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They're hidden, as the above poster stated... but be careful, opening the rooms can sometimes reveal mechanoids.

Usually, what I'll do (if there are mechanoids) is have a colonist quickly run in, open a casket, and run out... and then I watch the battle ensue.

Oh, god! This I was not aware of...

I will never look at a hidden structure the same again.

I tend to select maps in hilly areas, and I see a lot of constructed walls sticking out of many hillsides. Generally I'm not able to see in them until I deconstruct a wall and gain access to its interior, but often I get a notification that "this person has gotten an unsettling vibe as they draw close to the structure" alert, or something along those lines.

Frankly, I've learned to just stay the F away from those cryptosleep caskets as they typically only result in either death, death, more death, or significant injures... plus death.

I did find one once that was all alone, and dared to open it. I refuse to open ones that are not on their own, though, since we can't open only one and not... you know, the whole six at once.

A nutrient paste dispenser in the cell works as well. The prisoners can operate it themselves, so as long as they aren't incapacitated you don't need to bring your own food to them.

I don't think this is a very valid option if you are the type of person who builds individual cells for your prisoners. As far as I know, they can't leave their room unless taken out by a colonist, so a nutrient paste dispenser is only really an option if you either put all your prisoners in one big room, together, or build one, big dispenser for ever... single... room.

If we were able to expand prisoner areas to attached areas, so that one could be a whole prison compound, with attached outdoor area and even dining hall, for the prisoners to freely move around in, this would certainly make the dispenser a much more viable option for those who don't want to just cram all their prisoners in one room like a bunch of sardines.

With the addition of switches, I've started trying to isolate segments of my colony's power grid in an attempt to reduce the risk of highly destructive explosions caused by power surges. I've taken to building an entire structure exclusively for twelve to sixteen batteries, all set individually from one another and connected to a... sizable array of switches with which I can more directly control power flow. Using this method, I can have solar panels and wind turbines connected into the back of the batteries and the colony connected to the front, with fully charged batteries disconnected from the solar panels and wind turbines, and powering the colony, while said turbines and solar panels charge other batteries that are disconnected from the colony. Using the switch array and primary power lines running around the border of my colony, I can channel a limited amount of power into each section of the colony thereby reducing the risk of larger explosions.

However, as my planning has become more complex, I've realised that sometimes this isn't so easily done as some wires may need to cross other wires, especially in the switch array. So, I had the idea of a switch that could be researched and then built, that would allow the flow of power to pass through it but not connect to the flow it is crossing, effectively creating an over/under pass, like a bridge over a river. This could allow for more streamlined and complex power grid management.

Additionally, I would also like to suggest "Heavy Duty" power cables, likely that would also require research, and more materials and work time. These would be cables intended for connecting directly into large groups of solar panels and wind turbines and be capable of handling high amounts of power passing through them with either reduced chance of a power surge, or reduced effect of high discharge explosions. The research, extra materials and work time would be an offset so hopefully discourage simply lining the whole colony with them. Perhaps even include the usage of Plasteel in the list of required materials?

Another thought, smaller and more convenient but less game breaking, "one way" power cables. When you place two power cords next to each other in your house, or lay down piping with power cords in them outside, the power doesn't connect to those other cords. It would save on room if a power cable could be added that simply restricted the flow of power to the desired direction, so that we could place separate power cables next to each other without them connecting to each other. This could in turn tie in with the over/under switch which would possibly have a toggle, allowing us to dictate whether power flows in all directions, separately but both ways, or only one way.

Why does the game apparently permanently record every colony plopped on the map (yet ignore when you name it, so every colony is just "Colony"), anyway? Is there some kind of planned metagame where you can interact with your own colonies?

Why not? In Dwarf Fortress you could send out a new lot of colonists and reclaim an old settlement. I assumed that since your colony was marked on the world map when making a new colony this was already a feature, though I had not tried it yet. I'm also curious as to if you leave a colony running, after losing all your colonists, will there still be a chance a random person will stop by and "join" your colony?

Vagabond, what would adding ammo accomplish besides increasing micromanagement ? Look, people are up in arms against clothing deterioration. I imagine ammo would run out much faster than that.

As for cover, first of all I'd like to see any cover/field of view indication. Who benefits from cover, which targets are obscured for this character. Do sandbags surrounding a turret mess up its accuracy ? Do they shield it from fire ? Does a bush grant cover ? Less or more than a tree ?

I agree with some of this. A readout of cover effects can be found, by selecting a drafted colonists with a gun and hovering the cursor over a target within the weapon's range, but the readout is obscure at best and doesn't clearly explain what is effecting what and who or how. Even the cover section on the wiki does little to alleviate the confusion. But, since this is still in early development, I'm sure it is on Tynan's list of things to improve.

