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RimWorld => Ideas => Topic started by: screeching_goat on June 24, 2013, 12:30:43 AM

Title: New activities for Raiders
Post by: screeching_goat on June 24, 2013, 12:30:43 AM
Great game! I look forward to playing it again. However, have you explored the possibility of giving clear objectives to the raiders or having different types of raids?  It would be interesting if one raider just appeared and disappeared very quickly, taking away half your metal and a few colonists. Right now they appear far away and try to kill all the colonists, but in this scenario the raider could appear within the colony to take whatever they want. It would force the player to be prepared for different types of attacks and could prolong the game. Or frustrate the player.......
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: Tynan on June 24, 2013, 12:34:26 AM
It's a great idea. I really want to have lower-grade nonlethal raids. Or even raids that don't try to kill everyone. There's nothing that interesting about a story of a colony that just gets wiped out - it's much more intriguing if people are getting kidnapped and supplies burnt in a series of encounters, I think. And it gives players a chance to recover and learn how to fight back.

So yes, you're definitely right.

Currently all the raids are well-telegraphed. While this is good for allowing players to understand, prepare for and pre-empt the coming fight, it would be good if some of them were more surprise attacks, to give variation. These would have to be more nonlethal (or even single-thief) type encounters.

PS - Nice nickname.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: Hypolite on September 16, 2013, 01:41:09 AM
In that line of thought, maybe the raiders value their lives more than the loot they could get, and would run away after a few bruises. I didn't get to that point yet, but in a story-oriented perspective, raiders would probably not die up to the last of them for a pile of metal. Except if you pissed them off by raiding their own supplies, of course.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: Tynan on September 16, 2013, 11:55:12 AM
The raiders currently flee if they take a certain % of losses; I want them to be a bit less lethal in general so I may reduce this and have them flee in a wider variety of circumstances. Or just, say, kidnap one colonist and leave. The always-lethal-genocidal attacks have a way of cutting stories short.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: Skorvold on September 17, 2013, 05:35:25 AM
Maybe the raiders can do kidnappings?

Pffbt Nevermind, already mentioned. My bad.

Can prisoners turn against you or anything? Maybe if you took one prisoner they would come back to get that specific person back?
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: Hypolite on September 17, 2013, 08:43:20 AM
Yesterday I fent off a raid of 8 raiders, only the last one tried to flee but he was already injured. They were tough nuts, I guess.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: Tynan on September 17, 2013, 12:16:44 PM
Quote from: Skorvold on September 17, 2013, 05:35:25 AM
Maybe the raiders can do kidnappings?

Pffbt Nevermind, already mentioned. My bad.

Can prisoners turn against you or anything? Maybe if you took one prisoner they would come back to get that specific person back?

I want to do more difficult prisoners, as well as multi-incident storylines with factions of pirates, but that's in the future. For now the prisoner mechanics are really straightforward. You capture them, then you either sell them into slavery or recruit them.

Hypolite - I should look at their losses detection code... perhaps it's not quite sensitive enough.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: AspenShadow on October 07, 2013, 09:45:38 AM
What are the noticeable differences between the raider ranks: Pirates, Mercenaries, Pirate Kings, etc.
(If indeed they are like ranks.)

Is a mercenary more of a loner/assassin? In that case could he be paid more than what he's being paid to get him to stop attacking?

Do pirates come later in the game when you can stand up to their space-travelling tech? Or in line with past comments on this thread, will they come but not be as lethal about it right from the off?

Tribal Raiders are an idea you've either been toying with or are confirmed future content, will their tech level evolve with yours (if lagging behind slightly) or will they remain at a set level? Of course they can always scavenge your weaponry from fallen colonists, but can they operate them?
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: British on October 07, 2013, 10:07:19 AM
If you are referring to the KS tiers names, they are just that: names.
For the time being, the NPCs that attack are only known as "raiders".
The "Pirate King" tier's description actually mentions a pirate leader (mini-boss-like), but it's probably not a final name, nor is it in the game right now.

This will most likely evolve when Tynan develop factions.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: Spike on October 07, 2013, 10:11:10 AM
Hmm, what about pirate negotiations?  They hail you, demand various goods (flat percent of your total, only food, etc).  You can try to bargain/plead with them, but if you irritate them too much, or refuse, then they land to attack.  Different tactics - attack to kill, grab goods & then run, etc.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: Adamemnon on October 07, 2013, 04:18:15 PM
I've got a stupid idea if you don't mind.

