[A12d] More Mechanoids (v1.07b - updated 31.12.2015)

[Scottnov]

Hey would it be possible to have a sort of modern mech in the mod. Cause we've got all these advanced mechs made of plasteel and with lasers and cutters and stuff, but they couldve been stranded on the edge of the galaxy for who knows how long. They couldve lost the ability to make the cool advance mechs we've seen. They mightve needed to scavage to survive. You could make a sort of mech made of steel, looking totally functional and like a terminator sort of look, bare metal, exbosed, busted, the bare minimum. And they could have balistic weapons, rifles, machine guns, snipers. They could even be so bad off they have beaten tribes up, taken thier weapons, and use those. They may even be so old, desperate and defunct that they may be hostile to other mechs. They could be mech scavengers or acient mechs or malfunctioning mechs

I like the idea of a new large and bosslike mechanoid that rarely spawns. But kinda seems like it might need to be a separate mod, I dunno.

[killer117]

I wasent thinking so much in boss terms as more of a mid level infantry. Tougher than raiders, but not the hardcore level of normal mechs. They're good. But there not a class of thier own. Kinda like a buncha trashed and disfigured sythers with balistic/ melee weapons.

[Orion]

Great ideas there!

I wish I had more time to work on the mod Right now all my time goes into fixing it for the latest alpha (and 11 is coming soon too, I believe). So yeah. No time for new things 

[killer117]

Ok then no prob. Just thought it was a cool idea and better for eirlier players in a new game.

[Scottnov]

I wasent thinking so much in boss terms as more of a mid level infantry. Tougher than raiders, but not the hardcore level of normal mechs. They're good. But there not a class of thier own. Kinda like a buncha trashed and disfigured sythers with balistic/ melee weapons.

Ahh, I see.

Great ideas there!

I wish I had more time to work on the mod Right now all my time goes into fixing it for the latest alpha (and 11 is coming soon too, I believe). So yeah. No time for new things 

How's progress there? I asked before on the previous page, but I'm not sure if it was seen. Sorry if it was and you just didn't feel like replying yet.

[AllenWL]

Hey would it be possible to have a sort of modern mech in the mod. Cause we've got all these advanced mechs made of plasteel and with lasers and cutters and stuff, but they couldve been stranded on the edge of the galaxy for who knows how long. They couldve lost the ability to make the cool advance mechs we've seen. They mightve needed to scavage to survive. You could make a sort of mech made of steel, looking totally functional and like a terminator sort of look, bare metal, exbosed, busted, the bare minimum. And they could have balistic weapons, rifles, machine guns, snipers. They could even be so bad off they have beaten tribes up, taken thier weapons, and use those. They may even be so old, desperate and defunct that they may be hostile to other mechs. They could be mech scavengers or acient mechs or malfunctioning mechs

A dysfunctional, broken mechanoid with a bad patch job and scavenged weapons pissed at the world and ready to attack and slaughter anything? Sounds cool!

Now my mind has wandered off to the world of old, dysfunctional mechanoids stumping along on mismatched prosthetic legs, its body patched with random rusty sheets of metal and scraps of leather(No, that's not human leather there on it's back. At least I don't think it is....), a empty shot-out eye socket weakly sputtering next to a human eye wielded in, a shining, rusted(Yep, totally rust. Definitely not blood of whatever poor pawn that got their arm ripped off) bionic arm dragging along a charge rifle and a uranium spear for his other arm, whistling a jaunty tune as he slaughters anything smarter than the average muffalo.
Not sure if my mind will come back and share the story.

Another random idea that I'm not sure if had been suggest before, but...
What if mechanoids had 'thoughts'? Instead of randomly breaking down, mechanoids would have to be managed, and if not properly managed(Injured, chip not cooled) or in bad conditions(wet, in extreme[and I mean really extreme] temperatures, etc) it will lower it's 'mood' which can cause the robot to malfunction.

[Scottnov]

Another random idea that I'm not sure if had been suggest before, but...
What if mechanoids had 'thoughts'? Instead of randomly breaking down, mechanoids would have to be managed, and if not properly managed(Injured, chip not cooled) or in bad conditions(wet, in extreme[and I mean really extreme] temperatures, etc) it will lower it's 'mood' which can cause the robot to malfunction.

ROBOTS ARE PEOPLE TOO I think that's a pretty interesting idea, writing the descriptions for the "thoughts" would be pretty fun too.

[Orion]

What if mechanoids had 'thoughts'?

I was actually contemplating doing it like that. But the implementational difficulties were overwhelming (not that they weren't for any other part of this mod, but you have to make choices), since you can't just turn off the thoughts of "normal people".

How's progress there?

Yeah, not so good. Chances are high that A11 catches up with me before it's done and I'm back to square zero (well, almost). Hopefully A11 is not going to change so integral parts as A10 did (some stuff was set to "private", which effectively means ****load of work).

I have to admit I was fairly naive tackling such a big mod and not expecting it to become a full-time job, just to keep it uptodate with the core game. But enough of the whining, I'll see if I can progress some more this weekend.

