Mech suits

Started by Knudsen, October 06, 2013, 09:20:54 PM

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Knudsen

There's been a bunch of suggestions already and I'll be surprised if this one hasn't been brought up.
I did try and take a look around but I found nothing specific.
I do apologize though if this has been talked to death or belong in some already existing thread.

My English is not the best either, and my grammar is terrible, you've been warned.


So a suggestion Mechs/Mech suits!

You could totally add all kinds of them.
Mining, Builder, war-mech?

How would they work?

Types:
Well obviously for the Mech's to be worthwhile they'll have to make things easier for you as a player.
It therefore, goes without saying that they'll need to be quite buffed in the area they are specialized in.

The Mining mech needs to dig faster, while also maybe have some storage?
Builder have a faster building speed?
War-mech some kind of inbuild weapon system, high amount of defense/HP?
etc.

Saying that.
I do believe all mechs should to some extend offer a degree of protection as well as higher melee damage.

Balance.
Well as said the Mech should excel in the areas its specialized in, otherwise what's the point?
I can't really comment much in terms of speed of building or mining as first of all I haven't actually played the game.
And secondly, I'm sure that would be something that'll have to be done as you developer the game.
But here is some thoughts I think I could comment on.

Buildings.
The mech shouldn't just be build out of blue, I feel a workstation could be added (possible to be used with other elements of the game?)
That would allow colonists to build the mech, upgrade or even repair.
With that a charging station could be added, allowing recharging of the mech as well as a parking space for it.
But maybe you'll want to save resources so a simply 'parking spot' which is nothing but a few markings on the ground, could be added.
Allowing for multiple mechs to be parked in spots that would cost no/close to no resources but also offer nothing but just that, a place to park.

Power.
The mech should require power, recharged by your base it self.
As said the recharge station would obviously power the mech but also serve as a 'parking spot' if you will.
What would it use power on?
Well adding power costs to all its actions and a timer on the recharging of the mech would serve well for balance.

Players should then probably have the ability to decide how much the mech is used, even allow them to run it dry of power if they wished.
A portable recharging station (Though much slower at recharging) could be added, serving as a solution to the "Oh shit my mech is dry." problem.

Combat.
A mech is a large machine the way I see it.
As such it should do a decent amount of melee damage well above the average of the regular colonist.
Facing one of these in melee should be certain death, not great if you want to take prisoners.
It's weaponry should also be of the larger variant, allowing for much destruction and again not great for taking prisoners.
Now obviously unless its a war mech it probably shouldn't carry weapons, but all of them should have the strength in their favour.

In terms of health and cover I think a mech would have quite a decent amount of HP/armour allowing for it to take a beating.
With cover I think it would suit best if it wasn't applied at all to the mech, its after all a decent size so its center of mass would be well above any cover on the ground allowing for easy aiming at the vital parts of the mech. (Unless the enemy is really into shooting feet!)
To make the war mech more appealing you could also take the person inside of the mech into account.
Allowing him/her to take damage, a mining mech may not need the best of shielding therefore making the controller an easy target!
Where as the war mech would provide plenty of cover.
That kinda brings me onto ways the thing can die.

I think the mech could have a number of ways to die/get disabled.
Stuff like loosing its legs/arms, its main computer being damaged turning it into a pile of steel.
Critical damage resulting in a big explosion, fires everywhere.
Its user being killed leaving it with no one to control it. (Pirate mech = epic loot?)

Research.
A mech shouldn't just be a go-to option.
Now I'm a fan of research that gives multiple options, I dislike systems where you research something specific.
I much rather research something that opens up options across the board, maybe I get a speed upgrade for mining equipment that also allows me to build a vital mining part of the mining mech?
As such I would probably tie the research requirements into other things, not saying there couldn't be one or two costly research things that are mostly mech related.
That's just how I would of done it, however not a easy thing to comment on when clearly research still have a way to go and will probably require rebalancing as the game comes along.


I feel it has the potential for interesting game play, I mean image this.
The player would rely on these mechs for his defence against pirates during the dark season.
A wave of pirates appear and the player instantly sends them out against them, winning the battle!
However, these mechs did not just get damaged but used most of their power and are now at less than optimal condition.
The mechs are obviously sent directly back and into their charging stations and repairs beginning once the colonists have the time.
But before any real recharging or repairs are allowed a second attack appears!
What you have just used your mechs on dealing with turned out to be nothing but a smaller scout force/wave.
And you're now left with no choice but to use what power you have left on recharging these as well as hurry your colonists onto the tasks of repairing these machines.
You did just deal with one attack though and most of your colonists are tired and hardly recovered from the last attack.
You're now at the edge of what you're capable of handling.
You march into battle again come out victories, but at what cost? A few colonists are now running on fumes, some may even be dead, killed while steering their mechs into battle, etc, etc.

