It's so delightfully shameless; the unused-for-a-reason patrol commander response just seals it.
(Pretty sure Alex was like, "Maybe that's too much?". He's probably right.)
is the alpha site the ONLY known blacksite to involve creating a new type of warship or are there plans to expand this topic?
No explicit
plans to expand the topic, but it is implied that TT runs a bunch of black sites for various things. See also the capstone Sebestyen mission to rescue the academician using Transverse Jump.
E: If I had to guess we will pick up where we left with Macario and _the name list_. I am looking forward to it. Thank you for the post.
Hmm, who could say! (... it's only been stewing in my brain for like 8? 9? years; gah.)
...If I had an option to hand over the data you get at the end of the Usurpers chain to Agent Finlay, I'd take it in a heartbeat.
Hmm!
(I do kinda like the idea of subverting conventions of stories that rely on people not telling each other basic facts about their situation. Question is, as ever, how much does this potentially throw plotting out the window and etc... we'll see!)
Booted up my account for the first time in years to give my thoughts on the vibe you're going for with the NOT-Powerfantasy. I run ttrpgs a lot and the idea of what you're trying to do with mostly just the two of you makes my stomach churn. I think it's working well though, when I play the game the narrative parts of it reminds me of old CRPGs without actually being just that. I feel like I'm just part of a larger ensemble caste in the story missions. I'm the operator who gets things done and people seek me out for that, not really for any deeper reason.
Ah, awesome!
1. Yes, we're crazy, and it also makes my stomach churn too. (Not much has been made of it yet, but eg. in 0.96 I snuck in hidden ethos counters for all sorts of decisions the player makes...)
2. But yes as well, those old school CRPGs are a huge inspiration - Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Planescape Torment... TBH I think CRPGs felt a bit weirder and more open-ended when they seemed to take more inspiration from TTRPGs vs. the way they settled down a bit into more structured forms in, for example, the "new school" Bioware style. I don't think the old stuff is intrinsically good; it sure had drawbacks, and they were sloppy designs in many ways, but there was less rigidity to the form and lower budgetary stakes that allowed a little more weirdness to seep in.
Take Morrowind - *huge* inspiration - could that kind of acid trip fantasy game happen in a AAA studio nowadays? No way. (It took a bunch of crazy Lithuanian commies to make Disco Elysium to show it could still be done!)
... but also I haven't really had much Tri-Tachyon stuff yet. Point me its way if I've missed it, but so far we've been shown only a few middle management folks and the actions of the folks in charge. It'd be interesting to see what life is like for the Tri-Tach colonists. How much worse is it than anywhere else? And what, if anything, is keeping them where they are? Stuff like that!
Ah, I forgot to mention them! And also, somehow Arroyo turned into the "exasperated by the player's BS straight-man", and I have no idea how. He was supposed to be "80's businessman"! But I'm here for it.