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Yah, me too.  I really like the different "feel" of Desert/Tundra/Ice Sheet biomes, with the problems of temperature and getting enough food adding another dimension to the game.
Normally I find the various ship parts and raids tough to deal with, so it's nice to have a set of problems along an independent axis, with a different "kind" of difficulty, as it were.

I enjoy colonies with an easy storyteller, but in a tough biome... raids are not much of an issue (especially when they freeze before getting in range  ), yet the game remains difficult because of environmental issues.

My guess (hope) is that Extreme Desert will be to "normal" Desert what Ice Sheet is to Tundra.

Then we can have a nice symmetry of progression between cold/hot biomes: Boreal Forest -> Tundra -> Ice Sheet on one hand, and Arid Scrubland -> Desert -> Extreme Desert on the other.

Can't wait!

It's more than just another way to purchase games. Lots of people like to have all their games in one location, and Steam does things like track how long you've played for, automatically update, easier to keep track of things with the community stuff etc. There's no difference with the game itself but some people just find it more convenient to have games on Steam.

OK, fair enough, and at first I figured it would be something like that (convenience, basically).
Then I read somewhere that it's possible to add other games to a Steam account.

I don't know how it's done, but I've seen a few people mention this, so it seems credible.
If true, we're back to my original question: why is a Steam key such a big deal?  Just buy RW normally, then add it to your Steam account.

I understand it's an extra step, but surely that doesn't explain why so many people complain about it.  [And some get pretty upset, too.]

Forgive my ignorance, but why do so many people request Steam access for this game?
Aren't they aware RW can be bought through SendOwl?  Or would buying it on Steam add or do something extra I'm not aware of?  If so, what?

[I know what Steam is: I've got an account and bought a couple of things through it, but don't see it as much more than another game-purchase system.]

Am I missing something?  [This is an honest question, I'm not trying to troll    ]

...sawmills?

I bought RW at A7, so never got to play with the things, but happened to see them the other day when I was watching Tynan's earlier RimWorld Alpha videos on YouTube.

Sawmills seemed pretty cool (there were two kinds; manual and electric), allowing wooden walls to be built as logs (stronger but less efficient use of material) or planks (weaker, but makes better use of the wood).

Anyone know why they were removed?

I was thinking that there should be some more options when you start the game. Maybe some to make it a bit more difficult, a bit more easy, or something in the middle, regardless of which storyteller you choose.
[...]

I think this is a great idea, and it doesn't sound difficult to implement.

Another one I've been thinking about, is an option to set the number of starting colonists.

Since this might make the game easier, it could be disabled for the harder AI storyteller modes.

In any case, I was watching DF tutorials on YouTube recently, and noticed that it normally starts with seven dwarves.  So why not provide the option to start a RimWorld game with, say, 3 - 7 colonists?

Who's to say there isn't water in the food? I mean, it's a meal, and why wouldn't you put a drink with your food?

Makes sense for the pre-packaged survival meals, I suppose, to give a starting colony an early boost, but I like the idea of needing water purification in certain biomes (jungle) and not others (in the colder biomes, just collect snow).

It might help distinguish them a bit more... currently, other that heating/cooling, all the biomes pretty much require the same things from a colony (to a different degree, perhaps, but still).

I'd like the idea of adding water to the game, but there have been lots of discussions on the suggestions forums and so far no one has come up with a system where water is adequately necessary, whilst not being a huge micromanagement hassle. You're basically adding another arbitrary Need that adds really very little to the game.

That argument could also apply to the joy system.

A "thirst system" on the other hand, could help differentiate biomes more.  That would always add to the gameplay experience (although it would have to be balanced against the difficulty of implementation--there may be cheaper ways of doing it).

For instance, I like the desert biome a lot because its scarcity of certain key resources makes for a different feel than the others: wood, meat, and arable land for crops are at a premium, unlike any other except perhaps for the ice sheet (haven't played that one yet).

But these scarcities aren't a big deal compared to having to source water on a desert map with no water tiles on it.

Interesting alternative sources could include cutting down cacti to extract drinkable water from their pulp, using fog catchers (fine nets mounted on poles to allow fog to condense on them and collect) or even a different use for steam geysers (build a collection "still" on it to condense out the water).

That in itself would make for interesting choices: use a steam geyser for power or water (can't do both).

I know some people who love to clean and just simply hauling things around can be a bit meditative

Yes, fair enough.  I guess my point is that the Green Thumb trait could be generalised to several other kinds of jobs.

Maybe this mood-affecting thing could become similar to the "Passion" flames, except that instead of increasing learning ability, it would provide mood boosts (positive or negative)?

That way, something one colonist enjoys (cooking, say) would instead produce a mood penalty in another colonist who happens not to like it.

I don't know, maybe that's getting too complicated (and too much like SpaceBase DF-9, which had a fully-generalised set of likes and dislikes along with their citizens' abilities at particular jobs).

