As we know Rimworld have for now only two sort of ending :
- The spaceship escape
- Death (in numerous variation)So this topic would be to suggest and discuss different ending or lack thereof.
/!\ NOTE /!\"
Requirement :" is to avoid confusion with any similar ending and describe the hook for any game/story.
"
Triggered by :" is to make sure the game know when you want it triggered.
If your suggestion rely on not(yet?)existing feature, I suggest [descriptive name], different poster using the same item/feature increase the chance of us getting them.
Some ideas :
Epilogue End
- Ending : Diplomatic End
As you've always believed the key to embark on true civilization wasn't in outgrowing other faction or act as if they didn't exist. The key was to convince them all march together toward a greater world.
No faction is a world unto itself. You've shown through diplomacy, arts, trading and hospitality that violence and isolation solved nothing.
Triggered by : Making a wonderful radio-call for global unification.
Requirement : All other faction not only support you but not being hostile with each other.
- Ending : Cybernetic Transcendence
After years of research in a particular branch of the tech-tree you and your fellow friend have finally managed to make it : a brain-implant that will increase significantly your intellect, merging with an AI-Core.
Once you manage to painstakingly craft/buy and install those implants you are persuaded you will enter the next stage in human's evolution !
Triggered by : Merging with an AI-core
Requirement : All colonist having some [special implants]
- Ending : Psychic Exaltation
Fools they were ! Fools they were to believe that psychic sensitivity was a burden to mankind.
After year of research in that particular branch you've finally come to develop a formidable machine that will upon activation slowly bring human's mind to their full potential.
No matter if it take day at full power for each gender, you will all transcend !
Triggered by : Using [Psychic Probe] one last time to give all colonist the "mind-reader" trait
Requirement : Building a [Psychic Probe] + No psychically dull colonist
- Ending : Psychic deafening
Through perseverance you have freed yourself from this burden of mankind. You are no longer affected by the psychic wave terrorizing the weak willed.
You only see one other thing left to be done : free the rest of the world or let the weak willed perish.
Triggered by : Letting a [built Psychic Probe] or a ancient ship part reach maximum intensity and survive until all colonist have the Psychically-deaf trait
Requirement : Ancient ship or [Psychic Probe] on map
- Ending : Religious
Even you didn't understood at first, but it called for you. You and your fellow acolyte didn't carved its <insert metal> sculpture accidentally. He had always been there calling for you.
But now you know. Your group is still young but soon, soon they will all know.
ALL GLORY TO PASTA ! All glory to the Giant Flying Spaghetti god !
Triggered by : Having declared yourself as a temple on Comm console.
Requirement : Large sculpture in its own room, toggled into "idol"
- Ending : Artistic Transcendence
Mere word cannot describe the work you have done here. You've created the most legendary work of art that will ever be known.
Triggered by : (?) making it known by Comms console.
Requirement : A beauty score of more than X over some zone, more than Y over the map.
- Ending : Attractive colony (couldn't think of better)
The best way of founding a colony you ask ? Well, making other come to you of course. Your colony is just so much better than any others.
Triggered by : Activating the Comms Console as a beacon
Requirement : Wealth above X + Joy above X + Minimal Beauty
- Ending : Cannibalism
This is not that the time were hard, you've simply overcome an old dogma and stopped wasting food. Plus, with synthetic-meat grown by hydroponic it's not like you have to hunt people out of necessity.
Still got to keep the prisoner well fed though, they do have a plus-value now.
Triggered by : (???) Serving human meat to [guest]/prisoner.
Requirement : all colonists having/[gaining the cannibal trait]
- Ending : Clone Factory
Child ? What for ? As if we had the time to raise one of those pest for years. No, no, I create perfect colonist you see, our equation say "vat-grow backstory" are best childhood, so be it.
Triggered by : Cloning your second colonist.
Requirement : researched and built [special casket]+ special research
- Ending : Near-Immortality
You are surprised by how little time it took you to obtain a way to live forever, but you did it and its all you expect to remember in a thousand year.
Oh indeed it still have some little problems, for starter you cannot move the machine, then there's how it literally reconstruct you cells by cells, including your brain and your very memory.
You just have to remember to fix that next cycle.
Triggered by : Using [special casket] with all colonist.
Requirement : researched and built [special casket] + special research
- Ending : New Cryptosleep casket
"meh... we might as well wait for a rescue team or some civilization to develop here, how long could it take ?"
Triggered by : All colonist getting into cryptosleep casket
Requirement : Using New cryptosleep casket
- Ending : One with Nature
Thinking back about it technology never really improved your lives, it kept on making it more complex than it needed to be. If someone ask, this is why you've never researched electricity.
