Question of the Week, week 2: Sandbox maps

[PT]

What is your favorite sandbox map, and why? What would you like to see in future sandbox maps?

[depphasi]

In my case i prefer to build big cities. Just played the Tenari glacier. Ther is alot of place by now 20.000 inhabitans but now ending place for farming. on Kelori beach you have more place for farms but now the island is too small and full. An other problem is the ending zorium in later game. The 1200 solar panels on Tenari makes no fun to build. :-)

[LadyAquanine735]

I basically like the large maps in general. They have room to build, and you can choose how many resources they have (at least, with the sandbox settings). I would like the really alien landscapes more if you could find a way to grow earth food there and not have the colonists gagging on alien cuisine.

One thing that would be cool is, to have a hybrid map of that really alien landscape of Eden Crater or Cerulean Vale, but with a few spots or swathes of soil that can grow earth plants. It's what I was hoping originally when I saw the first preview pictures of Cerulean Vale and its green grassy spots. That turned out not to be the case when I actually got to that map.

I did enjoy Serpent Isle, despite its difficulties in the farming dept. It's a beautiful map to look at, and rich in mineral/ energy resources. I also love the Kelori Strand and the sandbox version of Hyla's Crescent. The desert and polar maps are useful in that you can prioritize the farms in specific areas, and not sacrifice potentially good farmland by building non-agrarian buildings.

I also think it would be cool if we could choose some specific spots to land our first colony buildings. That way, we're not far from water/energy/rich soil resources, or could try new challenges with the chosen spot. That has been something of a problem on at least one map; Cerulean Vale.

[Alex Miamaczh]

hello mothership! In general I would like bigger building areas and less obstacles.

however, I would like a map editor or random generator - or both.

..also it makes no sense on the glacier map that you have to start far away from the farm land. every colony founder with a brain would start the colony closer to the farmland, would they not? yes I know it is probably to teach you how to trade.... but again, why would I not choose to build closer to the farmland in the first place?!

..so custom starting positions on existing maps would also be good.

and a map editor, terraforming tool and / or random map generator with many options would facilitate all the players needs imho. thx!

[The Great Gazoo]

Originally posted by Alex Miamaczh:

..so custom starting positions on existing maps would also be good.

and a map editor, terraforming tool and / or random map generator with many options would facilitate all the players needs imho. thx!

I was going to post something very similar, except I hadn't thought of the starting position idea. Random maps are great!

[Paralepsis]

I think it would be cool to have maps with radically different strategies, like a map with no mineral deposits but you can trade corn for nanites, or a map with no geothermal vents but you can trade kelko spores for consumer goods or zorium

or a map glittering with copper and gold veins you have to either build your colony around or laser mine away, etc

[Paraleo]

I like the green maps, maybe because they are more vibrant.

Different seasons on different maps settings (green, snow, desert, alien).
Add it as a difficulty change.

Could you also add some land based wildlife, you must have stuff that was scrapped.

Stuff like the alien dome from the last mission, could be converted (not to nanites) and used in the colony as housing or...

Those holes in serpent isle could be upgraded with observation posts for the fish with entertainment value.

Alternating the crops (bonuses for paired up plants) for those who want more micro options.

[LlxxTprr]

I would like to build a colony on a moon-like map. with a dark grey surface underground. it would look pretty good.

maybe this also could be like a volcano environment where you build on the cold lava surface. the geothermal stuff could have glowing lava inside to build a generator on.

Greenhouses should not require fertile land! because: they are greeen h o u s e s - where you grow stuff i n s i d e ..and also lots of kelko sludge would be needed to build a big colony there.

having more than one starting position options for each map to choose from would increase the replay value of all sandbox maps. either 3-5 options or maybe select it completely free..?

looking forward what will come.

volcano / moon-like map plz :)

[War3zuk]

The wide open large maps with less bits in the way, A map genorater or a way to have unlimited power once you reach a certain limit...The only thing that stops you building in sandbox is running out of resources :)

I 2nd the volcano moon map, Or cave system lol..

Also like mentioned, Greenhouses should grow max items anywhere as there, well , green houses lol

[wasti]

I'd like to see a really really sandbox map; completely flat, no obstructions or interuptions to the building grid, 100% food(all) and water production on every tile. (maybe an option to enable have geothermal vents or not, as well as options for iron/potash/zorium)

As for people wanting an infantly generated world; although possible, world origin rebasing in unreal engine is still confined to roughly 20km (when 1uu is treated as 1cm for scale). And since you cant run out of resources (kelko sludge = nanites) there would have to be some other limitation (sea wall, impassable mountian, ect)

[depphasi]

That`s the same i need a big big map with enough farming ground :-)

[jpinard]

Would also like to echo Greenhouses should not be dependant on soil fertility beneath them. Though I can understand maybe they just dig the soil from underneath to fill the greenhouse. But I think I'd prefer they be a constant. They definately should NOT be max max items as someone mentioned above. There'd be no point to ever build farms then.

What I'd really, really like are some unique mineral deposits that are required for something new. Copper, Iron, etc all just the same thing. So create some dependancies. New items to be manufactured that require a new or existing mineral. That would really excite me.

Here's an idea. To upgrade a building like the lab (which is easy to do) you need to accumulate more exotic materials. Or x amount of copper, and zorium.

And if that's in the game like that already my memory must be horrible because now I'm not sure!

[Paralepsis]

It makes sense to me that greenhouse output depends on soil quality.

Maybe the soil organics for a totally alien soil could be so complex (different microbiome, weird soil minerality) that to us, when we remove it from the soil food web of Aven it dies, or behaves unpredictably -- just turns stale under artificial lights and we don't know why.

Like a greenhouse in this situation isn't equivalent to a modern industrial greenhouse, it is a relatively low-tech for nanites, basically a tarp, like a big box made from molecule-thick diamond windows -- just enough to keep the cold out, during the winter.

Because we don't know enough about the alien soil to make it work without direct light from it's own alien sun.

What you need is a third, larger, more expensive building, hydroponics bay, which maybe takes potash/water as an input to produce crops anywhere, in nutrient solution and sand.


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One thing you could do to make the maps play differently is to give foods actual effects, like melons would make people happier but less healthy, or quinoa made people less productive.

This would make the different map biomes play differently because of the difference their staple crops make (eating mostly broccoli might lower air quality, etc). Maybe quinoa requires more water to cook, increasing water consumption for colonists who have recently eaten it, etc.

[War3zuk]

I was speaking of a MOD, so it can be added to the game allowing my Kid to enjoy playing the game :) He only struggles with power & Energy but loves the game...

[jpinard]

I changed my mind. Keep Greenhouses depedannt on soil fertiliy but add a tooltip or note saying the Greenhouse are walls and roof placed over the soil. That will dramatically players understand how/why it works the way it does. Greenhouse is tradidionally rich soil in raised beds, in a closed environment.

[PT]

Originally posted by jpinard:

I changed my mind. Keep Greenhouses depedannt on soil fertiliy but add a tooltip or note saying the Greenhouse are walls and roof placed over the soil. That will dramatically players understand how/why it works the way it does. Greenhouse is tradidionally rich soil in raised beds, in a closed environment.

That's a good idea, jpinard! Fixing it now.