General suggestions on RW so far

[Scelous]

I've been playing Rimworld for awhile now and am absolutely loving it.  One of the best games I've ever played, and it's not even finished yet.

That being said, I do have some suggestions to the dev, such as:

--Fire extinguishers
--Relationships between characters (friends, enemies, lovers, family members)
--Children characters

However, my biggest beef is with the whole weapon/clothing degrading system now in place.  I read at least one explanation by Tynan, stating that it's to equalize the economy and not be up to your neck in gear and money.

The only problem now is that the situation is completely reversed -- it is impossible to make money from gear and clothing.  The only real moneymaker is art.  The economy now uses works of art as the basis for transactions, which is really absurd and breaks the verisimilitude for me.  Not to mention that the colonists can build a spaceship -- a reactor, stasis chambers, etc. -- from scratch but can't sharpen a dull knife.

The worst, most damning part of the whole system is that it simply isn't fun.  Creating constant wear and tear on clothing and items doesn't help tell more interesting stories.  It doesn't give the player new, dynamic systems to work with.  All the wear and tear does is increase micromanagement, which increases the tedium. 

I'd also love for the factions in the game to be more fleshed out.  I'm not saying there has to be specific events occurring with them (although that would be nice), but some more basic functionality would be great.  The ability to trade, for instance. 

I am a bit confused about the priorities of the devs.  Multiple people have requested fire extinguishers or more in-depth factions, and instead what we get are...   hops and beer.  Really?  Again, I love RW, but I can safely say that adding beer into the game did pretty much nothing for the gameplay I've personally been experiencing. 

All that said, while I may have a few frustrations, I'm having a blast with RW and am genuinely grateful to the devs for making it in the first place. 

[Johnny Masters]

Welcome to the forum Scelous.

Keep in mind that degradation won't occur if stuff is stored/kept indoors. Food also won't degrade that way, but only keeping it indoors won't stop it from spoiling, it also needs to be frozen.

Even then I have to agree that economy has become too dependant on art and its exploitable prices. I'd say it needs a bit toning down and a lot of randomization, to better reflect the subjective nature of art.

Priority is highly observer-dependant, i'd rather have beer and hops first than fire-extinguishers, but then that's me heh. Then i can see were you're coming from.

About everything else: It has been tackled at some or several times around here and will probably see its way sooner or later, except children which is a bit more of a touchy subject.

[Keychan]

Well you have to remember that adding what he has to the Alphas are what he's been working on recently.  Simple, (or not so simple) things like having colonist use fire extinguishers to put out fires is simply not a priority to fleshing out the game.  That's what modders help out with. (There's a fire extinguisher mod and there's also a mod for a repair bench for weapons and clothing)

Keep your goods indoors to prevent degrading cloths and even making clothing isn't mush of a hassle.  The reason clothing and gear were nerf price wise was because it was insanely stupid for a parka to be worth hundreds of dollars and you become an easy rich man after a group of raiders walk in during winter.  You never needed an artist aside from beauty, but now there's a plus to having artists in your colony.  It's good because it gives it art more important purpose in the game now.  You either have a master craftsmen making good gear, but make a moderate amount of silver, or have a master artist and make a ton of silver.  Decisions like this is what makes stories fun.  Food or mining?  Colony expansion or defenses?  New dusters and cowboy hat or small statues?

Fleshing out factions is a suggestion I've put in a while ago, with the whole leader's trait thing.

Ugh, don't touch the topic of children in Rimworld, it's been heavily discussed, but I'd prefer it be a mod and not be implemented into the game.  It's hard enough keeping colonists sane during a crashed ship part and a pychics wave along with high expectations.  Don't need a low-work moody pregnant woman for months in my colony.  Then there's the growing said child for 18 in-game years before they're useful for work.

[Johnny Masters]

TBH I'd really like children in the game, perhaps not as a sustainable social cycle renewal thing, but it does add a touch to the game if you have the odd pregnancy here and there. Taking into account how things grow FAST in the game, i'd say pregnancy and maturing times wouldn't be that long.

Children could help with little chores and even learn someone's (probably parents) trade, by aiding them as apprentices. They certainly shouldn't be the useless little things we have today in 1st world countries nor hard workers in 3rd. Although they could do hard work considering the circumstances, even if not at the same potential as a grown adult. Working efficiency speed could reflect that, with progressively higher % until they get to 100% at adulthood. Likewise, adulthood certainly wouldn't be 18yo which is our contemporary social construct, biologic-backed essays or not. Since the game has no stats (strenght, agility, etc), the transition should be nearly painless.


