New activities for Raiders

[British]

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.

Tynan already has the notion of leaders in the pipe (that's the pirate leader described in the KS "Pirate King" tier).

[IdeaBoy]

When i was watching videos when raiders were on the map they they circled up looking like they were planning something so i thought how would they know if they never saw your base so, to be more realistic one or two raiders should scout out your base and return to tell the others your layout so when they attack they will be more organized like, if you have a side that's not defended.                                                                             
 
If the raiders see that side they could send like 5 guys to distract you while the whole other force attack on the other side and if the scouting group is killed the raiders will go in blind which means they will just charge in. (sorry if idea is copied. 

[Yarkista]

When i was watching videos when raiders was there they circled up looking like they were planning something so i thought how would they know if they never saw your base so, to be more realistic one or two raiders should scout out your base and return to tell the others your layout so when they attack they will be more organized like you have a side that's not defended.                                                                             
 
If the raiders see it they could send like 5 guys to distract you while the whole other force attack on the other side. (sorry if idea is copied. 

Are you suggesting that raiders send a scouting party first? What you put is a little hard to understand.

[IdeaBoy]

Yes and better flanking system?

[Drabus]

So evil! Interesting. However, the opportunist colonist may ambush the scout to slim down the herd :p

[Enjou]

So evil! Interesting. However, the opportunist colonist may ambush the scout to slim down the herd :p

More than that, killing off the scouting party could affect the raider behavior in a few of ways - if their scouting party doesn't return, perhaps they could feel greater fear and decide the operation isn't worth it or it could result in the raiders just not using as good a plan and just rushing in since they lack intel.

[Ontogenesis]

I've only seen the raiders activity in the youtube videos I've watched, so can't actually see what they do, but for new behaviour I would suggest (without introducing new types):

> Thieves - their goal is to steal equipment. Once they break in and find what they need, they take it and leave.
> Slavers - their goal is to capture your colonists. Once they have incapicated 1 or 2, they take them and leave.
> Saboteurs - their goal is to cause as much damage as possible. They light multiple fires and attack key structures or anything undefended before escaping.
> Snipers - they have long range weapons and sit away from the camp and attack those in the open. This forces your colonists indoors, and you need to get creative to respond to them.

And some suggestions for new types:

> Ecclipses - powerful, but cannot be exposed to light or enter light areas without taking serious damage or death. They will attempt to destroy light sources and power lines to enter areas where your colonists are. Will require more planning when wiring your base. Most likely a harder level type. Run out of power when they come and you're in trouble.
> Weremuffalo - a muffalo hidden in the herd, that was perhaps bitten at some point in the past... turns into a terrifying beast at full moon. (I'm not sure if it's planned to be able to raise muffalo as cattle, but this could be a fun edition).

I apologise, I haven't checked if these have already been suggested...

@ Ideaboy, I deleted it with this intention, but then changed my mind, seems better to keep these things to one thread as they all come under this unbrella. Now I've messed up the message order, ah geez.

[IdeaBoy]

Not a problem i'll fix it...

[turnip]

> Ecclipses - powerful, but cannot be exposed to light or enter light areas without taking serious damage or death. They will attempt to destroy light sources and power lines to enter areas where your colonists are. Will require more planning when wiring your base. Most likely a harder level type. Run out of power when they come and you're in trouble.
> Weremuffalo - a muffalo hidden in the herd, that was perhaps bitten at some point in the past... turns into a terrifying beast at full moon. (I'm not sure if it's planned to be able to raise muffalo as cattle, but this could be a fun edition).

You might consider adding these under the "New enemy types" idea list here: http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=158.0

[SpaceEatingTrex]

Ideas for different enemy motivations came up in this thread as well. Ontogenesis and I posted some of the same ideas, so I guess great minds think alike! 

I think one important element for enemies having different objectives would be to make them able to meet those objectives. For instance, if a Slave Trader is going to try and capture people colonists alive he's going to need something different than grenades and a machine gun. Unfortunately the biggest part of making them able to achieve their objectives would be programming their behavior to do so, which can be costly in terms of time and effort. Still, I think having a variety of enemy behaviors would be a very significant contribution to the depth and quality of RimWorld, so I hope it's a goal for development.

[AspenShadow]

I think I've posted it somewhere else before but what I'd like to see in the harder levels is Raiders using the environment to their advantage more than just the cover system.

If you've got a minefield and deadly defences set up than they'll throw their weakest troops at you first as cannon fodder, OR herd a bunch of muffalo ahead of you to set off traps (a very good Raider AI tactic I think would be nice).

Inciting a muffalo stampede could be good or bad for the raiders, sometimes the muffalo would attack THEM. And other times the panicking muffalo herd would trample through your home zone possibly destroying crops.

[IdeaBoy]

really good idea!

[Hawkido]

Would like to see a firebombing raider whose AI goal is to set walls (not buildings, a building has a roof) on fire/blow them up... start including him after the second cycle, and he will start attacking any wall in a fairly large radius while the raiders are in the planning mode... thus it will look much more like they ARE planning/preparing to attack, by weakening your outer defenses.
This also answers the tactic that people choose to take by building walls  in the wilderness to funnel the raiders into a kill box, that alone would make raiders much more dynamic. 

[British]

This also answers the tactic that people choose to take by building walls  in the wilderness to funnel the raiders into a kill box, that alone would make raiders much more dynamic.

Indeed.

[starlight]

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.

Could raiders raid oxygen on low-oxygen worlds?
Can we make low-oxygen the default. Considering that this is supposed to be an SF sim. Rather than a Dwarf Fortress look-alike.