Messages

What about batteries that you can set exclusive to one thing? So you could have backup power for, say, specifically only the lights and doors that was separate from the main supply.

I like this idea and it would mesh well with my previous idea of a world with large amounts of time spent in the dark.

You might have been mistaking RimWorld with some kind of real-life simulator...

We're talking about a world where people that might have no technical knowledge whatsoever are able to construct walls, power generators, turrets, beds... all of this out of mere scrapped metal.
So please don't expect believability too be too high.

Oh, I wasn't suggesting a super realistic mechanic. I was just suggesting that perhaps water shouldn't always be readily clean or available through a well or something.  World generation could include different types of water sources and each one would present different challenges to the survival of your colonists.  There is a realistic precedent for water to need to be processed before being able to safely drink it.

I envision that having moisture farms could work in the beginning, taking water from the moisture in the air, but as your colony grows, your water needs surpass the capabilities of the moisture farms.  Therefore, you will need find larger water sources, presenting the challenges I mentioned. 

I like the water idea, but I got to thinking. This is water on an alien planet.  You have no idea what's in it. Not only could it have disease and parasites in it, but it could be incredibly toxic from metal contamination.

Nothing a few filters can't solve.

If that were true, then water contamination in areas like West Virginia where they do fracking wouldn't be an issue. Instead, people have filtered water coming through the tap that is flammable.

I think it would be interesting to have a random area sometimes show up on the map when a  fresh game is made.  The remains of an abandoned/failed colony site.  Far on the corner of a map you might find some broken down, unpowered buildings.  Worn and partially destroyed by the elements. perhaps you can salvage some metals or a weapon.  Find some graves and a corpse with a note containing some flavor text, or an unsettling warning that triggers a new dangerous type of creature to slowly encroach on your own colony site. 

Or instead of an abandoned colony, perhaps you find a crashed ship, or remains of your own ship.  Or an old mining camp.  Alien native camp.  I think this would be a nice random bit of flavor to a newly generated planet.

Or, say your colony fails and everyone dies, you could have the option of starting a new game with new colonists who happen to land in the same area as your old colony... but say a few hundred years later.  So, caves would have collapsed in, old machinery would be practically useless.  stuff like that.

I like the water idea, but I got to thinking. This is water on an alien planet.  You have no idea what's in it. Not only could it have disease and parasites in it, but it could be incredibly toxic from metal contamination.

I like the idea of atmospheric condensers. It could open up new challenges on, say, a desert planet biome. 

I sort of like this idea. you make a deal with a passing ship to give them so much business per ... unit of time.  (month? whatever)  After some time they give you a discount or carry special items, or maybe you can request a large amount of metal or food (more than they would usually carry).  But if you break the contract and dont have the required foodstuffs/metal to trade, they ruin your reputation with other trading vessels so that they come by less frequently, or jack up the prices.  Maybe they let pirates in the area know that your colony is there in retribution. 

I don't know if this has been said already, but maybe a night planet? (I'm thinking like the movie Pitch Black).  Night and day almost work like seasons.  You start off with normal daytime when you land, but soon enough night comes for an extended period of time. You need to rely heavily on battery backup, perhaps to the point that you need to disconnect certain systems in order to save power. (perhaps night predators can come out).  You might also add a research into bio-luminescent alternative for lighting. 

This uses the already-present day/night cycle, but adds a layer of difficulty and unique problems to solve in the game.  The bio-luminescent option just requires a new research option to be put in and a game object that gives a smaller light source with perhaps a different color (green or red glow). 

The only thing I can see being a problem is crop growth, but it should be easy to rectify with a different type of crop added.  perhaps a fungus or slime mold?