pioneerspacesim/pioneer — Issue #778: Request: Message Boxes
Author: TheUncleBob
Created: 2011-11-05 19:45:23+00:00
State: open

It would be nice to have message boxes that could convey a longer text to a player. The major use I'm thinking of is to describe events or interactions during missions or on landing that deserve a bit more text than a simple one-liner, especially to advance story content.
Stuff like "While you are exploring the surface of {body}, one of the scientists that came with you comes excitedly to the bridge and starts talking about an astonishing discovery at a frantic pace. After you calm him down, he finally starts making some sence and you learn that... etc."

Or "After you landed, a stern looking police officer comes aboard and eyes you suspiciously. "We heard you are working for {ClientName}. I am here to inform you that he is in prison, and I must investigate the freight you carried for him". A troop of police inspectors enter after him with all kinds of equipement and start to inspect your cargo... etc."

It would also be nice if we could define custom replies and actionsvia LUA. Actually, the full-fledged version I'm thinking about looks more like a "private bulletin board page", that is a page that can get called from lua script and is not in itself a BB advert.
This would provide a simple but effective method to convey elements of a story to a player that cannot be covered by actual gameplay, increasing the immersion. It is also a means of taking the initiative out of the players hand when that is needed (i.e. something can happen without the player having to initiate it).