As I was browsing my Steam Library, I found a game (Star Trek online) that I hadn't played in so long that I found it barely memorable. But within the short time that I had played it, I remember acting like a cruise ship captain, talking in phrases that started with "This is your captain speaking..." This gave me an interesting idea for Starbound that I felt like sharing. To start off, this idea is all about Intergalactic Cruises in which you and a few of your online (or npc) buddies can take cruises through the reaches of space itself! I thought about the different things that could happen whilst upon a gigantic space ship filled with other players and tons of npcs, doing whatever they please. Then my mind drifted towards events that are triggered throughout the cruise haphazardly (such as abductions and pirate raids) you and your friends are the only people on board (other than cruise line security) who have guns to take down these invaders of your cruise related business! Then I thought about what else you would do (because floating through space to see sights isn't the only thing you people would want out of this!) You would gain places on your star charts to go and do as you please upon the planets surface. And, even if you don't go by yourselves, the ship will occasionally dock at tourist attraction planets that will give you a quick tour of the planet. Once on the surface, anyone who was on the ship legally (because you payed for a ticket) will be given a cruise beacon so that when it's ready to depart, you won't be left behind! After the cruise is over, you will have any goods meant to be left on the ship confiscated (how dare you try to steal that gold plated margarita glass!) and you will be sent back to the docks. You will also be given a debuff that makes you unable to go on another cruise for a while (not sure how long, but it'll be for a while). You are also given a memento of your cruise, a picture of you (and whoever else is in the background) on the cruise and a free model ship to place in your home. So for a TL;DR version this is basically an idea for cruises and cruise related events/items. I hope you read the long version though, because there are a lot of neat ideas up there! Be sure to leave an idea of your own down in the replies, there's always something that needs added/replaced/tweaked. Update (thanks you Ricola!): Tuesday, 11/20/12 Captain? You're the Captain! That's right, captaining your own cruise line business would mean that you get paid to take guests all over the universe (after finding the best destinations, of course)! To start your business, all you need is a large ship capable of carrying at least 100 guests or more. Then you must get your spacer license to be an official cruise ship captain (making it less backdoor to take people on cruises). You can even sign up to be part of a bigger cruise corporation, meaning bigger pay and better rewards! Upgrade for the better! Your star ship may be big, but with all those hanging wires and discombobulated pipe systems, why would anyone frequent your cruise ship? Don't fret! With a little work, time, and elbow grease (and a couple hundred credits here and there!) You can upgrade your ship to be the biggest ship in cruise line history! Beds, curtains, and a new coat of paint here and there, your ship will become the flashiest liner in port! Another thing good to mention is that bringing items from other planets to upgrade your ship will make it more exotic and comfortable for guests. And don't forget to place plaques next to your exhibits explaining the decor, having a humongous staff gets pricey!
Nice idea! It would be cool if this was entirely player-run. This could work really well if space travel and highly customizable ships are made in-game. That way a high-level player could just take these people to some of the most interesting destinations on their star map! You would basically be paying to add a bunch of amazing and beautiful new locations to your star map, and of course all of the food, drink, and relaxing things on board the line. It would be a hell of a lot better than just giving people the co-ordinates. I also think there doesn't need to be be a cooldown at all! The fact that you're paying and each captain has only a limited number of cool places to visit is enough of a reason not to hop back on.
Thank you very much for your input. I have to agree that a cool-down would be a bit of a hassle and that a player run cruise would be an interesting job whilst playing. This also gave me the idea for different kinds of ships that you can upgrade with different attractions and amusements for guests about the ship. I'll add full details in the update for this thread. And again, thank you very much.
So like roller coaster tycoon but on a custom-built starship? Cool! I'd like if everyone could build these attractions but they're functionally useless and cost a large amount of pixels to create, making having all of them exclusive to profitable buisness(hey, just like in real life!).
Woo! Inter-Planetary Alcohol break! I gotta take some time off from conquering the universe ya know? Im gonna have a great vacation with this! APPROVED!
Just don't drink to many, the temperatures can cause freezer burn which would not be fun for a conqueror of worlds (gotta make those galatic domination speeches!)
There could be meats from exotic species of animal, and a terrarium or two where the crew could grow fresh fruit on-board! Tye captain could type into an intercom and project the message to everyone on the ship! There could be petting zoos filled with some of the more gentle life you will see on the trip, living garbage cans, VR rooms... (I'll get back to you with more ideas.)
