Unlike thumpers from firefall i think a lot of people here are willing to agree that the thmpr should be very dynamic.
In firefall thumping was a large part of getting resources, and often it felt..... lacking. Slow, uneventful, static. Thumping, per my opinion, should be dynamic. However, it should be dynamic based on how the user is modifying their personal thmpr.
Here's some thoughts:
(Most of this will be centered around how the user will be interacting with his or her personal thmpr. Modifying it, Repairing it, Moving with it.)
Transport:
Thmprs traverse the land with you after you finish mining. Either AI controlled while you attempt to defend them while moving, or player controlled (radio controlled) so incase the AI systems glitches out you don't lose your cargo. However this would leave you exposed. Meaning you may have to find a safe location away from your thmpr before you can start moving it. They can be called down, but after completing thumping need to be brought to a pickup location. When filled they cannot use the damping rockets that keep them from crashing into the planet at 200 mph as lift off rockets.
Destruction:
Should your thmpr become incapacitated or god forbid destroyed during your thumping process you will suffer a huge loss. Losing a thmpr should, in no way, be miniscule. This item is how you get your materials and you should always fear it being destroyed. This will make the following mods far more risk reward.
Phase 1: Incapacitation.
Your thmpr is unique to you, no one else will know how to fix it. Even in a group the best you can do is have your friend defend you while you attempt to fix it. Fixing your thmpr will bring its health to a special state. Enough to allow it to move normally until it reaches the pickup zone. After extraction you will have to pay the bill to get it fixed or cough up the material to fix it.
Phase 2: Destruction.
Oh boy... you went and did it now. Thmprs are no easy thing to make, and you only get 1 for free. Should your thmpr be destroyed in battle you have to suffer a couple of things.
1) Bringing back your thmpr
That's right. Evac can't take a destroyed thmpr. You have to slowly, and painfully, bring back each part. Should you lose any parts (Can't be located after destruction) the price to repair it goes up. Because now they have to replace the missing part. So bring all of them home.
2)Cost
In order of cost matrix:
Most expensive - Replacing lost part
Middle - paying to repair
lowest - giving materials to repair and paying.
Now, luckily for you, you don't lose your modifications you worked so hard to create. Your mods will always be repaired/included in the fixes. That being said however, fixing a heavily modified part is going to cost more. Both in materials and money sense.
Upgrades :
- Speed:
When you want more, you better be skilled enough to do it. Mods to create a faster thmpr's WILL bring in bigger baddies, or... worse. We all know that thumping can be.. slow. There is nothing wrong with that, we have to be patient. If you really want to increase your thmprs speed, well, you better be able to handle it. The faster you dig the louder the thmpr will be. The louder it is the more animals will hear it, maybe even people. Enemies baddies will scale based on your thmprs speed. The higher the speed, the higher the level of the enemies and you risk spawning very large and daunting monsters. If worse comes to worse, you might find yourself surrounded by not only creatures but enemy AI working together to bring you down. Not only because of the resources you mined, but your thmpr ITSELF is more and more valuable. That's right, they know how much it costs to make it, and they don't like you having it.
- Capacity:
Sure, you don't need all those fancy extra ores in the ground that a faster unit might be able to dig up. Maybe you just need 1000 iron to bulk up your suit. Leading your thmpr back and forth 10 times is too much of a chore, i hear ya. So, let's beef this bad boy's capacity up. But be warned, you better have the ammo/health to last this fight. The longer you dig, the more enemies you disturb. It wont hit you like a wall like the speed thmprs do, oh no, this will just get worse and worse. Not only that, but your larger thmpr will now take more time to move back to the pickup location.
Movement:
The starter thmpr is the lightest, and fastest of them all. With no mods installed this guy can get from drop down to evac very quickly. Players will figure out the more the spec their thmpr the slower and heavier it will get, and have to find a balance between speed and effectiveness. Why is this important? Well when you are in the darkest/scariest part of the planet you don't want to be there too long. You want to dig (with as little impact to the planet as possible IE no speed here) and get out before anything or anyone sees you.
- Intelligence:
Ugh, 1000 uranium? We all know that feeling. Why can't my thmpr JUST mine uranium?! Oh wait, it can!
The purer the elements in your thmpr, the more likely animals will attack. This combines the downfall for capacities dig speed(Slow), and speeds environmental impact. The higher you spec your thmprs selectiveness the more likely it will be to pull your specified ore. However, like mentioned before, the purer your thmprs cargo the more other things are going to want it. Not only that, but being selective means you have to wait longer for your thmpr to fill up as it will not pull other ore types.
Parties:
thmprs will not come in "party" sizes. No, you and your partner can either enjoy 1 thmpr and spilt the rewards 50/50 (if you want more, trade) or call down both of yours. Be Careful though, as harmony is important here. If you cannot handle the enemies that two top speed thumpers bring it then you should communicate and adjust your thmprs in town before setting out.
Difficulties:
This, this is the hardest thing to balance. You are between making it very hard but not impossible. However, when getting to the higher end of upgrades it should start to feel impossible. There are a lot of good players who min max their gear. They should reap the rewards and still be challenged. However, they should not become overpowering in the economy. Little guys need a chance to prosper as well.
Emergency Signals:
This is an mmo, and as an mmo should promote player to player interactions.
As such, each thmpr is equipped with an emergency signal. The signal is sent out when 1 of 2 conditions are met:
Condition 1:
Below 15% health while digging || Below 10% health when in transport - orange distress
Condition 2:
Losing more than 10% of health per second. - orange distress
However, should the thmpr become incapacitated a special red distress signal will go out.
(Go out - Pop up on other users screen/Blaring siren/whatever you want)
Emergency signals should invoke panic in users that hear them, and should invoke the thought "This person is seriously going to lose their thmpr if i don't go help" and no one wants to lose a thumper (See above)
Obviously if you help then you get a cut of the rewards(These are not removed from the pool that goes to the owner.)
Maybe even karma points or a system that rewards players for playing together. (Should have a SMALL but meaningful impact. IE: Special Cosmetics/ Items to help assist other people better)
As you can tell, thmprs should be very important and interactive and impactful to the game. Sorry if i went on and on, but i hope you enjoyed the read.
