Expanding Upon The Escape Pod

JamescellJamescell American Alpine Biome Join Date: 2015-08-18 Member: 207249Members
The escape pod is currently very limited. However, I think that an expansion to the escape pod could provide an alternative living style that many players enjoy and that the game lacks. Players can build large, free-form bases- even mansions- given enough dedication, but this is a feature that also seems at odds with the insulated, minimalist, exploration-based dynamic that many appreciate about the game.

I suggest that the escape pod become upgradeable. Players would also be able to repair or salvage damaged life-pods and make new ones. Starting with a size upgrade that turns the escape pod into a "habitat pod", players would be able to augment the pod in fixed places. These pods would cram a bunch of systems and features very tightly together, and offer players a more frugal and practical way of living.

Upgrades could include windows, an external slot for either solar panels or thermal, a slot for either a bio-energy trashcan or a nuclear energy source, a slot for either an energy capacity upgrade that converts water into hydrogen to store energy (would lower energy production rate but only when above normal energy capacity) or a water filtration feature that provides a font of clean water which slowly regenerates (would cost energy but could be turned off), storage lockers, a slot for an exploration drone or controllable external lighting, and a slot for either a small fish tank or a small aquaponics-based grow bed.

I suggest that the current seabase rooms cost more titanium and glass as well. It's unrealistic how much can be built with a few balls of titanium or blobs of glass. People that fixate on mansion-building tend to be less concerned with the resource limitations of survival anways. Habitat pods, by contrast, would cost about the same as a multipurpose room (once the costs of seabases are modified) along with some electronics. The habitat pod would be useful for setting up forward bases, as a result of it's relatively lower resource demands.

The habitat pod upgrade could have fragments located in the damaged escape-pods that the player investigates which would allow players to make use of habitat pods fairly early on. These pods would have vertical mobility and very slow horizontal mobility as well, but most energy production would be expended while moving. In order to build a habitat pod, players would have to use a habitat builder or the vehicle fabricator.

Comments

  • JamezorgJamezorg United Kingdom Join Date: 2016-05-15 Member: 216788Members
    This is pretty cool idea. I always thought you should be able to construct things in the pod, although it never really bothered me too much. It's a good idea, and would be nice to have as a viable option, but in my opinion bases are just a little bit cooler than the pod.

    I do agree that bases should have to have more titanium go into making them, even if it is just one or two pieces or a small number like that. If you wanna go realistic I suppose you'd need an inventory-full.
  • yungmewyungmew United States, California Join Date: 2016-12-24 Member: 225432Members
    I think this would take away from the process of establishing bases in multiple locations.

    If you could upgrade your escape pod to the point it's almost your permanent residence, then there's no incentive to take the hassle to colonize elsewhere.

    Plus according to the canon of the game, humans have become advanced enough to construct virtually almost anything very easily with fabrication technology.
    The idea that you can just toss a few titanium and quartz into a machine or tool and have it construct anything and everything isn't too farfetched.
  • JamescellJamescell American Alpine Biome Join Date: 2015-08-18 Member: 207249Members
    yungmew wrote: »
    I think this would take away from the process of establishing bases in multiple locations.

    If you could upgrade your escape pod to the point it's almost your permanent residence, then there's no incentive to take the hassle to colonize elsewhere.

    Plus according to the canon of the game, humans have become advanced enough to construct virtually almost anything very easily with fabrication technology.
    The idea that you can just toss a few titanium and quartz into a machine or tool and have it construct anything and everything isn't too farfetched.

    I don't follow your reasoning. The primary incentive to colonize elsewhere which is creating safe environments in hostile or remote areas remains unchanged. So long as the player is drawn away from the safe shallows by the story and resource demands, building bases elsewhere will be a worthwhile endeavor.

    When I mean that the resource requirements for habitat segments are too little, I mean that relative to the titanium and glass costs of other items and constructables.
  • andrewcandrewc Join Date: 2016-12-20 Member: 225231Members
    That thing should just blow up so that you don't cling to it and feel the freedom of building where ever
  • MalsqueekMalsqueek United States Join Date: 2016-05-17 Member: 216835Members
    I'd prefer being able to strip it and the other broken ones for a handful of parts. Once I've got my first base out, it is literally just a beacon at (roughly) 0,0.

    In fact, if the fabricators and first aid kits were all able to be broken down into constituent parts using the habitat constructor, and several plates of the shell could be recouped into a couple titanium ingots, I'd be super happy.
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