Smugglers - a small group of enemies that would establish a small base somewhere on the map. They would store and ship various materials, items and slaves from there. It would be up to a player to do something about them. Take a hostile action and wipe them out?Steal their stuff while they are asleep or not at the base? Trade with them?

I hope it makes sense. I'm fully aware that my English is not perfect. No need to remind me.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: FangoWolf on October 07, 2013, 06:17:35 PM
I posted this in Animal Husbandry, but it might be better as a raid type?

What about vermin crop eaters.  Critters stealing food supplies.  Which could be hillarious if a locus like swarm rolled the area like army ants.

A creature that gnaws into power couplings and drains energy as food and would probably have a nasty electric shock attack.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: AspenShadow on October 08, 2013, 03:35:40 PM
Quote from: FangoWolf on October 07, 2013, 06:17:35 PM
A creature that gnaws into power couplings and drains energy as food and would probably have a nasty electric shock attack.

That would go well with someone's suggestion of a little energy-type being that was inspired by... Stargate? I believe.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: SpaceEatingTrex on October 08, 2013, 03:56:08 PM
Other posters have been mentioning a variety of different raids/enemies. I think that's a great way to keep the game varied and interesting through many different playthroughs. An important thing to consider with different types of raids is that a player should have to respond or plan for each one differently. Even if there's a million variations if players handle them the same way it won't matter, but a handful of ones players have to respond to differently or build different defenses for will make the game and the game stories more interesting.

One way to give raids more variation is to give the raiders different motivations. Some good ideas have already been posted in this thread! Each different kind of enemy should create a different story for the player. These motivations could range from Slave Traders capturing colonists alive, to Bandits stealing resources, to Raiders trying to wipe out the colony. The idea of Smugglers setting up camp that Adamemnon suggested seems interesting as well. Also AspenShadow mentioned Assassins - having an enemy that specifically targeted one colonist is another interesting angle, particularly from a story perspective if it could be tied into that colonist's backstory.

Another way to give enemies / raids more variety would be to vary the equipment and armaments the enemies have. This should keep players actively involved in defense, and help prevent the enemies from being exploited. For instance, I've seen posted elsewhere if you build turrets everywhere you don't have to worry about raids. But what if raiders spawned with EMP weapons or other anti-turret equipment? Then players would have to react to the situation instead of just waiting for their setup to take care of it.

I think including both of these ideas should provide enough variety to keep players engaged through multiple games. If there are social options like bribing, trading and etc. that's even better. If the Faction module goes through, there should be enough depth to keep players engaged for a long time.
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: Spike on October 08, 2013, 07:40:10 PM
Quote from: SpaceEatingTrex on October 08, 2013, 03:56:08 PM
One way to give raids more variation is to give the raiders different motivations. Some good ideas have already been posted in this thread! Each different kind of enemy should create a different story for the player. These motivations could range from Slave Traders capturing colonists alive, to Bandits stealing resources, to Raiders trying to wipe out the colony. The idea of Smugglers setting up camp that Adamemnon suggested seems interesting as well. Also AspenShadow mentioned Assassins - having an enemy that specifically targeted one colonist is another interesting angle, particularly from a story perspective if it could be tied into that colonist's backstory.
Rather than having different enemies, I'd suggest using a table weighted by the "leader" background.  First, each attacking group would have one designated leader - taking that one out would make it easier make the others turn tail.  But more importantly, the character background would indicate the likely raid type:  (going off memory of LP vids for types)
Medieval Lord - capture slaves
Medieval Oaf/anything else - general mayhem, steal anything of value, with alcohol, weapons & cash a priority.
Urbworld - take anything of value, may or may not take slaves
Assassin - target a specific Colonist, and kill anyone in the way

Of course, it might be easier to just have different preset enemies, so that might be a horrible idea to implement. :)
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: British on October 09, 2013, 04:45:15 AM
Quote from: Spike on October 08, 2013, 07:40:10 PM
Rather than having different enemies, I'd suggest using a table weighted by the "leader" background.  First, each attacking group would have one designated leader - taking that one out would make it easier make the others turn tail.
Tynan already has the notion of leaders in the pipe (that's the pirate leader described in the KS "Pirate King" tier).
Title: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: IdeaBoy on October 09, 2013, 03:41:24 PM
When i was watching videos when raiders were on the map they they circled up looking like they were planning something so i thought how would they know if they never saw your base so, to be more realistic one or two raiders should scout out your base and return to tell the others your layout so when they attack they will be more organized like, if you have a side that's not defended.                                                                             
 