Not because all of you happened to be incapable of science, no no...
Triggered by : Not using electricity for a year.
Requirement : Only a solar panel/air turbine, battery and a Comm console allowed
- Ending : What is bioethics ?
At least ! No stupid rules to keep you from improving on the human design !
Triggered by : All colonists have a Bionic or a particular change to their body.
Requirement : [special casket] + All colonist 'modified'
- Ending : Trader route
Becoming a trader is where wealth and comfort reallyis . Every faction on this planet are just desperate to get the right equipment at the right moment, so you've just built a mean to carry a lot of cargo all over the planet and to scavenge droppod on the way.
<Choose a company name>
Triggered by : Telling every faction by Radio-comms that you are starting business.
Requirement : [Pod Launcher/vehicle]
- Ending : Pharaoh
You have reflected long enough over the question and came to the conclusion that some men are just more equal than other.
Triggered by : Declaring yourself [Technopriests] by Comms Console
Requirement : More than X Slave, they are 2 time more numerous than colonist.
- Ending : Caver / Isolation
It was not safe outside, all those unknow organic, and that bright thingy moving in the sky emitting radiation and all...
Triggered by : Spending around ~1 years without any colonist getting "outside" for more than a day.
Requirement : Switching off Comms console
- Ending : Paranoia
They were all there to get me ! And I know you are here in the sky trying to control me !
Know what ? I won't let you !
Triggered by : The last colonist rebel against YOU.
Requirement : Anybody who have joined the colony arrested + only one colonist left.
- Ending : No weakness here
We are not elitist, your standard are just lower than dirt.
Triggered by : ??(Console Comms badass boast?)
Requirement : All colonists have a certain amount of level.
Climatic Event endNote : Appear after a 'player-triggered event'.
"Last action :" <player-triggered event leading to the ending>
- Ending : Pirate group
You've all finally realized that in this world the strong reigned over the weak. To survive asked more than will and courage, more than pity, it asked for guile and violence to make your what isn't.
You have just crossed that one last line there is no return possible, no remorse to be had.
Triggered by : Declaring yourself pirate on Comms console.
(W.I.P) "Last action :" Using [Diplomacy] and betraying the last faction
Requirement : [Pod launcher] + hostile relation with every faction
- Ending : The only way to be sure
It had to be done, it was the only way to be sure...
Triggered by : No other faction is left
(W.I.P) "Last action :" Fighting retaliation raid wave from everybody.
Requirement : [Pod Launcher] + [Nuke]
- Ending : Apocalypse Canceled (with guess-words like that I fear I cover everything)
"That's it, after what we've done I don't think anybody will remember anything else of us. We might as well leave, die and pass into posterity"
Triggered by : [having solved some out-colony event]
(W.I.P) "Last action :" [solving some out-colony event]
Requirement : [Starting some out-colony event]
Death End
- Ending : Mechanoid End
"How dared you rebel against your master !"
Triggered by : activate armed Mechanoid and get killed by them
Requirement : AI-Core + [mechanoid stuff]
- Ending : Spaceship Failed launch
The starship was ready to go, all colonist were onboard, the AI said all-green, engines nearly finished their pre-cooling... it was so close ! WHY !?
Triggered by : Spaceship becoming un-spaceworthy
Requirement : Starting spaceship [launching sequence]
- Ending : Force of nature
"Help !! <animal> is eating maaarrrrggghh!"
Triggered by : The last colonist is killed by an animal.
- Ending : Please kill me before I finish reading this. (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=10482.0)
There is no words for the cruelty you've committed, I, the narrator just shudder uncontrollably at the though of describing it. The developers, Tynan, is calling his lawyer to never be associated in anyway with what you've done, regretting to have ever coded this specific ending.
How could you...
Triggered by : Other faction launching into space out of pure fear.
Requirement : No hope for redemption.
- Ending : Ancient Cryptosleep casket
You used ancient cryptosleep casket more than 100 years old, of course you died !
Triggered by : All colonist getting into ancients cryptosleep casket
Requirement : none
[new]
- Ending : Void god worship
All glory to the Void god !
Triggered by : Psychic Wave at maximum intensity, Crashed ship in its own room, toggled as 'idol'.
Requirement : Crashed ship on map
ENDLESS GAMEI don't know for you, but I think "Endless play" could be suited simply by another Storyteller.
Storyteller like Cassandra Classic are made to increase pressure progressively and the research tree can eventually be maxed out. Yet many of us like this balance and wouldn't appreciate being forced to play 20hours or more to achieve a meaningful game.
