Positive events are too rare and have too little impact.
Where are the
- 24 hours a day sunlight events
- longer growing season events
- mechanites/natural event causing crops and all plants to grow super fast across the map
Tons of effort went into negative events and clearly very little went into positive events. We have multiple negative events wiping out all plant life on the map, if it was like this then the planet would have been a dead toxic/poisonous rock long before we crashed on it.
- Alpha beavers are just cancer, talk about an overused event.
- Toxic fallout, turning your rain forest into a barren wasteland.
- Volcanic eruptions, darkening the skies and preventing all growth.
I haven't been able to enjoy this game in a long time because it's steadily turning into a spanking simulator. How about some good with the bad.
Quote from: Locklave on July 31, 2017, 09:22:49 PM
I haven't been able to enjoy this game in a long time because it's steadily turning into a spanking simulator. How about some good with the bad.
Holy Shit I love how you worded that ..
I grant you my paddle in support of this Idea.
Quote from: Locklave on July 31, 2017, 09:22:49 PM
Positive events are too rare and have too little impact.
Where are the
- 24 hours a day sunlight events
- longer growing season events
- mechanites/natural event causing crops and all plants to grow super fast across the map
Tons of effort went into negative events and clearly very little went into positive events. We have multiple negative events wiping out all plant life on the map, if it was like this then the planet would have been a dead toxic/poisonous rock long before we crashed on it.
- Alpha beavers are just cancer, talk about an overused event.
- Toxic fallout, turning your rain forest into a barren wasteland.
- Volcanic eruptions, darkening the skies and preventing all growth.
I haven't been able to enjoy this game in a long time because it's steadily turning into a spanking simulator. How about some good with the bad.
Supported! Thumbs up
I agree! There should definetely be more positive events, maybe some creative ones that don't change the game too much but make you feel a little more lucky sometimes. I would say the current positive events like obtaining a free, random boomrat are pretty unrewarding. And I think more positive events would also help balance the game out a little bit. I think it should be said, however, that too many positive events would unbalance the game and make it a bit too easy, which is what we have base building modes for anyway.
Randy Random kinda explains the problem with the current events, in that he can cause chaos/death/destruction or maybe useful space debris...
Randy Random -
He'll generate random events, and he doesn't care if they make a story of triumph or utter hopelessness.
What event let alone event(s) result in triumph? A event like that would need to be able to save you from the brink of total failure, just like the bad events can outright end your colony. Events you would hope for if you were winning or losing. Right now no positive event comes anywhere close to that.
Quote from: elliot9133 on August 01, 2017, 11:32:04 PM
I agree! There should definetely be more positive events, maybe some creative ones that don't change the game too much but make you feel a little more lucky sometimes. I would say the current positive events like obtaining a free, random boomrat are pretty unrewarding. And I think more positive events would also help balance the game out a little bit. I think it should be said, however, that too many positive events would unbalance the game and make it a bit too easy, which is what we have base building modes for anyway.
I like the idea of luck. Makes me think of events that could fudge numbers a bit that allow more material collected for a short time. Say 10-20% more? Something that'd be nice to get and not useless or a kick in the balls.
I'm not suggesting making the game easier, I'm suggesting the events system needs a rework and that positive events have been neglected. There could be room within game balance to have a few crazy OP positive ones, think super rare. But I'd be happy with a few that were just pleasant/helpful. Maybe something like a tribal story teller shows up and tells your people an uplifting story giving some small happiness buffs or construction speed bonus.
Trust me in that I don't want this to be fluffy kittens and rainbows saving us from our idiotic mistakes. Rimworlds are supposed to be brutal, but that doesn't mean there shouldn't be good and even great days.
They could even unlink good/bad event timers, meaning you would still get hit just as hard.
The only events that can save a colony are drop pods (with food when you're starving for example) and psychic soothes when the colony is in a death spiral. Meanwhile, both these events can actually be pretty useless in the same situations if they're not the right variety.
We definitely need more well-thought-out positive events.
Like Benevolent Mechanoids that show up and offer support services in exchange for a certain amount of resources.. Mechanoids offer to assist you for 2 seasons in exchange for 75 steel. The Mechs then do the simple stuff like hauling and cleaning at super fast rates. Imagine being able to haul all those shitty chunks into the base at no risk to your colonists.
