Calling orbital trade ships

[anotherrimworld]

Right now you can call in trade caravans for 300 silver. I'm thinking you should be able to call in ships for 3000 or something like that. Between the 300 boars that just attacked after 200 muffalos plus ... all I can do is stockpile for no reason. Give me some ways to sell this stuff since I haven't seen a ship in years

[Shub-Niggurath]

While this could work and be explained (Sending radio signals through space) I feel it'd be imbalanced.
I mean, imagine if you could just CALL a bulk goods trader to you every time you felt like it, or CALL a combat supplier or slave ship, you'd have a colony of 90 before you even get power-Armour.

[Hans Lemurson]

I like to imagine that they are on set schedules of visitation based on their orbits, and so their arrivals cannot be controlled, but will be as regular and predictable as eclipses.

[PetWolverine]

... as regular and predictable as eclipses.

Well done.

[Dorian]

I don't get why there's no orbital transport ships.  I mean, you can teleport items between the ground and space, including livestock, so why not just ask for a ride.  Pay your fee, and teleport off of the planet's surface.  Done!  I know this would mean the game would end very early and easily, but you could make a ticket for a human something like 10,000 silver each.

[PotatoeTater]

I don't get why there's no orbital transport ships.  I mean, you can teleport items between the ground and space, including livestock, so why not just ask for a ride.  Pay your fee, and teleport off of the planet's surface.  Done!  I know this would mean the game would end very early and easily, but you could make a ticket for a human something like 10,000 silver each.

It goes with the fact that you can't really trust too many people in rimworld. Imagine buying a ticket only to be put into slavery or taken up to be sold as spare parts. I would never trust a trade ship, especially one that has body parts for sale. So lore wise, your people have a self preservation and don't want to risk that chance.

[b0rsuk]

Why stop there ? Why not send orbital trade ships ? Why not call a ship to rescue you off the rimworld ?

[Hans Lemurson]

Why stop there ? Why not send orbital trade ships ? Why not call a ship to rescue you off the rimworld ?

Or build your OWN orbital trade ship and have it still refuse to transport you.

Face it, you're not getting off-planet while conscious and in control of your vessel.  Just trust the looted mechanoid brain to steer you to safety while helpless in your crypto-casket.  It is as the gods demand it.

[Jovus]

I don't think this idea is too bad. Just make the ships take time to get to the player, like ground caravans do. Instead of 3 days (or whatever) make it take a week (or whatever). The trade-off for calling a trader with more stuff/more silver is that it costs more and you have to wait longer.

Sure, there are concerns that this would take all challenge or difficulty out of the game, or remove all meaningful resource restrictions on the player. Those concerns aren't changed at all by this proposal however; they still exist with ground caravans.

[b0rsuk]

But honestly what's the point ? You can already call trade caravans. If that doesn't satisfy you, you can send your own caravans. Are you too lazy to move ?

[Jovus]

But honestly what's the point ? You can already call trade caravans. If that doesn't satisfy you, you can send your own caravans. Are you too lazy to move ?

What's the point of auto-doors? Are your colonists too lazy to open doors themselves? Sure, they slow you down a bit, but you can always speed up time, and play as long as you like, so it doesn't matter.

What's the point of different dog types? A husky behaves like a labrador, so why have both?

What's the point of all these different guns? Why do we have anything other than a sniper rifle and a charge rifle?

Etc.

And before you answer, "There are situational differences!" there are situational differences between a trade caravan and a trade ship. For example, maybe you're in a cold or hot clime where caravans are rare or nonexistent. Or trade ships have different goods frequencies than caravans. Or
trade ships are not susceptible to being interrupted by raiders (or aiding you against them). Or trade ships can buy more statues because they don't have a weight limit. So on and so forth.

Why don't I move? Maybe I'm afraid of my caravan being ambushed in the wilderness and am willing to pay a premium to avoid that risk. Or maybe it's winter, or the terrain is hard to move through, or people are far away, or any other reason that might make a caravan take a long time to reach its destination and return.

This proposal adds a distinct facet of gameplay that is not simply subsumed by what is already present. Whether you like it or not is one thing. Insinuating that it doesn't need to exist because it's covered by existing functionality is another.

[Limdood]

calling orbital traders doesn't make sense...with no FTL travel in the game, these are either ships that orbit the rimworld, in which case they'll get there when they get there, and no sooner or later (and also would be entirely incapable or worthless to "hitch a ride with") OR they're generation ships travelling between planets (most likely) within the solar system of the rimworld, AGAIN, in which case they cannot get there earlier or later....they're already either heading towards you or not and you're not going to change their mind.