[Scottnov]

Yeah, not so good. Chances are high that A11 catches up with me before it's done and I'm back to square zero (well, almost). Hopefully A11 is not going to change so integral parts as A10 did (some stuff was set to "private", which effectively means ****load of work).

I have to admit I was fairly naive tackling such a big mod and not expecting it to become a full-time job, just to keep it uptodate with the core game. But enough of the whining, I'll see if I can progress some more this weekend.

Sorry to hear that. I suppose we'll just have to hope A11 doesn't alter the progression of the mod too much. Good luck on updating it and I really appreciate how much you care about the mod! Try not to overwork yourself, though.
On a slightly higher note, here's a picture of the mechanoid idol, Army of One, in his tomb, waiting for revival. What does this add to my post?
...
...Motivation...?

[Orion]

Hah, nice one, thanks!

The overworking part might already be too late (due to work and such), which would explain why I make so little progress.

[Scottnov]

Hah, nice one, thanks!

The overworking part might already be too late (due to work and such), which would explain why I make so little progress.

Ah, I see, try not to overwork yourself much, then.

[Orion]

I've got a lot of stuff done this weekend. I am simplifying the mod though, to make it more manageable (and because I just couldn't get some things to work after hours of trying to workaround).
The way it looks for now:
- PAL will be removed; it didn't have the effect I wanted and costs tons of time to update to new versions of RimWorld
- Mechanoids won't have to rest anymore; getting custom needs to work on them correctly proved impossible
- Mechanoids will encounter random crashes during which they need to reboot; the frequency will depend on the quality of the AI chip
- I'm preparing to make them upgradeable; you could implant a better AI chip later; add better cooling; what have you
- There will be wear and tear later that causes them damage over time; for starters they will need more frequent repairs; later these repairs will require spare parts which you get from dismantling mechanoids

[Scottnov]

I've got a lot of stuff done this weekend. I am simplifying the mod though, to make it more manageable (and because I just couldn't get some things to work after hours of trying to workaround).

Awesome! Though I did like the more complex elements, I'm sure they will either be replaced or brought back somehow in the future.

The way it looks for now:
- PAL will be removed; it didn't have the effect I wanted and costs tons of time to update to new versions of RimWorld

Fair enough - there doesn't seem to be any other options based on what you've said before. I do like the idea of having to run a mainframe though.

- Mechanoids won't have to rest anymore; getting custom needs to work on them correctly proved impossible

It was a neat mechanic, but if there's simply no workaround then I suppose it's a lot better than the mod never updating. Maybe at some point it will become implementable again.

- Mechanoids will encounter random crashes during which they need to reboot; the frequency will depend on the quality of the AI chip

I like this idea, it adds more drive for the player to start upgrading their mechanoids. But how does it work? Do they simply reboot on the spot? How long does it take?

- I'm preparing to make them upgradeable; you could implant a better AI chip later; add better cooling; what have you

This is a really cool idea too. While upgrading your mechanoids would improve their efficiency a lot, I assume it would be pretty costly, giving it a nice balance. How would these upgrades be applied though?

- There will be wear and tear later that causes them damage over time; for starters they will need more frequent repairs; later these repairs will require spare parts which you get from dismantling mechanoids

Interesting idea. What do you mean by this sort of curve of needing repairs, though? Just for the longer you have them?
Looking forward to the update, whenever that may be. Good to hear things are still progressing.

[Orion]

I do like the idea of having to run a mainframe though.

I liked the idea too. But in practise it wasn't all that interesting.

- Mechanoids will encounter random crashes during which they need to reboot; the frequency will depend on the quality of the AI chip

I like this idea, it adds more drive for the player to start upgrading their mechanoids. But how does it work? Do they simply reboot on the spot? How long does it take?

It'll be pretty much like they're right now when not connected to PAL. They drop their task where they are standing, idle for a few seconds and then continue. Obviously interrupting tasks all the time makes them less productive, but that's the whole point, of course.

While upgrading your mechanoids would improve their efficiency a lot, I assume it would be pretty costly, giving it a nice balance. How would these upgrades be applied though?

I'm not sure yet. I'll have to see what proves easy to implement. Probably like when you take off the blades from a Scyther when they're unconscious, as an operation.

- There will be wear and tear later that causes them damage over time; for starters they will need more frequent repairs; later these repairs will require spare parts which you get from dismantling mechanoids

Interesting idea. What do you mean by this sort of curve of needing repairs, though? Just for the longer you have them?

Oh, I didn't mean a curve here. More that the first version will keep this really simple (they just get very little damage from existing). But in a later version you'll be able to procude spare parts and will need them to fix up your mechanoids.

[Orion]

Ok, i don't see the reason for these crashes.
The Crashes are just a software problem not a hardware one. What would you do when you editor crashes randomly crashes while you create these mod ? :-)

They don't eat, don't need to sleep, don't care about their mood and work day and night. If my editor would do that on its own, I really wouldn't mind some crashes.

The alternative was some resting time, which also doesn't make much sense, unless they'd really recharge from your power network. But that's a lot more work to create.