While Exobiology is fun for a certain cadre of players, I think it would be neat if it were appealing to a wider range than just those who enjoy exploration for credits or for exploration's sake. Historically, one of the reasons why people sought out new and bizarre plants was because of their unique medicinal properties. With this in mind, why not have the same thing work with Exobiology?
First, players could add Stimpacks to their backpack. Basic variants could be purchased illegally in the bubble, and would provide small bonuses to your on-foot stats. Better stamina, higher jump speed, maybe a bit of health regen, that sort of thing.
But players could also discover custom stimpacks, made from exobiological discoveries!
Every plant would have a randomized assortment of bonuses and negatives, as well as a 'Toxicity' value. Players would have no idea what a plant would do until they test it on themselves, and depending on the toxicity of the plant, it could drain your life support duration or even damage your life support system!
The more toxic, the more life support duration it would drain; some would take 15 or 20 minutes of life support duration away. This would create a reason to carry a higher-grade life support, as while you could synth more air, it might deplete very fast if it's highly toxic.
MOST plants would be toxic, but some would have minimal or no toxins, AND might have an assortment of randomized bonuses.
Faster reloads, higher jumping, more potent health regen, more overall health, resistance to certain damage types, resistance to heat, and so on and so forth. All COMPLETELY randomized. Players might need to explore thousands of systems to find the god-roll.
And even once they find it, each plant should only be harvestable once. Players would need to explore the entire planet to find enough to make their trip worthwhile, and once the planet gets depleted, it's gone for good, and you'll need to find more. This will take a long time, but it will happen eventually, and would encourage players to keep their finds a secret - because they should be able to sell them!
This encourages players to do exobiology, to explore the galaxy, searching for a bonus that's more powerful than anything anyone else has ever found.
And isn't that what exploration is all about?
Stimpacks
First, players could add Stimpacks to their backpack. Basic variants could be purchased illegally in the bubble, and would provide small bonuses to your on-foot stats. Better stamina, higher jump speed, maybe a bit of health regen, that sort of thing.
But players could also discover custom stimpacks, made from exobiological discoveries!
Danger - Toxins Detected, Life Support Activated
Every plant would have a randomized assortment of bonuses and negatives, as well as a 'Toxicity' value. Players would have no idea what a plant would do until they test it on themselves, and depending on the toxicity of the plant, it could drain your life support duration or even damage your life support system!
The more toxic, the more life support duration it would drain; some would take 15 or 20 minutes of life support duration away. This would create a reason to carry a higher-grade life support, as while you could synth more air, it might deplete very fast if it's highly toxic.
MOST plants would be toxic, but some would have minimal or no toxins, AND might have an assortment of randomized bonuses.
Rare Alien Bonuses
Faster reloads, higher jumping, more potent health regen, more overall health, resistance to certain damage types, resistance to heat, and so on and so forth. All COMPLETELY randomized. Players might need to explore thousands of systems to find the god-roll.
And even once they find it, each plant should only be harvestable once. Players would need to explore the entire planet to find enough to make their trip worthwhile, and once the planet gets depleted, it's gone for good, and you'll need to find more. This will take a long time, but it will happen eventually, and would encourage players to keep their finds a secret - because they should be able to sell them!
This encourages players to do exobiology, to explore the galaxy, searching for a bonus that's more powerful than anything anyone else has ever found.
And isn't that what exploration is all about?
Just call them "Performance Boosters" or "Energy Shots" or "Supercaffeine" or whatever sci-fi/biopunk.