If the raiders see that side they could send like 5 guys to distract you while the whole other force attack on the other side and if the scouting group is killed the raiders will go in blind which means they will just charge in. (sorry if idea is copied.  8)
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: Yarkista on October 09, 2013, 03:45:15 PM
Quote from: IdeaBoy on October 09, 2013, 03:41:24 PM
When i was watching videos when raiders was there they circled up looking like they were planning something so i thought how would they know if they never saw your base so, to be more realistic one or two raiders should scout out your base and return to tell the others your layout so when they attack they will be more organized like you have a side that's not defended.                                                                             
 
If the raiders see it they could send like 5 guys to distract you while the whole other force attack on the other side. (sorry if idea is copied.  8)

Are you suggesting that raiders send a scouting party first? What you put is a little hard to understand.
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: IdeaBoy on October 09, 2013, 03:50:01 PM
Yes and better flanking system?
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: Drabus on October 09, 2013, 03:58:51 PM
So evil! Interesting. However, the opportunist colonist may ambush the scout to slim down the herd :p
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: Enjou on October 09, 2013, 04:40:36 PM
Quote from: Drabus on October 09, 2013, 03:58:51 PM
So evil! Interesting. However, the opportunist colonist may ambush the scout to slim down the herd :p

More than that, killing off the scouting party could affect the raider behavior in a few of ways - if their scouting party doesn't return, perhaps they could feel greater fear and decide the operation isn't worth it or it could result in the raiders just not using as good a plan and just rushing in since they lack intel.
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: Ontogenesis on October 09, 2013, 05:29:32 PM
I've only seen the raiders activity in the youtube videos I've watched, so can't actually see what they do, but for new behaviour I would suggest (without introducing new types):

> Thieves - their goal is to steal equipment. Once they break in and find what they need, they take it and leave.
> Slavers - their goal is to capture your colonists. Once they have incapicated 1 or 2, they take them and leave.
> Saboteurs - their goal is to cause as much damage as possible. They light multiple fires and attack key structures or anything undefended before escaping.
> Snipers - they have long range weapons and sit away from the camp and attack those in the open. This forces your colonists indoors, and you need to get creative to respond to them.

And some suggestions for new types:

> Ecclipses - powerful, but cannot be exposed to light or enter light areas without taking serious damage or death. They will attempt to destroy light sources and power lines to enter areas where your colonists are. Will require more planning when wiring your base. Most likely a harder level type. Run out of power when they come and you're in trouble.
> Weremuffalo - a muffalo hidden in the herd, that was perhaps bitten at some point in the past... turns into a terrifying beast at full moon. (I'm not sure if it's planned to be able to raise muffalo as cattle, but this could be a fun edition).

I apologise, I haven't checked if these have already been suggested...

@ Ideaboy, I deleted it with this intention, but then changed my mind, seems better to keep these things to one thread as they all come under this unbrella. Now I've messed up the message order, ah geez.
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: IdeaBoy on October 09, 2013, 06:03:18 PM
Not a problem i'll fix it...
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: turnip on October 09, 2013, 06:26:02 PM
Quote from: Ontogenesis on October 09, 2013, 05:29:32 PM
> Ecclipses - powerful, but cannot be exposed to light or enter light areas without taking serious damage or death. They will attempt to destroy light sources and power lines to enter areas where your colonists are. Will require more planning when wiring your base. Most likely a harder level type. Run out of power when they come and you're in trouble.
> Weremuffalo - a muffalo hidden in the herd, that was perhaps bitten at some point in the past... turns into a terrifying beast at full moon. (I'm not sure if it's planned to be able to raise muffalo as cattle, but this could be a fun edition).
You might consider adding these under the "New enemy types" idea list here: http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=158.0 (http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=158.0)
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: SpaceEatingTrex on October 09, 2013, 09:06:31 PM
Ideas for different enemy motivations came up in this thread as well (http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=12.0). Ontogenesis and I posted some of the same ideas, so I guess great minds think alike!  ;)

I think one important element for enemies having different objectives would be to make them able to meet those objectives. For instance, if a Slave Trader is going to try and capture people colonists alive he's going to need something different than grenades and a machine gun. Unfortunately the biggest part of making them able to achieve their objectives would be programming their behavior to do so, which can be costly in terms of time and effort. Still, I think having a variety of enemy behaviors would be a very significant contribution to the depth and quality of RimWorld, so I hope it's a goal for development.
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: AspenShadow on October 10, 2013, 09:06:30 AM
I think I've posted it somewhere else before but what I'd like to see in the harder levels is Raiders using the environment to their advantage more than just the cover system.

