Discussion: Universal randomised loot

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Song
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Based off stream conversation. I'm conflicted about the idea, but it's worth talking about so I'm gonna write it down as best I can. Others who were on stream: feel free to correct/add stuff I missed.


Ships should have some loot that can always spawn in any ship (unless that ship has it turned off, which should be an option) and is leveled appropriately. This serves to liven up loot (minor function) and provide more fuel, especially in the early-game. The system needs to follow roughly this path, I feel (as a non-coder, take it with salt):

1. Is universal loot turned on/off on the ship?

If no, then don't bother with the rest

2. Roll to see if loot is spawned on the ship.

If yes, continue.

3. Roll for type of loot. This could include:

-Fuel [Note: The original discussion on chat centered on fuel, not items. I'm extending it for the rest of this section because 1: Future proofing and 2: Makes things feel more "alive" if they carry a few barrels of rice now and then)

-Low value trade goods
-Medium value trade goods
-Useful items [eg. Armor patches]
-Ship parts (eg. Cerium electrode)

4. Select a random item (or items) of the appropriate level (for fuel) and check if there's already some there. If there is, re-roll step 3 and try again. Level might be based on the ship, not on the system?

5. Create a random quantity of the given item on the ship or wreck.


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It could also be worthwhile having faction-specific subsets, although that overlaps with "why not just put it on the ships to start with?" which is also a valid question: Is it better to just put fuel on more ships and then just have random cargo be spawned on ships that don't have anything else set in their cargo holds? Can't really answer that myself though. Interested in what others come up with to improve/alter the concept.
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Song
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Right, now that I've, mostly, relayed the original with only moderate blatant tampering....


Personally, I like the idea of random loot. But I'd prefer it to be done ship-by-ship. This is something that can be handled by community patches quite easily, and in future by coding new ships properly. Having random stuff does add some depth...but not as much as customising it by faction, encounter, or ship. While I'm not fundamentally opposed to it (or I wouldn't be relaying it), I do feel it's a solution to a problem that can be fixed in a much simpler and more future-proof way without adding a new system to the game.
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NMS
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I agree that it's more interesting when factions have special loot tables or specific items. But the vast majority don't. So it seems reasonable to have an option for a simple XML attribute to tell the game to automatically generate an appropriate chance of appropriate fuel and/or other loot. This is much easier than thinking about what the chance should be, what table to use, and what quantity, then adding it manually.

I think most ships should probably have at least a chance of having a bit of appropriate fuel. This would help out new players who struggle with fuel consumption in the early game, without being a huge increase in total income. More ships having a chance of a bit of random loot would be neat, but also a bigger balance change.
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