Casualty Care, Combat Enhancements, Improved Inventory Systems, and Ammunition

[Minaraho`]

Howdy, I have put 50+ hours into the game and I really like what you have done here and I am excited to see what will come in the future. I would like to make some suggestions that I feel would enhance the level of realism in the game. (I am a first responder and entering the army soon so pardon me if I use too many technical phrases or just get too specific in my requests.) Be warned now this is a very long a detailed list so if you want the short version go to the bottom of this post.

Your medical system is Amazing!! However I feel that it could be improved and made more realistic with a few item editions and wound functions. As far as items go, I think that you should expand on the items used to provide aid to the casualty. Adding dressings, tourniquets, IV’s, splints, chest tubes, decompression needles for sucking chest wounds, some drugs to help numb the pain, and other things of that nature would greatly add to the level of realism in casualty care. I understand that many people might be turned off by the complexity of these fancy medical items and procedures but I feel that it would greatly expand the level of realism with caring for a casualty. It would also add greatly to the crafting area of the game.

In addition to that I think that it would be good idea to implement a more expansive inventory system. If i was making a farmer/builder character it would like this: hat, shirt, pants, boots, tool belt (inside he has a hammer and a few other tools related to his job), and he would be carrying a pitchfork or some other kind of farm tools. If I was to build a setup for a soldier character it would look something like this: helmet, shirt, assault vest/ plate carrier, jacket, pants, backpack, a primary weapon and a secondary weapon. This would help the equip the pawn for the role/s that he/she may be asked to fill. Many of these systems you have in game already. Now more specific to characters that would serve as combatants. If you are familiar with modern armor systems and combat equipment you know that you can mount pouches on them and put things in these pouches. So lets say that my soldier is wearing a plate carrier, on that carrier he can place magazine pouches for his weapon systems, a combat medical kit (with medical stuff as mentioned above, which the player can pack), water, food and other items that he might need. Similarly he can pack his backpack in much the same way. A quick note backpacks would be a great addition for helping characters carry stuff and decrease the number of trips that would have to be made.

In addition to this I think that making ammunition a quantifiable resource would help add to the challenge and realism of the game. So if a pawn is using a ranged weapon system he will need ammunition in the form of arrows, loose bullets and/or magazines that would be loaded into the weapon system. Again making all of these items craftable would significantly add to the crafting system.

In summary:
-more complex medical items and procedures for treating casualties.
-expanding the inventory system to be "multi leveled" in many aspects to include packing items in backpacks, tool belts, assault vests, etc.
-ammunition becomes finite, craftable, and tradable.
-Fishing (I love to fish and I think it would be a great addon to the game.)

I don't know if these are too technical requests for me to make at this early stage in development or if this is in line with your vision for the game. But i thought I would offer it and see what you thoughts were. I really like the game thus far and I look forward to its progression. Great work!
Thanks again for a great game!
Minaraho

[Johnny Masters]

I'm not sure if you're open to discussion other than official (Tynan) sources, but i'll have a go at it

more complex medical items and procedures for treating casualties.

Although i'm always for added complexity and simulated realism, one must wonder what this overly complex system you describe would add in fun compared to unfun or extra coding effort and. It seems you're describing something even health-care dedicated games lack, or if they do have it, it makes for 100% of the gameplay (i.e, the game is about applying specific medical procedures).

I think this could be easily abstracted into how it is handled now, although there's always room for improvement. You could say that different wounds sources have different healing rates and i'd have to agree, since it's true and it affects the game in a mindful manner.

expanding the inventory system to be "multi leveled" in many aspects to include packing items in backpacks, tool belts, assault vests, etc.

While i agree that the inventory could use some expanding, i think you're making it complex as well, you are describing a level of detail that even tactical and inventory-heavy games fail to achieve.

That said, i'd really love some extra slots (or melee and ranged, or hand slots, or backpack, or belt, etc)

ammunition becomes finite, craftable, and tradable.
Fishing (I love to fish and I think it would be a great addon to the game.)

Couldn't agree more, although you'll find at least half the community is against ammo

[Minaraho`]

Oh oops my apologies I am new here and I saw people starting topics, read the rules and thought I'd start a topic for hyperrealism. (I thought my perspective might be unique) anyway these ideas are just food for thought. And I sincerely apologize if i violated any rules.

With regard to the medical system that I have proposed. It more serves to eliminate the "magical medical box" that does it all. And I wanted to expand the craftable items in the game.

[kingtyris]

I'd like to see medical implements added to the game, but instead of a slew of specialized instruments, I'd rather see more like a 'Medical Bag' that could be equipped like a weapon, only instead of using it for fighting it buffs the holders medical skill.

I'd also not be opposed to ammo, as long as the system were implemented right. Like, having a new 'Ammo' slot that pawns not in combat would automatically seek to keep full to eliminate the need for micromanaging.

[Johnny Masters]

Oh oops my apologies I am new here and I saw people starting topics, read the rules and thought I'd start a topic for hyperrealism. (I thought my perspective might be unique) anyway these ideas are just food for thought. And I sincerely apologize if i violated any rules.

With regard to the medical system that I have proposed. It more serves to eliminate the "magical medical box" that does it all. And I wanted to expand the craftable items in the game.

What? no no no you are completely free to suggest anything you want, you violed nothing 

It's just my opinion that i think the game is not suited for this level of realism. That said, you never know, it's slowly expanding in vanilla and mods are far ahead in that aspect (with several drug types and whatnot).