And yes full support for more double plus good events. :)
There are some other positive events :
- allies come to help you against your opponents
- some animals are become self-tamed
- a wanderer join you
- a friendly team comes in the area
- a trade caravan has reached your colony
- friendly people come to visit your colony
- a trade ship is available
- thrumbos
- most of the world map events
I appreciate your propositions, they are really nice.
I agree with OP.
Rimworld should not be "how do we make this game harder?" It should be "how do we make this game more interesting?"
A little good with the bad wkll give us just a bit more hope, so it can crush us with mechanoid drop pods the day after.
Thumbs up
We've actually been working on this. Most of the new events are more "opportunistic" or "quasi-neutral" than actively positive, though.
The thing is, the player is always working to generate positive outcomes. The game just handing out positive outcomes more would have to be balanced by gimping the player's ability to generate those outcomes himself.
So in general the events will tend to be more negative because it provides the pressure against which the player can push.
And, in general, it's easier to destroy than to create.
Quote from: Tynan on August 04, 2017, 10:16:28 PM
We've actually been working on this. Most of the new events are more "opportunistic" or "quasi-neutral" than actively positive, though.
The thing is, the player is always working to generate positive outcomes. The game just handing out positive outcomes more would have to be balanced by gimping the player's ability to generate those outcomes himself.
So in general the events will tend to be more negative because it provides the pressure against which the player can push.
And, in general, it's easier to destroy than to create.
"handing out positive outcomes" is not at all the my intention of this thread or what anyone posting here wants and I apologize if that's how it comes across as that's not what I'd want at all. As I see it positive events need to exist as a break in routine. The game should not be a mix of Terrible/Bad/Neutral events. Negative association with the game, the gods/fates/what ever of Rimworld hate you and want your colony to fail.
I want to say, "oh, that's helpful" once to an event in Rimworld without being annoyed and filled with sarcasm. My memories of this game are slowly turning into memory of me rage quitting because I got 2-3 terrible events in a row preventing me from stabilizing my colony. What was once a mixed story of good and bad times now feels like a story of the terrible events a colony went through before it was destroyed.
Again let me stress I don't want the game easier and don't believe anyone else here wants it easier. Those 2-3 events should still wipe me out unless I learn to play better, but what came before shouldn't all have been negative. That's why I rage quit and walk away for so long, because it was the feeling of being beaten down the entire game. Maybe that should be a specific game mode, some people might enjoy that? But the rest of the game shouldn't feel like it does.
I understand I've made stupid threads in the past where I really didn't explain my concerns well enough, this time is different however. I fully thought out my concerns before posting this thread. It's about how I feel or rather how the game makes me feel when I play. I don't want the game easier, I want there to be breaks in the bad times for the colony with something that's positive or even uplifting. I want to feel relief every once in a while that an event helped lift a burden for a short time, that the universe isn't plotting my colonies destruction... even if it really is.
The scale and nature of these events needn't be space marines or magical fairies dropping from the sky and solving all our problems. That would certainly cheapen the entire experience you intended when you made and continue to make this game.
The 3 events I suggest in my OP are the scale/impact level for good events I think would be reasonable, just nice stuff that could happen. Another example could be if there are fires on the map there could be a random event for flash rain. Just a lucky event, not something you could depend on, just something nice that could happen. Luck could be related to many of these kind of events as other posters have suggested.
These events could have shared timers separate from the normal events, maybe even categories of events. Positive/Neutral/Negative events being 5-10%/30%/60-65% likelihood or something like that. Positive events shouldn't be common but they should be.
Thank you for taking the time to post, glad to know you still jump in the trenches. :)
Quote from: Locklave on August 05, 2017, 11:28:43 AM
The scale and nature of these events needn't be space marines or magical fairies dropping from the sky and solving all our problems. That would certainly cheapen the entire experience you intended when you made and continue to make this game.
Sorry .. this image of Fairy Marines derailed my brain ..
(http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/germes21/3820935/86172/86172_900.jpg)
best i could find.
FOR THE EMPEROR !!
But I support your notion.
I get the argument, that most events need to be neutral by nature and have the player influence the outcome,
that decision creates involvement and connection, and struggle makes everything worthwhile.
But still I would like some more events that are just geniunly good and have me shout "YES, how cool is that .. "
selftamed squirrels,
droppods full of bricks
or suicidal allies messing up a decent fight when trying to help
do not count.
Those are two-click events ( unforbid all bricks, and set the squirrel to butcher .. )
The ambrosia sprout is the right direction.
