Custom Survival game starts question

[Scoob]

Hey all :)

Ok, another one from me, something I've been pondering.

All vanilla game starts, as well as the few modded ones I've seen, start the player with, at minimum, facilities already built. So, Refinery, Assembler, Medical Bay, Power etc. etc. This is cool and all, but quite often it can be a little restrictive when the player starts to expand.

What I was wondering is whether it's possible to do a game start where the player starts on a planet in just their suit with basic tools, a Rifle and a couple of clips. Then, either already landed or, ideally, dropping by parachute, a large grid Small Cargo Box will be / land near the player with all the setup materials needed for the basic items. This way, the player can build a custom base from the start, which sounds pretty good to me.

Can the game support this, or does it get confused and think it's game over if the player has no active facilities? Also, if it is possible, is this something a new player could implement easily enough? I assume I'd just go creative, make a game-state how I want it to be and create a save from that.

I'm considering a fresh start - with mods - and though it might be fun to set up a very basic survival start, "Player with a box" sort of thing, where I can build how I want from the start. Material load-out will impact how easy things are of course, but I was thinking just the basics for the must haves, and a few extra steel plate for blocks.

So, possible or will the game not allow such starts?

Scoob.

[Tom7i]

Originally posted by Scoob:

What I was wondering is whether it's possible to do a game start where the player starts on a planet in just their suit with basic tools, a Rifle and a couple of clips. Then, either already landed or, ideally, dropping by parachute, a large grid Small Cargo Box will be / land near the player with all the setup materials needed for the basic items. This way, the player can build a custom base from the start, which sounds pretty good to me.

Can the game support this, or does it get confused and think it's game over if the player has no active facilities? Also, if it is possible, is this something a new player could implement easily enough? I assume I'd just go creative, make a game-state how I want it to be and create a save from that.

The game doesn't end if you dismantle all facilities and technical stuff, being a space sandbox and all ;)

However, it is possible to paint yourself in to a corner by doing so, since - if you somehow lose the material required for the basic items like a medbay and refinery - you can end up in a no-way-out situation.

I've taken a look on the workshop and found a couple of entries on "survival start", like this one:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=889816413

Take a look around if you find anything more useful :)

[Scooby Doo]

Scoob I am setting up my own start that I do not plan on sharing the actual start but just the idea. I have built a large rover with all that is needed for building Power shields refinery assembler. Then I built a drillship and a Dropship to go to orbit. Now what I plan to do is spread all these ships/rovers around the planet so I have to go to them on at a time. There is a certain order needed to be followed. I have a small APC rover I will start in as well. Have to go to the Base Rover then from that the Drillship then the dropship.
Now I have not done something like this before myself always used other peoples. Thing is in creative it is easy to set all this up then switch the save to survival and enjoy. Perhaps this will give you a few ideas to set your own start up so you are not restricted or bored. There is also a mod that will allow the Refinery and Assembler on small grid. Could even create a rover with bare needs and move from there. More AI mods you add the tougher it will be. Currently plan to use all the AI mods that add anything to planets.

[Scoob]

Thanks for the replies @Tom7i and @Dawg - it's good to know I'll not break things with a "box of stuff" type start lol. Just thought it might be fun to try something different - I'll check out the linked mods and have a read.

I did also debate doing some sort of Mobile Base (Rover) start - Splitsie did something similar in one of his series. Looked quite fun. The spin I thought about putting on that one was the broken down mobile base that needed some restoring before it'd be fully operational again.

I'll continue to ponder idea :)

Scoob.

[Scooby Doo]

I just finished my setup leaving my well armed/equipped capital ship on the moon to be found. So in the end I have all I need to begin conquering. I even went as far as trashing the crap out of the Easy Start Base so there is some salvage there as well as some fuel. Not as much fun because I know how it is set up but still should be fun. I marked all the ships but just realised forgot to mark the one on the moon. LOL. Oh well I guess the moon is small. LOL. Note I marked where things were but went about 1km above where it was so that the marker is not dead on just gets me to the area. Used spectator mode F8 to move around the map and things look quite different that way. Using that once you find a location if you wanted to move the character there way I found was F10 menu go to Enity list click Teleport.

Would be nice if Keen would set something up for survival as the Easy start is too easy you have nothing to work towards as all you need is right there ready to go. I guess if you are completely new to survival or do not have the hours I do in this game it could be fun but for me Easy start begins with everything needed to survive forever. More so because all the resources you need are right there too.

[casualsailor]

Your idea of a starting scenario where one begins either on the planet or in an escape pod and then must run around gathering parts to build your starter base is what I thought was the logical progression from the Cargo Drop mechanic they used to introduce the new skins.

I toyed around with the idea for a few days but in the end I abandoned it. Because of the lack of tiered blocks and the necessity of practically all production blocks in order to make anything this just isn't a practical way to play the game.