But another storytellers could be balanced independently to match play of indefinite length. Such game would have access to any other ending, if you don't want your game to end simply click keep playing if you reach an ending or another, or change storyteller mid-game.
Note:
Events suggestion here (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=9755.0)
Storyteller suggestion here (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=12534.msg126185#msg126185)
+1
Well obviously some of there endings are a lot more easier to come by than others. Most of seem like they could be more like achievements than endings. Everyone eating a human lavish meal? I do like the idea of multiple endings, but usually an ending is means to an end, but you could easily have multiple of these 'endings' if you continue. The ship leaving ending is everyone leaving the colony, ending it.
Here could be some potential terminal endings
> Homeland Protection
- Every colonist is killed or kidnapped by a raiding Tribe.
> Natural Selection
- Your colony fails to survive the worlds climate. (Colony death by temperature, firestorms, Razor-hail, etc.)
That's a good point.
I took that we would always have a "Keep playing option", so maybe nothing to keep someone from 'achieving' Cybernetic transcendence, Psychic Hivemind, Cannibalism then leaving the planet, but nothing forbid making those ending much more "final" using scripted sequence or incompatibility. (ex : cybernetic brain making you psychically dull)
Ending have two major point over simple achievement, the satisfaction from ending and they save your colonist to appear in another game. For added Challenge the player could be imposed to do it only once at the ending he want. (the idea being that to save a Psychic Cybernetic Ninja you would need added work)
Aside... if there's ever a trait-injection mechanic you could have to MAKE your colonist become cannibal before triggering the ending.
So this is like some sort of Civ's victory conditions? I'll add:
Ending: Technologically Superior
- All research completed, including the final "Future Tech" (note: find a better name) costing something like 10,000 RP
You Have achieved the impossible!
You have gained so much knowledge that you have transcended this plane of mortal existance.
Achieving and maintaining Global Master MLG 360 no scope levels of achievement.
I like these :)
+1
And +1 to no scope mlg 360 ending :D
Orbital Civilization: You Have decided that life on any world is just too dangerous to deal with. You have built an archeology that will require no external support and will be able to support your people, outside of cryosleep, across the vast void of stars. Never again shall endless waves of tribals and pirates bother you.
Triggered by: building any of the arcology ship modules.
Requirements: having all of the needed modules and loading colonist onboard.
basically, this is a glorified versions of the "launch a space ship" ending. the only difference is that it is way more expensive and probably makes you feel better inside for knowing the colonist will live a good life in space... and that you pulled off something that cost like 5 times the effort to build.
Creative idea,
Just a thing : the "requirement" (as I just rewrote them recently) would (now) be to make sure the game now when you want to trigger the ending and can't misinterpret it. Like for example, confuse it with the spaceship escape.
suggestion :
Triggered by: Launching a huge arcology starship.
Requirements: Having built a ship that include hydroponic + [special or not parts]
I can add any of your idea to the list (with credit) if you want to.
...hang on... new idea coming... must... write...
As for me, only your suggested diplomatic ending makes sense. The others are funny and quiet interesting, but don't seem too realistic.
Here is my suggestion: Dominance ending
All hostile factions send their remaining troops towards you. Prepare for an epic boss fight. Mortars, tanks, huge mechanoids and raiders will all try to put an end to your reign. If you are able to defeat them, you will have successfully eliminated all evil factions from this world. From that moment, you and your allies can finally make a better place out of this inhospitable world.
Triggered by : You will get an incoming message at your comms console asking you to pay a huge amount of tribute or leave. If you pay tribute, you'll lose half of your wealth but the event is canceled. If you chose for option b, you get some time to prepare yourself for the final boss battle or actually leave. If that moment arrives, you'll get the message above.
Requirement : At least three "evil" factions have positive relationships towards each other, very bad relationship with you and you have a high colony wealth and beaten a lot of raids.
They are as realistic as what can be expected from Sci-Fi, or your suggestion.
Still, I'm thinking most of them have to be rewrote as to End the game by a specific action rather than be trigger for more events.
The idea would be to have it be a voluntary result from players actions, maybe follow the SpaceshipEnd model of showing the missing requirement.
Quote from: Kegereneku on June 02, 2015, 06:23:02 AM
They are as realistic as what can be expected from Sci-Fi, or your suggestion.
Still, I'm thinking most of them have to be rewrote as to End the game by a specific action rather than be trigger for more events.
The idea would be to have it be a voluntary result from players actions, maybe follow the SpaceshipEnd model of showing the missing requirement.
Okay, in that case I'll rewrite my trigger as: Player sends a messages from the comms console saying "You puny factions cannot even touch one of my walls! Bring it on, cockroaches!"
