Droid Engineer Archive
Thread: Concept Series: Valet Droid
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Kollos
Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:35 pm
#1
In the interest of moving forward positively, here is the fifth (IntoTheGarbage's Purchasing Droid was the fourth) in a series of slightly more fleshed-out ideas. All of these ideas have been presented here on the forums in the past, in most cases many times. Note that whether these ideas are implemented as new droids or as new modules for existing Droids is
largely irrelevant. New droids would be cooler but would also require more time and effort.
Valet Droid
We've all talked about this guy at one time or another, most of the time calling it a Delivery Droid. Wouldn't it be useful if we had a Droid that could be told to go to a specific waypoint and wait for a designated person, who would then be able to access the
droid's item storage module? Wouldn't it be even more useful if it could work both ways, meaning that after the designated person accessed the droid, said person could tell it to return?
I'm going to expand this idea a little bit and a incorporate couple of other popular ideas - those of a Harvester Tender Droid, a Power Supply Droid, and of course the Delivery Droid.
The basic concept for the Valet Droid is pretty simple and should be pretty straightforward. Plug in a waypoint, give the droid the name of some character, and tell it to go. The droid goes to the waypoint and just sits there minding its own business. The named character would be able to access the droid's item storage compartment, but no one else would be able to.
But let's take it further. What if the waypoint were the waypoint of a harvester? (You know, the ones that are emailed to you after you plant the harvester?) Put 10k of power in the droid's item storage compartment and the droid would dump the power into the harvester. Even better, figure out a way to let the droid "carry" credits so that it can add those to the harvester also. While it is there, and if it has been programmed to do so, let it empty the harvester's output hopper into its own item storage bin. Presto! No more need to tend harvesters manually.
The next obvious step is to let the Valet Droid pick up items from a Factory's output hopper also. simple enough... give the Deliver Droid the Factory's waypoint and tell it to retrieve. It goes there and empties as much of the Factory's output hopper as will fit into its own internal item storage bin. Again, the Valet Droid might as well be able to add power and maintenance to the Factory while it is there.
One caveat when accessing Factories. What happens if the factory is running? I would personally prefer that the Droid report that the factory is busy and not do anything, but I could also see having the droid shut the factory down, go about its business, and then restart the factory. That latter option, though, might be too difficult to code in the time available.
Now we get a little more sophisticated... and this might be going beyond the realm of possibility give our time constraints. But if all of the above is possible, wouldn't it also be possible to let the Valet Droid access a Factory's Schematic Slot, put items into the Factory's Input Hopper, and then start the manufacturing process? Naturally, this would require careful planning on the part of the droid's owner, but it sure would be handy.
The Valet Droid strikes at the heart of what Droids are all about in the Star Wars universe - Droids exist to do the mundane tasks that people don't want to have to do themselves. And that is precisely what the Valet Droid is all about - taking care of mundane activities.
TheRealTK421
Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:38 pm
#2
Kollos,
I would like to confirm...
When you're talking about these Concept Series items, you're talking about features that could be just put into a module, yes?
I would like to confirm...
When you're talking about these Concept Series items, you're talking about features that could be just put into a module, yes?
Or...
Do you think it's right that certain features such as are being discussed should see a new chassis available for them?
/bow
Respectfully,
Kollos
Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:42 pm
#3
As I state in the preamble of each Concept Series post, I don't think it really matters one way or the other. Some of these would probably be better if they were implemented as stand alone droids, while some would probably be better if they were implemented as modules. Most of them could be implemented either way.
The Valet Droid is one that, perhaps, would work better as a stand alone droid simply because it requires an Item Storage module to be truely useful. However, just as an example, the Valet Droid could be implemented as a module if this "Valet Module" itself required an Item Storage module as a component. (That subcomponent Item Storage Module would still have to count against the droid's max of 10, though.)
Thoughtprovoker
Thu Feb 19, 2004 2:51 pm
#4
I like that idea, it would really give droids a useful purpose and let them do the kind of job they are supposed to do
IntoTheGarbage
Thu Feb 19, 2004 3:07 pm
#5
I like the idea. The delivery droid is very good, and sounds easy to code. (not that i know) It would be very useful for delivering custom orders, I know I would use it.
The factory maintenance droid is good too, and would also have minimal impact on the game since vehicles have made harvester maintenance I minor nuisance, not a major undertaking.
As always, I believe that it should be faster and cheaper to do it yourself. The droid should only be a convenience.
(Hope I didn’t step on your toes Kollos when I snuck my own concept series idea in there. It just seemed like you had a good idea there and I wanted to horn in...) 
Kollos
Thu Feb 19, 2004 4:30 pm
#6
IntoTheGarbage wrote:
(Hope I didn’t step on your toes Kollos when I snuck my own concept series idea in there. It just seemed like you had a good idea there and I wanted to horn in...)
Not at all, the whole point of the Concept Series is to encourage discussion and the spread of ideas. 
Hakai
Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:00 pm
#7
would be nice to use the Data modules as something useful. Drop waypoints into the data pad, and it will follow them in sequence (granted that it's on the same planet). Maybe also allow us to take "Holo files" of players...once it's dropped in, it would wait for that specific character?
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