Volcanic Winter could be half positive .. volcanic ash is very fertile, after the winter everything should grow faster.
The mod "sometimes raids go wrong" has some really great "positive" events.
a transport pod raid having a bad landing .. ( still your living room is trashed and on fire .. but free loot and prisoners )
a siege having to deal with a horde of manhunters .. ( you only have to deal with the survivors )
Quote from: SpaceDorf on August 05, 2017, 11:49:24 AM
Volcanic Winter could be half positive .. volcanic ash is very fertile, after the winter everything should grow faster.
The mod "sometimes raids go wrong" has some really great "positive" events.
a transport pod raid having a bad landing .. ( still your living room is trashed and on fire .. but free loot and prisoners )
a siege having to deal with a horde of manhunters .. ( you only have to deal with the survivors )
We badly need a increased growth mechanic, event related or otherwise. Rain forests becoming badlands (via Toxic fallout/Volcanic winter) permanently is silly. I like the ash idea.
This is the thing, I don't like mods much as they feel unbalanced. Many of them simply hand you easy wins like the one you listed, ya it's neat but it's too much too easily for at least the drop pod part. Dropping free loot and prisoners right on your lap. "a siege having to deal with a horde of manhunters" This sounds like a great lucky event. You'd still have to fight the winner, so not all win. That'd be super uncommon because it's easy meat/loot with way less risk. I'd bet these events happen fairly often in that mod which is my main issue.
I've been trying to find mods to make the game feel less depressing/infuriating aka less spanking machine, they simply change too much or totally screw up game balance.
Quote from: SpaceDorf on August 05, 2017, 11:49:24 AM
Volcanic Winter could be half positive .. volcanic ash is very fertile, after the winter everything should grow faster.
The mod "sometimes raids go wrong" has some really great "positive" events.
a transport pod raid having a bad landing .. ( still your living room is trashed and on fire .. but free loot and prisoners )
a siege having to deal with a horde of manhunters .. ( you only have to deal with the survivors )
I like all these ideas. Some of the recurring negative events badly need a "twist" to keep them from getting boring and repetitive by the game's end. That would ideally be something that still leaves them with negative consequences of some sort but also provides you with a benefit.
Also agree that the Ambrosia event is a good example of something that's positive without being a free handout. You still need to protect the sprouts in the wilderness from fire and hungry animals, but if you do, you get good stuff.
As for "sometimes raids go wrong. "
nope ..it does not happen that often .. the events I described happened in two or three seperate games since A17 came out.
the manhunters more often, but having to deal with wargs equal or more than the raid itself is a task,
and the droppod event .. yeah I had 8 prisoners afterward which I wanted to recruit .. with a colony of six in winter and
half of my wooden base burned down because the assholes dropped in my dining room and the crash set it on fire ..
another great mod that lets you work for your loot is the "crashlanding mod" .. which sometimes crashes shipparts on your map ( maybe once per year .. ).
Those set everything around them on fire, you can get massive amount of loot from them .. or you can loose your best space marine when a weapon deck that dropped several turrets and shells explodes.
you can get a great reactor ( 3k power ) that leaks radiation in a quite large radius ..
=== EDIT ===
And I totally forgot the new suggestion I wanted to make :
Expand the Wedding Event so that known family members and friends show up as visitors, no matter from which faction.
So if your recruited Pirate Boss marries your Master Trader who is also the Daughter of a Tribal Chieftain ... ...
you can only pray that Karaoke is the worst that will happen ..
Quote from: SpaceDorf on August 05, 2017, 01:12:06 PM
As for "sometimes raids go wrong. "
nope ..it does not happen that often .. the events I described happened in two or three seperate games since A17 came out.
the manhunters more often, but having to deal with wargs equal or more than the raid itself is a task,
and the droppod event .. yeah I had 8 prisoners afterward which I wanted to recruit .. with a colony of six in winter and
half of my wooden base burned down because the assholes dropped in my dining room and the crash set it on fire ..
another great mod that lets you work for your loot is the "crashlanding mod" .. which sometimes crashes shipparts on your map ( maybe once per year .. ).
Those set everything around them on fire, you can get massive amount of loot from them .. or you can loose your best space marine when a weapon deck that dropped several turrets and shells explodes.
you can get a great reactor ( 3k power ) that leaks radiation in a quite large radius ..
