I think this small addition to the 'visible roof' system would be immensely helpful: Having the ability to see which tiles have overhead mountains, as opposed to just a rock roof (or, perhaps, separate colors for thin rocks, constructed, and overhead mountain). Also, perhaps a tooltip/tutorial message that gives more information on everything that affects the spawning of infestations, so players can plan around it. It is fun to discover new and inventive things you can do within this game, but I would like to be able to make more informed decisions about potentially colony-ending risks.
(EDIT:) That's the TLDR. I start whining about infestations after this. Should probably start proofreading.
Infestations are one of the most dangerous events in the game if you are unprepared and/or they spawn in important/occupied locations of your base. I understand it's the counter to mountain bases, with all of their free defensive benefits, and potentially a nice source of income. My only problem with it is on hill maps. Sometimes, you think you're digging into a hill and it turns out one of your colonists' rooms has 3 squares under a mountain. Or maybe you just want to get a bit more space in your initially walled area and want to dig a few tiles into that nearby hill, but accidentally hit a few squares of mountain and suddenly there's bugs in your crafting room.
I feel it's an unnecessary punishment for players who want to put their fridge or first barracks on stone so they have more initial farmland, or players who want the smooth stone beauty buff for a dining room, but don't plan on building anything further in the mountain specifically to avoid the problem of infestations spawning in your hospital while half the colony has the flu. I can't imagine it'd be too hard to implement either, since you already have the roof visibility tool, and it can help avoid the EXTREME frustration hives can cause.
Yes, the game is about stories, which are only interesting at all when things go wrong or ridiculous. The story of 'a bunch of bugs appeared with no warning and ate half my colony while they slept' is interesting maybe once or twice though, and without a clear way to manage this event mountains just start looking like something to be avoided, rather than something with tradeoffs. Or, infestations start looking like something not worth the trouble, and to be turned off in a custom scenario otherwise identical to the default. I like infestations, but I would like much more for there to be a solution to the 'pawn(s) have a significant chance to die with no forewarning and no apparent way to prevent it besides avoiding entire mechanics' problem.
(EDIT:) That's the TLDR. I start whining about infestations after this. Should probably start proofreading.
Infestations are one of the most dangerous events in the game if you are unprepared and/or they spawn in important/occupied locations of your base. I understand it's the counter to mountain bases, with all of their free defensive benefits, and potentially a nice source of income. My only problem with it is on hill maps. Sometimes, you think you're digging into a hill and it turns out one of your colonists' rooms has 3 squares under a mountain. Or maybe you just want to get a bit more space in your initially walled area and want to dig a few tiles into that nearby hill, but accidentally hit a few squares of mountain and suddenly there's bugs in your crafting room.
I feel it's an unnecessary punishment for players who want to put their fridge or first barracks on stone so they have more initial farmland, or players who want the smooth stone beauty buff for a dining room, but don't plan on building anything further in the mountain specifically to avoid the problem of infestations spawning in your hospital while half the colony has the flu. I can't imagine it'd be too hard to implement either, since you already have the roof visibility tool, and it can help avoid the EXTREME frustration hives can cause.
Yes, the game is about stories, which are only interesting at all when things go wrong or ridiculous. The story of 'a bunch of bugs appeared with no warning and ate half my colony while they slept' is interesting maybe once or twice though, and without a clear way to manage this event mountains just start looking like something to be avoided, rather than something with tradeoffs. Or, infestations start looking like something not worth the trouble, and to be turned off in a custom scenario otherwise identical to the default. I like infestations, but I would like much more for there to be a solution to the 'pawn(s) have a significant chance to die with no forewarning and no apparent way to prevent it besides avoiding entire mechanics' problem.