Topics

Hello,

I've noticed that the default soldier outfit does not include flak jackets.  It also excludes regular jackets but does include parkas.  From what I see, parkas have lower armor than jackets.

Perhaps the default soldier outfit needs to be updated?

After sustaining injury, cardiac tissue is replaced by scar tissue, which is less elastic and does not conduct signals as well.  This results in decreased cardiac output due to poor contractility as well as secondary arrhythmias.

I was amused by my pawn's ability to fully recover his cardiac function after having his heart shredded by grenade shrapnel.  In game, pawns already are unable to recover from brain damage, so I thought this suggestion might fit.

Just thought I'd put this out there!

[Temporary Wound Dressings]

Hello,

Apologies if these have been suggested before.  I searched and couldn't find much, although it's possible that I missed something.

Just a couple ideas to make the medical system a bit more interesting.

Temporary Wound Dressings
Pawns can perform a low skill action, "Dress wounds" on units or self, which does not require a sleeping spot.  As the game is now, if a unit's bleeding rate is high enough, it might be impossible to get them to the hospital before they bleed out.  This is compounded by the likelihood that injured pawns will move slower.  A dressed wound reduces the bleeding rate but does not treat the wound or stop bleeding.  As with vanilla treatments, a chance for infection is applied on instance of first aid based on doctoring skill.  This can be imagined as someone with poor knowledge of clean technique contaminating the wound during dressing.

Wound Infection Tweaks
Infection risk begins with injury and ends after wound healing.  Currently, wound infection risk seems to only be applied at the instance of treatment.  This means your hospital can be filthy before and after treatment, but so long as it is clean when treatment is applied, there is minimal risk of infection.  With this change, as soon as a unit is injured, they are at a persistent risk of infection.  Dressing a wound can lower this risk, depending on dressing quality.  After proper treatment in real life, wounds are not fully healed, so a pathogen-rich environment could still infect a well-sutured injury.  There is a lower risk of infection compared to pre-treatment, depending on surroundings.  Resting in a clean hospital reduces this risk as well.

Gameplay Implications
With these changes, pawns can stay in combat longer, and have a higher chance of making it to the hospital for proper treatment.  However, waiting too long before going to the hospital can result in an infection.  When dressing wounds, players must decide whether to accept the immediate risk of infection when pawns available for first aid have terrible doctoring skills, possibly opting instead to wait for proper treatment and accept the higher bleeding rate and persistent chance of infection in the meantime.  Keeping a clean/sterile hospital pre-, during, and post-treatment is imperative to preventing infection.  Pawns are encouraged to rest until adequately healed to reduce risk.  This discourages the act of having pawns work while their wounds are still actively healing.