If you've got a minefield and deadly defences set up than they'll throw their weakest troops at you first as cannon fodder, OR herd a bunch of muffalo ahead of you to set off traps (a very good Raider AI tactic I think would be nice).

Inciting a muffalo stampede could be good or bad for the raiders, sometimes the muffalo would attack THEM. And other times the panicking muffalo herd would trample through your home zone possibly destroying crops.
Title: Re: ideas-New activity of raiders?
Post by: IdeaBoy on October 10, 2013, 07:53:48 PM
really good idea!
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: Hawkido on October 16, 2013, 05:51:20 PM
Would like to see a firebombing raider whose AI goal is to set walls (not buildings, a building has a roof) on fire/blow them up... start including him after the second cycle, and he will start attacking any wall in a fairly large radius while the raiders are in the planning mode... thus it will look much more like they ARE planning/preparing to attack, by weakening your outer defenses.
This also answers the tactic that people choose to take by building walls  in the wilderness to funnel the raiders into a kill box, that alone would make raiders much more dynamic. 
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: British on October 17, 2013, 04:02:47 AM
Quote from: Hawkido on October 16, 2013, 05:51:20 PM
This also answers the tactic that people choose to take by building walls  in the wilderness to funnel the raiders into a kill box, that alone would make raiders much more dynamic.
Indeed (http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=255.msg3658#msg3658).
Title: Re: Raids!
Post by: starlight on October 17, 2013, 09:42:05 AM
Quote from: Spike on October 08, 2013, 07:40:10 PM
Quote from: SpaceEatingTrex on October 08, 2013, 03:56:08 PM
One way to give raids more variation is to give the raiders different motivations. Some good ideas have already been posted in this thread! Each different kind of enemy should create a different story for the player. These motivations could range from Slave Traders capturing colonists alive, to Bandits stealing resources, to Raiders trying to wipe out the colony. The idea of Smugglers setting up camp that Adamemnon suggested seems interesting as well. Also AspenShadow mentioned Assassins - having an enemy that specifically targeted one colonist is another interesting angle, particularly from a story perspective if it could be tied into that colonist's backstory.
Rather than having different enemies, I'd suggest using a table weighted by the "leader" background.  First, each attacking group would have one designated leader - taking that one out would make it easier make the others turn tail.  But more importantly, the character background would indicate the likely raid type:  (going off memory of LP vids for types)
Medieval Lord - capture slaves
Medieval Oaf/anything else - general mayhem, steal anything of value, with alcohol, weapons & cash a priority.
Urbworld - take anything of value, may or may not take slaves
Assassin - target a specific Colonist, and kill anyone in the way

Of course, it might be easier to just have different preset enemies, so that might be a horrible idea to implement. :)

Could raiders raid oxygen on low-oxygen worlds?
Can we make low-oxygen the default. Considering that this is supposed to be an SF sim. Rather than a Dwarf Fortress look-alike.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: GC13 on October 17, 2013, 10:54:22 AM
Quote from: starlight on October 17, 2013, 09:42:05 AMCould raiders raid oxygen on low-oxygen worlds?
Can we make low-oxygen the default. Considering that this is supposed to be an SF sim. Rather than a Dwarf Fortress look-alike.
Plenty of science-fiction takes place on worlds with sufficient oxygen. RimWorld used to have a hazardous atmosphere, but it was too difficult to play with under that stage of development. Maybe some time later, when we have more stuff.

One of the problems was it being too hard to recover from a breach. Bulkheads to seal off the affected area and environment suits to make repairs should do the trick, but we're not at that level of complexity yet. Even once we get there, I think I'd prefer that to be an option, not the only way to play.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: mumblemumble on October 17, 2013, 02:35:12 PM
A few ideas I can think of are :
*Finding a colonist away from the main base, beating him up (but not killing him). Could also make them less suicidal, so if they get shot at with more than a couple guys, they run.
*Starting fires randomly while drunk (Would be funny if they were a bit more careless too, and more likely to burn themselves).
*Vandalizing places away from turret range, breaking doors, shooting up the side of a base, but otherwise avoiding full combat
*Trying to leech power off of the power grid for later use
*Small raider bands trying to interrupt mining operations / steal metal.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: starlight on October 18, 2013, 05:59:40 AM
Quote from: GC13 on October 17, 2013, 10:54:22 AM
Quote from: starlight on October 17, 2013, 09:42:05 AMCould raiders raid oxygen on low-oxygen worlds?
Can we make low-oxygen the default. Considering that this is supposed to be an SF sim. Rather than a Dwarf Fortress look-alike.
Plenty of science-fiction takes place on worlds with sufficient oxygen. RimWorld used to have a hazardous atmosphere, but it was too difficult to play with under that stage of development. Maybe some time later, when we have more stuff.

