Features to improve viability of low-tech settlement?

[bpf]

I've been playing around with a settlement that forgoes electricity and most research, and so far my settlers' lives have been solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short. I guess that's to be expected to some extent, but are there plans to make such an approach a little more viable? Will there be features that enable cooking and more crafting without electrical power?

A thriving tribe of brawling, bloodthirsty cannibals would really hit the spot.

[Spare74]

Making a full melee colony viable would be nice too. the first few fight are manageable but it gets out of control real fast !

[Kegereneku]

We can make campfire for heat already, we could just add cooking (something in quality between raw-food and simple) to what they do, freeing us from starting with the paste dispenser.
Then Infinite Attack wave can be replaced by less threatening non-combat events.
Yet many events wouldn't be really threatening if you have already the technology to deal with them...
...but not having said technology would mean your colony death.

But before Tynan can do all that work of content-making and rebalance I think he'll want to finish all major game-mechanic he will have to take into account to do so. Else each new feature would risk being a game-breaker.

Summary :
- Attack wave are the only threat to the settlement default technology
- Default technology is the only thing keeping the colonist alive
- More tech, more events and an all around rebalance would solve it
- But I think Tynan need all major game-mechanic around before doing so.
- and it will probably keep going as long as we suggest new work-heavy ideas

Maybe we could start by listing the absolutely minimal requirement for colonist ?
- Bed : sleeping spot -> bed
- Food : Raw food from crop -> (campfire food?) -> Nutriment past -> Meal
- Temperature : campfire for heat, but nothing low-tech for cooling (we would need a sort of shadow, maybe air vent)
- Moral : Kind of nullified at the beginning, but for how long ?

Tell me if you see more (storage/food production for winter ?)

[Boboid]

Making a full melee colony viable would be nice too. the first few fight are manageable but it gets out of control real fast !

I've made a number of full melee colonies that've made it to 30-40 colonists before I've stopped playing them, none have ever been overwhelmed
It's a bit off topic but it's entirely possible.
It's actually a lot easier in A9 with personal shields, Centipedes are still bastards though, often need to use EMP and some weapon switching to deal with them unfortuneately.

[CrazyTalk]

It's always bugged me that there's more tech involved for hunting than there is for farming (because strawberries). Hunting feels like it should come first in the move up the tech ladder - IE, you should be able to cook on a campfire - instead of needing a full power grid.  The nutrient paste dispenser has the same issue - it's just as resource intensive as cooking, and has poor results. The progression here just doesn't make sense.

[lusername]

That is because you're misunderstanding the apparent purpose of the Nutrient Paste Dispenser. The Paste Dispenser isn't for your colonists, since they hate it and it's just as expensive as regular-cooking. The Paste Dispenser is for your PRISONERS, since they can operate the dispenser in their cell just fine and you thus no longer have to bother delivering them food, they can dispense their own gruel, as for some reason they would otherwise take all your good food!

Additionally, the dispenser's body qualifies as a wall, so you can have one end, with its hopper, in your morgue or pantry, and the other end in the brig, so that prisoners can dispense their own soylent. If you have prisoners, you definitely also have plenty of soylent....