Alpha 9 - More dumb FAQ from someone who sucks

[Mansen]

New alpha - I still suck at Rimworld (What a surprise ) I Gots some quick questions that would go a long way to help me get adjusted to the newer mechanics.

- How the heck do you get over that initial 3 colonist hurdle?
I've tried a few colonies by now and they all fail pretty fast (Phoebe Casual). My colonists are consistently taken apart by the early tribesmen and pirates over time.

I lose my medicine, I lose arms and I lose a colonist or two. On the other hand I have only been able to catch ONE attacker alive so far - and with a difficulty of 95? that seems like an impossible not to crack (I don't know how to overcome the difficulty rating other than just being nice to the prisoners)

So how do I get started so that my colony doesn't die an early death to something as simple as a bow? Those attackers are much, much better at aiming than I can pretend to be (Note: I don't really like Rimworld's "send bigger, stronger waves till the player dies" mechanic, which is why I play on Phoebe. I just want to build a nice colony and pick my fights instead of having to set up killzones and abusive herding areas)

Medicine - Or how to get enough dosh to trade for it?
This has always been the bane of my colonies - Earlier on I've been able to abuse lumber and food merchants to trade for much needed medicine, but that seems a lot harder now with the new merchant types? I've even considered going as far as making medicine a food crafting thing (But haven't found any simple mods that do that for me yet)

Colder biomes - How on #PLANET_NAME# do you survive those?
I love embarking on ice sheets in Dwarf Fortress where you can plan ahead with lots of food and wait out the infrastructure needed to survive - But Rimworld doesn't have that luxury. How do you plan around the very short growing season? Rushing to hydroponics? Does anyone have a good Let's Play of the attempt? Youtube isn't particularly helpful.

[brobe94]

New alpha - I still suck at Rimworld (What a surprise ) I Gots some quick questions that would go a long way to help me get adjusted to the newer mechanics.

- How the heck do you get over that initial 3 colonist hurdle?
I've tried a few colonies by now and they all fail pretty fast (Phoebe Casual). My colonists are consistently taken apart by the early tribesmen and pirates over time.

I lose my medicine, I lose arms and I lose a colonist or two. On the other hand I have only been able to catch ONE attacker alive so far - and with a difficulty of 95? that seems like an impossible not to crack (I don't know how to overcome the difficulty rating other than just being nice to the prisoners)

So how do I get started so that my colony doesn't die an early death to something as simple as a bow? Those attackers are much, much better at aiming than I can pretend to be (Note: I don't really like Rimworld's "send bigger, stronger waves till the player dies" mechanic, which is why I play on Phoebe. I just want to build a nice colony and pick my fights instead of having to set up killzones and abusive herding areas)

Medicine - Or how to get enough dosh to trade for it?
This has always been the bane of my colonies - Earlier on I've been able to abuse lumber and food merchants to trade for much needed medicine, but that seems a lot harder now with the new merchant types? I've even considered going as far as making medicine a food crafting thing (But haven't found any simple mods that do that for me yet)

Colder biomes - How on #PLANET_NAME# do you survive those?
I love embarking on ice sheets in Dwarf Fortress where you can plan ahead with lots of food and wait out the infrastructure needed to survive - But Rimworld doesn't have that luxury. How do you plan around the very short growing season? Rushing to hydroponics? Does anyone have a good Let's Play of the attempt? Youtube isn't particularly helpful.

1) I would say the 3 colonist hurdle for folks on casual is bit more difficult as you don't get as many incoming attackers and with Phoebe, even worse because more time in between. With that being said, some ppl will micromanage their defenses to weaken the attackers with ranged, then take a weaker melee guy go in to incapacitate them (less chance of killing them). Others may have ideas as well.

2) Medicine ... I assume you are growing the herbal medicine? If not, it works when performing operations now in Alpha 9 as well as quite effective with the increase difficulty in achieving riches in Alpha 9 to buy lots of meds early.

3) Colder biomes ... It's fairly hard to rush hydroponics, but it is not necessary to survive early, so still make it a priority research, but don't have to go straight for it. Greenhouses will be your friend, enclose areas that have soil in walls, slap a heater and sun lamp in there and you have food fairly early on (don't have to research anything to achieve this.

hope this helps...

[electrichobo]

I'm not a very good tactician so i tend to play with Randy in Builder mode. I've found it a far better bet for casual gameplay where i can build a solid colony without getting spanked by the first group of raiders. The other storytellers (including Phoebe) ruin everything in ever-increasing waves so fast it's not funny.

As i've played more and have gotten maybe just slightly better i've increased the difficulty to the next step since Randy the Builder tends to send just 1 or 2 raiders against your 5-6 colonists and a few turrets, even later on. I always imagined Randy was the obliterator among the storytellers, but at least in the two easiest settings he's... the easiest. 

[Listy]

I'm not a very good tactician so i tend to play with Randy in Builder mode. I've found it a far better bet for casual gameplay where i can build a solid colony without getting spanked by the first group of raiders. The other storytellers (including Phoebe) ruin everything in ever-increasing waves so fast it's not funny.

As i've played more and have gotten maybe just slightly better i've increased the difficulty to the next step since Randy the Builder tends to send just 1 or 2 raiders against your 5-6 colonists and a few turrets, even later on. I always imagined Randy was the obliterator among the storytellers, but at least in the two easiest settings he's... the easiest. 

A good trick to learn is cover. My defence stratergy goes something like this:

Use boulders (Remember dumping stockpiles can be used to form boulder walls)>  sandbagged redoubt> Perimeter wall > defensive line (that's two single cell walls, two cells apart with sandbags between them) > Primitive Killbox > full killbox

[Mansen]

Right - See I've already learned a ton.

Herbal Medicine? I'll be sure to put down a small patch of these
Greenhouses? Derp - I should have thought of this...
Randi on Builder? I'll give it a go

[milon]

For defenses, here's a quick and effective setup:
is an enemy, is a colonist, # is a stone wall, T is a turret.

          #
     T#
          #

Explanation:  You put 3 stone walls down in a zig zag.  It's okay if you haven't researched stone cutting yet - just disassemble some nearby rock walls to get the stone.  Walls provide excellent cover for your colonists.  Next put a turret inside the zig zag part and power it.  When an enemy attacks, let the turret do most of the work.  Your colonists can repair on an angle, so they can repair during the fight.  If the turret explodes, your colonists are protected by the rock walls.  Finally, give false cover to the enemy (not shown).  Use rock chunks or low bushes or even your own crops!  Don't give them trees or walls since they give too much cover.  You want the enemy to stop rushing you, but not to actually be protected.