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I'm intrigued by the calls to split out or diversify more activities.  It seems to me that if Tynan goes that route, he should transpose the Overview tab, with colonists on the columns and activities on the rows (that would also allow an incorporation of the EdB Interface, with each colonist represented graphically).

This would allow the activities to be grouped and clustered.  You could have Expand/Collapse buttons on functions like "Crafting" or "Agriculture" or "Emergency" or "Facilities," with subgroups like those described above.  Changing settings at the top level (with the groups collapsed) would change the priorities for all activities within the group.

It could turn into a nightmare as the game gets more complex, but would allow for some real fine tuning and automation.

I don't speak French.  I am relying on Google to translate.  I think this post should go here /
Je ne parle pas français. Je compte sur Google pour traduire. Je pense que ce poste devrait aller ici

https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?board=8.0

I recognize the value in only making available those resources you have at hand, but that makes planning for construction a real bear.  It would be nice if more commonly available materials (steel and wood) were always available.

I wonder what happens if you have *nothing* available to build with? 

You know how it is.  You've got your sniper out on her perch, picking off raiders, when all of a sudden they bum rush her with their clubs and knives and hairy knuckles. 

Unless you have an equipment rack out immediately at hand, your precious sharpshooter is now at a major disadvantage.

Wouldn't it be great if you could give each character a ranged weapon AND a melee weapon to use?  That way when you tell your people to put down their guns and go at it tooth and nail, they're not going in unarmed.

Might it also help to have the beacon operate over a *square* area instead of a round one?  The old "launchpad" buildings were square, which made laying out or expanding stockpiles easier.  I had to manually remove the corners of a stockpile under an orbital beacon because my colonists kept piling the silver there, just out of reach of trade.

A really simple suggestion:  Can we get a visual of character's statistics?  Especially in the initial colonist selection screen, having some "status bars" in addition to the numerical value would make it a whole lot easier to tell at a glance what a character is good at. 

At present, my eyes are naturally drawn to the "flame" graphics (which judging from a lot of "Let's Play" videos new players mistake for ability rather than passion).  In the same vein, the "progress bars" in the character info pane at first glance look more like overall aptitude in skills rather than "level up" progress.

If bars are too difficult or take up too much screen real estate, even a gradient system like you have set up in the "Overview" screen would be good.

Rather unrelated to the topic, but is anyone else mentally pronouncing "4f" like "Forffff"?

I fully recognize that it would require a major revision to the game, but Pulaskimask's post on Page 4 nailed it for me:  introducing a tiered materials system that forces research to achieve refinement really streamlines the research tier, incentivizes research, and makes the game so much more realistic.

Beginning with basic building blocks like stone debris, slag, and logs provides you with the most basic amenities to survive with your sanity.  Further research tiers unlock the ability to create more refined materials (stone blocks, metal, and wood planks) which are needed for more advanced structures and buildings.

I can  understand why Ty would resist such a change.  Balancing such a system would be a full time job, for sure. You'd have to be certain that each raw material exists in reasonable abundance to make the game challenging but not impossible.  You'd have to tweak the raw materials and time required to convert them into refined materials, and you'd have to play with the materials costs of the advanced structures.  And to do it all in a not-quite linear way such that players could choose to go down one path but not another based on their preferred play style and the map in which they find themselves?  Hoo boy, that's a tall order.  But man, would it make for a fun game.

This dovetails well into an existing thread.  Perhaps a Mod could merge the two?
http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=2739.0

A lot of these ideas are amazing, but others feel kind of power-gamey.  In my opinion what the game needs is more breadth and richness to expand the storytelling component, rather than ways to help you "win."

To me, the best suggestions in this thread are those that expand the environment and the way players interact with it.  Greater variety of flora and fauna, more variability in climatic/environmental conditions, additional kinds of challenges to overcome, a legitimate multi-tiered tech tree that is both increasingly difficult and increasingly rewarding, etc.

The goal of all of this for Tynan is not only implementing this stuff in code, but making sure the game stays balanced.  The last game I played in Alpha 2 ran almost 400 days long, at which point repelling hundreds of raiders at a time was mundane and routine, and no other calamity resulted in any serious challenge to my colonists.  I want richness in the story, excitement and unpredictability, constant wonder about what will come next, and continual development for my colonists.

I had a pregnant man once.  Ahh, modern technology!


I've also had a surgeon who had 0 in Medicine and was incapable of Caring/Doctoring.  Must've been a homeopath.

I can't help but notice a distinct Steam-Hate on this forum which isn't really that pleasant, though everyone else has been really friendly and lovely..

Easy there, Hancake.  Pretty sure the comment was made in good humor.

Ah, I so very much love it when raiders arrive at the same time as a pack of rabid animals.  Seeing those pockets of flame all over the map is a beautiful sight.

Why thank you! I've never published fiction, but please let me pimp my game design book now: http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Games-Guide-Engineering-Experiences/dp/1449337937

Ugh!  Spam!  Someone call a moderator!

Hey, yeah, do these rugs come with a warranty?  My boomrat rug has all these burn marks all over it...