One of the problems was it being too hard to recover from a breach. Bulkheads to seal off the affected area and environment suits to make repairs should do the trick, but we're not at that level of complexity yet. Even once we get there, I think I'd prefer that to be an option, not the only way to play.

I understand that putting in too many factors into the game makes it too complex.

For example, to start off a colony, you need:
1. Food
2. Power
3. Colonists
4. Defense Mechanisms

To make it grow, you need:
1. Comfort (Beds, rooms, wealth, better food), etc
2. Infrastructure (Rooms, other structures, etc)
3. Better defense mechanisms
4. People dedicated to research

In this whole scenario, it is quite understandable that having a low-oxygen atmosphere may put too much pressure on the gamer.

I would however, like  to see:
1. Low-oxygen as an option (for hard-core gamers).
Plus it will provide an end-game of a different type. Similiar to how in Dwarf Fortress, you start with the easiest biome, and then you find those who have been around prefer a challenge like evil biomes, aquifiers, etc.
Basically, this could be part of the options when biomes are added.

2. To make it easier to survive, it could be low-oxygen, not no-oxygen.
You can still move around, do things, but at 50% penalty to movement, speed, etc.

3. I don't have an issue with high-oxygen worlds, lore-wise. If you look at Star Trek, they have all kinds of things on all worlds - some of which are not scientifically realistic.
It should be more from the point of view of interesting / playable.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: Rabbit on October 23, 2013, 07:27:31 AM
Back to topic: Raids and Raiders!

I had an idea about a certain type of raid, in regard to the often mentionend "non-lethal-raids".

What if some Raider-groups are not announced by the narator and will be transparent, but not entirely invisible.
They could sneak up in transparant mode, until detected by a turret or colonist, or other detection devices implemented in future development.

This way, the player could be ambushed in his colony, but still giving the chances to spot those sneaky little bastards, before they get to close to the base.

Their target could be anything, from assassination, to theft of ressources or kidnapping.

This could lead to some very cool stories such as:
"This night some raiders where sneaking up to our base, trying to steal our metal supplies. Our Noble *cough* spotted one of them trying to break into our colony, but was tragically killed, when the other four decided to leave their cover..."

What do you think?
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: asibin2000 on October 26, 2013, 04:55:40 PM
I think a great suggestion on varied raids AND varied Raiders...

1. Different types of raiders like:
A. aliens - like starship troopers or the movie aliens
B. zombies - come on you gotta burn those corpses!
C. Misc. Monsters
D. typical people type raiders - pirates etc

Each one having their own objectives, weaknesses, strengths, tactics.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: Semmy on October 28, 2013, 07:06:32 AM
Quote from: asibin2000 on October 26, 2013, 04:55:40 PM
I think a great suggestion on varied raids AND varied Raiders...

1. Different types of raiders like:
A. aliens - like starship troopers or the movie aliens
B. zombies - come on you gotta burn those corpses!
C. Misc. Monsters
D. typical people type raiders - pirates etc

Each one having their own objectives, weaknesses, strengths, tactics.

aliens and zombies won't be in.
Zombies wont be in the original sense for sure.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: Ford_Prefect on October 28, 2013, 10:59:33 AM
I think the big thing is that there needs to be a fog of war, so that you don't know from which direction they could be coming until they are in you line of view.  I can understand the characters seeing raiders coming down in orbital drop pods, but some raiders should come in from the map edges, without there being a warning message until they are spotted.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: British on October 28, 2013, 11:51:01 AM
Quote from: Ford_Prefect on October 28, 2013, 10:59:33 AM
I think the big thing is that there needs to be a fog of war, so that you don't know from which direction they could be coming until they are in you line of view.
The fog of war is discussed here (http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=146.0).
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: Pendryn on November 04, 2013, 02:54:49 AM
Just had a thought. What if there was a variant on Raiders that, rather then raiding in the typical fashion, perhaps a few raiders show up and set up a very simple base of there own. Nothing major, just a few sandbags of their own, maybe a turret that comes with a power source of its own, maybe some sort of solar-battery that keeps a small charge stored up, just enough for a gunfight, and of course a few raiders, not many, but perhaps two or three. Basically the point of this is to lock your colonists out of a section of the map, and giving some or your more martial colonists the action they seek.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: manictiger on November 10, 2013, 02:54:44 AM
Specops raiders would be pretty fun for later game challenge...