The problem with hyper realism is that it will probably open a can of worms. Sure it's a magic healing box but we are supposed to abstract all the medical parafernalia. If not, by this logic everything in the game would need to follow the same rules. 

You'd need different and several tools for everything and everything would be broken in single parts. And i'm not saying like you need ONE tool for doing a job, like a driller or a pic to mine (which would be cool actually)

To cook a simple meal you'd need at least an oven, pot, something to stir and possibly plates for eating. To cook a lavish meal you'd need what? sauces, oils, knifes, forks, etc?

It has to stop somewhere

[SuperCaffeineDude]

I see medical realism brought up quite a bit, I think most are up for elaborations on medical stuff. I don't know that I could ever see RimWorld being hyper-realistic, but I wouldn't mind seeing things like tools, ammunition, and some condition specific treatments.
For instance it would be interesting if a colonist in pain yearned for sedatives/booze you didn't have whilst you hacked their infected leg off with your doctor's poor quality saw tool because you also had no antibiotics at the time.
If ammo does get introduced I don't see why some armours couldn't buff the ammo maximum, but personally I wouldn't want to micromanage clothing more than I do and navigating an inventory system sounds a bit much for me. My suggestion would be you alongside armour ammo buffs you are able to research ammo-nets that we then presume people wear.
Fishing, no argument, though a tool/weapon slot that allows you to fish via a fishing rod is how i'd elaborate that (because damn it I want tools).

[Johnny Masters]

Yes, i'm up for realism as long as it doesn't increase the microing we already have to do. I mean, i don't mind "fun microin", what i mind is extra labor. For example, i really like extra productions chains (like having both wood logs and wood planks), but having to constantly equip and unequip or preventing pawns to do stupid stuff i'd consider extra labor.

That's why i'm up for ammo but not so much for ammo types. So you could have something like an ammo "bag" like  500/500 ammo. So some armor, equipment or tech could give bonus to that ammo total.

A med-bag like king suggested is like a tool system, which i'm also for
there's some mods that use this btw.

[Minaraho`]

@kingtyris- I like what i said about the medical bag. However I think that having it function as a backpack that the player can pack with simple medical items, which the pawn could then use on a casualty. Just my opinion.

@Johnny Masters- I see what you are saying with the dangers of hyperrealism in a game like this. I am a first responder about to go into the army so I guess I got a little carried away with the level of detail I was suggesting. What i really wanted to do was break down the "magic medical box" into different aid items for the pawns to use on the casualties. With regard to what u were saying about cooking Check out a mod called Hermit's farm. He does a good job with managing the cooking system. However it is a bit of a pain to get the hang of and use. But that being said it adds to the level of realism. Also the addition of tools for jobs into the game would be a great addition. Cuz I like my tools.

@SuperCaffeineDude-I really like what you said about tools for the jobs at hand. I like tools! Also the consequences for not having the right tools for the job would be interesting to deal with and would add to the story greatly. I also like how you proposed the idea for certain armors buff the ammo max. Also I think that weight penalties for armor would be really cool. So if someone wearing really heavy armor they get a great defence bonus but can't move that fast. And vice versa for lighter armor or no armor. Also thank you for making my ammo idea for the colonist kit simple. I got a little lost in the details lol. Also I think that an ammo slot for the weapon system that the character has would be a great way to implement ammo in the inventory system. Each character  should automatically maintain a minimum amount of ammo in his inventory at all times. (the standard combat load for a US Army soldier is 180 rounds just fyi). This system would eliminate the need to constantly micromanage each soldiers ammo situation. And yes I really like tools for doing stuff in the game.

Thanks you all for your contributions to this thread. and please keep up the great ideas!!

[Eleazar]

@kingtyris- I like what i said about the medical bag. However I think that having it function as a backpack that the player can pack with simple medical items, which the pawn could then use on a casualty. Just my opinion.

How far along with a colony have you gotten? You know colony populations can go pretty high?

That level of detail might be fine in a game where you control a single character or maybe a few, but it would quickly get old (for the vast majority of players) if you had to manage the contents of dozens of colonist's backpacks and pockets.

[Minaraho`]

Yes, i'm up for realism as long as it doesn't increase the microing we already have to do. I mean, i don't mind "fun microin", what i mind is extra labor. For example, i really like extra productions chains (like having both wood logs and wood planks), but having to constantly equip and unequip or preventing pawns to do stupid stuff i'd consider extra labor.

That's why i'm up for ammo but not so much for ammo types. So you could have something like an ammo "bag" like  500/500 ammo. So some armor, equipment or tech could give bonus to that ammo total.

I agree with all that you have said here. I think that the pawns could get the tools from the workspot/workbench for the job. Then they could gather the materials then take them to the workbench and make the materials for said job. then start to work on the assigned task. But yeah it work work like stages in a job. Get the materials, make the materials needed for the job, complete the job.

[Minaraho`]

How far along with a colony have you gotten? You know colony populations can go pretty high?

That level of detail might be fine in a game where you control a single character or maybe a few, but it would quickly get old (for the vast majority of players) if you had to manage the contents of dozens of colonist's backpacks and pockets.

I have finished several games and have had 20+ people to deal with. But what I have done is mostly assign like 8-12 people in a combat team and it is their job to defend the colony. usually this works with my play style. But yes I do see your concern here. Many ideas here are specifically for combat situations. But I am glad you brought that up.