Info ROMS as hints

[hookoa]

I was reading http://www.neurohack.com/transcendence/ ... c&start=15
and thought that maybe more info ROMs (ala Arco Vaughn's info ROM) would be a good idea.

We already have Rowena's info ROM's (although I haven't seen them yet in 1.0RC6), why not add some veryrare ROM's that say

eg. salvaged ROM from a T-31 transport: "Problems at Vicky's tonight. "J" wanted to see "TeSLA*", but two suits at the bar were keeping close tabs on us. Ask Big Man that we wait an extra week before the next delivery."

Or maybe with a 1/objDestiny of the maintenance workers in a corporate station saying

"One engineer pulls you to the side as you leave. 'You look hungry. Maybe you should get a bite to eat.' "

or some such.

Also, on the occasional wrecked freighter found out in deep space, there could be (veryrare) ROMs that say:
example:
"Captain's Log: Filed the last report with corporate today. The crew is shaken up and none want to set foot on another Teraton station. Most are still having nightmares about what happened in that fabrication chamber. The Teratons say Kensington was trying to obtain military weapons from the fabricator, and that 'the fabricator didn't like him.' "

It gives nothing away that couldn't be found out by docking with a Teraton Fabricator, but hints that there's a danger in the Fabrication room.


I'm not saying that ROMs should be gamebreaking or too bad of a spoiler, but it can give some good hints as the RNG sees fit. It's also a great way to add mental puzzles or even comedic situations to the game.

*Tempus Syrette/Laudinum Aumpule

[sdw195]

i think that its a good idea would help but you would need them to only show up once in game

[digdug]

Rowena Roms do not appear anymore ingame, I think.

[Xephyr]

Rowena Roms do not appear anymore ingame, I think.

They're mostly useless now anyway, thanks to the nifty little icons for damage types.

[hookoa]

I think the ROMs would be more useful than ever. Now we have devices that don't identify even when installed, unless you have something they affect. There could be individual Rowena ROMs for devices, armor upgrades, field crystals, etc.

[SparcMan]

If you want to make a NetHack analogy, it would be nice to have ROMs that function similar to an identify scroll. If you want to make it more "realistic" you could have it randomly identify some unidentified item in your hold (as if that was what the ROM had info on all along.
I also like the idea that Info ROMs could give you potential Tinker and Teraton "recipes"
Not everyone is going to experiment with throwing random crud into the Teraton pit for example (I don't).

[Aury]

Rowena Roms do not appear anymore ingame, I think.

They're mostly useless now anyway, thanks to the nifty little icons for damage types.

correct - rowena roms were removed from the game as changes made them redundant and without use.

[Brzelius]

I agree that we need more info roms for the heap of very hard to identify devices that are around now. I mean, even in original Nethack it's easier to identify unknown stuff even without a Scroll of Identify. In some games I'm flying around with 4 unidentified devices installed, trying out weapon after weapon and still not finding out what they're good for.

[schilcote]

Perhaps you could take your new weapon to a mining colony or some other such locale where knowledgeable space-farers are known to converge and ask them for assistance. I don't know what you would do to "balance" that though.

[kay.py]

correct - rowena roms were removed from the game as changes made them redundant and without use.

Well... sort of. You can still get them if you specifically order them from a trading post...

[SparcMan]

I think a balanced approach would be to have certain stations that offer an "identify" service (like schilcote mentioned). Higher level devices cost more to identify than lower level devices. It seems to me there are a few areas in some stations that do not yet have any useful function. That could be changed to add an option to "meet" someone there if you have any unidentified objects in your hold or installed. The cost might even increase further as you travel closer to the core where you are in less friendly territory.

[IceMephit]

Honestly, why wouldn't students/professors at St K's be able to ID equipment? They can upgrade your equipment and they study that equipment which means they should have the ability to ID stuff, even if it requires special tools to do so. Of course, being a university, they would charge a fee for doing so. What about tinkers? Don't they mess around with broken things and fix them or make them into better items? Doesn't that mean that they would be able to make at least and educated guess as to what the device is, even if they don't know exactly what it is ("Well, it looks like it boosts weapons, most likely particles or lasers.")
How about Korvolov stations. They have a dock service and they see high traffic, most of which took damage from enemy fire during their travels, more than any other stations. Wouldn't these maintenance people be able to tell what some items are (maybe not all, especially higher level items XII +).
ROM's would be good. Something like a tech manual. If you have the right tech manual, it would tell you how to ID equipment by size, shape, numbers, design, connection types, ect.
Shields, weapons, and armor are never UnIDed. How would someone know what 'heavy ithalium armor' is without ever seeing it?
How about 'Mammoth 100MW deflector'? It would obviously be a shield, but how do I know what it is? Does it always have "MAMMOTH 100MW" stamped on it somewhere?
I guess it would be real difficult if everything you bought/found was unID.

Maybe, a chance meeting with an expert at a station. the expert could randomly ID items equipped (random number of IDs on random items).

[Prophet]

The Rowena roms were used to 'reference' equipment. When you came across a weapon you had never seen before, you could see it's name, and I think that was it. The damage, power use, weight etc were all hidden. I really like that element but it was dropped in 1.0.

Identifying items is one of the most talked about topics. There's really no perfect solution and I personally have tried many different methods as many other modders have also, including:

• -A reuseable item that will id items of a specific type and/or level in your ship.
  -A one-use item that will id items of a specific type and/or level everywhere.
  -A reuseable item that will id anything but costs credits.
  -A specific station that will id items of a general type with a level limitation for a modest price.
  -Modify the buy screen so any unknown item can be identified for a steep price.

Personally, I don't play with any of those options because I enjoy the game mechanic of discovering what the items are by trial and error. It can be frustrating in the early game when you need/want a specific item and can't afford to buy all the unknown items and hope you get what you need and trust that the damaged weapon rom isn't what you just spent your last few creds on.

I would like the equipment to go back to unknown/unreferenced and have some options for identifying them (like in WE3).

[ptbptb]

• -A reuseable item that will id items of a specific type and/or level in your ship.
  -A one-use item that will id items of a specific type and/or level everywhere.
  -A reuseable item that will id anything but costs credits.
  -A specific station that will id items of a general type with a level limitation for a modest price.
  -Modify the buy screen so any unknown item can be identified for a steep price.

- A one-use item that will id one selected item only.