Suggestions for Paleolithic Buildings and Techs

[Peng Qi]

I like to play Tribals a lot, and I've come up with a number of ideas for buildings and changes at the tribal tech level. I think they're really good and would add a lot to the game. I'll try to list them from simplest to most complex.

1. "Work spots" should be able to construct stone and wood spears, but not metal ones.
2. "Geothermal vents" should have a second building added to them at Paleolithic tech: Hot springs. Hot springs would be joy-producing buildings that up to 8 people could use at once, and would add a great deal of joy. They would also relieve hypothermia symptoms and keep characters warm while in use. Additionally, geothermal vents that aren't in use as generators should probably increase the temperature of surrounding tiles.
3. "Firepit" should be added as a Paleolithic building. It would function identically to a Crematorium, but would require a great deal of fuel to function. Additionally, building a Firepit would enable a right-click menu item: "destroy object." That is to say, you could right-click any object in the world that's carry-able by people (other than chunks) and a new option "destroy" would appear. Thus, you could throw unwanted tools or junk into the firepit to remove them from the map.

[Mikhail Reign]

2. "Geothermal vents" should have a second building added to them at Paleolithic tech: Hot springs. Hot springs would be joy-producing buildings that up to 8 people could use at once, and would add a great deal of joy. They would also relieve hypothermia symptoms and keep characters warm while in use. Additionally, geothermal vents that aren't in use as generators should probably increase the temperature of surrounding tiles.

I like this idea. Geo vents could be a little more intractable, with a couple of options of how to utilize them.

Also FYI, Geo vents already increase the temp of the tiles around them - when they are in a room. Currently outside is outside - there is no temp difference between outside in the sun, and outside in the shade, outside in a fire, outside standing on ice or anything else. This sadly means that a Geo outside has no heating properties. If you were to then build a small room around it (and remember to roof it) the temp would quickly climb to 'everything catches on fire' temperatures.

I personally am of the opinion that temp outside should be handled like beauty - a default value for each tile (the average temp) with any modifiers applied, with map wide changes (volcano etc) changing the default value and local changes (a fire, being side, under a roof) being applied tile by tile. Inside temps are fine being handled room by room.

[BlackSmokeDMax]

I like to play Tribals a lot, and I've come up with a number of ideas for buildings and changes at the tribal tech level. I think they're really good and would add a lot to the game. I'll try to list them from simplest to most complex.

1. "Work spots" should be able to construct stone and wood spears, but not metal ones.
2. "Geothermal vents" should have a second building added to them at Paleolithic tech: Hot springs. Hot springs would be joy-producing buildings that up to 8 people could use at once, and would add a great deal of joy. They would also relieve hypothermia symptoms and keep characters warm while in use. Additionally, geothermal vents that aren't in use as generators should probably increase the temperature of surrounding tiles.
3. "Firepit" should be added as a Paleolithic building. It would function identically to a Crematorium, but would require a great deal of fuel to function. Additionally, building a Firepit would enable a right-click menu item: "destroy object." That is to say, you could right-click any object in the world that's carry-able by people (other than chunks) and a new option "destroy" would appear. Thus, you could throw unwanted tools or junk into the firepit to remove them from the map.

Cool ideas- think #3 is already in Hardcore SK modpack, so easy to see if balance is good. Don't think it has the larger amount of fuel requirement for cremating corpses.

I'd add in (and I have posted about this in other threads as well- but this is a great spot to repeat it) a type of evaporative cooler used in the Arbitration: Realistic Research mod. Basically you have a building which has a switch to open/close it. You can set it to collect water while it is raining and then use the cooler to slightly cool an interior room while a heat wave is going on by using the water. Basically collected rain water is your cooling "fuel."

[Kegereneku]

What I consider missing for Primitive Tech :

- A way to cool your colonist, even so slightly during heatwave.
- A way to preserve at least meat, even so slightly for winter (crops can be harvest just before winter).
- More ways to use local geography/flora/fauna to your benefit (geothermal vent would easily help heating yourself, animals in bedroom could produce heat, and flora could give the elements to chemically preserve meat).

[Mikhail Reign]

Well as I said, Geo Vents will heat (quiet drastically actually) a room they are in. A small room can get to a hundred degrees C in seconds.

I like the idea of animals warming a room. To expand on it, it would be nice if ALL pawns added 1/2 degrees to the temp of the room they are in. This would give tribals another option during winter - huddle together in the same room.

[Thane]

Well as I said, Geo Vents will heat (quiet drastically actually) a room they are in. A small room can get to a hundred degrees C in seconds.

I like the idea of animals warming a room. To expand on it, it would be nice if ALL pawns added 1/2 degrees to the temp of the room they are in. This would give tribals another option during winter - huddle together in the same room.

To prevent load due to moving heaters maybe they should only do that while sleeping.

[cultist]

More things to differentiate tribals from a normal colony would be welcome. Currently, it just feels like a normal colony with a much slower start and the recruitment difficulty reversed (tribals are easy to recruit, other factions are hard). Unique buildings or techs for tribals would be fun. Perhaps a different goal than building the spaceship (they are trying to re-settle, not to escape the planet right?)

