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The quest chain, and the World Ship that is too far away #133

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opened 2026-08-28 12:20:34 +00:00 by metaheavens · 1 comment
metaheavens commented 2026-08-28 12:20:34 +00:00
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Sub-ticket of #129.

The content: the actual quests, in an order that walks the player through the game.

  • First quest arrives when the prologue ends: break asteroids for 5 ore.
  • Second: build the mothership to call the World Ship. On completion, the answer is that the World Ship is out of range - the fleet is too far away, and exploration is the only way to pick its trail back up. That line is the hinge of the whole chain.
  • After it, the chain opens up the game in the order the game actually allows: shipyards and a second hull, a planet to land on and conquer (which is where research points come from), then extractors, gas, power, labs and outposts.
  • Later quests cover the different planet types, so "discover the different planets" is a goal rather than a hope.
  • The chain ends pointing back at the World Ship, still not found.
Sub-ticket of #129. The content: the actual quests, in an order that walks the player through the game. - First quest arrives when the prologue ends: break asteroids for 5 ore. - Second: build the mothership to call the World Ship. On completion, the answer is that the World Ship is out of range - the fleet is too far away, and exploration is the only way to pick its trail back up. That line is the hinge of the whole chain. - After it, the chain opens up the game in the order the game actually allows: shipyards and a second hull, a planet to land on and conquer (which is where research points come from), then extractors, gas, power, labs and outposts. - Later quests cover the different planet types, so "discover the different planets" is a goal rather than a hope. - The chain ends pointing back at the World Ship, still not found.
metaheavens commented 2026-08-28 12:41:57 +00:00
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Done in 397983b. Sixteen quests, in the order the game actually allows.

Salvage 5 ore -> the mothership -> chart 30 sectors -> a ship crafter -> a second hull -> planetfall -> take a planet -> an extractor -> gas -> a transport hub -> a gas burner -> a ship lab -> unlock the shield hull -> an outpost -> survey three kinds of world -> widen the search.

The second quest is the hinge the ticket asks for. The fleet builds the mothership, calls the World Ship, and hears nothing - and the array is not at fault:

Mothership online. Calling the World Ship. Calling. Nothing comes back - and the array is not at fault. Wherever the breach put us, it is further out than that signal will ever carry. We find their trail ourselves, or we do not find them.

The quest immediately after it is exploration, and the test pins that ordering rather than trusting it.

Two rules the chain obeys, both learned from the game rather than picked:

  1. Nothing may ask for something unreachable. The sharp edge is research points - they come only from conquering a planet, so every doctrine costing them sits after the conquest quest. Ore-only nodes (Shipyards, Logistics) may come earlier. The test walks the chain and fails if any building quest needs a point-costing doctrine before the first conquest.
  2. A quest names one goal, with the research it implies said in the brief. Asking for a gas burner is asking for Power Systems too; that belongs in the sentence, not in a second entry, or the chain becomes a list of errands.

The conquest quest's completion line says out loud where research points come from, because nothing else in the game does.

The chain starts the instant the prologue hands over - test_intro_scene now checks that the banner goes straight from the last log line to the first objective. The last quest completes rather than dangling, and its line is honest that the trail is still cold: the search does not stop because the list ran out.

Done in `397983b`. Sixteen quests, in the order the game actually allows. Salvage 5 ore -> the mothership -> chart 30 sectors -> a ship crafter -> a second hull -> planetfall -> take a planet -> an extractor -> gas -> a transport hub -> a gas burner -> a ship lab -> unlock the shield hull -> an outpost -> survey three kinds of world -> widen the search. The second quest is the hinge the ticket asks for. The fleet builds the mothership, calls the World Ship, and hears nothing - and the array is not at fault: > Mothership online. Calling the World Ship. Calling. Nothing comes back - and the array is not at fault. Wherever the breach put us, it is further out than that signal will ever carry. We find their trail ourselves, or we do not find them. The quest immediately after it is exploration, and the test pins that ordering rather than trusting it. Two rules the chain obeys, both learned from the game rather than picked: 1. **Nothing may ask for something unreachable.** The sharp edge is research points - they come only from conquering a planet, so every doctrine costing them sits after the conquest quest. Ore-only nodes (Shipyards, Logistics) may come earlier. The test walks the chain and fails if any building quest needs a point-costing doctrine before the first conquest. 2. **A quest names one goal**, with the research it implies said in the brief. Asking for a gas burner is asking for Power Systems too; that belongs in the sentence, not in a second entry, or the chain becomes a list of errands. The conquest quest's completion line says out loud where research points come from, because nothing else in the game does. The chain starts the instant the prologue hands over - `test_intro_scene` now checks that the banner goes straight from the last log line to the first objective. The last quest completes rather than dangling, and its line is honest that the trail is still cold: the search does not stop because the list ran out.
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metaheavens/spaceship#133
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