And if you beat that final, insanely hard fight, you'll get your ending.
I have to say Kegereneku, I love the endings you've wrote. But they need to be build up a bit more. I can imagine that players are a bit disappointed after they merely have to state something over the comm console and then get an ending screen. They need a final challenge to beat to make the ending feel like a satisfaction.
Just an example: the
Attractive colony ending.
from the moment you activate it at your comm console, a timer pops up. You need to keep the general Wealth / Joy / Beauty score up for example a Rimworld week. During this week the game will try to disrupt this with certain events. If the player still manages to keep the Wealth / Joy / Beauty score up, and the timer runs out, he wins the game and gets his ending.
Once again, I love all endings you have written. If it was up to me, they all get implemented into the game somehow. But they have to be hard to get imo.
I do not share that philosophy.
(My) objective isn't for the player to prove itself one last time to deserve an endingachievement or to one-up the challenge as if it were a not-Rimworld linear game.
Players will naturally be gearing toward a self-made goal. Be it surviving, the spaceship-escape, building the most comfy colony ever, or doing so despite everybody eating human flesh.
The objective is to give them a way to immortalize what they did and End the game the way they were playing it.
At which point the requirements exist only to make sure they cannot be confused.
That's why ultimately I'll rewrite ideas which were made before I cleared that out.
Edit : done.
This is why it will be indeed more like an achievement, which is pretty cool. Still I think the game will end way to sudden. There is no climax, which in my opinion is needed. Just imagine, a player achieves the ending requirements, going to the comms console and broadcasting it. He will expect something epic, not an "the end"-screen with the credits rolling.
I don't know why I have this vision. It's probably because I grew up with games which are build up to a climatic ending. You know, boss fights and stuff. Some games, like Sim City and The Sims, don't need an ending. Then there are games like Civilization, MMORPGs and Rimworld, which are somewhere in between. They aren't focused on having an ending, but more on continuing the experience. They do have an ending, which is mostly an event which is slightly different and harder from the rest of the game experience. If the player would just be able to end the game by achieving one of the many things that is possible and not getting something in return, it might feel a bit cheap and like a let down.
Then again, maybe I'm focusing to much on the technical aspect of implementing an endgame into the game. This tread is more about finding different creative endings, so I hope different people might post a cool idea as well.
These are all very good.
Here I've got one:
Ending: Assimilated
The day those [horrible hive based creature] swarmed this planet, we knew it was going to end violently for us. Little did we know their queen would be so humorous and motherly to us. We are now part of this hive, and with her shall we tread many worlds and assimilate many new acolytes.
Trigger: All colonists suffer either a specific new mental break or just break in general, permanently.
PreReq: Event where [horrible eldritch hive beasts] are sieging the planet is on-going.
Ending: To the Last Man
... I did it. The others may have ran, the braver slain; but now I've sure won my ticket to Valhalla. Those [hive beats or mechanoids or something] won't soon forget the beating they've taken from me.
Trigger: Last colonist suffers mental break to either flee the colony or goes berzerk.
PreReq: No other present colonists, can be incapped I guess, but this happens during (Or maybe within two/three days of the start of) a raid by mechs/other horrible third party beasts.
Ending: Distress Signal
I can only hope someone will soon hear our pleas and will rescue us from our subterranean sarcophagi. I doubt those things will figure out how to get us out so maybe they'll die off long before we reemerge.
Trigger: All living/active colonists in crypto-sleep caskets within a couple days of the start of a mechanoid/otherwise raid AND a [special beacon here] is placed and powered when the last colonist enters the casket.
PreReq: As stated, there needs to be a powered [special beacon here], and a lasting mech/creature raid.
Quote from: Play2Jens on June 02, 2015, 01:17:09 PM
This is why it will be indeed more like an achievement, which is pretty cool. Still I think the game will end way to sudden. There is no climax, which in my opinion is needed. Just imagine, a player achieves the ending requirements, going to the comms console and broadcasting it. He will expect something epic, not an "the end"-screen with the credits rolling.
What you call climax, I call epilogue.
The differences are subtle. Play2Jens I think you are just not used to having control over the narrated story and where it end. In result you feel you haven't finished the game unless you are coerced into '
breakingbeating the game'.
And like any gamer you are also subject to hoarding and aiming for everything cool at once.
Some proposal can indeed benefit from a last action (depending of theme) but it would be bad design to impose such for any ending. As I said the point of various Ending is that
getting the requirement at all was the challenge (or climax) in the first place. You spent 3~5 years researching/building/managing toward that particular end and proudly end the colony knowing you've done it.
