Hoverbikes are just plain rad. Imagine Megaman X 2 style. Being able to customize, or find bikes with procedurally generated parts that add different functionality would be sweet. Imagine having 3 parts, the front, middle (body), and rear (engine), and you could either find/craft parts and fit them together, or find/create the bikes and have their pieces randomly generated, similar to the way guns work. Front Section: For the front, you could have some guns, or maybe a blade attachment to deal damage by running into enemies, or perhaps a more aerodynamic front to add nothing but speed, or maybe an energy shield on the front to help block incoming projectiles, and add durability to the bike. The front section would be primarily used for offense. Middle Section: The body would determine primarily how fast and durable the bike would be, as well as add certain abilities (or perhaps slots for abilities that can be discovered and interchanged?) like an energy shield, or a jump-jet to allow the bike to jet up into the air over obstacles, or maybe a scanner to scan underground. Other ideas include extra energy/fuel for the bike, perhaps a small area to store cargo, extra mounted weaponry like rockets or more guns, or maybe an extra seat so a buddy can ride with you (and shoot from the back? Yes?)! The body would ultimately set the role for the bike, and add defensive or utility functions. Rear Section: As for the rear, or the engine, this would ultimately decide how fast it would be and perhaps decide how often and long you could "boost", if at all, and how much power it would drain over time. Some would be very fast but drain a lot of power. Others could be small and efficient, but couldn't really get going that fast. Maybe others hover higher off the ground, or can boost much faster. Ultimately, the rear would determine how mobile the bike is, and at what cost. How they're made: I imagine you could get these by collecting materials once you find a "Hoverbike blueprint", and once you gather the correct materials, you could craft a bike, but it would have generated parts so that every time you craft, you get a completely unique bike! You'll probably never create the same bike twice, and this kind of thing could work for many other kinds of vehicles too. How does that sound? Think of the combinations! And I mean, who DOESN'T want to ride a hoverbike? Sure they wouldn't be all high and mighty as full blown mechs, but they look sexy and have very cool functionality too! Great for exploring, or perhaps combat, or transporting a buddy around! Here is a little example of what kind of bike I'm talking about: (I did NOT draw this! Google images found it!)
I like it, procedurally generated vehicles in general would just be fun, I imagine they would be purchased from a vendor for the most part.
Perhaps, or you could have a Hoverbike blueprint that, when you gathered the correct materials, would craft a hoverbike with generated parts, giving each hoverbike unique abilities, so you never get the same bike twice!
Apperantly everything in the game is randomly generated so why not Starbound will truly be Infinite. Good thing we are Infinity! Right Sykes?
Unlimited possibilities! UNLIMITED HOVERBIKES! EDIT: I updated the OP with more detail, and shinier text.
why different variants, hoverbikes with can be found or build with parts designed for your racial style.
Wouldn't it be better if you add Chassis for the "role" of the bike and let body determine the defensive capabilities of the bike. For example you can have a speedy chassis + an armored body would give you a bike with decent to nice speed with considerable defense. Other types of chassis can be exploration (for higher hovering), hunter (acceleration), scout (speed), payload (if you can have payloads on your bike, this can make you carry heavier stuff), utility , gunship, (more attachments), etc.
These are nice ideas sort of. im guessing you mean the chassis would determine the size, shape, and bulk of the bike?
There should be a hover bike that turns itself into a laser cannon that attaches to your arm when you want it to
Would love to see something like this implemented, but I imagine that ramming into enemies should decrease some durability, to avoid just ramming into every enemy in sight, making things easier. Also, how about bailing? Maybe if you're about to drive into a tough enemy, you could possibly jump off before getting yourself killed, while still dealing some damage to said enemy.
