Alastar Frost
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Posted - 2011.02.22 16:27:00 -
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The idea of captains quarters is nice, but it needs some additions to make it interesting.
1. Dont make complete quarters, make tiles that can be put together by players (customization). (with some simple rules as quarters have to have a complete wall or may not penetrate the outside/balcony side of the station. Every player can then build his own quarters.
2. Build special tiles with specialized interfaces. The standard UI holds all information, but they are not presented well for many usecases. But making a lot of diffrent "views" in the standard UI would overcrowd it. On the other Hand, with the captains quarters you could choose the tile(interface) you want. Some examples:
2.1: Traders Quarter/ Check market order tile: It has two holographic displays, one shows the "my orders" tab, one shows the market window. (yes, you can get that view via standard interface with a bit of searching, but you could have it here prepared and easy to find for new players)
2.2: Industrials Quarter / PI Overview tile: A display with all planets with pics, name, a chart with all availialbe stocks (to see with one look wich materials are running out) and a timer overview for running extractor programmes and factory activity. You can get the info with a lot of clicking and not presented well, but with a tile such an interface would fit in nicely.
There are a lot of things that can be presented diffrently and more specialized, and the quarters are the place to do that. This would also mean, that the quarters really represent the player, as he can customize the layout and the displays avialble in his quarters. It should not be too difficult for the UI guys to come up with some usecases and specialized views for them. Its just about presenting things a bit diffrently. And for all people in space or who dont like/need those views, the standard UI holds them all, maybe with a bit more clicking and searching.
To the "Quarters in every station, how does that work" question: All stations have very efficient loading bays. Once you dock, you neocom transmitts your layout to the stations loading systems and the tiles are assembled by the stations systems. Then your neocom feeds the holograpic displays, voila. If you leave the station, the tiles are automatically cleaned and repackaged until someone else uses them. If the loading system can change fits in seconds and move tons of cargo in seconds aswell, it is no problem to assemble a room from preconstructed tiles while a ship docks.
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