Random encounters, mini-games

[pan_Zagloba]

Random encounters
You travel a lot in underrail, so i thought some life should be added.
These should have a ( for example ) 4% chance to spawn after entering location
(but only in already visited earlier locations). Also encounters should scale depending to
location type ( caves, metro, facilities, subways, underrail ) and game
events ( faceless invasion, etc ).

• animals pack, currently in game
• random traders, you can trade ( even more rare, traders with rare items );
• random scavengers, travelers, you can talk to about nearest city news, events, etc;
• patrols, protectorate, other factions and gangs patrols;
• lurkers, marauders;
• random skirmish, hassle
  SGS patrol fighting Lurkers, Protectorate patrol fighting Lunatics, Ironheads
  vs random trader with guards ofcourse ^) etc;
  
• unique encounters;

Mini-games
Gambling. Cards, dice, etc. Win easy money, or loose all you have.

Misc
Minor changes which i think will improve gameplay.

• hotkey to hide walls, for better map vision
• containers:
  
  • unchecked container names should be in yellow color,
    checked - grey, currently they are always grey
  • remains and `stuff` on the ground should disappear
    after some time, because junk lies forever, like organs from
    rathhounds etc
• items should have background color in inventory,
  depending on rarity
• add flashlights, which you can use in weapon slot to
  light area your character is facing. (will use energy, +detection )
  + also flashlight enhancement for ranged weapons,
  you'll need to activate weapon through hotbar to enable
  and disable flashlight ( +precision, because better vision )
  flashlight properties ( range, power, capacity, etc )
  

Companions
The game sometimes tough, especially when playing rogue. Would be nice to
have some mercenaries or unique companions.
Minimum controls:
auto-pilot in peace time ( commands `wait here`, `follow me`, [`move here` points cursor] ),
full control in fight ( full turn control )
inventory exchange.
Maximum controls:
Full control in peace mode ( using skills, items, walking, attacking, using objects ).

You can hire ( for money ) a hacker mercenary if you need to hack smth, etc.
Mercenaries should hang in cantinas and bars, they should have random level
and class ( thief, hacker, gunner, gunslinger, scientist, etc ) scaling to current or nearest City.

[addictedorc]

I fully concur with the random encounter recommendation.

 As for companions for hire...I like the idea but I have two concerns.  One is the playtesting / balance.  Companions that set off your own traps or walk into one's you've identified would get annoying fast. I would probably agree with it if the companion/s got an equal share of the xp so that there is a tangible price to pay for "hired guns".

The other concern would be how companions may affect the level cap and skill point allocation that makes this game unique. Hiring a crafter to hang out in your apt. so you don't have to allocate skill points into crafting would largely wipe out the need for that entire skill tree in character development.... After some thinking, I would say this could be mitigated if a limited group / type of companions were available. In an underrail society individuals with higher end knowledge skills are hard to come by and are less inclined to put their necks at risk tromping around in dangerous places. If a random generator was used at the games onset that placed "X" many characters throughout settled parts of underrail, and the generator was built to primarily develop combat type characters (like the snipers, grenadiers, etc...  already in the game) that might be an overall improvement. If a person wanted to play a lab rat that never left their compound and had to hire guns every time they went out, that would be appropriate to the setting. Notably, when hired guns are killed, there would be no respawn of a new one.  Dead would have to be dead.

Something to think about I guess.  In any case, I think its a good suggestion for future development.