If you really wanted, you could equip a colonist with a personal shield and a helmet and make him repair or rescue.

Oh! That's a really good idea. I might just give that a try.

Thanks.

My only issues with the AI and combat, on the colonist side, is that non-combat AI likes to path regardless of danger - a typical issue in a lot of games. Honestly, stopping friendly fire while hunting or wandering round the map seems like a greater issue to me.

This.

I often find myself having to draft non-combat colonists just so I can move them away from danger and either leave them standing idle/drafted until the fighting is over, or lock them in one of my buildings in order to keep them safe and prevent them from walking through the middle of a fire fight.

I think this is where Tynan Sylvester draws the line and will implement very little of it. Most people consider combat micromanagement fun. You're supposed to do everything manually. You have the pause button and as much time as you like. I think this would be solving the wrong problem, if there is a problem.

I agree. I think this is half the point of the pause and targeting commands on colonists. When you draft them, you take direct control. Tell them where to take cover and who to fire at. I, for one, would be very, very annoyed if this was removed from the game as I feel far more comfortable with this method. It gives me more control over the situation and when I fail I don't feel like it's just RNG giving me the finger.

Well, it wouldn't make sense unless the people involved in the fight chose the location.... i think them passersby need to have more conflict though.

Would be awesome if two groups set up camp on either side of the map and just lobbed mortar shells at each other... over your colony. XD

I've had this happen a couple of times.

I see a text message "A group of people from such and such place are visiting"

Then a minute later "A group of people from over that-a-way are visiting"

I think to myself, fine, they're just passing by, no reason to pay them any heed. Three minutes later I'm hearing gunfire and I look at my colony and here are two rival factions having a full blown shoot out with each other... right in the middle of my colony that I'm trying to build!

As someone who has started numerous colonies, I've come to get a better understanding of what needs to be built and where, and I learn a little more each time. From how much space is needed for crops, to where a stockpile should be placed in relation to the buildings where I put my crafting tables. I've gotten to the point where, from the second my starter colonists pop out of their pods after touchdown, I spend anywhere from twenty minutes to two hours just assessing the terrain and planning the structure of my entire settlement. But it's not just square, square, square, rectangle. In order to properly plan, I also include various tetrominos to identify where in a building tables will be placed and how many, as well as lights and beds. This, of course, leads to some rather complex looking shapes, which in turn leads to... one very particular and tedious issue.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who is as thorough with their planning, and I'm sure they would agree that after designing a prison complex or dining hall, or maybe even just a simple freezer that includes an airlock, it can be... just a little bit annoying to realise the entire structure needs to be moved two blocks to the side, or might be better turned clockwise ninety degrees. With this level of planning, it becomes tiresome quite rapidly to have to either erase the entire structure and built it again, or meticulously move and erase almost every placed "planning mark" one or two blocks left.

So, I was hoping that in the future, a copy, paste, rotate and flip function could be added to the planning tools, so that one might be able to select a planned design and just shift it to the side as a whole, or turn it around as needed. For those of us who do this level of planning, it would be exceedingly beneficial.

I've began a fair few colonies, now, and started getting the hang of how to improve things, and establish a good flow, particularly for meal production. I also try to center my dining hall, hospital and prison nearby to a small storage room for meals. But I was just thinking "Man, those colonists must get real tired of getting up from their seat, going outside, crossing the street, going into a freezer, getting a meal or bottle of beer, and then going all the way back just to eat or drink."

Of course, I could just put a stockpile for meals inside the dining hall, and while this would be OK for the booze, it would leave the meals susceptible to spoilage, especially my excess meals that I have ready made and in reserve for when something comes along and interrupts my meal production. Then I thought how nice it would be to have some kind of serving counter, a powered 2x4 (or 1x4) counter that could be built for the specific purpose of storing and refrigerating a small amount of meals inside the dining hall. Similar to the weapons rack and hopper, haulers could ensure that there is always meals and/or alcohol on/in the counter ready for hungry/thirsty colonists to just walk over to it, grab their desired taste and then sit back down, without having to go out into a heat wave, cold snap, or battlefield.

Probably have to research it, as well, before being able to build it?

Good to know. Guess I'm just having terribad luck.

Or am I just super unlucky?

Since 9A came out, I've noticed a significant lack of assault weapons, such as the AM14 and A4 Pulse Rifle. Whenever traders pass by, they almost always have Doomsday and Triple rocket launchers, and occasionally "PDW" sub machine guns or Micro machine guns. Rarely I will see pistols and survival rifles. What happened to the assault class of weaponry?