Ok so, as we all know, sandbox kind of games are very well known for the "freedom" they give to the player. Depending on the game in question, you can build, explore, fight monsters and even players. Exemples of these games I mean are like Minecraft, Terraria, Garry's Mod, and so on Starbound SEEMS to be going this way, and it is much appreciated, since you can go around exploring random-generated worlds with your gear and build bases, etc. One thing in special is the hability to place blocks instantly, on the go, which is pretty cool. Makes building stuff much faster, right!? Maybe it's just me but I bet hope some people out there also agree with me. In the middle of a PvP or creep fight, someone is low on health, they just cover themselves with a dirt shield to recover their health. Or making bridges over lava lakes while jellies are chasing you. Or drop a forge in the middle of a mine, make a new pick and bam you're ready to go without needing to go back to the base. This may be a FEATURE on certain games (like terraria) but I was expecting Starbound to be something more. Ok, lets get to point already. The main idea I had is Add a delay for placing blocks. And I dont mean the delay of 0,5s it already has, but something that really matter in some situations. Placing Blocks: Basic Concept on Delay The main idea of this whole remake of the system is to add more depth and even some more challenge to the game, make the player think when its the good time to place a block or fight off the incoming monsters. This delay would basically make placing anything a little slower, and will force the player to plan his actions better. As you go place a block or decoration, for a 1 second or so, your character would either kneel or stretch to place the (as in, it would play a animation of it kneeling and placing the said thing). Depending on how light/heavy or how small/big the placeble item is, the faster/slower it is to place. "Ok good, this may make combat and even exploring more interesting... but what if I want to build?!" Here comes the tricky part. There is quite a few ways I could think of to make block-placing delay matter in combat/exploration without hindering the building feature in the game. Here are the best 3 I came up with: Togglable Stances: You could toggle between a "Combat" and a "Build" stance. Combat stance would apply the long delay to placing, but combat wouldnt be affected. Building stance would lower the delay by 66% but completly hinder your fighting skills. Switching from Build to Combat would be instant, but Combat to Build it would have also a delay. Equipping a weapon and attacking with it would automatically switch the Build stance to Combat. Pro: You have a control over your stance, so as long as there is something/someone that can protect you, you can keep placing the blocks fast.Con: You have to manually control the stance, so if you dont pay attention or have a good timing, this may cause you problems. Line of Sight/Aggro: As long as any enemy is not seeing you/aggressive towards you/taking damage , you're free to place blocks with no delay. Normally, the player would have a "Safe" buff that would allow placing blocks at a faster rate. If engaged in battle with a creature or take damage, the buff is gone, and will be restored in about 10 seconds. Pro: You dont have to worry with stances, and the buff regenerates automatically, so as long as you're in a safe place, you can build freely.Con: Can be quite annoying if a weak monster come by and aggro on you. Even if the enemy was easily ignored, you'd lose the buff. Nothing (My favorite): Yep, nothing. The delay would always be there, no matter if you're safe or not. However, there would be items that take space in your hotbar/gear or acessory slot that lower the cooldown of placing blocks. High tier ecessories could even allow a larger place range with instant place (Like a powerglove materializer thingy stuff) Pro and Con: Add more challange to the player, force them to really think about their loadout. That concludes my point. I beleive Starbound promisses to be a great game already with just the few amount of information we have about it, but I beleive tweaking the Block/Decoration Placing mechanics would add so much to the game depth, and provide an interesting and new aspect to gameplay. Feel free to comment on this thread. Post your opinions on what you think you agree with, and what you disagree with, and just overall opinions about the ideas here presented. Thanks for reading!
Interesting idea, but I don't really like it. About the PvP matter, they could always turn of block placing in pvp arenas, which would make that much better. Otherwise I quite agree that there should be some limits, and on the same time, no limits. I have no idea how it should be limited though, and how it could be fixed, I feel rather natural about the ideas you suggested. Though what if theres something lil higher up than my reach that I need to place? like a hole in the roof or so, usually I would just jump up and place it down, though with this idea it wouldn't really work that well...
That idea is pretty cool, and you've got a good point. I totally agree with you, and I would prefer the "Nothing" Concept. Okay, it would make constructions a bit (tad?) slower, but just deal with it: you're a spaceman, not a portugese bricklayer on crack.
The animation of the guy kneeling/stretching is just for the sake of looking cool and fancy, but the range would just about the same as the Devs are planning. And yeah, I forgot to say, placing blocks while jumping would be impossible/discarted. Ahahahaha oh god that's great. And yeah. Only problem I can see beside building being slower is the disappointment builders would feel. Thanks for the support, anyways!
Multiplayer building should be an option. So, having more people/NPC to build stuff together with you spends less time than you trying to build from the ground a heavy stone wall... ...also, i prefer the stance idea. Being able to switch between Build and Combat, with Build being vulnerable makes possible without much hassle to explore a planet and build stuff around. In the "Nothing" choice, any type of fast building would demand going back to your base, getting the proper equipment... and Line of Sight is a little too much for me, since any monster looking at you, not attacking, just GAZING you is enough to slowdown a construction. So, if in Minecraft we have creepers, in Starbound we would have the gazers: floating eyes involved in mist, very fast and usually hovering JUST above range.
Oh as in enemies nearby, I meant creatures that want to hurt you and will attempt to do so. Non-aggressive mobs and NPCs wouldnt cause this slowdown. Perhaps another way to make buolding faster is plan then previously at your station using a special window/editor and once you're on the planet, just deepstrike/beam them down to the surface.
It's a very good option, i agree, but let's keep it as an option. I guess lots of players will cry if they can't build something block by block...
