Now that the Kickstarter has successfully reached its goal (and plunged into the briny depths where zubmarines lurk in the expectation of unwary sea-beasties and vice versa), the initial euphoria has slightly receded.
Imagine my surprise when I suddenly discovered that I do not even know what I am setting out to sea for (well, aside for the joy of exploration and NORTH, of course, but these deserve a separate discussion).
So here is my question: is there a specific goal that every aspiring mariner seeks to achieve (like destroying the Rebel Flagship in Faster Than Light) or is the ultimate goal something that everyone decides for himself (or herself, or itself)? Or is there a middle ground, like a commitment of some kind that you decide upon when you create your character - a variety of choices for the dangerous, the watchful and the persuasive to aim for?
[li]
P. S. That "Kitchen Spam" project of Failbetter Games appears to be mighty intriguing. I hear one Richard Garriott, the almighty maker of critically acclaimed Ultima series, created a game about garage sales a short while ago…
edited by Lawrence Growe on 10/31/2013
NORTH. Always NORTH. I am terrifically (horrifically?) excited by the dream of my future, and I will be immensely pleased if Failbetter enables me to commit such utter self-destruction.
I’ll probably play a saner character after that, with more pedestrian ambition.
I feel the need to quote Alexis on this one:
Q: How many people do you think are just going to head due north until something happens?
A: Many. There’ll be a fleet of them with smoke-stacks painted the colour of bone. One by one they’ll fall away. Engines will fail, supplies run dry, captains turn for home dreaming of parlours and porridge. There will be eight. Six. Four. One will abandon the voyage and maroon her crew on a iceberg where nut-trees grow. Two will fight to the death over an argument about mirrors. One will remain, lashed to the wheel, crew moving like ghosts, burning books and bodies for fuel, still voyaging ever North.
I know there’s official word on this subject, but I can’t find it anywhere… but, to sum up, I think that we’ll be able to choose a goal for our character at time of character creation. I assume this goal won’t be absolutely binding, but it may add another path we can take through the game.
This is good to know, thank you.
May I offer a (perhaps completely unncessary) suggestion?
I would dearly love to see such objectives unlock with time as we progress through the game. A dearly loved “Faster Than Light” awards you with new spaceship designs as you complete particularly tricky quests or achieve uncommon goals over the course of your numerous journeys. It would be wonderful if the goal of “Find the wreckage of your father’s expedition” goal became available after you’ve crashed a few such expeditions, the “Join the Merchant Navy” goail became available after you’ve ferried and sold a certain amount of goods for profit, and so on.
This way, obtaining new goals to strive for would become a goal in itself, and that would be delicious.
Though North is my destination, I’d definitely love to see a similar mechanism, Growe.
I’m assuming we’ll be able to pick a goal at the start like FL’s ambitions.