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News:

Starsector 0.97a is out! (02/02/24); New blog post: Simulator Enhancements (03/13/24)

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Author Topic: Building Better Worlds  (Read 43512 times)

David

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Building Better Worlds
« on: February 21, 2017, 09:39:58 AM »

Blog post here.
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ArkAngel

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2017, 10:04:25 AM »

Awesome! Random generation is nice, but handcrafted systems make me salivate at the lore possibilities. I can't wait till we get our hands on the next update.
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Cycerin

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2017, 10:20:26 AM »

My general suffering has been momentarily assuaged
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Thaago

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2017, 10:42:03 AM »

Cool! I can't wait to go exploring. With all of these different pirate warlords, any chance of pirate reputation behaving in a more nuanced manner than the big factions?

Also, I have matching pajama pants. And your cat is back! (I forget her name, though I ran across it in the graphics folder the other day when butchering looking at the sprites.)
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David

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2017, 10:53:44 AM »

Cool! I can't wait to go exploring. With all of these different pirate warlords, any chance of pirate reputation behaving in a more nuanced manner than the big factions?

Also, I have matching pajama pants. And your cat is back! (I forget her name, though I ran across it in the graphics folder the other day when butchering looking at the sprites.)

There's no particular special Pirate feature for this patch that I know of. We'll see what happens in the next one though! (Don't worry, there's plenty of other interesting stuff that'll be going on.)

I've got two cats, even! The one whose image is in the game directory is Godiva, and the one who appears in the frying pan image is Leeloo (who is sleeping under my monitor as I type).
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mendonca

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2017, 11:05:42 AM »

This is cool, thanks David.

Can't wait to google the new names.
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Dri

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2017, 11:39:10 AM »

Noice! I appreciate that stuff related to systems and worlds can't be spoiled all that much so I'll hold my questions in check, heh.

So the Ludds really are the type to erect great cathedrals and such, eh? You also mentioned a "one off mission", are those gonna be specially scripted missions that'll have major impacts on the game?

Which is your favorite faction, btw?
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arcibalde

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2017, 11:42:52 AM »

OMG! New blog post but you didnt change News thing (up there) and I always first look there for blogpost :D
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Alex

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2017, 11:44:28 AM »

OMG! New blog post but you didnt change News thing (up there) and I always first look there for blogpost :D

(Oops. Thanks!)
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SafariJohn

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2017, 11:51:43 AM »

Do any of the new Core worlds have an Antimatter Fuel Production Facility or will the Sector remain dependent on the whims of the Diktat? I think it was a year or so ago I was thinking the League having its own fuel plant would help in part explain its ability to resist the Hegemony.
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David

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #10 on: February 21, 2017, 12:05:29 PM »

Noice! I appreciate that stuff related to systems and worlds can't be spoiled all that much so I'll hold my questions in check, heh.

So the Ludds really are the type to erect great cathedrals and such, eh?

Why, architecture can be among the highest forms of expression of spirituality and devotion. (Or: I think space cathedrals are awesome. Check out "Absolution Gap" by Alastair Reynolds for some nuclear-powered space cathedrals on giant caterpillar treads circling the moon of a gas giant.)

You also mentioned a "one off mission", are those gonna be specially scripted missions that'll have major impacts on the game?

I did? Oh, I see: I mean the "missions" you select if you click on the missions button on the main menu as opposed to the campaign mode.

Which is your favorite faction, btw?

Honestly, I don't think it's possible for me to choose. And I might even be a bit uncomfortable if I were to make a "Mary Sue" faction. Maybe it'd feel creatively compromised, or didactic, or something along those lines. I try to make all of the factions compelling in their own way. I mean, I think I find all of the factions that exist in the game as objectionable somehow in terms of my real-life views, but the point is to find a way for them to make sense to themselves and express a point of view that makes them appealing and sensible in their context.

This is also partly in reaction to what I expect of players. The sort of person who plays Starsector is going to find it a lot easier to identify with a technologically advanced, militaristic faction because they bought the game to fly spaceships and shoot lasers. The challenge I'm trying to meet is to make that player archetype appreciate a bit about what the Luddic Church believes in, for instance.

