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Containers (game design)

Containers are storage props the player puts objects into to move and secure them. They are a cornerstone of the transport / logistics loop (load → haul → unload) and will grow into a big system. This page is the design view; the other trades have their own:

What the player experiences​

  • Store: carry an object into a container and set it down on the floor inside. Once it settles it locks — it becomes immovable, so it can't be knocked around by the player or another crate. The container stays tidy while you haul it around.
  • Retrieve: pick a locked object back up to free it.
  • Honest placement: only objects that actually rest on the floor inside lock. You can't hang something against a wall or wedge it on a crate's side to cheat storage.

This is the base contract. Everything below is design intent to build on it.

Variants (by use)​

The mechanic is one and the same for every container — variants are about what is stored and the container's features, not different storage rules:

  • Refrigerated / sealed — food, medical.
  • Tanks — liquids and gases.
  • Ore hopper / open benne — mining bulk.
  • Flat / strappable deck — logistics, vehicles.

Content is signalled on the container itself (hazard/type E‑INK symbol, status light, parcel number) — see the fuller list in Transport / Inventaire.

Where it's going​

Foreseen extensions (not built yet): stacking, grids / magnets to snap and pile crates, movable containers (hauled by vehicles/cranes, not by hand), size/capacity tiers, and the mission economy around them. The transport gameplay that frames all this lives in the Transport game-design section.