Automated Units.

[Ender]

so, all great ideas, but why not simply say, "sure, your colonists aren't  able to build robots in the beginning, but why not say after buying, and subsequently  disassembling some robots your scientists cant reverse engineer them?" after all if we have the base technology to suggest that we can at least communicate outside of our planet, much like we can now, and have the protocols to speak with any ships systems that happen to fly by us from, let us not forget worlds that, many of them have grown up by themselves. then why can't building at least some simpler harvesting robots, or hell as has been mentioned Rolling or walking robots? And if you don't appreciate being able to reverse engineer AI, i understand that, then how come we simply cant have colonists sitting in command chairs in a cozy room? do we not already implement that tactic with predator drones? now all you need is time for some one to develop some good firm ware and the base robot.
           sorry if this thing has already been talked out and been resolved, i got done with the first page of posts got to the second page, read half way down and got bored of reading the "no your not right!" No! your not valid!" 's so i didint get done with all the posts, but there is my thoughts on it, oh and if were about to have nuclear reactors, again, why don't we have the tech for robots, after all even now on earth we almost have the tech for self driving cars down pat. (let the "your wrong you ignorant person!"s  fly!)

[Trensicourt]

This is not a reason. This is a proposition. An idea. And not even close

What is yours? Your in this conversation Gal, but your not participating in neither side, in fact, your just mocking both sides.

[Galileus]

What is yours? Your in this conversation Gal, but your not participating in neither side, in fact, your just mocking both sides.

Now, now, can't just give out everything out on silver platter, can I? Both interested sides stated their reasoning, missing anything actually game related and going on on wild fantasies with no grounding in reality. Sorry guys - that's just the case. You both are right, because both of you write sci-fi at this point, and arguing about it from that perspective is like arguing what soup is universally better tasting. Personal preference.

And yes, there is but one difference mechanically and from gameplay standpoint, that was missed in there, and I want both guys to actually try and find it. Find out what changes with each implementation. If they manage that - or at least try - they just may also figure out how such discussion should be lead, and what is a priority in it. There are a few interesting things that can roll out - and none of them will, if I just state the obvious (well... after you hear it it's obvious) and there can be no discussion in such a case.

So, the question still stands - both approaches presents different ways of explaining the origin of robots in the colony, and are distinctly different from only one gameplay mechanic. There were some mentions on how one of these (in opposition to other) will affect gameplay - but unfortunately all of them wrong Anyone wants a shot?

[Trensicourt]

....

Here is a simplified version
Durable robots you can only buy for about 15,000+ cash..
Role-Specific robots you can only buy for about 8,000+ cash.

Colonists can make their own robots, but they will never match those market bought ones in performance and costs a heap load of metal.

Each robot is what I call a MULE.
They need to be:
Charged in a docking pad attached to a power line.
Repaired constantly.

Pros: They can do human labor much faster and in larger loads.

Cons: -need to be repaired -need to be charge -noticeable deficiency over time -easily destroyed(50-200 health)
-costly

Is this good example of what a robot should be?

[Untrustedlife]

....

Here is a simplified version
Durable robots you can only buy for about 15,000+ cash..
Role-Specific robots you can only buy for about 8,000+ cash.

Colonists can make their own robots, but they will never match those market bought ones in performance and costs a heap load of metal.

Each robot is what I call a MULE.
They need to be:
Charged in a docking pad attached to a power line.
Repaired constantly.

Pros: They can do human labor much faster and in larger loads.

Cons: -need to be repaired -need to be charge -noticeable deficiency over time -easily destroyed(50-200 health)
-costly

Is this good example of what a robot should be?

I still don't like this idea.. no idea why....

Rare robots you can find in ruins.
Fully durable do everything (basically a colonist) but extremely extremely rare.

Robots that can be built are Limited to hauling (cannot build fighter bots, but can build bots to do hauling and cleaning and no miners either)

Chance of extremely rare trader that can sell you high quality robots (still limited to basic tasks, and including miners and repairers) that are harder to destroy and don't require constant maintenance, but the starter price is 15,000 money

I don't like the idea of having a colony full of robots , sorry. Doesn't fit at all in my opinion (we are on a rim-world that is basically the wild west for gods sake), but the occasional cleaner bot that breaks constantly and always tries to do a good job seems like a cute addition, you should also be able to name your robots it would be like a pet. .

edit:
The bot should also make occasional beep bop boop noises (you know beeps and whirls) for added cuteness

Note Trader-bought robots lack these noises and the ones you can find in ruins will always attack people if their loyalty gets really low.