A model for this might be Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri. When I first played the game, I thought Prokhor Zahkarov was the best because technology rules. But I grew up a bit, read more deeply into what was being said and implied in the world-building, and I think all the factions come out a bit more on balance. Miriam Godwinson may be the shrill fundamentalist, but her criticisms of the absurdly dystopian futures being built are not without merit; likewise aspects Yang's nihilistic zen are not an unreasonable reaction to how old modes of emotional thinking simply don't work in a world of inhuman technology. And Zahkarov? Lots of human experimentation going on there; I doubt it's just a mouse they dumped through that prototype teleporter. And you think Pravin Lal is the good guy? Based on one quote in the game there's a tiny story about how he stole his ex-wife's DNA to make a clone to ... keep as a concubine? It's not made clear, but there's something messed-up going on underneath his good-guy image.

Basically, SMAC has some really great writing going on; it's unafraid of getting really dark and really critical (as starkly opposed to the rather milquetoast writing in Civ: Beyond Earth).

Do any of the new Core worlds have an Antimatter Fuel Production Facility or will the Sector remain dependent on the whims of the Diktat? I think it was a year or so ago I was thinking the League having its own fuel plant would help in part explain its ability to resist the Hegemony.

Yup, there will be more fuel-producing worlds. The League has at least one, and the Hegemony has at least one.
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Gothars

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #11 on: February 21, 2017, 12:09:44 PM »

Oh, so the Sector now has a name! Persian Sector!


This blog post made me think: What are the tools at your disposal for world building, David? I know there are names and descriptions of stellar objects, and the descritions of hulls, weapons and items. What all of these have in common is that they are very expository. Which is a good start, but info dumps are only half the rent for good world building, in my opinion.
What's missing so far (and what I was kinda hoping this blog post might be about when I saw the title) is any kind of individual view into the Sector. Something that tells us about how the common man (or not-so-common captain) is going about his life, ina direct, tangible way. That would allow to not only see the world of Starsector, but see (you as?) a person in the world of Starsector.
Basically, I want to ask: Will Starsector get real, fleshed out characters at any point? Could for example be as part of quests, as a recuring important contact person or maybe as an officer.
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Dark.Revenant

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #12 on: February 21, 2017, 12:14:06 PM »

Oh, so the Sector now has a name! Persian Sector!

We need a mission titled The Prince of Perseus.
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David

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #13 on: February 21, 2017, 12:18:18 PM »

Oh, so the Sector now has a name! Persian Sector!


This blog post made me think: What are the tools at your disposal for world building, David? I know there are names and descriptions of stellar objects, and the descritions of hulls, weapons and items. What all of these have in common is that they are very expository. Which is a good start, but info dumps are only half the rent for good world building, in my opinion.
What's missing so far (and what I was kinda hoping this blog post might be about when I saw the title) is any kind of individual view into the Sector. Something that tells us about how the common man (or not-so-common captain) is going about his life, ina direct, tangible way. That would allow to not only see the world of Starsector, but see (you as?) a person in the world of Starsector.
Basically, I want to ask: Will Starsector get real, fleshed out characters at any point? Could for example be as part of quests, as a recuring important contact person or maybe as an officer.


PersEan Sector!

Regarding characters: That's definitely something we've talked about and I want to try some angles to give "the common man" more of a voice in the text. (And I don't want to talk about specific details about how that might work until it's in and working!) - As for making officers and the figures you see holding positions at ports a more active part of the game, I think Alex has ideas but again it's too soon to discuss them.
So .... yeah, answer: we agree it'd be cool and want to try some stuff.
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Dri

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Re: Building Better Worlds
« Reply #14 on: February 21, 2017, 12:29:16 PM »

Ah, you mean those missions—my own fault for not playing them in a long time and nearly totally forgetting about them!

I get what you're saying about the factions and I can indeed imagine that your view on them all is quite a bit different as their creator rather than just a player. And yeah, it is probably for the best to avoid having obvious good guys and bad guys!
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