Gravestones need a "Buff"

[Barley]

Graves currently create a -150 beauty square tile when they are filled, due to basically being stockpiles for corpses. Can we get a fix for this?

I mean, sure, this is still better than having the corpse sit unburied due to "Saw Corpse" thought, but I don't think a grave should be so damaging to local beauty. Certainly real life graveyards aren't so ugly. Some are/were even used as parks for picnics, irrc.

[Monkfish]

It's likely that graves have low beauty as graveyards aren't the happiest of places and being ugly would upset the colonists eventually. This could be changed in A10 with the new joy system. Graves should have little to no impact on beauty but suck the joy out of colonists.

[Mathenaut]

I think the low beauty of graveyards is analogous to the general discomfort and/or generally-not-happy-sentiments associated with them.

Real life cemetaries aren't 'ugly', but they aren't places people generally enjoy hanging around, yeah?

[Tynan]

It's a good point, I hope to make a change that will address this in future.

[Mathenaut]

Does this mean we can make gravestones with art and write epitaphs?

[skullywag]

Can we have the days colonist dies recorded and tied to gravestones and have surviving colonists go morn on the day in question.

[Mathenaut]

At the very least, I think it would be interesting if these events are noted similar to birthdays. Just a little notice that says "It has been one year since XX was killed."

[Johnny Masters]

It's likely that graves have low beauty as graveyards aren't the happiest of places and being ugly would upset the colonists eventually. This could be changed in A10 with the new joy system. Graves should have little to no impact on beauty but suck the joy out of colonists.

I'd even argue that cemeteries could provide some beauty, because there's some pretty ones out there. Then, they do are a gloomy remainder of death so there should be some penalty if kept close to busy areas. Also, besides not being funny, i think there should be a joy activity related to graves, such as mourning or bringing flowers (or just saying a few words) at random times or in death anniversaries, which should bring some joy.

[Andy_Dandy]

Can we have ghosts spawning from graveyards?

[Barley]

I figure this is worth pointing out. Thanks Wikipedia:

On "Rural" or "Garden" Cemeteries:

Rural cemeteries, from their inception, were intended as civic institutions designed for public use. Before the widespread development of public parks, the rural cemetery provided a place for the general public to enjoy refined outdoor recreation amidst art and sculpture previously available only for the wealthy

So yea, people aren't/weren't always uncomfortable around graves. Sometimes they would have picnics among the graves. I'd like to have that reflected in-game sometime, but functionally simply removing the ugliness factor of current graves would be enough.
Maybe you could turn Abstract Sculptures into gravestones/tombs? That would be pretty cool.

[Monkfish]

Does this mean we can make gravestones with art and write epitaphs?

Ooh, that'd be good. Perhaps colonist graves could be marked by a wooden cross initially, with bills added to the sculptor's table to add a proper headstone with details of the death, like sculptures but perhaps a bit less weird. The headstone could provide positive joy to optimists and the like.

It's likely that graves have low beauty as graveyards aren't the happiest of places and being ugly would upset the colonists eventually. This could be changed in A10 with the new joy system. Graves should have little to no impact on beauty but suck the joy out of colonists.

I'd even argue that cemeteries could provide some beauty, because there's some pretty ones out there. Then, they do are a gloomy remainder of death so there should be some penalty if kept close to busy areas. Also, besides not being funny, i think there should be a joy activity related to graves, such as mourning or bringing flowers (or just saying a few words) at random times or in death anniversaries, which should bring some joy.

You're correct, though I was commenting on how the mechanics are currently working. Until A10, joy can only be expressed by mood and beauty seems a sensible way to do it.

[hwoo]

Easy way to counter it.

At the beginning colonists only have the means to build shoddy graves which to me would affect beauty and morale.

But once your colonists get to a stage where they are more or less stable. They would have the extra resources to make beautiful graves with grave stones and as someone said earlier a art to them.

TL:DR

Have shoddy graves= easy to build, bad debuffs

Everything in between/

Beautiful graves= alot more resources and skill to make, positive beauty affect

[Mckee]

Some way of upgrading them in situ would be good - maybe an art job that works like cleaning currently does. The art pawn tidies up, adds flowers, etc to an existing grave - giving it a boost to beauty and a positive moodlet to anyone who see's a beautified grave. This extra beautry rating degrades over time. Have a greater penalty for colonist graves, and a greater positive too - representing the colonists emotional investment in their own, over that of visitors/enemies.

[Mathenaut]

Graves don't exactly take much for maintenance. You'd be talking about a scale of years for it to really degrade. The effort to maintain it shouldn't defeat the purpose of it existing.

[PineyCreek]

I'm with Mckee. I would love to build an epic memorial grave site for when highly valued colonists die so that future generations can come and admire them. Actually the changelog said colonists will pray as part of fun activites it sounds like we might see the beginning of a belief system being added to the game. Wouldn't it make sense colonists might want to pay respects to the dead? Eastern religions like Shinto place a very high value on ancestor worship.

Maybe too late for A10, but there's always A11

If nothing else if my level 15 crafter with 11 social and 18 shooting dies, I want to build the grand marble casket with a statue. Or we maybe have him on display like the Russians did with Lenin.