[Galileus]

Eh, robots need a special building to operate. You're limited to one building with 2 slots (frequencies), upgradeable by research. Colony full of robot is no more

[Ender]

Eh, robots need a special building to operate. You're limited to one building with 2 slots (frequencies), upgradeable by research. Colony full of robot is no more

why not have a colony full of robots, especially if a colonist has to operate it? I think that would be very possible to be a future possibility, much like the movie "surrogate".

[Trensicourt]

1) We are not talking about finding robots.
2) We do not want robots that can replace colonists.
3) I'm talking about stupid robots that can only do 1 specific thing(same speed as colonists) and easily become inefficient like "Robot A broke down, efficiency decreased to 43%". These are technically substitutes for missing colonists FOR specific roles. This means you would need about 6 different robots just to fill roles for a single colonist. Hopefully, this can show you that mass producing this is like mass producing paper instead of plastic. In addition it creates a  "Oh robots will do all the damn work for me while I mine, oh wait I have to charge 100 colonist made robots, hmmm that equals 200 full charged batteries in 2 days. Oh well fuck me." kind of situation.
4)Seriously!!! GOD Damnit, we don't want any robot that can kill. It upsets the balance of the games, if you had noticed. We have sentry guns and blast charges. Do you really think we need anything more?

Raider Scout-"Okay, I've spotted a single entrance with 24 sentry turrets with double layered sand bags. It seems like a trap, sir"

Raider Commander-"Who cares, CHARGE!!!!"

Blasting Charge 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 activated.

2 minutes later, blast charges kills 56 raiders. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
7 minutes later, sentry guns kills 76 raiders; sentry guns were destroyed in process.
3 minutes later, 4 robots with dual heavy machine guns killed the last 23 raiders. 2 robots was destroyed in the process.

Colonist 3 opens the blast door and goes wipe the blood stained windows and faints soon after.

Colonist 1 waves at Colonist 3 and call Colonist 4 to rescue her, Colonist 4 suffers a mental breakdown during the rescue,
"Oh my god that was the best reality SHOW ever! Look at that man and the freaking blood stains on the wall. You know how much they paid for this? They for it with their lives!! You get the joke?"

Colonist 2-"Yeah, I think I really fucking do. Excuse me for 1 second, I think I'm going to throw up." Colonist 2 throws up and suffered a mental breakdown after counting over 50 dead bodies.

[Untrustedlife]

1) We are not talking about finding robots.
2) We do not want robots that can replace colonists.
3) I'm talking about stupid robots that can only do 1 specific thing(same speed as colonists) and easily become inefficient like "Robot A broke down, efficiency decreased to 43%". These are technically substitutes for missing colonists FOR specific roles. This means you would need about 6 different robots just to fill roles for a single colonist. Hopefully, this can show you that mass producing this is like mass producing paper instead of plastic. In addition it creates a  "Oh robots will do all the damn work for me while I mine, oh wait I have to charge 100 colonist made robots, hmmm that equals 200 full charged batteries in 2 days. Oh well fuck me." kind of situation.
4)Seriously!!! GOD Damnit, we don't want any robot that can kill. It upsets the balance of the games, if you had noticed. We have sentry guns and blast charges. Do you really think we need anything more?

Raider Scout-"Okay, I've spotted a single entrance with 24 sentry turrets with double layered sand bags. It seems like a trap, sir"

Raider Commander-"Who cares, CHARGE!!!!"

Blasting Charge 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 activated.

2 minutes later, blast charges kills 56 raiders. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
7 minutes later, sentry guns kills 76 raiders; sentry guns were destroyed in process.
3 minutes later, 4 robots with dual heavy machine guns killed the last 23 raiders. 2 robots was destroyed in the process.

Colonist 3 opens the blast door and goes wipe the blood stained windows and faints soon after.

Colonist 1 waves at Colonist 3 and call Colonist 4 to rescue her, Colonist 4 suffers a mental breakdown during the rescue,
"Oh my god that was the best reality SHOW ever! Look at that man and the freaking blood stains on the wall. You know how much they paid for this? They for it with their lives!! You get the joke?"

Colonist 2-"Yeah, I think I really fucking do. Excuse me for 1 second, I think I'm going to throw up." Colonist 2 throws up and suffered a mental breakdown after counting over 50 dead bodies.

