So this particular suggestion is not for a specific NPC, but for mechanics involving NPC dwellings. I think it would be interesting if NPCs did not simply give you their abilities immediately once they've moved into your space station/ homeworld. In Terraria, all you did was give your NPC's 2 walls, a ceiling, and two pieces of furniture and that was enough. But I propose that NPCs require specific surroundings in order to do their job properly or completely. So an Astrophysicist might need, say, a room with a particle colider, 10 planetary soil specimens, 6 thingamabobs, etc. etc. in order to unlock all of the abilities they can offer you. The more powerful the NPC, the more they might need. So in effect, every piece of furniture might ultimately have some granule of utility, not just the chairs, tables, and "anvils."
YES, this would allow to tier their abilities so they stay fresh. A scientist npc could start in the standard lab doing research, but if you assign him to a room equipped with special stuff it could do other works or more specialized research faster. This, however, either assumes that the space base is expandable, or that npc in planets can do stuff. Hopefully we could set worlds for each, so you could get a research world where you send all your science guys and such. It could even be expanded into assigning cooks and whatnot to support populations if the devs decide to give this a more Dungeon Keeper twist. However, I still say that npcs arrive simply by inviting and them accepting, but just doing that will get them to stay in the station to use as companions for missions and to fill the base, but would not give the bonuses they would if they had the room. Also expandable into special rooms, built a gym and your adventure npcs could train or something!
Personally I think this is a wonderful idea. It would certainly add a sense of purpose to getting "Decor" items, rather than just being completely awesome.
Good suggestion. That way, your NPCs (meaning the surroundings boosting their abilities) could also go up in tiers alongside the player. Should the requirements for their work stations become harder and harder to get, what they have to offer would be better and better in return. ^^
All good follow up suggestions. I especially agree with Pixel on the impetus for acquiring decor items. One of my favorite parts of Terraria was building cities to accommodate NPCs, but I always felt a little bit foolish for making massive decorated alchemy labs for my wizards or sprawling workshops for my craft related NPCs. It would have been that much more enjoyable to feel like the process of construction was persistently moving toward something purposeful, rather than just "Look what I made, mom!!"
Great idea! What bothered me in Terraria was that all the NPCs rooms looked the same. With the profession specific items it would be much better. It would also extend amount of time to complete (I mean, to archive 100% of completion, as this is sanbox) the game. Again, you have my like.
I don't like the idea of having prerequisites, but I do agree with the fact that they will work better with better content in their rooms. They don't have to be spoonfed, they should be content with an empty room, but of course, they won't be able to work in an empty room.