=== EDIT ===
And I totally forgot the new suggestion I wanted to make :
Expand the Wedding Event so that known family members and friends show up as visitors, no matter from which faction.
So if your recruited Pirate Boss marries your Master Trader who is also the Daughter of a Tribal Chieftain ... ...
you can only pray that Karaoke is the worst that will happen ..
I will look into these suggested mods, so thank you for that. But not to stray to much further off from the primary topic I'd like to see more simple positive events to break up the cruelty on the Rimworlds. These mods might do that for me but they'd feel less real because I knew they were mods.
I have nostalgia for for earlier builds like 0.4.4ish 2014 (no rose colored glasses however, I know things are much improved in many ways), but tonally the game felt different. Events didn't feel like they were out to get you, they were 80% raids which was a problem in itself (that problem being solved now). Back then the events were really limited, the new events certainly added more content to the game but they were all in one direction, negative/destructive. Which leads me to this thread.
If this game is a story, that story is a sad depressing one about people with terrible luck and everything falling apart around them no matter how hard they try. The people in this story nearly never have good luck or a great let alone good day. Just an endless slog through a tar pit being eaten by spawn bugs. The story used to feel more uplifting, makings something from nothing, making do with limited materials.
Maybe the game outgrew me?
edit:
This video series made me buy the game back in 2014.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP75MO_n1z8
The tone and feeling it gave was completely different. I bet I played 500+ hours in 2014-2015, so the vibe of this video (even as terribly played as he did) was more positive as was my personal experience. The difference is very real.
I believe you.
Everytime someone has a birthday the gift is a new permanent sickness .. not maybe a trait, or a passion .
the best event yesterday were the manhunting polar bears. finally after two years I had a breeding partner for my lonely polar bear girl.
that is why I like mods so much, they uplift the game from gritty spanking simulator to wacky space adventure.
For one .. worse stuff happens .. but on the other hand .. for most of it, there is a solution ( beside 100 boars )
and I am not talking about YetAnotherGunMod or Unobtainium of the Week ..
I mean lazers and plasma, mutagenic pills and kitchen robots,
herding boomalopes to produce neutroamine,
different colored drinks and hats with lights ..
crashing shipparts and shuttles ..
while cthulhus minions get torn to pieces by the rabbits of caerbannog ..
vanilla with huge chunks of cookie dough, chocolate, cream and a exploding cherry on top.
it's like playing the first 15 minutes of toy story 3
that is also why CE and to much of the same bore me to death.
oh .. and I forgot of course mechanoids, insectoids, otheroids and terraforming .. this map is my bitch. I will deepen the rivers and rise up the mountains .. and why you may ask ? Because we ... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_sMpQmNFzU)
I propose to let happen small heat waves during winter and small cold waves during summer.
It could be helpful without being too overpowered.
I speak about small one to differentiate from the classic cold wave event decreasing the temperature to -20°C even in summer which is clearly negative.
Quote from: NeverPire on August 07, 2017, 04:48:44 AM
I propose to let happen small heat waves during winter and small cold waves during summer.
It could be helpful without being too overpowered.
I speak about small one to differentiate from the classic cold wave event decreasing the temperature to -20°C even in summer which is clearly negative.