(see why children is a touchy subject? it could go anywhere, anywheeerr)

[skullywag]

Problem with children in this game is that there is organ harvesting and other such horrors. Some people would find that rather distasteful (I have kids and it wouldnt bother me but some people it might) and Tynan doesnt need that kind of publicity for the game. For what it would add its not worth the hassle. Or he would have to do tge invincible children thing and thats just icky.

[Johnny Masters]

I actually think people should find organ harvesting (from living people) an horror in itself,  kids or not, but apparently even (consensual) sex is a more terrible offense than torture and maiming.

I understand the whole PR thing, specially in these politically correct times (i miss you fallout 2), but i'd love to see some demographics of the game so Tynan could make a stand/choice in this regard. I'm also not sure how bad of a reputation are we talking about, Tell Tale's Walking Dead and GoT games depict children killed in quite gruesome ways, several other known or unknown games also "feature" it without any serious/commercial backlash (although there could be the eventual), and there's certainly a precedent in movies and series. How bad a M rating would really hurt Rimworld?

Even then, there could be some limitations. Invincible kids, while certainly goofy, prevents image problems while allowing the modding community to "fix" it by making them killable, no losing there. While at vanilla, raiders might not actually aim against children, and children could be incapable of violence, thus they are automatically...kidnapped if in contact of enemy raider. Don't know about mechanoids tho', perhaps they are from Logan's Run and only shoots at adults   (just a quick reminder that we do have exploding mice in the game).

About being worth or not: Its subjective i guess. I find it brings a lot of flavor, challenges and extra stories than not having.

[Kegereneku]

Let's say you can stop at "relationship" and don't bother with the needless stuff that would bring unworthy & superfluous complication.

[Johnny Masters]

Leaving aside the needless, unworthy and superfluous, which in this case are opinative qualifiers, we can agree that, at least right now, the children subject is a hassle.

[plong999]

-let us configure our 3 beginning characters with a point system.  All subsequent characters that will appear in the game are random anyway.
- Weapon Range toggle Key. A key is assign to indicate minimum range for weapon. You select your character then when you press the key, a green circle appears on the ground to indicate minimum range for weapon. Shooters need to be inside the green circle to hit target. Target circle could be more sophisticated and divided in 3 zones :blue : 0-33 % chance of hit, white 33-66% hit, red 66-100% hit. The more your shooting skills are high the bigger the target circle is.
-Mortars needs a recon to have an area target and a spotter for precision strike . No blind shooting from enemy that haven't even seen your colony.
-Adjustable retreat system based on health. Character retreats to his room according to health damage % (75% 50% 25%) 100% equals no retreat.This feature could be placed in the character tab beside the shooting/melee skills (this thing would resolve the proximity attack paralysis...
-WATER !!!  We need water management !!! THIRST ! = Basic well, purifying process,pumps,barrels,buckets,watering cans, water tanks. I KNOW THIS WOULD BE A LOT OF WORK ! Totally worth the consideration, imo
-FARMS (animal need corn + water+fence) can attract wolf packs, bees needs flower and produce honey but can attract bears. (very dangerous) (OMG bees rampage ! everybody inside !) Animals can be stolen by pirates and tribes.
- If you want people to build more outside the mines, make mining more risky. (floods,gas explosion,rockfall) Allow dynamite if you find coal-sulphur-saltpetre.Adding explosives accelerate mining but adds to mining risks to occur 50/50.  Adding these minerals could allow : gun ammunitions, basic rocket fuel, mortars, basic furnace. Ammunitions should be available in good quantities in the beginning of game at crash site but should be crafted mid-game. 
Living in caves = dampness,darkness,cold,more dust,rheumatism,arthritis =colonists are less happy. Living outside is better for health. Allow special building that you can't build in mine : guard tower (for colonists and turrets)

[Tynan]

The only real moneymaker is art.

It's balanced this by design. If you want practical gear, you make it to use it. If you make art, you're using labor to produce money. Of course you can install your own art, but I like the balance choice where you choose between export-oriented goods and self-consume goods. Of course all is always being rebalanced.

the colonists can build a spaceship -- a reactor, stasis chambers, etc. -- from scratch but can't sharpen a dull knife.

The knife isn't dull. It's chipped or bent or had the tip broken off or rusted. Normal reversible wear isn't something you should imagine as being represented by the damage system.

I'm working on some systems that will reduce/eliminate micromanagement related to the deterioration system.

--

FYI the lack of children in the game isn't for any PR reason. They just haven't been essential yet. Lots of other more critical things to do first. e.g. I wouldn't try to implement children without first implementing a relationship system. Kind of goofy to have kids but not have any framework for their relationship to their parent to actually mean something.