Population management idea's

Started by central, December 02, 2013, 05:12:43 PM

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central

Currently most storytellers will simply stop slave-traders and wanderers when a certain population has been reached. With no deaths and no new recruits or trades happening, I feel the game and story reach a stand-still.
I understand from a game-design perspective the population has to be managed, but I think this game would benefit if that would happen in other ways.

Some possibilities:
- More fatalities from localized (existing) events: lightning-strike colonist, electricity discharge near colonist.
- Deceases that will incapacitate and possibly kill colonists.
- Recruiting to get harder, possibly by introducing a colony overall-happiness which would be required to >x to be able to recruit. Or the happiness of the warden could be used.
- Negative social talks between 'incompatible' colonists could cause rapid mental breaks. Possibly fights between colonists.
- Prisoners breaking out of their restraints and attacking the warden or breaking out of their cell. Possibly starting a fire or committing. suicide.
- Gun accidents incapacitate and possibly kill colonists.
- Long term incapacitation causing the player to choose between a long waste of resources to maybe keep the colonist alive or abandon the incapacitated colonist.
- Wanderers fighting back sometimes
- Colonist leaving with trade-ships, the highly social colonist got offered a spot as crew.

Galileus

Stuff like colonists fighting between each other or attacking the warden is cool - this is something player would be aware of as dangerous and could prepare accordingly. Events like "Sup dog, I randomly killed one of your colonists!" is a big no-no. It's unfair and punishing.

Paragonville

All of these honestly feel like even more ways for the already brittle and easily killed colonists to die.  No thanks, but just because this is supposed to be a hard game, doesn't mean it should be an unfair game. 

todofwar

I think increasing colonist fatality rate either by random events or increased raids is very logical. Recruiting remains constant, but once your population gets above 12, you begin to deal with colonists dying off more often. Eventually the death and recruiting rates balance and you get a stable population without a hard cap. This is easier said than done though, as increasing the odds of colonists dying without feeling cheep (ie, thunder strike) is not straightforward. If the AI could be smart enough to figure out what your colonist death rate is and match potential recruiting events to match, that could be cool. Also, perhaps captured raiders could have a higher chance of betraying you during a raid with a larger group of colonists (above 15 there is less a sense of camradery or something)

Galileus

Keeping rotation of colonists kills their personal stories, ergo beats the point of population limit existing in the first place. If we don't get attached to them (because they die off quick anyway), there is no need to keep pop limit as low and therefore there is no need to kill them off ^^'

Tobman10

I like this idea and the way you used definitely a way to make things more interesting. Also, it might be easier to add into the game than some of the other ideas.
-Tob :)

windruf

we do not want unpreventable events!!!!!11
really!
or events like: "you think, you are safe? WRONG!!!! GUA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!"
cos it is mobbing.