Hello there,
I've been thinking, for a few years, about just a few things that I think would greatly improve the game, especially in the late-game for more wealthy colonies. While the latter objects in this thread will probably be prohibitively expensive early game, I believe that if a player's colony can productively move forward after years of hard work, they should be allowed to.
Starting off with the one that I think is the most important, cheapest, and which may even be in development already, is some sort of barricade you can build that can be shot through but not moved through. This has already been implemented in the form of Ancient Barriers, but I believe that a buildable, material-dependant (Stone, steel, etc.) barricade like this would be an integral part of any colony's defence. While these barricades might not perform any better than Sandbags (Or even worse, as Sandbags ought to be more durable than, say, a wooden wall) the added benefit of keeping out melee attackers is a great boon in itself, and they're a fairly obvious defence choice when constructing any kind of bunker or outer wall.
While on the note of barricades, a passable but slowing & damaging Barbed Wire (or Wooden Stakes?) piece seems like another great way to keep enemies from simply leaping over your sandbags or chipping away at your walls, as they would have to either go around or remove the threat which takes valuable time.
Secondly, I think that being able to reverse-engineer certain Mechanoid weapons & construct human-portable versions for your troops would make for a great addition to a late-game arsenal. Simply put, the Charge Lance would make for an excellent, advanced upgrade to the Sniper Rifle, and the Charge Blaster is a unique and powerful crowd control weapon already. Even if they're expensive and/or less powerful than their Mechanoid variant, they're still a logical next step for any wealthy colony.
I'm not sure how often this is asked for (And I apologise if it is often,) a machine bench for constructing bionic body parts out of materials such as components, plasteel, and rare materials like hyperweave. I'm certain that a colony that can figure out space travel and plasma rifles can also figure out how to construct a bionic limb, or perhaps a cybernetic organ or two, if their medical and/or crafting skill is high enough. It'd be expensive, late in the research tree, and take a long time, but in the long run a resourceful and wealthy colony could benefit greatly from being able to supply their own people with replacement parts in the often-seen situation of accidental limb loss.
Finally, while writing this, I realised that some way to synthesise Synthread and/or Hyperweave wouldn't be too bad for a wealthy colony, either, as a more expensive and late-game replacement for your typical Cotton and Devilstrand. These two materials already have obvious uses in clothing and I believe would make excellent high-tech crafting materials for other items, as long as you can supply the necessary items to create these materials, and it's not outside the realm of possibilities considering the smarter colonies can already construct intricate spacecraft parts, power armour, and charge rifles.
Edit: I also feel that I should probably mention a barber chair that takes the "art" ability to give people a mood boost and change their hairstyle. Hair feels too rigid in the game as it is. A little colonist customisation outside of nicknames wouldn't hurt, either.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and best wishes.
- IronSquid501
I've been thinking, for a few years, about just a few things that I think would greatly improve the game, especially in the late-game for more wealthy colonies. While the latter objects in this thread will probably be prohibitively expensive early game, I believe that if a player's colony can productively move forward after years of hard work, they should be allowed to.
Starting off with the one that I think is the most important, cheapest, and which may even be in development already, is some sort of barricade you can build that can be shot through but not moved through. This has already been implemented in the form of Ancient Barriers, but I believe that a buildable, material-dependant (Stone, steel, etc.) barricade like this would be an integral part of any colony's defence. While these barricades might not perform any better than Sandbags (Or even worse, as Sandbags ought to be more durable than, say, a wooden wall) the added benefit of keeping out melee attackers is a great boon in itself, and they're a fairly obvious defence choice when constructing any kind of bunker or outer wall.
While on the note of barricades, a passable but slowing & damaging Barbed Wire (or Wooden Stakes?) piece seems like another great way to keep enemies from simply leaping over your sandbags or chipping away at your walls, as they would have to either go around or remove the threat which takes valuable time.
Secondly, I think that being able to reverse-engineer certain Mechanoid weapons & construct human-portable versions for your troops would make for a great addition to a late-game arsenal. Simply put, the Charge Lance would make for an excellent, advanced upgrade to the Sniper Rifle, and the Charge Blaster is a unique and powerful crowd control weapon already. Even if they're expensive and/or less powerful than their Mechanoid variant, they're still a logical next step for any wealthy colony.
I'm not sure how often this is asked for (And I apologise if it is often,) a machine bench for constructing bionic body parts out of materials such as components, plasteel, and rare materials like hyperweave. I'm certain that a colony that can figure out space travel and plasma rifles can also figure out how to construct a bionic limb, or perhaps a cybernetic organ or two, if their medical and/or crafting skill is high enough. It'd be expensive, late in the research tree, and take a long time, but in the long run a resourceful and wealthy colony could benefit greatly from being able to supply their own people with replacement parts in the often-seen situation of accidental limb loss.
Finally, while writing this, I realised that some way to synthesise Synthread and/or Hyperweave wouldn't be too bad for a wealthy colony, either, as a more expensive and late-game replacement for your typical Cotton and Devilstrand. These two materials already have obvious uses in clothing and I believe would make excellent high-tech crafting materials for other items, as long as you can supply the necessary items to create these materials, and it's not outside the realm of possibilities considering the smarter colonies can already construct intricate spacecraft parts, power armour, and charge rifles.
Edit: I also feel that I should probably mention a barber chair that takes the "art" ability to give people a mood boost and change their hairstyle. Hair feels too rigid in the game as it is. A little colonist customisation outside of nicknames wouldn't hurt, either.
Thank you for taking the time to read this, and best wishes.
- IronSquid501