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[screeching_goat]

Great game! I look forward to playing it again. However, have you explored the possibility of giving clear objectives to the raiders or having different types of raids?  It would be interesting if one raider just appeared and disappeared very quickly, taking away half your metal and a few colonists. Right now they appear far away and try to kill all the colonists, but in this scenario the raider could appear within the colony to take whatever they want. It would force the player to be prepared for different types of attacks and could prolong the game. Or frustrate the player.......

[Tynan]

It's a great idea. I really want to have lower-grade nonlethal raids. Or even raids that don't try to kill everyone. There's nothing that interesting about a story of a colony that just gets wiped out - it's much more intriguing if people are getting kidnapped and supplies burnt in a series of encounters, I think. And it gives players a chance to recover and learn how to fight back.

So yes, you're definitely right.

Currently all the raids are well-telegraphed. While this is good for allowing players to understand, prepare for and pre-empt the coming fight, it would be good if some of them were more surprise attacks, to give variation. These would have to be more nonlethal (or even single-thief) type encounters.

PS - Nice nickname.

[Hypolite]

In that line of thought, maybe the raiders value their lives more than the loot they could get, and would run away after a few bruises. I didn't get to that point yet, but in a story-oriented perspective, raiders would probably not die up to the last of them for a pile of metal. Except if you pissed them off by raiding their own supplies, of course.

[Tynan]

The raiders currently flee if they take a certain % of losses; I want them to be a bit less lethal in general so I may reduce this and have them flee in a wider variety of circumstances. Or just, say, kidnap one colonist and leave. The always-lethal-genocidal attacks have a way of cutting stories short.

[Skorvold]

Maybe the raiders can do kidnappings?

Pffbt Nevermind, already mentioned. My bad.

Can prisoners turn against you or anything? Maybe if you took one prisoner they would come back to get that specific person back?

[Hypolite]

Yesterday I fent off a raid of 8 raiders, only the last one tried to flee but he was already injured. They were tough nuts, I guess.

[Tynan]

Maybe the raiders can do kidnappings?

Pffbt Nevermind, already mentioned. My bad.

Can prisoners turn against you or anything? Maybe if you took one prisoner they would come back to get that specific person back?

I want to do more difficult prisoners, as well as multi-incident storylines with factions of pirates, but that's in the future. For now the prisoner mechanics are really straightforward. You capture them, then you either sell them into slavery or recruit them.

Hypolite - I should look at their losses detection code... perhaps it's not quite sensitive enough.

[AspenShadow]

What are the noticeable differences between the raider ranks: Pirates, Mercenaries, Pirate Kings, etc.
(If indeed they are like ranks.)

Is a mercenary more of a loner/assassin? In that case could he be paid more than what he's being paid to get him to stop attacking?

Do pirates come later in the game when you can stand up to their space-travelling tech? Or in line with past comments on this thread, will they come but not be as lethal about it right from the off?

Tribal Raiders are an idea you've either been toying with or are confirmed future content, will their tech level evolve with yours (if lagging behind slightly) or will they remain at a set level? Of course they can always scavenge your weaponry from fallen colonists, but can they operate them?

[British]

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.

[Spike]

Hmm, what about pirate negotiations?  They hail you, demand various goods (flat percent of your total, only food, etc).  You can try to bargain/plead with them, but if you irritate them too much, or refuse, then they land to attack.  Different tactics - attack to kill, grab goods & then run, etc.

[Adamemnon]

I've got a stupid idea if you don't mind.

Smugglers - a small group of enemies that would establish a small base somewhere on the map. They would store and ship various materials, items and slaves from there. It would be up to a player to do something about them. Take a hostile action and wipe them out?Steal their stuff while they are asleep or not at the base? Trade with them?

I hope it makes sense. I'm fully aware that my English is not perfect. No need to remind me.

[FangoWolf]

I posted this in Animal Husbandry, but it might be better as a raid type?

What about vermin crop eaters.  Critters stealing food supplies.  Which could be hillarious if a locus like swarm rolled the area like army ants.

A creature that gnaws into power couplings and drains energy as food and would probably have a nasty electric shock attack.

[AspenShadow]

A creature that gnaws into power couplings and drains energy as food and would probably have a nasty electric shock attack.

That would go well with someone's suggestion of a little energy-type being that was inspired by... Stargate? I believe.

[SpaceEatingTrex]

Other posters have been mentioning a variety of different raids/enemies. I think that's a great way to keep the game varied and interesting through many different playthroughs. An important thing to consider with different types of raids is that a player should have to respond or plan for each one differently. Even if there's a million variations if players handle them the same way it won't matter, but a handful of ones players have to respond to differently or build different defenses for will make the game and the game stories more interesting.

One way to give raids more variation is to give the raiders different motivations. Some good ideas have already been posted in this thread! Each different kind of enemy should create a different story for the player. These motivations could range from Slave Traders capturing colonists alive, to Bandits stealing resources, to Raiders trying to wipe out the colony. The idea of Smugglers setting up camp that Adamemnon suggested seems interesting as well. Also AspenShadow mentioned Assassins - having an enemy that specifically targeted one colonist is another interesting angle, particularly from a story perspective if it could be tied into that colonist's backstory.

Another way to give enemies / raids more variety would be to vary the equipment and armaments the enemies have. This should keep players actively involved in defense, and help prevent the enemies from being exploited. For instance, I've seen posted elsewhere if you build turrets everywhere you don't have to worry about raids. But what if raiders spawned with EMP weapons or other anti-turret equipment? Then players would have to react to the situation instead of just waiting for their setup to take care of it.

I think including both of these ideas should provide enough variety to keep players engaged through multiple games. If there are social options like bribing, trading and etc. that's even better. If the Faction module goes through, there should be enough depth to keep players engaged for a long time.

[Spike]

One way to give raids more variation is to give the raiders different motivations. Some good ideas have already been posted in this thread! Each different kind of enemy should create a different story for the player. These motivations could range from Slave Traders capturing colonists alive, to Bandits stealing resources, to Raiders trying to wipe out the colony. The idea of Smugglers setting up camp that Adamemnon suggested seems interesting as well. Also AspenShadow mentioned Assassins - having an enemy that specifically targeted one colonist is another interesting angle, particularly from a story perspective if it could be tied into that colonist's backstory.

Rather than having different enemies, I'd suggest using a table weighted by the "leader" background.  First, each attacking group would have one designated leader - taking that one out would make it easier make the others turn tail.  But more importantly, the character background would indicate the likely raid type:  (going off memory of LP vids for types)
Medieval Lord - capture slaves
Medieval Oaf/anything else - general mayhem, steal anything of value, with alcohol, weapons & cash a priority.
Urbworld - take anything of value, may or may not take slaves
Assassin - target a specific Colonist, and kill anyone in the way

Of course, it might be easier to just have different preset enemies, so that might be a horrible idea to implement.