Recruitable NPC Crew with Individual Skills and Experience

pielog640 shared this feedback ago

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I would love recruitable NPC crew members who perform useful duties aboard ships and stations, rather than NPCs being limited to enemies. NPCs could specialize as pilots, gunners, engineers, miners, transport operators and security guards, with individual skill levels.

Players should be able to choose between hiring expensive, experienced specialists who are effective immediately and hiring cheaper beginners who improve through practical work. Experience should be gained by actually performing assigned duties, not just by being present: a gunner improves by operating weapons, a pilot by flying, an engineer by repairing, and a miner by mining.

An NPC's accumulated experience should follow that person when transferred between ships or stations. This would create meaningful long-term crew progression and make keeping experienced crew alive important. The intention is to add crew management alongside engineering, not replace player-built automation.

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Replies (1)

pielog640 ●

I've expanded this crew progression idea into a connected system of faction reputation, individual ethics, loyalty, mission refusal, resignations and secret operations. A veteran should not only be skilled but also have reasons to join, remain with, or leave a captain. Full proposal: https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/topic/57666-faction-reputation-npc-crew-loyalty-ethics-and-meaningful-mission-consequences

Related crew and ship ideas:

- Remote NPC pilots and mothership drones: https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/topic/57382-npc-remote-pilots-operating-drones-from-a-mothership

- NPC-operated gun stations: https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/topic/57383-npc-operated-gun-stations-and-skill-based-weapon-performance

- Useful NPC jobs: https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/topic/57384-useful-npc-jobs-on-ships-and-bases-guards-mining-repair-and-logistics

- Physical pilots, boarding and ship capture: https://support.keenswh.com/spaceengineers2/pc/topic/45667-human-npcs#comment-119725

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AlfaShamrock ●

I really like this idea, especially because it could add another meaningful layer of progression to Space Engineers 2.

What I find particularly interesting is the possibility of developing a crew over time, rather than simply hiring NPCs as interchangeable units. Having crew members gain experience through their actual duties, retain that experience when transferred between ships, and become valuable assets would give players a reason to care about their survival and invest in their development.

I also think this could connect very naturally with a broader gameplay and progression system. For example, a growing industrial operation could create the need for specialized crews: pilots to operate transport vessels, engineers to maintain ships and stations, miners to support extraction operations, and security personnel to protect infrastructure and cargo.

This would also give players more meaningful reasons to build different types of ships and stations. A mining vessel, a cargo ship, a military vessel, or an industrial station wouldn't just be different constructions; they would serve specific purposes within a larger operation.

Most importantly, I agree that this should complement player-built automation, not replace it. Automation and human crews could offer different advantages, allowing players to decide how they want to organize and develop their operations.

To me, this is exactly the kind of gameplay depth that could make Space Engineers 2 evolve beyond building itself: giving players more reasons to build, expand, manage and protect what they create.

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