[Search on these forums isn't being very helpful to me, so I'm starting a new thread...]
It seems to me that the current design of the game is that combat constantly gets harder as the player progresses. That seems like a fine *option* for *some* storytellers, but not all of them. I'd really like something less challenging, yet still not a total lack of challenge. "Chill" Callie continues to not function as described (for me, at least); every wave of enemies is bigger than the last, until I am inevitably crushed. This is both predictable and un-fun.
I'm enjoying the colony-management stuff, and it wouldn't feel meaningful without *some* threats to protect against. But I want a Storyteller where the threat level is capped, at least until/unless I take some conscious action to invite trouble.
Now, I know the super-skilled players think I'm a wimp, and that Chill Callie is totally beatable. But she's advertised as "a good choice for your first game". I've played about 6 games now, in various alpha versions, and I still get consistently crushed.
I'd like the story tellers to be more diverse too. Something sort of like:
Colony management: Hugely reduced focus on combat, more natural disasters / colony issues. Like people go nuts.
Assassins: Instead of huge waves, 3-4 sneaky high-skilled shooters enter the region unannounced and infiltrate your base.
Theives: Like the above, they don't intend to fight, just steal from your base.
Waves: Reduce the high-end wave counts and just make the soldiers tougher. Having 20 of my own dudes plus 100 AI lags out the game (and I have an impressive rig too!)
Good to see you Alexx! Sorry the game's giving you trouble.
Well, Callie is certainly intended to be a low but present challenge. They will only ramp up now in proportion to your wealth and population, and very slowly if you don't take serious damage for a long time. How far are you getting anyway? If you really want to just build stuff you could play on Phoebe (she does still raid you), but there has been some demand for a level between Callie and Phoebe, so perhaps I should fill it in future.
I agree. I really like the combat but after a few waves I don't have time to gather food anymore since everyone is dead or in bed.
And ignoring the siege isn't an option because they take out my solar panels.
I'm currently set up in a mountain with a 6 man team. Trying to figure out a way to kill the brawlers that are besieging me.
Attempt #7 here we go! :P
EDIT: I'm just camping out in my dark powerless cave, with more food stored than the raiders have. I am just going to wait until they starve!
Quote from: Jeroen Jager on July 05, 2014, 10:52:29 AM
I'm just camping out in my dark powerless cave, with more food stored than the raiders have. I am just going to wait until they starve!
That's only going to work until they get cabin fever :D
Quote from: Tynan on July 05, 2014, 10:21:17 AM
They will only ramp up now in proportion to your wealth and population
Does things like stone blocks count as wealth? because i'm getting rid of that huge stockpile of stone blocks right now if that's the case ;D
Also on my Phoebe run i'm only geting attacked by 3 raiders tops no matter how many colonists I have (may be the total lack of turrets). Is that intended?
Turrets apparently don't have any impact on raid strength I read somewhere
Quote from: murillokb on July 05, 2014, 02:48:29 PM
Also on my Phoebe run i'm only geting attacked by 3 raiders tops no matter how many colonists I have (may be the total lack of turrets). Is that intended?
Yes.
Quote from: Tynan on July 05, 2014, 10:21:17 AMIf you really want to just build stuff you could play on Phoebe (she does still raid you),
OK, next version I'll try Phoebe. (I'm trying not to play too much of any one version, so my feedback stays at least a little fresh.)
But if Phoebe performs raids, then I think you have a serious mismatch between the storyteller descriptions and their actual contents... (So often in game design the fix that is both cheapest and best at preserving the designer's intent is to clarify the wording in player-facing material.) A friend of mine in another startup (non game-based) was recently having an on-line discussion about naming skill levels, and a mutual friend of ours who is professionally a UX person, said the following: "I think it's important that "Easy" sounds really attractive. People want to believe that they're uber competent, and then they get into hot water, and they blame the system. If you can brand the "typical user" level in a positive way, that may help." Phoebe sounded *too* simple, so I didn't give her a try...
Damn so you mean this wasn't the right example to follow?
(http://calitreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Swampy_4c734eff66e80.jpg)
But you're right, maybe I should call her Builder Betty, for players who just like constructing things.
Quote from: Tynan on July 05, 2014, 05:40:28 PM
Damn so you mean this wasn't the right example to follow?
(http://calitreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Swampy_4c734eff66e80.jpg)
But you're right, maybe I should call her Builder Betty, for players who just like constructing things.
heheh
Quote from: AlexxKay on July 05, 2014, 04:40:52 PM
"I think it's important that "Easy" sounds really attractive. People want to believe that they're uber competent, and then they get into hot water, and they blame the system. If you can brand the "typical user" level in a positive way, that may help." Phoebe sounded *too* simple, so I didn't give her a try...
I hear what you're saying dude but I don't agree with that assumption at all...
