Housing - Trap/Trigger/Activator Furnishings

disky

Now that we have a way to access player homes more easily, I feel like it's the right time to ask for furnishings which give players the ability to create activities within their homes. For years I've wanted to have switches which activate animated objects, especially things like traps, which can be used for activities like obstacle courses and other games. I know this would require exposing a linking/trigger system to players which might require some additional code, but I think it would be really valuable and add purpose to homes beyond simply looking nice.

I'm a big fan of the LittleBigPlanet games and the ability to create even minor objectives could spark that same kind of joy in me, and I'm sure people have other ideas for this kind of system that could be really fun as well.

(Can't create new discussions in the Housing forum for some reason so I'm posting in General)

MageCatF4F

The housing sub-forum is in archive mode. Housing discussions now must take place in "Game Systems", shared with crafting and TOT to make things better somehow. It might be a good idea to put (housing) in front of any new thread title over there.

I suspect you play on console? That may not be true, but anyway, on PC we have been "exposed" for several years. The add-on EHT has had interaction functions for years, starting with "scenes" (somewhat involved to learn how to set up and use) and followed by "actions" which are more like a simple trigger. Easy to use.

In my experience not many of the usual housing crowd care about any of that.

There is little doubt ZOS could add the same functionality to the housing editor but it would involve some work and resources, both of which seem to be declining, based on the recent letter to us from the studio boss.

disky

MageCatF4F wrote: »

The housing sub-forum is in archive mode. Housing discussions now must take place in "Game Systems", shared with crafting and TOT to make things better somehow. It might be a good idea to put (housing) in front of any new thread title over there.

I suspect you play on console? That may not be true, but anyway, on PC we have been "exposed" for several years. The add-on EHT has had interaction functions for years, starting with "scenes" (somewhat involved to learn how to set up and use) and followed by "actions" which are more like a simple trigger. Easy to use.

In my experience not many of the usual housing crowd care about any of that.

There is little doubt ZOS could add the same functionality to the housing editor but it would involve some work and resources, both of which seem to be declining, based on the recent letter to us from the studio boss.

I don't play on console and I know about EHT, I understand the value it brings, but it only works for other players if they use the mod. That's not valuable if you want to create an experience for all players to participate in.

"In my experience not many of the usual housing crowd care about any of that."

Right, I wouldn't consider myself part of the usual housing crowd. The reason being that, while I think the design system is really well-made for what it is, it doesn't give players much of a reason to actually be in houses outside of aesthetic appreciation. That's why I'm asking for the ability to create activities. Hell, we have a Tales of Tribute table furnishing available and you can't even use it to start a game. Sure, you can just invite someone directly if you want to play against a player, but what about linking NPCs to the table and creating a way for players to play NPC Tribute in their homes? Wouldn't it make sense to give Brahgas something to do once you finish his story? Similarly, I enjoy building challenge courses, but there's very little reason to do so if there's no danger, and traps could be really huge to spice things up in that way.

We have these massively huge spaces which don't do much other than look nice, and I just think that a wider breadth of purpose for them could draw in more people like me to the activity. Simple things like activators and traps, and maybe a score counter, possibly a treasure chest furnishing to create a goal, would go a long way. I also feel like they could be really nice for traditional housing folks who want to create a more foreboding area to explore.

katanagirl1

I played a lot of LittleBigPlanet too and enjoyed the use of logic to build things and control their movement. I suppose that is something that maybe a lot of housing people aren’t into, their focus seems to be houseguests. Full logic capabilities with movers and tweakers and a thermometer to tell how much you are filling the level and stressing it might not be easily added to housing in this game.

There are some Murkmire furnishing plants that work as hazards in housing instances, but they are found in crown crates and are only available when those crates are featured.

disky

katanagirl1 wrote: »

I played a lot of LittleBigPlanet too and enjoyed the use of logic to build things and control their movement. I suppose that is something that maybe a lot of housing people aren’t into, their focus seems to be houseguests. Full logic capabilities with movers and tweakers and a thermometer to tell how much you are filling the level and stressing it might not be easily added to housing in this game.

There are some Murkmire furnishing plants that work as hazards in housing instances, but they are found in crown crates and are only available when those crates are featured.

Yeah, I've seen those plants and they are cool, but I'm looking for something more deliberate, which creates a skill/consequence scenario. Just avoiding the plant is one thing, but avoiding a cleverly-obscured trigger which causes you to initiate your own trap is another. I am conscious of the time and potential data increases this may incur, but I'm still going to ask for them because I think they would be really fun and valuable to the housing system. Maybe one day, if data limitations change, I can get what I want.

As for houseguests, I just don't really see the point of having them around if all they can do is amble and say a few lines on repeat. There's a lot ZOS could do with houseguests to add functionality and interactivity, like I mentioned previously when I was talking about Brahgas. Personally I'd really love to see more mundane houseguests, possibly purchased in packs, like farmers, barkeeps and guards that come with their own functionality, even if they don't have unique voice lines.

tsaescishoeshiner

Even a simple, limited system would open a lot of possibilities--activate one item to activate another (ie turn on/off, open/close, but not move) on a housewide cooldown. I assume there'd be a limit to how many you can have in a house, like 10 or 20 for performance reasons. That would pale compared to some other games, but still open up for a lot of creativity!

Especially if this came with a set of moving panels, retracting walls, buttons, magic hedges that open or close, etc.

katanagirl1

tsaescishoeshiner wrote: »

Even a simple, limited system would open a lot of possibilities--activate one item to activate another (ie turn on/off, open/close, but not move) on a housewide cooldown. I assume there'd be a limit to how many you can have in a house, like 10 or 20 for performance reasons. That would pale compared to some other games, but still open up for a lot of creativity!

Especially if this came with a set of moving panels, retracting walls, buttons, magic hedges that open or close, etc.

Agreed. Something simple like being able to hook the Ayleid Switch up to the Ayleid Door and get it to open would be an improvement. I just have to roleplay that in my head, lol.