I quite enjoy this concept. It's a rather clever twist on the exploration aspect of the game to turn it into a vacation. Bravo. Not only that, but you've tied in the potential for quest occurrences, which only adds to the appeal. If I may, I've an idea to share. A quest centered around a stolen ticket. Or, more specifically, your ticket. You arrive in the orbit of one of the planets that you may disembark to the surface of and, upon beaming down to the surface, become suffused within a large crowd of NPC's. Mostly other tourists from the cruise liner, but a number of locals are interspersed as well. After a bit of wandering about, your beacon goes off, alerting you that the ship will be departing in, oh, let's say, 30 minutes. At this point, a speech bubble with an exclamation point would appear over your head, quickly replaced by the phrase, "Where's my ticket?" At this point, it's up to you to go around inquiring after the NPC's as to whether they've seen, or have, your ticket. Find it, and your cruise continues. Fail to do so, and you just paid full price for only a portion of your relaxing getaway. Alternative methods for initiating the quest could include: Opening up your inventory to find your ticket missing Attempting to get back on board early, only to have the security guard ask to see your ticket and be unable to produce it I have to agree with Ricola about the debuff, as I'm of the opinion that I ought to be able to jump right back onto the same ship, or saunter on over to another right away, should the thought strike me as pleasing. To put it in somewhat memetic terms, "Shut up and take my pixels!" Were the Tour of the Stars to be integrated into the game, I'd certainly take advantage of it. Great idea.
I want there to be a server where you start out with a dinky crap ship that is ugly and can hold a captain and one guest, then make money and upgrade until your ship is the best. Like Tetrys, I can imagine fun little side quests that you can do to pass the time if you play Maplestory you will know what I am talking about.
Thank you for taking your time with your response! I really appreciate time spent on a good thought and frankly your idea was just plain awesome! Maybe there can be some thief that you have to rough-up a bit in order to get your ticket back! That would be something! And yes I know exactly what your talking about. I thought of mentioning some kind of game similar to Pazaak (Star Wars: Kotor reference for those who don't get it. ) to pass the time before boarding the ship/during the trip, but I thought that that would be for a different post entirely (comprising of the the name, how the game is played, and what conditions must be met in order to win). If you wish to make it, post it as a different thread and post a link in the replies or as a pm, I would be more than happy to include your ideas into a clickable link above! Quite sorry about that! I was just thinking along the lines of being on the cruise, not directing it. And the idea for captaining your own cruise liner came from Ricola. Any complaints you may have can be directed to him for not giving me such a great idea sooner! Thanks for the extra input! I appreciate it immensely
You are quite welcome. It was a pleasure, and so, well worth the time. Thank you for providing stimuli such that I was prompted to entertain intriguing thoughts. Aye, a thief was chiefly what I had in mind. That's why I specified that you arrive in a crowd, to make the idea that you might have had your pocket picked more believable (That sticky-fingered fiend!). You could go about gathering clues from different people in order to track it down. One person might inform you that they'd seen someone that they didn't recognize from the ship, with a ticket. Another may inform you that a certain person has been known to lift things that aren't theirs. There's a lot of potential in that regard. The different discovery methods give it something of an inherent variability, both in how much time you have allotted to determine the whereabouts of the ticket, and the level of panic that results from that factor ("I only have 30 minutes?! But this planet is huge!"). Another way to tweak it would be to introduce the possibility that you simply managed to drop it somehow ("Teleporter's been acting up today..."). In this instance, whatever good Samaritan happened to pick it up would simply give it back when asked. If the ship was just about to leave, and you hadn't yet found your ticket, they could show up at the last second and proffer your ticket to you saying that they'd, "Been looking all over for you," or something to similar affect. Nice people, just one of the many forms of stress relief you'll find during your Tour of the Stars ("Oh thank Kluex. My pixels shan't go to waste.").
I gotta say, you have one of the most expansive vocabularies that I have seen on the internet. I don't think this thread will last as long as my previous, but at least I had awesome ideas to ponder while it lasted! Also, I'm sorry I didn't respond to you earlier. I have had a couple things come up within the last week that slowed my progress on the forums to a halt.
Thanks. I'm something of a bookworm, and after plowing your way through hundreds of different works, it started to bleed over into my writing. That, and I simply appreciate being able to precisely express whatever sentiments(s) or concept(s) that I put forth (I recently began reading one of our dictionaries to further facilitate this.). Aye, I know what you mean. Primary concepts are excellent, but a majority of the time, it's the new thoughts that occur as byproducts that really make it all worthwhile, and it's all kept safe and sound within the mind. The thread, or book, or anything really, may fade into the background, but it's never really lost. In truth, it continues to keep its potential for growth so long as there's someone to transfer that knowledge. There's really no need to apologize. It would be ludicrous to expect someone to answer every beck and call that the internet can offer up in real time, so it doesn't bother me. I'd offer forgiveness, but that would be a blatant negation of my admittance that I didn't find anything for you to feel guilty over. Instead, I'll encourage you to keep up the quality work. I look forward to more.