I've been playing PC games since the first Simcity and Frontier Elite II so I'm hardly new to pc gaming- I'm not saying this to imply any kind of superior position or arrogance though, it's important to know how far back I'm coming from to get here! :)
I'm not going to make this a history lecture or a discourse on changes in development philosophy but to say it bluntly the 'Easy, Medium, Hard & Nightmare' descriptions or 'pseudo-skill level' dynamic never worked for me and never will. I play RPGs on easy or casual level because I'm there for the story so combat might still present but my heroic character and/or party are exactly that: Hero units just like in all the movies. They might get injured or killed sometimes and even on casual levels standing in the open during a firefight or something going boom still gets you killed.
On the other hand I play grand strategy games on the highest level if that does not include economic modifiers being imposed on the player and boosts to the AI. The cool thing about the rimworld storytellers is that they all play by the same economic rules (apart from Randy, he's so random he can swing either way or both at the same time!) so the challenges this game offers are of a different type than traditional difficulty settings IMHO.
--------------
To conclude I have to disagree with the assertion that all gamers want to believe they are uber-competent: I'd personally say it's limited to a particular genre of games with a three letter abbreviation but that's just me :D
I do agree with your suggestion that Phoebe's description suggests a casual mode however it's interesting that you interpreted the storyteller selection screen to be a difficulty selection option so I wonder how many other people do the same thing? Phoebe is of course recognisable as the 'safest' but Randy random could technically be considered the easiest for 50% of games played :D
Yeah. The fact that there are three 'classic' storytellers, differentiated only by difficulty doesn't help in that matter though. To be honest, i've never played phoebe, also because it sounded too boring.
Quote from: Gabriel_Braun on July 05, 2014, 07:21:43 PM
To conclude I have to disagree with the assertion that all gamers want to believe they are uber-competent
Didn't mean to suggest "all". But I think "many" is accurate.
Quoteit's interesting that you interpreted the storyteller selection screen to be a difficulty selection option so I wonder how many other people do the same thing?
Well, whether you think of it as "difficulty selection" or "preferred playstyle", the storyteller screen is the most obvious place to choose that sort of thing.
Totally true dude but would you agree that nobody can really say that Cleopatra or any of the others are comparable to Randy for the sake of measuring overall game difficulty?
I really like the idea of a story teller with a capped difficulty. I like to build my base and tend to fill holes with stone walls (I know its kinda useless but I don't like the giant empty spaces). This leads to a very high wealth and I get swamped by raiders. There were too many to count and swarmed my population of 10. I get that with the current storytellers you are not supposed to live there indefinitely, but why not build a community? Your people feel it is necessary to give the settlement a name.
The best game I had was on Randy a couple versions ago, I got myself up to 30 population and the raider waves were a threat but with careful tactician work I could overcome them without major loses. I didn't mind watching my people work like ants, almost autonomous and only needing guidance with some real danger. The only reason I gave that save up is when the new version came out.
Long story short: What I'd like and play the most of is a storyteller that is for building a colony in all aspects (even defense), now I know his story may be long and seems like it never ends because it isn't about the ending; but the journey it took to get there. For all intents and purposes I picture him as an older fella.
Quote from: killerx243 on July 06, 2014, 01:36:38 AM
For all intents and purposes I picture him as an older fella.
Not sure if this would work but:
<StorytellerDef>
<defName>Rufus</defName>
<label>Responsible Rufus</label>
<description>Rufus loves to see thriving communities.</description>
<quotation>The essence of good storytelling is the perfect progression of intensifying struggle.</quotation>
<incidentMakerClass>IncidentMaker_Friendly</incidentMakerClass>
<listOrder>60</listOrder>
<portraitLarge>UI/HeroArt/Storytellers/RandyRandom</portraitLarge>
<portraitTiny>UI/HeroArt/Storytellers/RandyRandomTiny</portraitTiny>
<desiredPopulationMin>3</desiredPopulationMin>
<desiredPopulationMax>18</desiredPopulationMax>
<desiredPopulationCritical>20</desiredPopulationCritical>
<challengeScale>0.5</challengeScale>
<threatCycleLength>90</threatCycleLength>
<friendly_MinTicksBetweenBigThreats>2600000</friendly_MinTicksBetweenBigThreats>
<friendly_BigThreatChance>0.9</friendly_BigThreatChance>
<friendly_UnfavorableEventSkipChance>0.3</friendly_UnfavorableEventSkipChance>
</StorytellerDef>
Not actually touched the storytellers before so can't say if that'd work or not lol
How do I add this as a storyteller?
Figured it out! Thanks!
Wait does that mean Callie is super tougher than all the others at late game? I'm facing hundreds of raiders and mechanoids (200-300 Game is laggy as heeccck during raids) practically on a weekly basis. 4F Version. Going to update soon
Definitely playing phobe/randy