Some ideas after my first few weeks with the game

[erastudil]

Yeah, yeah, I know I'm new. I'll try to avoid the common suggestions.

- The ability to create a priority queue of workers for a specific task. Like for example, I want my best researcher to be top priority on the research bench, but if they get hurt/sick, my second best researcher steps in, and when they get better, the best researcher automatically kicks #2 off the station and gets back to work without requiring any micro. Would also be useful for managing multiple doctors, smiths, etc. where you want only your best person to do the job unless they aren't available, in which case the second best steps in, and so on.

- A way to set tasks to "panic mode", where when any work of that type arises the colonists assigned to it will immediately drop what they are doing to perform that task, similar to selecting them and then drafting and undrafting them. Firefighting comes to mind, but there are plenty of things I would use it for.

- Custom narrators, or at least more narrators. I for one would like one with frequent long periods of nothing like Phoebe, but punctuated by unpredictable events in the vein of Randy. Cassandra and Phoebe are a bit predictable for my liking, with every game starting off similarly, but I really like Phoebe's pacing. My favorite games are the Randy ones where he does nothing forever, leaving you wondering when something's going to happen, then suddenly all hell breaks loose and only a lucky few make it out alive. Or maybe a cargo pod full of beer falls out of the sky right as your colonists decide to throw a party, it doesn't have to be bad. I don't particularly enjoy the illogically huge raids that characterize much of the late game(where the hell did all those people come from?) because it feels immersion-breaking; it really makes me feel like I'm playing a video game that's trying to kill me because I'm doing too well instead of experiencing a story, and it forces you into a single strategy(killboxes) if you don't want to die. In my opinion an average day on a sparsely populated rimworld should be pretty uneventful, and major happenings should be the exception, not the norm, giving me time to enjoy the little day to day things that give the pawns their personality and keep me invested in the characters, rather than just treating them as units in a strategy game. I feel like the major events are more memorable when they are less frequent but more challenging and unpredictable, but to get that experience, I have to roll with Randy and hope that he gives me what I want. I get that a lot of people who like the strategy game aspect and are hungry for challenge want more frequent end-game raids though, so it would be nice if there were either more options or ideally if you could tailor the narrator's tendencies to suit your taste.

- The economics of smokeleaf production tends to create some issues that can make the game feel a little broken at times. It requires nothing but dirt and 4 growing skill to start producing a theoretically unlimited amount, and no skill whatsoever to process it, yet every trader I've seen buys smokeleaf joints at a price that makes the labor invested more than worth it. With any semi-reasonable growing conditions you can fairly easily produce enough joints in the first year to trade for everything of value from every trader that comes by. I know this is somewhat counterbalanced by the huge increases in your colony wealth attracting more dangerous raids, but if you have good luck early and you are able to set up efficient defenses you can abuse it pretty hard. I feel like a slight reduction in the market value might be in order, or perhaps making it so that not every trader that comes by will accept payment in joints. Or give it a quality level so that more skilled growers produce better smokeleaf, or more skilled crafters roll better joints that sell for more, or something like that. I just think the the ability for any group of yahoos with a modestly skilled grower among them to produce functionally limitless wealth in a short time feels a bit exploitative.

- Instead of permadeath mode being an option that's disabled by default, have it be on by default and give players the option to enable "save scum mode". /s

Seriously, when I open the menu on a new game and I see that I forgot to enable permadeath it instantly invalidates the file for me, and I feel compelled to delete the saves immediately and start over. I'm weird like that I guess.

Other than that I would second the general suggestions for more variety, more depth, more options, more stuff to do, etc. The possibilities for this game are endless. That being said, even if there were never another update released I still see myself pouring hundreds more hours into this game. Thanks Tynan, you did an awesome job! That leads to my last suggestion:

- A way to financially support development beyond the one time lump sum packages currently available. I want this game to keep being developed, and I'm willing to put my money where my mouth is. Dropping $400 at once is a bit inconvenient for me, but if there was a way I could set up a recurring donation, like a subscription of sorts, I would happily give you much more than $400 in the long run. I doubt I'm the only one. Maybe something like this already exists, but I'm not aware of it. I want to give you money, so maybe we can work something out?

[Limdood]

first off, everyone has the OPTION not to reload old saves.  You talked about getting invested in your pawns.  Some people take that to heart.  You're talking about removing an option because YOU forgot to flick a toggle switch....for someone that espouses permadeath mode, it would seem like you're trying to get someone else to deal with your mistake...


As far as donations...you could always buy the game for friends...or buy as a gift.  Heck you could even hold (with forum moderator permission) "contests" or raffles on the forums and gift away the codes to winners (if you run out of friends to buy the game for, i'm sure others can supply people who'd like a legit copy of the game).  If you want to spend more than 30 at a pop, you can even buy the next package up and supply multiple names (one for each copy) into the game.  Yes, some of that money goes to steam or elsewhere, but it also drives up steam sales figures in ways that direct donations don't, which makes the game look even more impressive to the casually curious.