What if sieges became less urgent and more long-term? As it stands now, sieges are simply raids that you need to walk to instead of vice versa, because those mortars will destroy your colony in a day.
Some raiders can touch down in a corner of your map and set up a mortar, but they only bombard you with a few shots once or twice a day, instead of constantly. If you kill raiders, they can replenish their numbers once every couple days (but only replacing their numbers, not increasing them, because otherwise that could get overwhelming). Food can also drop down every couple days to feed them, because I know that AI in its current iteration can't handle tasks like hunting. This is more like a real siege, because it locks down a section of your map and means you can't get the resources from there.
Even without the "reinforcements" option, the big thing here is just reducing the bombings so that the player's hand isn't forced into action.
A possible problem with this would be environmental effects (radiation, extreme heat/cold) killing these people off, but that seems like a problem that exists in their current iteration anyway. Though it WOULD be fun to watch them all slowly go mad from a psychic drone ship.
That last sentence, though.
I can totally see just giving everyone tinfoil hats and using a drone ship as a defense system.
Maybe have sieging npcs attack drone ships if this happens, that, or, say, after the first berserk break, they get a shipment of tinfoil hats to put on?
I like the "Day and Night" bombing but making them longer isn't really needed to me. At some point they start having enough artillery that only mountain-fortress can survive.
Quote from: hector212121 on May 04, 2016, 08:09:40 PM
I can totally see just giving everyone tinfoil hats and using a drone ship as a defense system.
I heard someone did exactly that, but he had psychic-dull colonist.
Quote from: Kegereneku on May 04, 2016, 08:49:34 PM
I like the "Day and Night" bombing but making them longer isn't really needed to me. At some point they start having enough artillery that only mountain-fortress can survive.
Quote from: hector212121 on May 04, 2016, 08:09:40 PM
I can totally see just giving everyone tinfoil hats and using a drone ship as a defense system.
I heard someone did exactly that, but he had psychic-dull colonist.
But he's saying to stretch out that bombing to being only a occasional thing. Which kinda makes sense; early on, your patch of land is worth waaaaaay less than all those mortar shells.
Maybe add a anti-mortar system? Like, idk, how they have anti-ballistic missiles, but smaller scale? Or just AA guns?
...That one merits it's own suggestion, actually.
Dont they attack or something eventually? I remember when I was newb waiting out sieges. That is kind of why infestations came about cause of immortal defenses. A potential I think could be if the roof layer comes about so mortars damage roofs until they break through. A UI toggle on and off and colonists repair as normal. Wood burns, etc. Thin roof, thick roofs, etc.
Drop pod invasions have the force to smash or break through? For now, if I cannot attack, I just reallocate my times and labours so repair and fire come first. The inferno mortar is the one that gets me in early wood structure.
I would like it if, instead of/in addition to bombing you out with mortars, the besiegers also deliberately attacked your resources, to weaken you and make you easier to assault.
Instead of bombing your base indiscriminately, they could:
1) send forward a spotting team, to make their mortar fire more accurate, which in turn would give you a priority target to take out. You see this all the time in war movies "WE NEED TO TAKE OUT THOSE SPOTTERS UP ON THE RIDGE".
2) Deliberately attack your resources. Bomb/destroy electricity-producing objects, set your farms ablaze using incendiary shells, etc
3) Launch disease-causing objects into your base. Instead of firing mortar shells, they fling some rotting animal corpses into your base. These corpses would have the ability to cause disease in an AOE until they get removed.... which might be difficult when your base is locked down via snipers.
I dunno, sieges could just be made MUCH more interesting.
Quote from: Boston on May 04, 2016, 10:34:33 PM
I would like it if, instead of/in addition to bombing you out with mortars, the besiegers also deliberately attacked your resources, to weaken you and make you easier to assault.
Instead of bombing your base indiscriminately, they could:
1) send forward a spotting team, to make their mortar fire more accurate, which in turn would give you a priority target to take out. You see this all the time in war movies "WE NEED TO TAKE OUT THOSE SPOTTERS UP ON THE RIDGE".
2) Deliberately attack your resources. Bomb/destroy electricity-producing objects, set your farms ablaze using incendiary shells, etc
3) Launch disease-causing objects into your base. Instead of firing mortar shells, they fling some rotting animal corpses into your base. These corpses would have the ability to cause disease in an AOE until they get removed.... which might be difficult when your base is locked down via snipers.
I dunno, sieges could just be made MUCH more interesting.
I like this, but it involves a significant change to the AI, so it'd probably need to be its own suggestion. As far as I know, my original suggestion merely requires restrictions on bombing rates, and for the siegers to have "patience" (and not attack eventually).
Quote from: Vaporisor on May 04, 2016, 09:35:15 PM
That is kind of why infestations came about cause of immortal defenses.