Take the 'Spaceship Escape' for example, it would be absurd to add a countdown sequence with a large raid. The base game already provide surprise events and some players like departing when they want it. (I once waited to recruit 3 prisoners to fills a spaceship.)
Then you have to avoid crossing the line between providing a creative challenge, and satisfying a smug sense of superiority. We could put ludicrous requirement for anything, like needing a dozen Legendary plasteel grand sculpture placed around a Crashed-ship. But this would only bring pointless frustration as only the most absurdly obstinate and lucky players would even bother trying (
assuming he know doing so lead somewhere).
This is what make it different from 'Achievement' as well. 'Achievement' are a calamity made to exploit our OCD into playing more.
And an Ending is something that is meant to be satisfying it in itself (even if you can 'keep playing' as a reminder of your base)
To give you an idea of the sheer potential, remember that ideally it would be fully compatible with Themed Storytellers (https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=12534.msg126185#msg126185), in result you could try to aim (or just reach) any of those 'ending' following a special storytelling. (e.g : Low-tech storyteller -> technological transcendence)(Moody Storyteller -> Cannibalism)
On this... although
Bob_Namg have an [alien/geneticallymodified-psychic-beast] which is unlikely to be introduced (like most of mine), so far it seem to fit the philosophy I think to be behind (at least) the Spaceship Escape.
i like 4x games actually. especially the total war series.
it also has some "bloodline" features where some traits are passed on by great commanders to their children, making playthrough across multiple generations more interesting.
which becomes more interesting if you enjoy watching historical dramas like dune or battlestar gallactica.. oh wait, what do you mean they're not historical dramas? *gasp!* :o
You are right. Rimworld is a different kind of game, because it focuses partly on the player imagination of building their own story. It would be nice though if different endings had a variety of difficulty. Imagine that towards the end of building your spaceship, one last time a slightly harder raid would take place, just because they want to run of with your spaceship? You have to admit it's a cool idea.
I like Bob_Namg Distress Signal ending. Imagine finally acquiring all specific materials and items you need to build a super powerful beacon. There might be a certain chance that another evil faction responds to the signal and attack you. Or maybe it reaches your home base and they'll come rescue you!
I kind of like the idea too to transfer colonists from your last game to a new game after you've reached an ending. I believe Tynan isn't planning on adding children to the game, but this might be something similar ;D
It would still be absurd to codify the Spaceship Escape into a (forced) predictable events.
As said, many of us like launching whenever they want, myself if I knew there was a forced countdown/raid I would simply not build the AI-Core until I want to launch the ship, and if the countdown/raid was 'during-launch' I would painfully add build walls and defense to slowdown a raid out in the design and if it's worse : a mortar siege, I would frustratingly dev-mode kill it with thunder strike then complain on the forum of the contrived coincidence/logic.
That or change Storyteller for the launch.
So it would change nothing except ruin the potential for player to create a non-textbook colony.
On the other side someone who really really wanted a last battle would have waited (or created a custom-one himself out of game-mechanic).
But for that, the Ending have to be neutral in the first place.
That's why you better separate Game-mechanic that are player-driven, Events which are strictly Storyteller-driven, and Ending as neutral Epilogue to immortalize a story/game and transmit it to posterity.
Now if you are talking of a game-mechanic that might look like a Climax, followed by triggering the ending, then we are talking.
On this... The Ending would also be the very best moment for the game to definitely save your pawn's final state and have him/them appear in another game.
+1
Ending: ZOMBIES!
Pre-Requisite: Install a heavily damaged AI to run your ship.
Place all colonists in the pods.
Effect: The AI mind controls your crew!!!
All the colonists then leave the pods, but are no longer under your command. The game continues, but without leadership who knows what happens next.
I agree with Play2Jens, the game would end abruptly in most cases. I also agree that this (or these) should be an achievement and not an ending. I think the end of each colony should be triggered by building the ship (go or stay is your choice, but building the ship means you can go).
Just a note :
I rewrote nearly all "Ending suggestion" since Play2jens post (to give them trigger they lacked), yes the topic is old.
They looked like "Achievement" before, but now most of them would require (IMO) too much work to not be the goal in itself.
Here is my logic :
- LUDEONS added a wonderful ending-music
- Some people want to END the game with meaningful "achievement" so they can start a new one with a feeling of accomplishment.
- But not everybody want to build the spaceship (which require a lot of effort)
So the solution is to have as many several ending that can be reached from different playstyle.
That way you can hear the wonderful ending-music even if you played a Tribal-faction for years.
Due to the newer version, news fanbase, and some topic going in this direction I'm totally bumping my thread.