I wouldn't go for more shortish temperature events as you barely can react on them and they are either annoying or completly ignored. I'd prefer every season to have one permanent event, which starts at the beginning of every season and last for 10-15 day (mostly the whole season) and is chosen by the eventmanager to be positive or negative:
spring:-mild spring (temperature goes near 15°C mark, higher animal spawn+younger animals)
warm spring (warmer weather, small growth bonus)
-long winter (temperatures stay very frosty, high change on cold wave)
summer:-rainy summer (high change on rain or cold wave)
-sunny sommer (weather as predicted, happiness bonus outside)
-scorching summer( negative: more heatwave, chance on dry plants)
autumn:-rainy season (high chance on very long rain, higher chance on blight)
-golden harvest ( great weather, higher yield or harvest speed)
-cold autumn ( colder weather, high chance on snow, less animals)
winter:-warm (warmer weather)
-cold (guess what, colder weather)
-confusing ( wild mixed weather with variation in temperature/rain/snow, random animal death)
-wild winter (Permanent snowfall, high wind, damage to doors facing outside)
-green winter ( temperature will not drop below 1°C so minimal growth is provided)
As a special bonus, every pawn who is 60 years or older give a chance on weather prediction. so, if you have 5 senios colonists in your colony you can get the message for the next season 1-5 days earlier :D
Quote from: Bolgfred on August 07, 2017, 07:21:22 AM
-green winter ( temperature will not drop below 1°C so minimal growth is provided)
Could lead to an increased chance of disease the next year (as in the real world)
Quote from: Bolgfred on August 07, 2017, 07:21:22 AM
As a special bonus, every pawn who is 60 years or older give a chance on weather prediction. so, if you have 5 senios colonists in your colony you can get the message for the next season 1-5 days earlier :D
And as extra special Bonus .. you may get comments on how the weather was worse/better back then
And this is something of a neutral/bad event suggestion, but I would like some kind of extortion event from pirates sometimes. Basically a local raider group would demand silver or items from you, either expecting immediately or giving you a few days to comply. If you refuse to give in to their demands, they would retaliate in a raid. Speaking of raids, I think there should be a somewhat rare event when raiders plan their raid or besiege you, where two groups have a disagreement and duke it out for some reason. Or sometimes, the raid/siege is called off before it even starts. Neither of these events could happen if the raiders attack immediately, though.
Another idea: Animal plague. Basically, it would be an event that affects one particular species in the area, giving them a quick-acting disease that would kill them in a day or two. Once the disease has ran its course, you could simply pick up the animal corpses, essentially giving you free meat and leather. However, it could spread to colony pets as well, and while not a death sentence, it would be rather difficult to treat. I like this because while this could probably be a boon in the hands of a smart player, it still has an element of danger to if you rely on animals.
Quote from: Names are for the Weak on August 09, 2017, 05:38:20 PM
Another idea: Animal plague. Basically, it would be an event that affects one particular species in the area, giving them a quick-acting disease that would kill them in a day or two. Once the disease has ran its course, you could simply pick up the animal corpses, essentially giving you free meat and leather. However, it could spread to colony pets as well, and while not a death sentence, it would be rather difficult to treat. I like this because while this could probably be a boon in the hands of a smart player, it still has an element of danger to if you rely on animals.
Speaking about animals, there is clearly a problem with them. Except for wool production, taming animals is not gainful. If you add a risk to kill them, they become even less profitable.
A few generic ideas for positive events that aren't simply handouts. I may have borrowed some ideas from earlier in the thread.
1) Moonglow - An especially reflective full moon passes across the sky at night, allowing for partial light even at night. The night occurs as normal, but has a 60% base light level instead of 0%. Outdoor plants will continue to grow during a Moonglow event, even though it's night. Can occur during (and thus overrides) a Solar Eclipse, as the light is not directly coming from the sun.
2) Hunter-Killers - A pack of Scythers appears on the map during a raid with intent to kill a specific target in the enemy faction. They are friendly to your colony but enemies will treat them as hostile and try to defend the target. Once the target flees or is killed the scythers will leave the map (but will still defend themselves). More likely to occur if an enemy faction leader is present, targeting them.
3) Intercepted Broadcast - A group of possible events. All of these require a Comms Console.
3a) Your colony's comms console intercepts a communique from an enemy faction announcing the time, target, and type of their next raid, allowing your colonists more time to prepare for it. It will also announce the direction they will arrive from, or if they are using drop pods.
3b) Your colony's comms console intercepts a burst of mechanoid traffic. You can choose to Leave It Alone (no effect) or Try to Alter. A failed alteration has a chance to cause a small mechanoid raid. A successful one guarantees a Hunter-Killer event during the next non-Mechanoid raid. Success chance is based on the highest Intellectual skill in your colony.
3c) An orbital trader mistakenly contacts you thinking you're another faction, asking you the coordinates to deliver their shipment to. You can either inform them of their mistake (gain relations with that faction) or give them your coordinates (take a relations hit but trigger a Drop Pods event). There is a small chance that the signal is a spoof by pirates and giving them your coordinates instead triggers a small drop pod raid.
4) Animal Migration - A large group of a single type of animal enters one side of the map and slowly moves to the other side, leaving the map when they reach the edge.
All suggestions are prime matieral but i am still trying to figure out if this line is really possible ..
depends on the number of moons I guess ..
Quote from: Trylobyte on August 10, 2017, 07:35:40 PM
Can occur during (and thus overrides) a Solar Eclipse, as the light is not directly coming from the sun.