It just doesn't feel right that a tribal colony can advance from the stone age to future tech in a couple of years.

[Deaghaidh]

Some buildings/items:

Smokehouse/drying rack.  Basically a tribal version of the non-electric kitchen.

Recipes: meats can be smoked or dried for preservation.  Basically a tastier form of pemmican

Burial mound: alternate form of sarcophagus

Bigger suggestion, let tribals use grass and mud as building materials.  Grass houses go up quick, but have practically no hp, are terrible for holding in temperature, and flammable as hell.  Mudbrick/adobe is the opposite, durable and heat resistant but more of an ordeal to build.  Non-Tribal can research these as a way of going native.

On another materials note, leather flaps for doors, or even leather and wood tents as buildings. 

Clothing: Muffallo robe (replaces parka) turban (? other suggestions for high-temp headwear to replace cowboy hat), animal headress (ideally would somehow look like the animal it is made of, replaces cold weather headgear but with social boost for awesomeness), grass skirts, robes, and hats.

In general I'd like to see tribal way of life be viable, and not just something one rushes through to get to air conditioning.  As it is Tribes are doomed to be killed by the weather alone without suddenly jumping to the 20th century.  IRL there were plenty of low-tech solutions to environmental challenges.

Personally I'd like to see medieval as a distinct start as well.

[Boston]

I don't really understand why "tribals" essentially have to be some group of primitives.

Tribalism is a goverment/social type, not a developmental level. The Vikings, Roman Europe, Islamic Arabia, India, Japan, aka most of human cultures throughout history have been tribal in some shape or form. Take a guess as to what level of technology they were using?

Metal. All of the above cultures had advanced metalworking techniques, were capable of building with stone, were developed socially and culturally. I actually find it vaguely offensive that when people on this board think of tribalism, they straightaway go to " UG, ME SWING BIG CLUB".

Tribes in Rimworld are defined by a lack of high technology, namely electricity, and a lack of firearms. That doesn't mean that they should have no idea what pants are, nor should they have to research metalworking and stonecarving.

If we want to get technical, during the real-world Neolithic Period ( which, amusingly enough, the "tribals" in Rimworld are far beyond. If they work metal, which they do, because they can come with metal weapons, they aren't Neolithic), "tribals" were capable of building some pretty impressive stone structures. Look up Jericho or Gobleki Tepe. They also knew what clothing was. Almost every article of clothing we can find throughout history was developed in some fashion during the Neolithic. Yes, Stone Age people wove cloth, of wool and linen and cotton, and could weave a pair of pants and a shirt. They knew what those were.

I, for one, would like to see the Tribals in Rimworld get a bit of a boost. None of this nonsense about having to research "modern" clothing, or stoneworking, or even metalworking.  Deny tribes access to electricity, and make them trade for firearms as opposed to researching a weapons bench, and we can talk further.

[cultist]

I don't really understand why "tribals" essentially have to be some group of primitives.

Tribalism is a goverment/social type, not a developmental level. The Vikings, Roman Europe, Islamic Arabia, India, Japan, aka most of human cultures throughout history have been tribal in some shape or form. Take a guess as to what level of technology they were using?

Metal. All of the above cultures had advanced metalworking techniques, were capable of building with stone, were developed socially and culturally. I actually find it vaguely offensive that when people on this board think of tribalism, they straightaway go to " UG, ME SWING BIG CLUB".

Tribes in Rimworld are defined by a lack of high technology, namely electricity, and a lack of firearms. That doesn't mean that they should have no idea what pants are, nor should they have to research metalworking and stonecarving.

The problem with your argument is that you are assuming that the 5 tribals you start with carry with them the entire knowledge and experience of their tribe. They don't, they're just random people who probably don't know how to forge a weapon or cut stone into blocks unless that happened to be the function they served in their tribe. Formal education isn't a top priority in a stone-age or even medieval society. You teach people the skills they need to perform their job and nothing more.

The same logic applies to the "crashlanded" and "rich explorer" scenarios. The planets these people came from have obviously mastered stonecutting and smithing a long time ago. But there's no guarantee that these particular people ever learned how to perform that particular job.

[CannibarRechter]

> I personally am of the opinion that temp outside should be handled like beauty

Well, I'll say I think it odd that when you're outdoors, that you are no warmer next to the fire, unless it's enclosed. I agree. Campfires and geothermals should have some radiant warmth. So should heaters. Enclosure shouldn't be a complete requirement.

[Deaghaidh]

Only somewhat related, but I'd like to see art instituted on walls.  Cave paintings for neolithic, as you unlock techs other materials become use able (stone tile or engravings, for example)

[Boston]

Only somewhat related, but I'd like to see art instituted on walls.  Cave paintings for neolithic, as you unlock techs other materials become use able (stone tile or engravings, for example)

Cave paintings are Paleolithic. There is a difference of about 10,000 years between the most famous cave paintings and the start of the Neolithic.

Neolithic peoples were perfectly capable of painting on walls and backdrops, as well as carving statues and crafting furniture. They could also make pottery and weave cloth into tapestry and curtains.