Alpha 15c is live on both Steam and non-Steam downloads. Non-Steam users can get it, as usual, by re-downloading from their existing download link.
The details for this update can be found on the unstable testing announcement post.
Many thanks to all the testers who made this possible!
September 2nd, 2016 - 9:44 pm
Thanks Tynan. I hope drugs are less big upside, little danger. Kind of a bad message, beyond gamep lay imbalance.
September 3rd, 2016 - 12:15 am
While I have been happy with the risk/reward ratio thus far, the drugs system does seem a little bit too forgiving.
Perhaps several “classes” of drugs are planned in the future?
The current drugs will become more risky, while there will be lesser stimulants and painkillers, which provide a lesser boost?
(Caffeine and Ibuprofen, for example?)
Do remember, however, that in the lore, there could have been genetic engineering done on Glitterworlds that reduced the addictiveness of these drugs.
In addition, addiction doesn’t really work the way society portrays it; just because you use a drug, doesn’t mean you are addicted to it after a week of use.
Is there a chemical dependency component to addiction? Yes.
In reality, however, there are also social and psychological components.
(I suggest Kurzgesagt’s video “Addiction” for a basic example.)
So, much as it would mean a major shift in game mechanics, a more realistic addiction system would include several modifiers.
Colonist mood would have an effect on addiction chance.
-Good mood means lower chance of addiction.
-Low mood means higher chance.
Colonist relationships would have an effect on addiction chance.
-Good relationships, bonds, lovers, fiances/fiancees, and spouses all lower addiction chance.
-Bad relationships, enemies, and insults would increase addiction chance.
Base predisposition would also be a factor. Some people are simply more or less prone to addiction.
Then, there’s self-medication. Separate from addiction since self-medication can often lead to chronic use, and subsequent dependency.
Chronic use can lead to a dependency (what society often refers to, incorrectly, as “addiction”) and you have a more realistic model of addiction.
A complex and horrifying monstrosity, with no true “simple” definition.
September 3rd, 2016 - 12:55 pm
Uh oh, here comes Rimworld substance abuse group therapy sessions, and freakishly strong drug addled berserkers, and increased border control, and drug addicted deformed babies, and burned out druggies who wander in a daze all day every day using up precious resources, and addicts stopping to shoot up away from the other colonists so they won’t get caught and ending up twitching in the grass for the rest of the day…
Now, if there were bathing, and being dirty, and smelling of alcohol status effect, and wreaking of marijuana or tobacco smoke status effect, that might get interesting…
I’m still hoping for colonists who can design and build their own colonies, and work together to survive so I can just watch it all happen with amusement. What am I (the player) supposed to be? An emergency survival AI that provides goals and strategic commands that survivors just mindlessly obey? Do I issue commands via networked neural implants that every colonist has in their head that allows them to visualize their orders?
I seriously hope you have no intention of fixing the on/off power switching exploit with gun turrets, because I don’t think I’m skilled enough to use stupid colonists to manage power for turrets…
September 3rd, 2016 - 1:02 pm
Also, I’m concerned that mining is super overpowered.
I can see starting out with a tool that a colonist can wield that gives you awesome mining capabilities, but making EVERY single enemy able to dig through the entire world by hand to get to you is so absurd.
I mean, sure, maybe you can make deconstructable modular walls that come apart easily, then upgrade to permanent walls that take a bit of bashing, then brick, then solid stone block walls, etc. but it’s currently just a matter of time. I liked how evil genius had it so the enemy wouldn’t suspect natural looking walls, but they would try to break into an obvious door.
Yes, all I ever do is rant.
September 4th, 2016 - 12:00 am
The thing is, RimWorld (and by extension Ludeon Studios) does not push an opinion on whether drug use is good, bad, or anywhere in between.
Whether or not Tynan, or any other team member, has a specific opinion on drug use is not for me to say.
The ability to grow, synthesize, and use drugs is in the simulation, and you as the player have the option of burning or selling all drugs in an effort to have colonists never use them. You can have colonists only use recreational drugs, or have colonists take drugs on a schedule. You can even force colonists to take drugs for no reason other than you wish to see them suffer through addiction once the supply runs out.
(The following may, whenever I have time, be added as a suggestion on the forums. Unless someone else feels like adding it first. Then I’m fine with that.)
In terms of negative effects of the drug use, perhaps long-term use of alcohol could lead to liver damage, long-term flake use could lead to lung damage, and long-term use of smokeleaf could lead to psychosis, in increasing severity if use is continued?
Liver and lung damages would be permanent, only curable with an organ transplant. Psychosis could be treated with Glitterworld medicine.
Admittedly, the comments for a patch update aren’t the best place to discuss any of this. Regardless, Tynan, Ludeon has done a great job thus far.
September 4th, 2016 - 11:19 pm
Are we supposed to get a notification when someone who was Kidnapped dies of the most deadly thing on RimWorld: Infection?
September 7th, 2016 - 3:53 pm
nccvoyager: Eeehm, this is very interesting, but RimWorld is not drug using simulator, drugs are simply another flavour to the game, probably not meant to be that deep. Honestly, such a simplicity is more welcomed, at least for me
September 7th, 2016 - 7:51 pm
Indeed, I agree. In terms of RimWorld, having it be a simplified “chance of addiction” is nice.
All I had meant was that addiction, chronic use, and chemical dependency all inter-twine in real-life, leading to a complex monstrosity that is not at all what society often refers to as “addiction,” and thus cannot be quantified simply as “drugs are bad because they are drugs.”
Drugs have their uses, (in RimWorld and out,) and while many drugs have major deficits, most of those deficits only appear with long-term use.
(Ironically, in real life, the drugs that are the least helpful compared to the damage they cause are legal in most countries.)
In any case, you are right about the simplified model in RimWorld being good to have, from a mechanics standpoint.
September 8th, 2016 - 9:03 am
@nccvoyager
It is very easy to cross the line when we see those illogical details in Rimworld and despite the fact that the game is still in a development stage – players can often wonder: ‘why when harvesting cotton I have a ready fabric from the field, without weaving?’ or ‘I brew beer from hops, but from where those bottles comes from?’. It is a developer’s choice to make the game that way (simplified I mean) and probably he will keep it that way, because the game (before all else) supposed to be fun; though it would be good to see one day an update with a general production overhaul, as production of beer was done in A15.
However I wouldn’t like to see Rimworld going into Dwarf Fortress way, when (for instance) to produce beer – you’d have to produce bottles first, which will reveal a whole chain of glass production.
I’ve observed that every drug in Rimworld has a chance of addiction, and a ‘chance’ means: you can have a colonist who is abusing drugs all the way through and he may be lucky to don’t get hooked, while a casual drug user will fall into addiction nightmare.
Those dependencies and predispositions that you’ve talked about would be a good thing to add to the game, because players would have a possibility to prevent some addictions by choosing which colonists should do the drugs and which shouldn’t, but on the other hand – it would take away uncertainty, which is probably a main stimulant (excitement) in Rimworld.
September 8th, 2016 - 11:44 pm
Indeed, I agree that the current model is a good compromise between balance, and full simulation.