Let me begin with an anecdote. I have played Blockland and found it quite enjoyable, there happened to be one server running a mining game where it was all procedurally generated with the ores and everything. Since the ores were procedurally generated there were often new ores and the person that discovered said ore was allowed to name it, this was announced to the server. I thought that if ores were procedurally generated that it would be possible to, at least in an isolated server, implement a system like the one I described above where it would be possible for a player to name a new ore. I know that ores would be used for crafting items, and that this system would put pressure on that, which is why I think the new ores could simply have a varying monetary value and be basically useless other than for sale or decoration. I just think that it would be nice for people to have some impact on a server, getting an ore named after them for the foreseeable future at least in that server (If not throughout the whole multiplayer universe - although this could easily be very challenging and is not the basis of my idea). If not in the game, this could be something for the modders to make
May be this should be a rare occasion. That way devs could incorporate these ores into crafting system by patch, say, once every three months.
I said this in another thread somewhere, but I think you should be able to name anything you wanted, and you could see it's offical name and the thing you named it. So an animal was called a Vicious Viper, you could rename it to Harmless Snake. It wouldn't affect anyone else and would be a cool addition.
I'm not saying this would be a common thing, it would be rare to discover a new ore, although I see the point you are trying to make. To be honest I think that making something craftable from every ore would be both a pain and pointless, it makes much more sense to me to just have them as some kind of rare cash bonus. I see what you are trying to say here, but what I am talking about are procedurally generated ores meaning they are made up as it goes along (basically infinite possibilities - as there will be with the armour and weapons), this means that the ores wouldn't really have official names to begin with and hence your name becomes the official name of said ore in the server.
I know what you meant, but it would be a little different in Starbound I assume where you would have to worry about sprites...
Actually from what we know, they have a system that procedurally generates sprites for all the armour and weapons already. To have it procedurally generate an ore texture would probably be easier given that it is just a square tile shape.
You could actually have it affect crafting a bit quite easily. Make it that certain hues are rarer than others, and depending how close they are to certain set hues in the full color palette, they could be fused into any energy weapons to up it in one stat (only one per weapon can be set, maybe? Or a slightly higher limit, like 4?). Whatever hue it is gives it different chance values as to what stat it will increase. That would give it a bit more use rather than bragging rights...?
I don't think the whole naming aspect would work, because if players were allowed to name ores, then he who smelt it would... well name it, and the early-players would get to name everything... the late players would just feel jealous or left out. Besides that, you WILL get a player who decides to name a block ****ium or some other expletive. Couldn't you imagine going "guys I need five more TerrariaSucksium?" That would be really... lame. So obviously it would have to be carefully monitored and policed... not really something the Devs would want to have to watch.
"Procedurally generated" meaning there is an infinite amount, also you talk about it as if they aren't rare finds anyway. Filters for what you can and can't name ores decided by the creators of said server. You wouldn't get this because as I originally suggested, the ores would have no use other than selling to merchants. It can be monitored and policed in each individual server by its admins, not like it is going to get out of control. In the blockland game it announced when someone found and named a new ore, if it did in Starbound then admins could easily see bad names and rename them.
Then there would be no point to have naming for them, because you're not going to do much with some minerals that you can only sell to merchants right? Also even if it is "Procedurally Generated" does not mean an infinite number. There will be a limit, even if you were to add 200 sprites to the game for ores, and then when they were generated randomly change their color, there would only be a limited amount, and range of usable color differences. AND Because of this, even if it is rare to find one, the longer you play the less there would be left to find, making my point just as valid.
i would totally love this idea, though have the minerals names stay Client side, along with a more universal "nick name" that other people across servers can recognize when playing multiplayer
The point being IT IS FOR FUN - A HARMLESS ADDITION TO THE GAME. And who cares if it becomes more rare, its more of a challenge. First come first served in my eyes, why should people have to refrain from exploration because people in the future may want to get something. And in all honesty who is going to spend most of their time mining when the aim of the game is exploration and combat? If they all get named that's tough luck, it will take a while to name them all anyway.
To be honest, people just don't understand what I am suggesting. I here by no longer care about answering this thread because I am not willing to put in the effort, it was a simple idea - allow players to name something and feel involved on servers - although apparently not at all plausible. Post if you want, the idea still stands, but I will no longer respond.
"People are disagreeing with my idea because it's pointless and potentially abusable! CLEARLY NOBODY UNDERSTANDS MY GRAND VISION" I'd rather not have an ore-that-looks-like-a-valuable-ore-but-isn't clogging up my inventory. Space is at a premium in these games, and any of these ores will be disposed of on the spot.
The ores could also have a randomized crystal shape and randomized color, the color part I would assume wouldn't be very hard but having a randomized shape might.
Unfortunately as far as we know all elements in the universe exist under the same laws. Therefor you would only ever be able to find a limited amount of solids, liquids, gases and plasmas based on their atomic values. Realistically, anyway. I understand this is only a game and fun outweighs realism, but we should try to stick to the realm of science-fiction. If I was playing and encountered a generated resource that had no use other than to sell or for decoration, I would immediately find it useless. You have to keep the player's goal in mind. Most people are playing because they want to build, be creative, and be productive. Something like this doesn't fit very easily under any of those, especially since there will be pre-created items that fit the roles of crafting and decoration just as well, if not better. Alternatively, I can see encountering new metals with different properties like hardness, weight, and other special attributes. These could be defined as newly discovered elements that were potentially volatile, so only basic equipment could be made. They could have any number of base sprites determined when the ore was first generated, and a color palette depending on the ore as well. The ores would have certain properties that transferred to the equipment that you could analyze. For example: a permanently frozen stone that gently pulsed with energy, that when turned into armor, created a kinetic shield that repelled physical projectiles, but was extremely brittle, giving it low defense. It also lethally reduced the body temperature. Good for volcanic planets, but impossible to wear without some sort of warming tech otherwise. These attributes would be determined just like the procedural equipment. However, the advantage of having it with an ore is you can determine yourself what sort of equipment you would like to create with these properties.
Nice Idea. I would like some sort of procedurally generated ores too. Look at what we know about the game: Customizable Players. Procedurally Generated Environments, Procedurally Generated Weapons, why not make procedurally generated ores and materials too? There would be a limited number of base sets, like Rock-like, Ore-Like, Gem-Like, Dirt-Like, and so on. The color would be kinda random and the texture would be out of different possibilities from the base set. So when you discover a new Planet, you can find new ores and stuff. What would also be cool, is that sometimes you find another planet with the same ore. And the crafting thing is an even better idea. It would add to the General Procedurally Generated Everything Idea
