Will there be electrictiy and hazardous athmospheres?

I'd say make it an option, like Angbor said. You can choose "difficulty" if that's at all possible. Cause personally I enjoy having to make things work. Playing Minecraft we generally tend to run Buildcraft, IndustrailCraft and other things like Railcraft all together, it's quite fun making an entirely automated system and sitting back watching it work.

I'd like to do some of the same in Starbound, I'd also like there to be some more "medieval" options though, like the basic torch or something, burns out after awhile but it's good in a pinch that sorta thing. Or those little lights you shake and they work!

 

Maybe a planet with constant electrical storms that don't allow electric appliances to run properly and only the rudimentary and more medieval appliances would be used. You would have to use stone furnaces and torches, and maybe restrict armor and weapon usage. The electrical storm would only EMP or disable electric things (excluding robots, for technobable reasons) and would not harm any one on the planet.

 

Actually Regal Kains idea is pretty amusing, and quite doable in a game like this. I mean, its a Sci-fi game in which you play with futuristic doodadss and whatnot, but we all forget the precursors of all those marvelous weapons. (and huamnkinds tendency towards using new things to violence) Starting off at the bottom gives more play time to the game, and adds quite a bit of depth. Between electrical work, working your way up the tech ladder, collecting recipes and new armor, exploring the galaxy, and actually finding time for the story, as well as a multiplayer campaign? Well, Id say you'd have a game more cram packed that Super Smash Bros Brawl. Adding low tech stuff in a game like this only increases its charm. Besides, didnt Tiy show screenshots of simple things, like Campfires and torches already?

 

This would be so awesome. Little things like that add so much depth to a game, I want this. It also adds the option (I think there was going to be research in this game) to research some kind of shielding to help reduce or prevent the negative effects. I also really want endless energy like a wind turbine or solar plant can provide. Because, let's face it, I'm lazy. But perhaps automated base defenses would be expensive power wise and would need a resource driven power generator to keep them running. Something situational like that would be a great use of micro-managed stuff and something to get me off the lazy train.

 

You and me both. If at all possible, wiring should be in the background, and machines/devices that are connected to said wiring be placed like furniture. You can interact with them and they'll not be in the way. Fairly certain this is how it's going to work, if so, Yah!

 

What about having sort of an AOE type effect such as inside a building that is hooked up to a generator of some sort.

 

It would be cool for appliances and so on for homes, lights outside of the home which are needed to explore caves can just have batteries - perhaps that could also be a crafting requirement to make a portable light?

 

It wouldn't have to be. Think about this:
Build your base. Plonk down a turret. Plonk down a generator. Open the generator and click on it and drag a "wire" over to the turret. Powered, with three clicks. Just like the wiring for the doors was simple in the building demo, wiring for power could be simple too. It doesn't have to require you to place every individual wire.

 

Yes. Very yes.

These kinds of things were great fun in Minecraft mods. Something like that would be amazing, especially with different energy sources.

 

I read your comment in a Strong Bad voice.

 

I see what you did there...

I do hope that there will be energy requirements for things though, it would be a nice level of complexity for planning, then for things like PvP sieges they could be a target to disable defenses and such.

 

I am for this one. I love the idea and the depth that it provides.

 

I very much liked the idea that you need to prepare accordingly when traveling to another planet, like build a scanner to scan the athmosphere, then build a proper space suit and tools fpr your journey.

 

Why so if it adds to the game? Playing a game is also time consuming and the more we can do in this game the better. I'm all against a dumped down game where you just run around and shoot everything or place instant working stuff. Every bit of game mechanic that's added could also serve in adding more fun to a game in ways we maybe can't even imagine at present.

What if you needed generators to power stuff and somewhere in the future the devs would add invasions that target those generators...bam..your base is defenceless. Would add another strategic layer just like the battle on hoth in Star Wars.

I wouldn't call something unnecessary at present if we can't see the whole picture. Who knows what awaits us in the future.

 

Look from the other side: What if YOU try to infiltrate on enemy base with turrets/force fields/deadly traps/killbots and you should find the generator(s) to turn it off and.. and...
sorry I need to take a cold shower

 

I realize. Also I realize that it's NOT fun for me to depend on generators. Someone doesn't like infinite torches, but darn it's convenient. And I don't find this feature good because I don't find wiring every light and device to generator and replacing every torch that went off fun.

 

Well, I tend to agree at this point.
Infinite torches/lamps are silly and unrealistic, but damn, do you play the video games for realism???
Although, wiring could be funny with some more complex gadgets.

 

I love this Idea. I would even be in support of having to wire every electric lighting source, trailing lines of cable deep into your tunnels to power your little space lanterns. I think this king of game tends to appeal to people who enjoy resource management mechanics, while that applies to physical resources, power would really just be another resource to manage and I happen to really enjoy that kind of gameplay. Electrical storms disabling powered systems would also be an interesting planet-side obstacle and I'm all for that kind of random survival obstacle gameplay. All of that being said, I have a few caveats;

Bioluminescence would be awesome. As an alternative to power generation/cabling, the ability to create (bioengineer?) bioluminescent fungi or plants that could function as lanterns or chandeliers, etc. would be amazing. It could very easily be implemented I think (whether as an in-game alternative to power systems or not) and would be lore-friendly and quite atmospheric.

I've been a long-time fan of both Minecraft and Terraria. I love both games and one of the largest draws for me (other than the sandbox building theme) was the mechanical aspects. Being able to wire my own traps, complex door locks, automated farms, etc. were/are some of my fondest memories. Terraria had alot of potential in that area and i was deeply disappointed when that failed to blossom into what it could've been. Minecraft has also been (in my opinion) neglecting that aspect of the game for awhile and has basically just left it to the mod community to deal with, and that brings me to my next point;

The Mod API. Arguably the best thing about Minecraft is it's modability, a large, dedicated and highly motivated modding community makes the game potentially timeless. I have gotten so used to playing with some mods (primarily Redpower, an utterly incredible tech mod for the game) that I am now easily bored of the vanilla game. Even though Minecraft hasn't yet come through with their promise of an API, I really think Starbound would benefit from it, both the game itself and the community. Without one, I am suspect to believe that the modding community would thrive as much as it could (I feel like this was part of the issue with Terraria). With an API in place, I have no doubt that people will be creating amazing tech mods for the game and as such; as long as they develop an API for the game that allows tech mods, I don't see any particular 'need' for them to provide vanilla mechanics that some people really wouldn't like.

Ultimately, I leave it to the devs to figure out (I am new here, but already very very impressed with the level of intimacy that the devs seem to have for the quality of the game and the desires of their fanbase, it is really inspiring) what is best for the game. As long as their decision on this matter makes sense within the subjectivity of the lore, I really don't mind what they do about it. If all that amounts to is a small flavor text explaining why the lanterns don't require an external power source, I would be satisfied with it. The one thing I would be really disappointed in is if they don't add a power system to the game based solely on the idea that some people would find it tedious.


tldr; YES! Power systems and hazardous atmospheric conditions including electrical storms, or a decent mod API so that the community can do it themselves.

 

I would vote yes on both, I would appreciate having to set up a power grid and hazardous environments.