It's probably a long shot of an idea, but I just felt that if I'm ever going to see mech's in a game the like of DF, PA, etc.
It's something along the lines of Rimworld, it's simply the only 'setting' where it makes sense.
So I had to give it a shot in terms of suggesting it!

I hope it made sense and it wasn't just writing of a mad-wanna-be game designer.

Hypolite

Mech is not a bad idea itself, but I feel it doesn't "suit" the game. There is already a lot of mech games where you can customize your mechs and battle them against hostiles. Turn-based, real-time, I guess you can already get a lot of mech action.

It doesn't fit there because we are talking about a handful of stranded colonists. Mechs would require a heavy industry that this game isn't really supposed to offer, at least yet.

Starkiller

Having mech suits would be nice, maybe in a simpler form is more fitting the setting. Also using simple robot for mining and/or bulding would be cool too.

Hypolite

Robots as supplemental colonists that need power instead of food and can go into mental breakdowns as well, I'm all for it. Combat mechs in an otherwise survival/western background, not so much.

AspenShadow

Quote from: Hypolite on October 07, 2013, 06:00:14 AM
Robots as supplemental colonists that need power instead of food and can go into mental breakdowns as well, I'm all for it. Combat mechs in an otherwise survival/western background, not so much.

I'm with Not-Bruce on this, the idea of late game robots to fulfil tasks is a nice idea and could spawn more events/story-interaction. But mech-suits I'd have to vote against.

enystrom8734

I for one love mechs.

This game is not a mechs game. It is a very westerny scifi game and mechs dont fit. Industrial tools? Yea. Late game tech (if available) for like heavy drills or fast transport around the map (pneumatic tubes a la Futurama? :D )

But no, not mechs, too advanced of a tech and very unwieldy.
E Nystrom - @enystrom8734

Yarkista

Personaly, I would like mechs.

British

#7
I don't.

Zeiph

As far as I love mechs (ROWWWWWBOAAATTTSSS), I'm also agains the idea, but maybe not against let's say some light exoskeleton that would help colonists doing their chores.

Spike

But then you'd have Pacific Rim... world.   :P

Yeah, I think exo-skeletons might be a viable upgrade at some point - maybe the root of a few branches of R&D that would affect different jobs.  Mining, hauling, combat, etc.

British

Exo-skeletons seem fine.

I don't know what Tynan has in mind, but the way I see RimWorld is that at its very core, it's a game about colonists, and as such, the only controllable units should be the colonists (maybe some "pets", but even I'm not fond of the idea of controlling them as well).

AspenShadow

An exoskeleton (I'm assuming you don't mean organic) can be more like changing clothing/armour than an actual mech you fasten into.
For that matter is there something your colonists can wear to stop them getting shot as much in mind for later versions?

Spike

Quote from: AspenShadow on October 07, 2013, 07:53:34 PM
An exoskeleton (I'm assuming you don't mean organic) can be more like changing clothing/armour than an actual mech you fasten into.
For that matter is there something your colonists can wear to stop them getting shot as much in mind for later versions?

I'd actually see it as a researched tech upgrade that gives a bonus to different action types, like the pneumatic drill for mining.  Basic tech tree might be something like 1) Exoskeleton, 1a) Exoskeleton Mining Rig (requires Pneumatic Drill), 1b) Exoskeleton Construction Rig (req something).  2) Armored Exoskeleton (requires Armor tech), 2a) Combat Support Rig (requires Blasting Charge).  That kind of thing.

AspenShadow

Quote from: Spike on October 07, 2013, 07:59:56 PM
I'd actually see it as a researched tech upgrade that gives a bonus to different action types, like the pneumatic drill for mining.  Basic tech tree might be something like 1) Exoskeleton, 1a) Exoskeleton Mining Rig (requires Pneumatic Drill), 1b) Exoskeleton Construction Rig (req something).  2) Armored Exoskeleton (requires Armor tech), 2a) Combat Support Rig (requires Blasting Charge).  That kind of thing.

I thought as much, but an exoskeleton should really be considered equipment to be stored and gotten out of the locker room shouldn't it?

There are research ideas about improving every aspect of mining, construction, growing, etc. before they'd get to the tech-tier necessary to be able to design an exoskeleton, not to mention by then -if your colonists aren't always dying- you'll have people pretty high-skilled in those areas anyway from all the practice.

Then again at this point most considerations I can put forth are conjecture only until the Alpha release on November 1st.

Spike

Quote from: AspenShadow on October 07, 2013, 08:08:35 PM
Then again at this point most considerations I can put forth are conjecture only until the Alpha release on November 1st.

Agreed  :P

And I could see it either way of being a researched item that you are assumed to have (like picks and pneumatic drills) or being an actual item that you'd have to research, manufacture and equip.  If that's the case, it should be a bigger boost than just an assumed item.