Hai Reveal Introduction Rework

[Amazinite]

Summary

This PR is an almost total rework of the introductory chapter to Hai Reveal. The existing introduction has many issues, some of which are highlighted in endless-sky#7527 and endless-sky#8268.

The Issues

A general summary of these issues which this PR seeks to address is as follows:

• The gap between Hai Reveal and the main campaign gives the player no time to get their footing after finishing a major storyline.
• Hai Reveal's introduction is very heavy-handed. You're essentially forced into it, and many of the missions, particularly in the "tour" section for players who haven't met the Hai before, have you traveling from place to place with no in-universe purpose, instead moving you around for the out-of-universe purpose of making sure the player knows the area.
• Forceful nature of the missions removes any sense of exploration by leading the player directly to the Hai right after the main campaign if they have never met the Hai before.
• The introduction goes 0 to 100 very quickly. Within only a few months of the news report about the Hai, pirates are suddenly engaging in massive raids on Hai space.
• Assumptions are made about the player's standing coming out of the main campaign, with the Hai approaching the player as someone of known importance and worthy of trust, when this may not be the case depending on player actions or future main campaigns.

Overview of Changes

As such, this PR makes the following changes:

• Increases the amount of time between the end of the main campaign and the Hai news report from 40-45 days to 230 days, mirroring the amount of time between the start of the game and the bombings of Geminus and Martini.
  • The purpose of this is to give the player plenty of time to get their bearings and relax after having completed the main campaign.
• The news report no longer gives the player an objective to follow, and is instead simply a conversation that appears.
  • This makes the news report more like the bombing news for the main campaign. It gives us information on some instigating event for the story to come, but does not itself kick the player into action.
• The player can now only start the Hai Reveal storyline once they have reached Hai space on their own. No mission brings the player to Hai space.
  • This keeps the exploration aspect of the game that many enjoy, having this storyline be something that the player must discover on their own instead of something that the game pulls the player into.
• The first chapter now only serves as the player's introduction to the Hai and the main cast of characters who you will be working with throughout at least the first half of the storyline, while also planting seeds about the events to come.
  • This avoids the 0 to 100 nature of the current storyline, while also giving us room to have the player build rapport with the Hai to justify the Hai placing their trust in the player. It is only after the introduction where events will really start kicking off.

The Specifics

• 230 days after the main campaign is completed, the "hr: secret leaks" condition is set. This condition is used to kick off the news reports in FW and Republic or Syndicate space. This also sets off timed events that determine when characters from the main campaign arrive in Hai space.
• The player sees one of two news reports in human space, one being when in FW territory and one being outside of that.
• If the player is in Hai space at the time, the player receives a different news report conversation 260 days after the main campaign, showing the news report from the perspective of those in Hai space. The player can also alternatively hear the news in Hai space if they arrive in Hai space within 60 days of the initial news report in human space.
• 30 days after the news report, characters from the main campaign arrive in Hai space. These characters--Alondo, Xilin, Remington, and Terry--are called to Hai space and arrive their on their own, as opposed to the current introduction where the player picks them up. These characters take an additional 30 days to get settled in.
  • Should the player arrive in Hai space between 230 and 290 days after the main campaign, they will receive the normal first contact mission. If they arrive later than 290 days, then HR offers an alternative first contact through the character who you know from the main campaign.
• Should the player arrive in Hai space early (within 60 days of the news report), they will receive an "early arrival" mission for the character that they know from the main campaign. This "early arrival" mission takes place while the character is still getting their bearings in Hai space.
• Should the player arrive in Hai space later than 60 days, they will receive a "late arrival" mission, after the character they know has already settled in and gotten a grasp of Hai space.
• In either case, the player is brought to Hai-home where they briefly meet the rest of the characters, including Sayari, and get a quick rundown of the situation. From there, the player spends one or two missions with each character who they didn't already know, getting to know them better while also building rapport with the Hai through the various missions.

The Future of Hai Reveal

You may notice that this introduction has no connection to the rest of the HR storyline after it, meaning that this introduction is all that will be playable. I spoke with Grey, and he agreed to releasing HR in stages. Sections of HR will be worked on and then released when they are finalized. As such, this PR also once again disconnects the Wanderer campaign from the Hai Reveal storyline. Notably, this will result in Sayari potentially being in two places at once at the moment, and the HR storyline will act as if you have not done anything in the Wanderer campaign (including meeting Sayari and getting the translation device). This is intentional, as we intend to still have Hai Reveal being a prerequisite for most of the Wanderer storyline, similar to how the main campaign is currently a prerequisite to most of the Wanderer storyline. That is, players will still be able to engage with the Wanderers without having first done Hai Reveal and make some progress in the Wanderer storyline, but there will eventually be a point where Hai Reveal will need to be completed. This blocking of the Wanderer storyline will only be put in place after Hai Reveal has been finalized, though.