[Update: Goal reached!] Kickstarter is live!

[Hypolite]

And the freepost ends here, thanks for participating

[Semmy]

Tynan.
Thank you very much for getting me to dump another 75$ into your game. I'm a pirate king now
harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr harr

For all those that missed it or are paying through paypall.
Here is some new from tynan about a new tier.

In other news, we've just added the Pirate King tier at the $150 level (backers at any lower level, can, of course, increase their pledge to get the Pirate King benefits).

A lot of people have been saying that there was a huge gap between the $75 and $500 tiers. After some consideration, I decided to tie a new reward into a mechanic I've been wanting to put into the game for a long time: the Pirate King.

When larger groups of pirates attack the base, they will be led by a commander that we're calling the Pirate King. This person leads them in battle, and when we get pirate negotiation into the game, the King will be the one making demands or threatening the colony (or maybe even asking forgiveness after a fight gone wrong).

Please note that the Pirate King isn't actually a king in this world; it's our name for the leader of a pirate band.

In combat, the Pirate King will usually have stronger (or perhaps more idiosyncratic) stats than most characters. He'll also be more likely to spawn with an unusual or more powerful weapon (probably something stolen from an advanced civilization).

The Pirate King also creates new ways to fight the raiders. There's an old idea in shooter design (which we referenced a lot when I was working on BioShock Infinite) where you create a group of weaker Grunts led by one strong Elite. The names are references to the excellent use of these archetypes in Halo.

The Grunt/Elite design is interesting because it's tougher to kill the Elite first, but if you do, all the Grunts flee. This gives the player a choice between a lower-risk strategy of taking out the Grunts one by one before confronting their boss alone, and a higher-risk strategy of trying to snipe the Elite.

In RimWorld, the role of the Elite will be filled by the Pirate King. In the current build, pirates flee if they take heavy losses across their whole group. Now, their morale will be badly weakened if the Pirate King is defeated. This loss alone may cause them to flee.

Pirate Kings will naturally be tough to capture, but will also be quite hard to recruit. We've already got a system for varying recruitment difficulty in the game to handle this. It'll take a warden with a lot of social skill, some time, and some luck to recruit one of these guys. But if you do, you'll have gained a powerful ally.

Not every raider group will include a Pirate King. Sometimes, you just get assaulted by disorganized bands of drifters. But when a strong, organized attack comes, you'll usually be able to count on a Pirate King among the attackers.

Note that the delivery date on this guy is set for January. I think I can make him sooner than that, but I want to make sure there's time to get him working right. Obviously you'll get the game on time with everyone else.

[AspenShadow]

A quick question. When it says in the reward text "Includes all lower tiers", does that mean that a pirate king also creates a mercenary, pirate, etc, V-down the list for the game?

I'm considering upgrading to Designer or at the least pirate king and have already established a bond with my fictional mercenary lol.

[Tynan]

A quick question. When it says in the reward text "Includes all lower tiers", does that mean that a pirate king also creates a mercenary, pirate, etc, V-down the list for the game?

I'm considering upgrading to Designer or at the least pirate king and have already established a bond with my fictional mercenary lol.

You only get one character at any tier - the difference is in who your character is.

[AspenShadow]

So a pirate king only creates one Pirate King, then one mercenary, etc. or a Pirate King only creates on character?

[Yarkista]

So a pirate king only creates one Pirate King, then one mercenary, etc. or a Pirate King only creates on character?

I think a pirate king creates a pirate king only.

[AspenShadow]

So a pirate king only creates one Pirate King, then one mercenary, etc. or a Pirate King only creates on character?

I think a pirate king creates a pirate king only.

Cool, I'll remain a mercenary.

Modified: Actually... what's the role of a mercenary in the game? I'm not 100% on that atm. Is it like a stronger lone raider (similar to an assassin)? A leader of a raid but not a Pirate King? Or just a stronger raider that arrives with a group?

[British]

Since it seems you like to quote yourself, I'll spice it up and quote myself answering you asking the exact same question elsewhere, it's magic !

http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=12.msg1930#msg1930
"If you are referring to the KS tiers names, they are just that: names.
For the time being, the NPCs that attack are only known as "raiders".
The "Pirate King" tier's description actually mentions a pirate leader (mini-boss-like), but it's probably not a final name, nor is it in the game right now.

This will most likely evolve when Tynan develop factions."

[AspenShadow]

Since it seems you like to quote yourself, I'll spice it up and quote myself answering you asking the exact same question elsewhere, it's magic !

Now, now, no-one likes a smart-aleck 

That wasn't what I meant, if the title mercenary is currently part of the rewards system distinct from pirate then I need to find out that distinction, the names are placeholders at the moment but the underlying rank whether it's theory or in-game is reality and reiterating my question since I've been mocked twice now for quoting myself lol:

What is the difference between pirates and mercenaries? The Pirate King distinction has already been explained as you've mentioned.

[British]

As said already, they are merely tier names for KickStarter.
That's what people do when they put up a KS campaign.
Tynan could have named them "The tier of fear", "Tier 1", or even "Tier 1 Hah !", but that'd be too far.

[AspenShadow]

As said already, they are merely tier names for KickStarter.
That's what people do when they put up a KS campaign.
Tynan could have named them "The tier of fear", "Tier 1", or even "Tier 1 Hah !", but that'd be too far.

...The Tier of Fear would've been good.

[Semmy]

wow a little bit of time i dont get to check rimworld out and already 75K on the kickstarter.

congratulations Tynan.

How's the paypall doing?

[Yarkista]

wow a little bit of time i dont get to check rimworld out and already 75K on the kickstarter.

congratulations Tynan.

How's the paypall doing?

Probably 6K about now I would assume.

[Tynan]

PayPal is around 6-7k.

As for the tiers, just to clarify:

If you take Pirate tier you get to put a name in the game.
If you take Merc tier you get to put a name and stats and a background into the game. This creates a character who can spawn as one of many different roles.
If you take PK you do the same as Merc, but the character spawns as a Pirate King.
Designer rewards and beyond are on top of the PK reward.

Also, the character from Mercenary tier doesn't have to be a Mercenary. It can be any type except a Pirate King. Could be a trader, traveler, refugee, pirate, drifter, and so on.

[Semmy]

PayPal is around 6-7k.

As for the tiers, just to clarify:

If you take Pirate tier you get to put a name in the game.
If you take Merc tier you get to put a name and stats and a background into the game. This creates a character who can spawn as one of many different roles.
If you take PK you do the same as Merc, but the character spawns as a Pirate King.
Designer rewards and beyond are on top of the PK reward.

Also, the character from Mercenary tier doesn't have to be a Mercenary. It can be any type except a Pirate King. Could be a trader, traveler, refugee, pirate, drifter, and so on.

But can i be a transvestite pirate king willing to steal ugly man to fill up my transvestite army   (-;