version to jot down notes on that you could later compile into one larger file. (Thinking of the scouts here )
Being able to access your personal account files while on the go would be great. I imagine later on, a mod could be developed to send messages to new players on a server that they'd be able to read instantly from their logbook/other mobile communication device.
I think this would be a fantastic idea. I wonder how you would output data from computers onto displays though - most displays ingame would be too small to really fit readable text on, unless you had it scrolling marquee-style. However, as a suggestion, you could have a display have two states (three for a polarized display): inactive (blank), active (in-use), and for polarized displays, clear (for use as a window). While a display is inactive, it just shows a blank screen, or maybe a little screensaver. When it use, it displays diagrams and mockups of text - players could click on a display while it's in Active mode, and it provide an in-game pop-up window, showing an enlarged view of the display with accurate, readable text and images upon it. This solves the problem that ingame displays would likely be too small to show more than a word or two of readable text at a time, unless they were made room-dominatingly large.
What about the in-game computers already coming with a copy of Starbound? -- On a more serious note, I really like the suggestion of saving/sharing texts and pictures. However, I believe the logbook will be the instrument mostly focused on this, though I'm not certain if that's the case. Good suggestion, nonetheless.
That's a good point. I think allowing players to scroll up and down through a file on their own (I.E., everyone sees the same file, but they all see their own part of it) by, say, Shift-clicking on the display would be a great idea.
Except, slide show presentations. I say there be a remote-like item that gives you server wide control of your particular screen.
Nice idea, but I would like to have closed networks. With own setup accounts, for individual bases and to maybe enable access to the base. So maybe, you would have to wire the Pc to a sattelite dish or something like that, to access it from everywhere else.
I've just edited the original post to expand upon the idea of computer accounts. Originally, I thought of having computers have their own set of files, but the problem with that is that if the computer was destroyed, there would be no way to save those files. Instead, any computers can access any account on the network, so long as the user has the privileges to view them. That way, even if every computer is destroyed, the data is not truly lost. Placing down another computer would grant access to all of the previous accounts.
Make the programmable like scene in the Minecraft mod Computercraft. I would spend all base building time messing around with the computers, adding locks and extreamly-complecatedfor-no-apparent-reason doors. They should also include a mini Raspberry Pi, so i can install Linux on it, so i can play starbound while playing starbound to
This...this my friend, is the sound of progress. I'd love this idea, and not just from a RPG point of view. There are a ton of possibilities from contacting offline friends to organising server wide exploration adventures. If I could give more than a +1 I would.
This idea is something I have been hoping for since I first stumbled across the game. Functional, if basic, computers can add a lot to a game. One question though, what about the ability to write programs in something such as Lua and a way to receive and send signals similar to the switches we've been shown? Then you could setup a lab where the computer could control the lights, doors, etc, along with storing information. Either way, great idea!
That kind of thing would be absolutely awesome, but is not part of this particular suggestion. Good news is, that kind of thing doesn't necessarily mean that my suggestion couldn't be strapped in alongside it, either!
How about a function to give data to various displaying-devices such as generating an 8-bit pixel-picture on a screen via coding? Making an own system like that would be awesome. If there was an antenna to send such signals to Screens that are tuned to the same frequency, they would get something like specialized news.
Oh yes! GREAT idea essential for the game. That way if you have an "HQ" for your team you guys can have a database. Plus would love to see passing intel from PC to PC like emails, or even chat. To be honest I have a feeling Starbound is slowly becoming real life-like.
One thing I would like to know is how chat will be handled on a server? It chat is local. Only people with a radius of your character can read what you type. Then having a computer system to be able to communicate to other players that are out of range (100 metres away) or further (light years away).
I would greatly like something like a basic *nix box. Becouse then we will be able to make our internet in no time.
Honestly, it would be very cool to have some sort of fake OS on the computer, like a fake Linux OS Thinking more realistically, though, I think the idea of having some personal notes about the planet you are currently on would be a great start. It would be kind of like the signs in Terraria where you could just type in a few things and others could read it. Or, you could have both per-user accounts and all user accounts. The possibilities are really endless here. It sure seems to me that that in game computer should be used for more than just opening doors or operating other things.