Not sure if this is a "cheap" suggestion (since it involves colonist mood, and so possibly their AI as well?) but anyway, here goes...

I like the Green Thumb trait a lot (for obvious reasons), but wonder why something similar doesn't exist for making art?
A trait like "Artistic" (not necessarily coupled with ability, mind you) would give a colonist a mood boost when creating artwork.

Perhaps also something similar for cooking?  I know some people who actually enjoy cooking for the pleasure of creating a nice meal that others like to eat.
So a trait like "Chef" could provide a boost for every meal cooked (above simple meals, and it shouldn't trigger from just filling nutrient paste hoppers, either).

I could think of other jobs that might do the same, but independent of traits: any doctor who heals a wounded fellow colonist (or even a prisoner) might get a mood boost from it.  This could affect everyone except those with the psychopath trait, say.

The possibilities are endless: cleaning and hauling are dull and unpleasant jobs, so maybe they should generate mood penalties every time they're done, or only after X consecutive hauling trips and/or cleaning tasks.

Huh. Well, I just got my ass handed to me, I guess I have nothing more to say.

Don't feel too bad; I got mine handed to be by a bunch of psychotic squirrels (in-game, of course :-)
But yeah, at first reading, it does sound a bit counter-intuitive, to have floor type increase movement above 100%.

Then I thought about ice... wouldn't it be hilarious if certain surfaces in cold biomes froze over in Winter, causing >100% movement?  Colonists constantly overshooting their targets and having to loop back, slipping, falling over, etc.
We'd have to research ice skates

You've managed to keep your colony alive for three years?!   

[...] what could squirrels do?

It's a little known fact the most deadly event is the horde of psychotic Boomrats. And Squirrels are just one small explosion removed from Boomrats.
Although armoured creatures like Tortoises or Megascarabs (go watch "The Mummy" as a Public service announcement for what you've signed up for) can be pretty bad!

If you're luck it'll happen at night when everyone is inside the wire, so to speak. If not it'll happen when your colonists are spread out across the map, then you're in trouble.

Cheers for that: makes me feel better.  I figured myself for a complete doofus after losing to the "squirrel incident".

Honestly, the desert biome is my favourite now, mainly because there are so few animals on it.  Especially with mountains, there's so little free space left over, and so few edible plants on what is available, that many critters just die of starvation.

Hunting parties consist of colonists wandering about collecting animal corpses.

The only downsides are crazy-high temperatures in Summer and the struggle to get enough food - limited arable land and so few animals actually makes it quite hard.

But I'm really enjoying that aspect of the game.  It adds a whole new dimension to everything: all of a sudden, harvestable agave plants are something I pay attention to (no berry bushes in a desert).  And when I spot a "herd" of one or two dromedaries, there's much rejoicing.  Hydroponics is a life-saver, literally, but wasn't something I ever bothered with before.

So I'm really enjoying the challenge, especially since it's so different from the raiders/mechanoid combat one.

Cool game (still tough, though).

For defense against snipers, just build a perimeter wall with some doors or small openings.  Can't snipe through walls/doors, so attackers have to come within your range to engage.

Thanks for the suggestion: that seems to work.  I guess I lost that particular colony because of inexperience (it was my second): I didn't realise that many things can out-range turrets, so I built mine in a defensive circle on the perimeter of my base (which was out in the open).

I know better now 

In addition to walls, as you've suggested, I also use the local geology to advantage: placing turrets just around a bend so raiders/mechanoids can't get line-of-sight to them without coming around the corner, at which point they're in range of a hail of bullets.

I've also found that leaving a "sacrificial" turret well in front of the others, to attract raiders engaging in melee (tribespeople, mostly), can be beneficial: when it explodes after taking enough damage, it will often outright kill 2 - 4 surrounding attackers straight away.  Sometimes, that's enough to cause the rest to flee.  (Can be a waste of metal, but better than losing a colonist.)

These "tricks" have helped a lot.

Still, tough game.

Hmm I am new to the game but the most Annoying thing I have found is I have to stop playing Rimworld to work and sleep. 

I have to second that.  Soooo addictive 

Man alive, but this is one brutally tough game.

Maybe I'm not playing it right or something, but of the three "serious" colonies I've started (the first was a sort-of tutorial: the Phoebe AI on an easy setting, so probably doesn't count) two were completely wiped out.

A scyther and then a raid with a marine (combat armour + sniper rifle) picked off all my colonists one-by-one from half-way across the map in two separate waves of attacks, and that was that.  And in the other, all the squirrels on the map went mad.

At first I laughed: after I'd (just barely) survived encounters with mechanoid centipedes, what could squirrels do?  Then I saw the living carpet of furry bodies streaming across the map.  Less than a minute later, all my colonists were unconscious/incapacitated and bleeding out.

Both those colonies were on the mode below the normal one ("Rough" I think?).  Now with my current game, I play on the setting below that.
Oh, and in a desert biome (no more death by squirrels, har har).

Anyway, just had to vent.  All my poor, poor colonists