Ethereal Expansion Suggestions

[Qustinnus]

Hi, I'm planning to work on some of the traits of Ethereal and extend their functionality a bit to make them a somewhat more interesting pick. If you have any cool suggestions feel free to post them. I'm going to ignore obvious bad faith posts.

Some points I've already taught about:
- lack of customization
- naming conventions are limiting
- bland sprite (I feel like this fits lack of customization)
- too little power interactions

I've thought about these a while and one fun idea was that I'd give ethereals sub-species which dictate some extra behavior/mechanics and culture. For example, the current naming scheme would be applied to a "scientist/engineering" sub-species. I'm also considering a cultural variant and a militaristic variant. If you have any suggestions for that as well feel free to post them here.


Also this sub-species option would work the same as selecting your color in the ethereal screen.

[Tlaltecuhtli]

was explode on death already suggested

[Qustinnus]

no but I'm willing

[Tlaltecuhtli]

make em absorb power from wires like power sinks to get temporary buffed up (extra luminosity and slighty less next_move_modifier) but they risk to overcharge and explode if they do it too much
also i would say drop the naming standard to "have an astronomic reference in the name" as the current naming standard really sucks as you cant do anything funny other than Uranus XD

[Farquaar]

In terms of making the sprite more unique, I think it would be cute if they had antennae. One might even choose between different types of antennae, similar to hairstyles.

[Dr_bee]

My original suggestion of color and light wave based naming suggestions as well as a light based language would spice them up.

Just make them do disco lights like the ethereal party head item when talking in their language and prevent the language from being said over radio if possible.

[knacker48]

As someone who often plays geneticist I think it would be cool of there were more race specific mutations like hulk and flame breath. Shock touch was originally suppose to be just that for ethereals but ended up being one of the combination powers.

[PKPenguin321]

Shock touch was originally suppose to be just that for ethereals but ended up being one of the combination powers.

not sure where you got this from since i was the guy who conceptualized, wrote down, coded, and got shock touch merged and i never thought of it being ethereal exclusive

but yeah an exclusive power would be cool

[knacker48]

Maybe I'm misremembering it but I thought some said it should be a race specific mutation? Either way since shock touch already exists I'm having a hard time trying to think of a power that only ethereals could have

[Qustinnus]

make em absorb power from wires like power sinks to get temporary buffed up (extra luminosity and slighty less next_move_modifier) but they risk to overcharge and explode if they do it too much
also i would say drop the naming standard to "have an astronomic reference in the name" as the current naming standard really sucks as you cant do anything funny other than Uranus XD

the sub-species have different naming schemes.

In terms of making the sprite more unique, I think it would be cute if they had antennae. One might even choose between different types of antennae, similar to hairstyles.

this is planned I just need to kidnap @mrdoombringer for sprites

My original suggestion of color and light wave based naming suggestions as well as a light based language would spice them up.

Just make them do disco lights like the ethereal party head item when talking in their language and prevent the language from being said over radio if possible.

the first part is something for a sub-species, the light-based language is meh, and the disco effect is already in use for emag.

Maybe I'm misremembering it but I thought some said it should be a race specific mutation? Either way since shock touch already exists I'm having a hard time trying to think of a power that only ethereals could have

Maybe a shockwave that drains charge? Could look into something.

[knacker48]

If your adding an antennae keep in mind that there's already a mutation that give you one, so make sure they don't conflict

[Stickymayhem]

Let them use the space ninja power siphon ability to eat and or heal.

I think the interaction would be really fun.

"GODDAMNED LUMINESCUM DRAINED MY APC AGAIN GO EAT A FUCKING BATTERY"

[Dr_bee]

Let them use the space ninja power siphon ability to eat and or heal.

I think the interaction would be really fun.

"GODDAMNED LUMINESCUM DRAINED MY APC AGAIN GO EAT A FUCKING BATTERY"

It would be interesting to see them actually act like the FTL race they are based off of and be able to induce stuff.

[Stickymayhem]

Let them use the space ninja power siphon ability to eat and or heal.

I think the interaction would be really fun.

"GODDAMNED LUMINESCUM DRAINED MY APC AGAIN GO EAT A FUCKING BATTERY"

It would be interesting to see them actually act like the FTL race they are based off of and be able to induce stuff.

That would be awesome actually. They can drain power and redistribute it like a power cell.

Ethereal scientists and engineers would be genuinely quite useful which makes perfect sense

[Qustinnus]

Let them use the space ninja power siphon ability to eat and or heal.

I think the interaction would be really fun.

"GODDAMNED LUMINESCUM DRAINED MY APC AGAIN GO EAT A FUCKING BATTERY"

It would be interesting to see them actually act like the FTL race they are based off of and be able to induce stuff.

That would be awesome actually. They can drain power and redistribute it like a power cell.

Ethereal scientists and engineers would be genuinely quite useful which makes perfect sense

could you give me an example about how this would work because i get the idea im just not sure how it would work / how it would be useful

[Stickymayhem]

WOW SORRY. I'M ON POST APPROVAL IN THIS FORUM BUT CAN STILL EDIT POSTS BY MISTAKE.

Currently space ninjas have an hotkey that lets them go into power drain mode. They can then drain any exposed wiring or APC or power cell to recharge the power cell in their suit.

So make ethereal hearts large capacity power cells. Their nutrition (Extra cool mode, their health) is based on this number using a percentage. Now you can cut open your colleague for a pretty decent powercell! Ethereals can drain power sources filling up their powerheart, but they can also induce power in the same way an inducer does.

I think code-wise, you could slap something together using a lot of existing mechanics and it would actually work quite well and be a really interesting and unique mechanic. Imagine saving the day by powering an APC, at the cost of your own life, to save your colleagues.

[knacker48]

Now would this inducer ability be something ethereals start with or would it have to be unlocked in genetics? I think it could be cool to be recharge apcs or in a pinch or maybe even lasers and mechs by spending your own charge.

Also if Ethereals hearts work as batteries, maybe you could replace their hearts with better batteries. Imagine getting a yellow slime core as your heart and being a walking inducer.

[teepeepee]

make it so you can cuff them to a powersink and maxcap if they reach some ridiculous power number