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Hey guys,

Thanks for the feed back, and pointing me to quotes answering my questions. Just thought I should throw the idea out there to be sure. Er, what kind of timescale for each play through are we talking about? Is the game going to end at some point even if the colony is running well? I had thought since its a sandbox game you're supposed to keep your colony running as long as you possibly can or want to. In that case aging and pregnancy seem pretty fine; as you'd be spending a long time on one map. Having a colonist arrive pregnant and then give birth with a child that doesn't age isn't very appealing. Rather is pretty dam immersion breaking. I'd rather children not be implemented all together if that's the case.

If implementing children and age is a large game design hassle I'm fine with that. If its not being implemented because it "takes time" in game, then I'd have a problem. I think children and aging is a pretty big side effect of living. If colonists get along, and are 'compatible' with each other they would procreate.  Consequences of that would follow. Hell even if they don't get along all that well, kids are still a possibility (suspension bridge effect anyone?). Are aging and children a fun game mechanic, probably if people want a realistic challenge. Perhaps (much?)later, aging and children would be put in. It could even be an option to turn on and off for those who don't want to deal with that kind of thing.

I'm a little concerned that the teaching idea hasn't been talked about, was that already suggested or was it a bad idea?

Anyways, thanks again for the comments!

Hi there,

I’m new to the forum and game, and get very enthusiastic about base building/micromanaging simulations. I’ve just only heard about this game from Quill18 on youtube. From the small gameplay footage I was able to get a hold of; I have to say I’m pretty impressed with what I’ve seen.

What I’m wondering about though is if colonists will be able to spawn more colonists if paired up. I’m not saying The Sims type of “get married, have kids, white picket fence etc”. I see that  Hypolite had already suggested something about relationships. I’d like to concentrate on after good relations between opposite sexes have been made.

What I’m thinking is that:

1.   If two colonists are of opposite sex and have compatible personality types, they will eventually pair up and create a new colonist. (nothing explicit obviously, just that they maybe go into the same living quarters or whatnot)

2.   Once successful ‘copulation’ has occurred the female will have a status on their profile saying she is impregnated.

3.   Over time the female will suffer penalties (akin to a debuff, since that’s kinda what pregnancy does lol). Penalties will become increasingly worse over time until ‘birth’ (again nothing explicit, just maybe the baby colonist will spawn in the same room as the female). Gestation* period could be realistic (months) so that overpopulation does not become a problem. The number of times females and males would copulate are based on personality types and if the pair are on good terms. The success of impregnation could be based on colonist traits?

4.   Child colonists would again have a realistic growth period. Maybe a three stage cycle of infant (needs to be taken care of by parent), child-teen(learns skills), and Adult (fully functioning colonist.

This could also bring about a teaching system, where colonists would gather to teach child-teen colonists. Or where child-teen colonists follow Adults around (in a kind of mentor system [assign child-teen to Adult; child-teen gains skills based on mentor]).

The teaching/mentoring idea could be a standalone mechanic too. That way you could train useless colonists that you capture or recruit some useful skills. But I just wanted to get my main suggestion about population expansion on the table.

Thank for reading and keep up the good work! Game looks great!