Quote:Original post by The Blarg
So, if finding life and relics of ancient civilizations are equivalent to finding artifact equipment in an RPG, what is the equivalent of finding gold piles?

Anything that provides the same function as gold in a traditional RPG - to wit, buying stuff. Anything which can be converted (whether directly or indirectly) into upgrades and enhancements, is a gold equivalent.

Quote:I'd be willing to include mining if I could make it not tedious and not painful.

Another variation on the mining theme is prospecting. Rather than looking for resources to mien for yourself, you are locating rich veins to stake a claim to, and sell the rights to a mining company. The primary benefit over mining, is that the player still has to explore, but no longer has to endure the painstaking process of extracting minerals.

A stock market system where multiple mining companies are in competition for resources, and can be played off against each other, would add an additional layer of complexity/interest.

Quote:

Quote:Original post by Wavinator
I think your scanner could work but needs a lot more gameplay.

Definitely. I was thinking of making the scanner passive, but maybe it could also be used actively to gain more detail on a region of space for some cost.

My feeling is that the player will always be in one of two positions: a) scarce resources, so can't afford the risk to use the scanner, or b) plentiful resources, so scan everything.

You might want to consider including very valuable cloaked/buried alien artefacts, which the scanner can't detect, and dust clouds/interference that prevents the scanner from operating well/at all in some regions. Together these force the player to step back from the scanner once in a while, and deal with the universe in an unfiltered state.