Alpha 15 unstable branch testing feedback

Started by Tynan, August 17, 2016, 03:02:20 PM

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lowdegger

"I'm fine with all the murder and mutilation and forced organ harvesting and slavery and everything, but not DRUGS!" - some people

lololol

Lightzy

#31
I'm fine with drugs morally, I enjoy em myself at times.
Just... I think that from all the things it was possible to add to the game, out of every possible thing you could invest time and money in, this is the single weakest addition possible.
Both in terms of gameplay and in terms of 'story'.

Gameplay wise, it's not a core system and is totally unnecessary. I know I'll prolly never use it because... what's the point.

Storywise, it makes a story about survival under difficult conditions into a story about making cocaine fields and selling drugs. Instead of growing food and worrying about survival, you grow drugs and worry about profits. It's just badly thought out.


Please for next patch do something meaningful to the core game like a Z-axis, raiding other factions, different endgame goals, water mechanics and use, noise/air pollution, vehichles.. etc.

MikeLemmer

I was playing on a jungle map with tons of ambient sounds. About 3 hours into playing, a raid occured. In the midst of the firefight, the sound "popped" and the entire game went mute. I had to restart the game to get its sound back.

MuffaloSoldier

Quote from: Siollear on August 18, 2016, 02:58:35 PM
Using realistic labels for drugs is a psychological trigger for people who are trying to avoid using them. And any addict, serious about recovery, wants to minimize exposure to these triggers.

I've been there and I agree completely.


Tynan

Yeah, I think I'll probably rename crack. The other ones are already fictional or obscure names, aside from alcohol and marijuana.
Tynan Sylvester - @TynanSylvester - Tynan's Blog

kanukki

Quote from: Tynan on August 18, 2016, 03:55:22 PM
Yeah, I think I'll probably rename crack. The other ones are already fictional or obscure names, aside from alcohol and marijuana.

Didn't mean for this to become a whole moral temperature taking on drugs, but guess it's good its out there. I think this direction is probably most sensible. I mean we are already in a sci fi world  with other fictional materials, so why not save agony from those who would be offended or have personal triggers.

Michigo

#36
Quote from: lowdegger on August 18, 2016, 03:34:23 PM
"I'm fine with all the murder and mutilation and forced organ harvesting and slavery and everything, but not DRUGS!" - some people

lololol

I second this, with a slight but:

The real extreme stuff (like murder etc) is such an extreme taboo irl that we can fantasize about it with little to no problem.
Drugs on the other hand are a common problem for many people, i think we are much less likely to see a player go on a slave murdering spree then on a drug binge.

That's why the topic of drug use in games is more sensitive then butchering slaves for their meat and organs.

Personally i'm fine with ANY crazy idea and taboo out there.
I wouldn't mind a feature that allows "breeding" humans just to throw the newborn babies later into a tank of "tame" piranhas for some additional colonist joy and/or as offering to satan himself.  ;D

But i'm pretty sure there is a limit to vile stuff that can be put into the game til to many players start screaming WTF! 

Tynan

Quote from: kanukki on August 18, 2016, 04:21:49 PM
Quote from: Tynan on August 18, 2016, 03:55:22 PM
Yeah, I think I'll probably rename crack. The other ones are already fictional or obscure names, aside from alcohol and marijuana.

Didn't mean for this to become a whole moral temperature taking on drugs, but guess it's good its out there. I think this direction is probably most sensible. I mean we are already in a sci fi world  with other fictional materials, so why not save agony from those who would be offended or have personal triggers.

Yeah, I'm not so concerned with some abstract notion of morality. But I do want the game to be enjoyable for the maximum number of people.

That, and putting a layer of fiction between the reality and the game gives me some design wiggle room where I can make the drugs act 'unrealistically' if the gameplay design demands it.
Tynan Sylvester - @TynanSylvester - Tynan's Blog

submarine

Not played alpha 15 yet But I seen in the patchnotes that chance to get hit by friendly fire is reduced by 60%.

That alone will break the good combat in Rimworld and turns combat  into some sort of command and conquer ( Red Alert ) clone.
I do exaggerate it a bit but this "fix" is doing more harm then good or maybe you want the game being more casual then for my liking.

Friendly fire did a lot of good for the combat system while it had its flaws. You should have address the real problem but that's not as easy done as changing 1 line of coding.

Deathstick

I gotta say, I love the new system specifically because of the different types of stories it can create. You also don't "have to do it" which makes each new game have more unique options versus something absolutely required. I'm fine if the drugs are fictional or named off of real ones, but if you chose to go the Fallout role with naming things like jet that's understandable giving other people possibly having/are struggling with real drug addiction. (Though I vote for keeping marijuana the same name as well)

One moment that literally had me laughing out loud from the new system though was when my colonists were all injured after Randy Random decided to send two entire raider parties from separate directions at me, leaving the colonists in a horrible state by the time it was all over. Heaters broken in the middle of winter, exhausted, walls half burned down, blood everywhere. They were all on the verge of cracking.

And then Randy Random decided to send a drop pod shipment of 20 units of crack right next to my half destroyed base. That smug, taunting bastard was just goading them to stop resisting and give in to temptation :D

I wouldn't worry about the friendly fire debuff too much. When I was playing my colonists seemed to do a fine job at accidentally shooting each other.

rafjaw5

Love the new alpha but i am a bit concerned about disabling melee hunting. I does't affect me too much since i like to micromanage and draft in order to hunt but i imagine some don't have that kind of patience, killing small game could potentially be a pain in the ass too. Also i went out of my way to check if you can roll an incapable of fighting colonist during the tutorial, it seems not to be the case which is rather nice. Overall i love the update, keep up the good work.

SimpleMachine88

#41
It would seem tobacco would be a more appropriate "drug" to add, since it was the critical crop of the American colonies.  It would be useful to have a cash crop.

lowdegger

I think the Fallout games are a good example of how drugs like beer and go-juice and crack are a good addition in terms of gameplay and and fiction for a survival game like this. They're part of the psychological tight-rope of survival: take coke to get through the day of fear and pain, but worry about becoming dependent on it. Then a herd of elephants shows up and chases you into your house so you can't get to the coke store. This isn't supposed to be Walden, after all. It's a game about having too many problems. The temptation to buff my pawns' moods at the risk of making them even more unhinged is definitely more fun than playing Rimworld like Banished.

Tynan

While these are worthwhile discussions I am really still looking for general play feedback on balance and such.

Nobody's actually really tested a long-term drug-using colony so I don't know at all how it'd work out!
Tynan Sylvester - @TynanSylvester - Tynan's Blog

toric

unfortunatly havent gotten arount to playing yet, just looking at the changelog thogh, the feeling i get is that there are too many drugs that only provide pleasure... what is the point of weed if alcahol seems to be essentially the same? same with yayo and flake. some more variety in what they do would be nice, as well as possibly calm down some of the people upset by the system of they are more performance enchancing stimulats than they are purely addictive recreation. maybye add some more preventative drugs, and possibly replace one of the pleasure drugs with say, a pain dulling drug? one that improves recruitment chance but has a horrible withdral? sleep replacement? (with side effects if the colonist stays up for too long.) ads protection from cold temps but increases hunger? just some more types to add to the mechanic and possibly make it seem less like adding drugs for the sake of having drugs.