TLDR: A chance for you to share some ideas, and i'll try to do a stream tonight/tomorrow.
GOAL: To build out fully playable Harbinger Biome, with stuff to do and awesome playability.
ACTION: If you want to help suggest ideas but don't have time to read all this, jump to the bottom.
I'm going to be designing the inside of the Dark Worlder ships, specifically the Harbinger -> Why does this matter? Because last time, some of you got to be part of the design input for when I created the Forge, and FOM Tribute holds and they turned out amazing.
It's a really fun activity because you get to think of 'whats the purpose?' 'what cool things can we do here/ should we do here' and so on.
As a reminder (before i share my new ideas), our existing mechanisms below:
The Human Entropy Factory
As you know, the Dark Worlders want our Entropy (Negentropy), the deal with Neph and the FOM is to supply them with tributes to be killed, and extracted. But the process is nuanced, and the Dark Worlders treat us like fuel. So far we have
BATTERY: Capture, Kill and store your Entropic Body inside a single chamber.
STORAGE: Capture, and store your live body inside a chamber (preferred as Entropy breaks down).
CAPACITOR: Kill, and funnel you essence (souls) into giant sacs, ready for extraction.
AC/DC CONVERSION: The Forge, takes your the unprocessed souls and converts them into useful, workable energies for the Dark Worlders to use as a resource.
R&D: Capture gifted, genius, intelligent beings and trap them in Krystalosis. Which puts them in a Coma, and tortures them forever, until all neuronal data is extracted.
Now, with the Harbinger, it's travelling in space, it destroys any enemies it comes in contact with and is apparently invincible.... or is it?
GOAL: To build out fully playable Harbinger Biome, with stuff to do and awesome playability.
Note: Harbinger will be more faster paced than FOM Tribute hold.
Sentient Fuel Pods
On the ship, you'll have various things to do, but one of them will be saving those about to be used as fuel. Instead of the normal open prison, call in evac, escort to burners; you'll find these 'fuelborn pods' with trapped humans/Sekarri inside. You connect a magnetic tether and pull them along to an extraction point, where they either load up into an escape pod or you just shoot them directly down into space to be picked up. FAST, REPEATABLE, FUN.
WHAT DO WE NEED?
Visual Spectacles (i.e. Entropy/Blood waterfalls)
Ship Defences: Turrets, Towers.
Stuff to do: (i.e. Free prisoners, steal shards, Blow up shield emitters that allow RTS ships to take out a small piece....what else?)
Something Profound (Maybe related to giant phase orbs, or story related - but a mechanic that's meaningful just like the Forge fire).
IMPOSSIBILITY BALANCERS: Given they are undefeated, why don't they just pulse a light speed wave to disintegrate any invaders within seconds? We need a counter (Amu is the obvious choice, but need to think more).
Data Banks - obtain Wiki Data logs
MiniBoss - who could it be? Our first Dark worlder fightable baddie?
Anything else?