Raiding overhaul

[Headshotkill]

I'll start with saying that this suggestion actually involves very little new stuff be added to the game, instead it focuses more on changing already existing systems to work better in my opinion.

Currently I think raids are too hard-coded, the way how they're split up in normal raids/ sapper raids/ sieges, it's just not very exciting to me.
I think it would be better if all these types were blended into one concept: An assault.

Simply, a group of raiders enters the map and stays away from the base, setting up camp. At first they may send a small squad which will head towards your base and instead of just attacking they will scout around your base for weak points. There may be some shooting but the distance should make it unlikely for someone to be shot.
If they find a weak spot they will return to their camp and plan a full scale attack.

They may first bombard you with mortars, but considering shells are probably expensive at the rim they will rather save them and try attacking just like that.
Some squads will keep you busy near the entrance while another squad heads towards the weak-spot with a sapper to breakthrough.
Considering the raiders aren't imbeciles, after suffering too many casualties (30% lost mayby?) they will retreat. Now it depends on how well the assault was prepared which determines wether they have mortars or not.

If they don't have any sufficient artillery they will just retreat from the map and comeback another time, if they have enough ammunition they will start a siege. bombing your base for some time and then attacking for one last time.


This was just one way of how things may go, but I think of it being more dynamic and less predictable, some groups may be more aggresive then others, some may bombard first if they have ammunition enough or they may just attack immediatly with the whole group.

[skullywag]

You may want to keep an eye on the Combat Realism mod, I know NoImageAvailable has been at least formulating ideas around this very concept, but I think this has the best chance of coming to fruition over something like this being done in the vanilla game, raids havent changed in quite a while. Ludeon could still surprise though.

[Listen1]

If they don't have any sufficient artillery they will just retreat from the map and comeback another time, if they have enough ammunition they will start a siege. bombing your base for some time and then attacking for one last time.

That is a very nice idea, but the game may suffer from performance issues. I believe that priorities may be kinda wanked in raiders intel as the amount of time that takes for them to change action.

"I'm gonna attack that last wood door, because is the best door in the universe and i'm gonna kick it until it breaks"

Again, combat realism already does a decent overhaul in the combat system. It adds alot of flavor to the game.

[blub01]

might be really tough to turn that into code tho - that would be one hell of a complex ai, I think.

[MagusLucius]

I just got done dealing with a Psychic ship part that popped out two centipedes with inferno cannons and a scyther.

After that, because I'd been running low on food from a crop die-off due to a solar flare, I was collecting some dead animals that had apparently gone berserk on each other when I get attacked by like twenty tribesmen, eight of whom are archers that standoff just outside the range  of my turrets and snipe them till they explode, still relatively few actually got past my waffles and deadfall traps (most of which were destroyed by exploding turrets.)

while I'm busy mopping up that mess, one of the elephants I collected begins to rot, so that went in the trash heap, and I had to double-time the freezer I was working on to save the rest.  I sent the hunters out to bag some more game while I was at it, only to have them blind-sided by a heard of Manhunting Elephants.

Which tore the crap out of my inner defenses before buying it.

I think the threat system is sadistic enough thank-you very much.

And as a parting shot, one of my colonists -still- managed to get killed, somehow, while I was mopping up and digging graves.  I didn't even know she'd died until I couldn't find her in the compound.  Bravo, Cassandra, Bravo.