crew happiness and memories

[claudiusmueller]

The intent for this PR is to provide a framework for giving crew members more "life". It is intentionally WIP and provided here to help focus discussion on specific implementation details and whether or not we should pursue this.

My goal is to specify the smallest functional unit that provides at least some benefit to gameplay and can be built upon.

Current roadmap (up for discussion)

• Implement thoughts that impact relationship between crew member and player
• Implement simple memory stack with decay + protection against thought spamming
• Finalize detailed crew screen
• Adjust detailed crew screen for player (no memories, happiness, etc.)
• Adjust variables for good gameplay (memory decay time, memory stack size, impact on happiness per thought, etc.)

Simple Summary

Player actions will directly impact the relationship individual crew members have with the player (aka. captain of the ship). If this "happiness" gets too low, crew members desert the player.

Technical Details

Certain player actions trigger a thought in a crew member. Each thought has an immediate impact on the playerRelationship variable.

Currently implemented thoughts:

• starting employment
• visiting the home station of the crew member
• trading illegal goods
• player being an offender/criminal/outlaw/fugitive
• visiting high population systems lately
• visiting low population systems lately
• visiting unexplored systems lately

The impact on the playerRelationship depends on the specific character of the crew member. For example, criminal activities will upset a crew member that is a law abiding citizen but may make a crew member with "loose moral standards" happy.

Once a thought is applied, it receives a time stamp and is placed into the crew member's memory stack. Currently, the memory stack only holds four memories (up for debate). The memories decay over time (currently after a month) and are also safeguarded against spamming of the same memory (no more than twice the same thought in the memory at a time).

If the playerRelationship variable drops below threshold, crew members have a chance to desert the player at the next starport:

They will not hire back on and, in fact, should make other candidates hesitant about joining. Still to be implemented: average crew happiness impact on willingness (price?) of new candidates joining.

I believe this will make the player responsible for the overall mood aboard his/her ship and also force them to select crew wisely.

To help players choose crew, the player can now gather some information about their interests in an "interview":

They may not care about the law and/or be the adventurous type that wants to explore the unknown:

Or they may be a law abiding citizen and/or prefer visiting cultural centers:

Or maybe they don't care either way:

Once crew is hired, the new crew screen would show details about their stats, their "happiness", and also their memory stack.

Choosing the right cutoffs for high/low system population impact on happiness

I used the following data to come up with the current cutoffs:

I also found this interesting:

[impaktor]

Looks cool, question is just to get the balance right, as crew happiness shouldn't be something that becomes too much of a main focus, but might bite you in the behind if doing too many actions that are bad according to crew.

Just some loose thoughts:

player being an offender/criminal/outlaw/fugitive

Cool, makes sense. Especially if it's a person who is not "adventurous", doesn't like excitement

visiting high population systems lately
visiting low population systems lately

Because every once and a while you want to visit "metropolis" and fix that
broken razor?

visiting unexplored systems lately

Question is how this will effect, I suspect very few players visit the
unexplored systems, they're far away, and we don't have any missions taking
you there. Fluffyfreak was (thinking of) working on some system exploration drone swarm
thingy a few years back

memory stack only holds four memories (up for debate)

So a bad action can be alleviated by quickly visiting some new planets, rather
than let the memory fade slowly? Basically the captain making up for a wrong step?

I assume hiring a "Jane" (from Firefly, lawless smuggler), is desirable, as
you are free to ship legal or illegal goods, however, there aught to be some
downside, like lower loyalty or some other factor, that impacts game play.

Perhaps the "memory" should be renamed "mood"?
(homesick, troubled/worried, tired of deep space, longing for civilization)

Nice graphs, by the way

[impaktor]

Some inspiration, from page 44 of GURPS Space 3ed

CHARACTER TYPES

The literature of science fiction is so diverse that dozens
of character types are available for a Space campaign. We
discuss some of these below. Detailed character templates for
many character types can be found on pp. 87-105 of GURPS
Traveller.

Starship Crew

Crew positions include Captain, First Officer, Pilot (or
Helmsman), Astrogator, Engineer, Surgeon, Technician,
Cargomaster, Steward, Gunner (or Weapons Officer), and
Communications, Science, and Security Officers. On smaller
ships, each crewman holds several positions; larger ships
have several crew for every position but Captain and First
Officer.

Skills of special value to starship crew include Armoury
(Spaceship Weaponry or Spaceship Armor), Astrogation,
Computer Operation, Electronics and Electronics Operation
(Communications, Force Shields, Medical, or Sensors),
Engineer (any space specialty), Free Fall, Freight Handling,
Gunner (any spaceship weapon), Mechanic (any space spe-
cialty), Piloting (any spaceship or auxiliary craft), and Vacc
Suit.

Merchant

An interstellar trader who cruises the spaceways, buying
and selling. Merchant, Fast-Talk, and Diplomacy skills are a
must. Unless he’s a full-time trade specialist, he’ll also need
crew skills – especially on a small trading vessel.

Navy

Crew on a regular military vessel. Marines are ground
troops transported via starship; see Trooper (p. 46). Savoir-
Faire (Military) skill is required, and officers should have
Leadership and Tactics. Military Rank is useful, unless you
want to be a private all your life.

Patrolman

A member of the Patrol (see p. 21) or equivalent inter-
planetary agency, combining the skills of a police investiga-
tor with those of a soldier to keep the spacelanes safe. Sense
of Duty is a must.

Pirate/Smuggler

The most celebrated interstellar criminals. Smugglers
run contraband from world to world – anything from guns to
drugs to slaves – slipping past the Patrol in fast, well-pro-
tected ships. They can use any of the Thief/Spy skills. Pirates
are the scourges of the spacelanes, attacking freighters, lin-
ers, lightly guarded colonies, low-tech worlds, prospectors,
and other prey. Some may be slavers. Combat/Weapon skills
and Odious Personal Habits are appropriate.

Scout

Scouts (see p. 22) find and explore new worlds. They
might specialize in one or more sciences, or be “general spe-
cialists.” Useful skills include Cartography, Electronics
Operation (Sensors), Planetology, Survival, and
Xenobiology.