Phase 1: Breach
They split into teams of 3-6 (this would require multiple path-finding A.I.s).
Alpha (left side) and Charlie (right side) team grenade different points of your wall (to breach it), Bravo team stays in cover near the main entrance (or whatever A.I. path-finding calls it) and attacks your turrets (higher priority) or men.

Phase 2: Clear
Alpha and Charlie rush in to destroy all turrets (higher priority) or men while Bravo advances behind, providing fire support.
Bravo covers fire while Alpha and Charlie pull back after a certain amount of damage is sustained.
They advance, with the team that has sustained the most damage going to the rear of the column (in a Starcraft micro-management kind of way).
They retreat like normal raiders.

Obviously, the tactics, numbers, stats and weapon loadouts would be vastly altered depending on difficulty.
At normal difficulty, they'd relentlessly abuse high volume fire and grenades.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: Galileus on November 10, 2013, 03:21:06 PM
I was thinking on the turret problem - there is a lot of "let the raiders deal with them somehow" but nothing goes into detail or propositions of implementation. And I think I just got an idea.

So, we start off with raiders landing. The game then tracks the colonists, while raiders prepare - if any of them stays away from the base (meaning closest man-made structure) and are outside, game teleports one of raiders onto a colonist position, as well as change his team to saboteur (and gives him THE KEY ;)) and increase the duration of raiders preparation time. If possible, the sprite should pop-up under the colonist's sprite, but that's a detail that can be left alone. If there are many colonists and raid is big enough, there may be two or three saboteurs. Saboteur team is set as neutral (friendly) with all - so neither colonists will spot him nor raiders start shooting at him.

Now, saboteurs start planting explosive charges (building less visible version of blasting charges) close to turrets, powerplants and beds. Amount of charges to be given all the saboteurs can be decided by counting buildings: 10% of powerplants (but no less than 1) + 50% (?) of turrets. To stop them player would need to spot them (knowing no-one of such a name is part of the colony) and order someone to attack them (or arrest them). That would make all saboteurs hostile, raiders would initiate raid and blasting charges go boom.

If the saboteurs are not caught, they walk back to the camp and initiate raid when they are home. Player may either let them go to have time to look for charges (invisible on pause? or just take time to deconstruct?) or shoot them and... boom!

I believe most of the necessary functions are already in game - except for maybe deciding where to put the charges. Saboteurs would have only priority in construction, changing factions is in there... am I missing something?

To add in the future:
Wardens/security have a chance to spot and stop saboteurs
Charges may be set to explode at night, even if its long way off
Bomb deactivation task for colonists and roll on research to decide if not a critical failure
Bombs are on timer if saboteurs are caught, otherwise go off when saboteurs reach the home camp
Saboteurs have detonator that can be picked up and used by any other raider
Chance roll if other saboteurs also go hostile while one is caught
Different kind of sabotages (biological, kamikaze runs)
Add different targets for charges (destroying walls in a way so that roof falls down?)
Saboteurs copy an existing colonists, while keeping some random letters added to their names (Cherry -> Cherryz, Jean-Luc -> Jean-Luce) or another way to make them harder to spot (pause and search would be an easy way to get rid of them)
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: Vilusia on November 19, 2013, 11:28:10 PM
What if raiders could set up bases and become a long term problem instead of an attack that just wipes you out? Like they could have a base and do occasional small attacks.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: Pendryn on November 20, 2013, 01:32:53 AM
It's been mentioned, but I still support it! :D
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: todofwar on November 25, 2013, 05:37:44 PM
I think a large group of raiders setting up camp near you and doing quick hit and run type raids trying to tease you out of your fortress in late game would be cool.
Title: Re: New activities for Raiders
Post by: Littlemule on November 25, 2013, 06:35:46 PM
Bounty hunters - they are well equipped with high end weapons  in one or two man teams they could be there to capture a specific colonist (say a noble - family hired bounty hunter to bring him/her back) or capture one of your assassin colinists to face his past employers, marine - say he was awol and the military hired the bounty hunter to return him for interrogation, scientist - kidnapped for valuable research he knows