Agreed Mostly. But I have an improvement, that will make your idea better (in my opinion).
(and i do want a special rare type you can find cause finding a very rare "robot" is fun)

Bear with me The first type doesn't need to be added.

Run down of my idea.

My idea has 3 classes of robots ( All the classes are completely different and they are gotten in different ways.)

I (This one is just sort of a side idea)
. A very rare one you find in the ruins of an ancient civilization that does replace a colonist (yes tynan is adding ruins later on)(It is basically the same exact thing as a colonist) nothing special, just a reskinned colonist with randomized skills, just like any other colonist. (perhaps they are always skilled at one kind of job, (that specific skill will be a 7 instead of a 3)

II (These are the ones I know I want, and these are the ones you want, but done slightly differently)
Robots you build, they are limited to only a single job and can only do hauling,cleaning,repairing (one of the three) and make cute beep boop noises (and break down constantly), and you can name them.And the colonists get a morale boost from hanging around these cute little guys. (I want the player to get just as attached to this robot as they are to their colonists)

III (The ones you can buy)
Robots you can buy, for very expensive, they are hiqh quality don't require as much maintenance and can do only one job, but this job can be any job except fighting. (they are less "cute" as the crappy robots your colonists build as-well (and as-such don't give as much of a morale boost), and do not make beeping noises, and cannot be named by you (they have a random name when you trade for them)).The player shouldn't get attached to these ones. (this way the player has incentive to keep his own colonist-built robots even if they suck, because the player actually cares about the robots he built.)

I believe having a variety and having robots that you WILL get attached to, will help to make the procedural stories, just that much more exciting memorable and interesting.


What do you think?

Also if you want a more in depth look, i just basically rewrote my previous post  (that post has more info)

[Galileus]

I think you're overestimating the cuteness or underestimating the depth Player gets attached to colonists because they are breathing, fighting, working figures with a bit of story both from the lore and from the gameplay standpoint. Your drones not only have a huge disadvantage here - doing one thing and being drones - but as a buildable unit they are rather expendable by nature.

Also, there is still this one huge, gaping hole I can't get over - if we can build robots, sell robots, buy robots, bathe in robots and consume robots from the lack of different food... why does rim worlds exist again? Ain't the idea of manual labor and need to rely more on oneselves than on technology the very core of Rimworld/Firefly?

[Untrustedlife]

I believe that if the player gets to name the bot, if the bot feels like it has personality. (and just plain being cute, and being limited severely in the jobs they can do) (literally only 3 of the jobs hauling ,cleaning, repairing), and can only be assigned to one job (when they are built) the player will come to attach to the robot, especially if they are still extremely expensive to make and maintain and to keep) (and are therefore extremely hard to replace)


However what you said is true.
Robots don't really fit the game.

[Galileus]

Actually it could, but you need to realize this very crucial aspect - robots (or drones or any other name that sounds better than robots ) can't really be a boon of any sort to colonists. If the drones are simply not worth it (too costly, too slow, too bad), then not only they can actually work as that cutesy element, but also provide a choice to get rid of the busywork (like repairs) at the cost of efficiency. That leaves drones from in-game standpoint completely useless, because the profit is "out of the game" - available only to player.

This could be very easily reflected by in game description, with something like: "Drones are not a popular choice in the rim, as they are too costly for the quality of work they provide. It's simply faster and cheaper to just do all the work yourself - and yet you can find drones every now and again, owned by people that are both too rich and too lazy to care about bothersome things like work or efficiency".

[Trensicourt]

Here is what i'm talking about by the way....

Search MULE Starcraft 2. You can also search SCV if you want.

Once you have viewed it, you will know why this is the most cool looking robot ever.

[Untrustedlife]

Here is what i'm talking about by the way....

Search MULE Starcraft 2. You can also search SCV if you want.

Once you have viewed it, you will know why this is the most cool looking robot ever.

We call them mule(M.U.L.E (that would be neat))
I shall show you a  screenshot of the first M.U.L.E


[
They should look like that.
(joking)

In all seriosuness though
I think that they should be tiny like this guy:
(officer beepsky from spacestation 13) the only difference is that it should be more rusty looking

[Trensicourt]

Eh Eh Eh Eh... I really have no comment for that...... I mean.... M.U.L.E. from starcraft still looks so much better. Nevertheless perfectly fitting in rimworld if converted to pixels.