This has been the problem with Survival gameplay since its introduction. Once you have the ability to produce a single component you already have the ability to produce all the components necessary to produce a fleet of super dreadnaughts. All that is required is raw materials.

But I think the biggest problem with a minimal start like you describe is there is no excitement with the gathering process. In other games where you must do this, you never know what new thing you will discover in that next box. It might be something that totally changes how you will continue to play.

But in SE you don't get that same thrill of "what's in that box?" That's because its just going to be some of those same components you've seen before. And unless it contains the 1200 steel plates you've been trying to collect for the past dozen hours so that you can finally build that refinery and get your game moving along there really isn't any excitement in running down all those Cargo Drops.

[Scoob]

I played around starting a new game when the update landed. I chose the basic Planetary Lander craft and, because I have a few mods installed, it wasn't long until I found a crashed ship that I looted for materials.

Wolves are a bit of a problem in my games - another mod - so I had to set up turrets on the lander to protect me while I scavenged. It was quite a fun start but, as you say, it still boiled down to mining then crafting what I needed using what was already available in the lander.

I'm not quite sure how this could be balanced out, different tech levels of Refinery (& Arc Furnace) as well as Assembler, lower-tiers only able to refine / craft basic items, with higher tiers needing more exotic materials to craft (perhaps) but in turn able to build more advanced components.

It looks like there still will be some sort of survival type update in the future, so perhaps tech will be tiered in that, so the game progress is a little different.

I think the game would benefit from more hand-crafted scenarios, as long s the path isn't too linear. I.e. there's a "story" of sorts, but the player is guided through making a basic base, for example, but there's lots of freedom how they do this. Same for any vessels etc.

I did give the campaign, such as it is, a go and liked it. But it feels like it's on rails and is over far too soon. I feel it needed a slower pace and, considering it can be a sort of tutorial, tasks such as finding and mining ore. It was quite fun though, but I'm not sure how much I learnt from it as a new player but playing it again after learning stuff made more sense.

I really should try some of the scenario type mods, such as the Escape from Mars one. I've heard about it, but don't really know much about it. However, I wonder how well it plays with my other - now must haves - mods.

Got to say, I have been enjoying the modded planet start that's my main game currently. It's basically lone survivor, but the base in on the planet and you have far less stuff to start with. It's been a long slog - but enjoyable - to build up to where I am now. Lots of (design) mistakes made and lessons learnt, that's part of the reason why a fresh start is appealing, I can do things better this time :)

Scoob.

[Scooby Doo]

Well Scoob you are lucky in a way as this was a Building sim for me the first 1500hrs. So building in the game is not an issue. With the Nanite mod having to weld everything is not there as I find that boring and tedious.
Most of the scenarios I have found start you out with way too much to work with. There is a mod out there I found last night that tiers off the tech but even it sounds sort of lame. Mostly have to wait and see what Keen does. Modders will likely make bigger mods after the game is out of EA and major changes no longer happen.

[Scooby Doo]

Found this last night forgot I added it to Fav
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1459289539

[Dan2D3D]

I will add :

"With a bit of imagination = We can do all we want as new easy start or hard start."

That is what I like in this game, the possibility of creating the Start I want and if I'm not good at creating >> I will use the Workshop.

But that is the reason Why I bought SE => to do all want

New scenarios/missions are always welcome on the Workshop and very kind to share with the community, so if you are able to create a new scenario or easy start or mission = GO FOR IT!


EDIT

The game is open to all and at large = huge possibilities!

[Dan2D3D]

+

And I don't think the Devs will add worlds with all the job already done, the easy starts "Premade" worlds are there only to show us what can be done.

[ShadedMJ]

@Scoob : (Had internet outage this morning, otherwise I would have replied)

I go into creative and make a "Survival Kit" small cargo container with the minimal equipment and blueprint it. Then start a star system map (or any other map, using space master to remove grids I don't want), then use space master mode to spawn in the survival kit, exit space master, and build in survivor mode.

[Scoob]

Thanks for the tip ShadedMJ, I hope to be able to have a try at creating my own start soon. Just need to sort my weird mod issues - Steam (or it might be SE) is being a bit funny when it comes to downloading mods. Will hopefully have a look over the weekend.

Scoob.

[DArmada03]

i've done it where i started with nothing and only had the unknown signals for supplies. If you do it on 1x1x1, that will give you a nice challenge. However you will need to place yourself on the planet/moon surface to do it but worth it.

[Scooby Doo]

Originally posted by D-Armada:

i've done it where i started with nothing and only had the unknown signals for supplies. If you do it on 1x1x1, that will give you a nice challenge. However you will need to place yourself on the planet/moon surface to do it but worth it.

Do those give enough resource to get going without spending 10 real life days doing it? LOL. I love a challenge but tedious things get boring fast. Also my worlds always have AI in them in large numbers so......LOL.

[DArmada03]

It took me about 6hrs to get 1 arc, 1 assembler, 1 refinery and 4small block reactors going with a chair and that was with armageddon raging around me.