I think even with the "immortal defense" you'd be motivated to get these guys eventually, since they'd be shelling you at regular intervals. Even if you're safe in an overhead mountain, and entirely resource self-sufficient (in which case, good job!) they'd still be intercepting the traders, plus you'd have to leave safety to pick up orbital drop supplies, as well as deal with other global threats like a psychic drone ship (which is much easier if you don't need to worry about getting mortar'd in the back from half a map away).
They will not destroy your colony in a day. If you place your houses at least 2 tiles apart and build out of stone, they can last. It helps to have 1-2 shielded rooms to hide colonists.
Shelling resources doesn't make sense, because what are they going to steal then ? But attacking defenses - walls, turrets - that's okay.
Quote from: hector212121
Maybe have sieging npcs attack drone ships if this happens, that, or, say, after the first berserk break, they get a shipment of tinfoil hats to put on?
/quote]
"Fashion police! We need more hats!"
but im still gonna go gank them straight away anyways, i find going out and meeting threats like this is usually less harmful to my colony than waiting.
I'd rather have sieges "locking the door" of your colony.
Imagine a siege of 20 enemies that bring alot of food and will only attack you if you try to attack if you leave. They could burn your crops, mine your walls (the same random pattern bugs do), kill visitors, pets or whatever you have outside.
This will be an old fashioned siege, like in the medieval area, something on the lines that old Salomon did with his majestic cannons. Giant raid that outnumber you greatly and little by little make you starve, weaken, break and die.
Do you have manpower enough to push this siege away and get their resources? Good. Do you have cold blooded melee characters with cougars and bears that will attack them on the night? Amazing. Can't defend from them, but can wall yourself in and live that way? It's up to you.
Really would love sieges being that way.
How about catapults? They can fire chunks or slag, are more accurate than mortars(seriously, those things can't hit the broad side of a barn, much less a colonist), but only hit the spot they target? So they target buildings with the catapults.
Quote from: hector212121 on May 05, 2016, 10:01:45 AM
How about catapults? They can fire chunks or slag, are more accurate than mortars(seriously, those things can't hit the broad side of a barn, much less a colonist), but only hit the spot they target? So they target buildings with the catapults.
The sieges I'm suggesting shouldn't have more accurate ordnance, since +accuracy just means +immediacy, and the sieges I'm suggesting should be more of annoyances on the outskirts of the colony.
The siegers we have now already bombard you constantly, often with two mortars, so accuracy isn't much of an issue - and I don't think they're aiming for colonists, I think they just shoot into the home zone and try to damage your stuff. I know the inedendiary one is an annoyance and a half.
I think an alternative "win" condition agents sieges is needed to.
atm, if you wait they bombard your base and then charge.
or you can send out your units and crush them early without damaging your base.
i like to see that there is a chance that they will simply just leave after running out of food. likely 3-4 days of shelling and being a pain. this way we can add more raiders to the sieges. and its more a choice of outlasting them or attacking them. both being a thought decision.
Quote from: Harold3456 on May 05, 2016, 07:19:49 PM
Quote from: hector212121 on May 05, 2016, 10:01:45 AM
How about catapults? They can fire chunks or slag, are more accurate than mortars(seriously, those things can't hit the broad side of a barn, much less a colonist), but only hit the spot they target? So they target buildings with the catapults.
The sieges I'm suggesting shouldn't have more accurate ordnance, since +accuracy just means +immediacy, and the sieges I'm suggesting should be more of annoyances on the outskirts of the colony.
The siegers we have now already bombard you constantly, often with two mortars, so accuracy isn't much of an issue - and I don't think they're aiming for colonists, I think they just shoot into the home zone and try to damage your stuff. I know the inedendiary one is an annoyance and a half.
More accurate, no area of effect. Also, more accurate just means they'll hit within, oh, 5 squares of where they target.
Quote from: hector212121 on May 05, 2016, 10:01:45 AM
How about catapults? They can fire chunks or slag, are more accurate than mortars(seriously, those things can't hit the broad side of a barn, much less a colonist), but only hit the spot they target? So they target buildings with the catapults.
You say this but theres always that lucky guy walking round outside ur base in a wide open area, the siege mortars havent even hit near ur base, then that lovely message appears.
Your colonist (enter unlucky name) has died of missing everthing.
And knowing this game, that was ur builder, crafter and fighter rigt there. But id like it if i could set up a castle like compound and instead of mortars the enemy use cannons and stuff, then the shots could hit and damage my outer walls, and when they do small skirmishing groups of the large siege party could move forward to assult the breaches. This means that you can outlast them with strong walls and defenses, but during the attacks you cpuld have multiple breaches with multiple attacking parties, making it very interesting. And the enemy could set up medical tents and sandbag defenses round ur base, and when a skirmish party takes enough damage, instead of running off map they carry thier wounded, coving thier retreat as they do, to get them to the medical tent/ temp building. This could allow sieges to turn into very interesting and long drawn out back and fro battles, keeping the player interested and on thier toes.