Your Cheapest Ideas

Started by Tynan, October 09, 2013, 12:17:07 AM

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Shards

#645
Didnt read everything but i guess its not big deal if this has been said before...

Bounty hunters / Law  /Military ships  : you could get reward for captured raiders , pirates ,  space marine deserter and so on ... maybe need special Background for raider to be "wanted" or maybe familly offering money to get prisonner back (reward with money / stuff / buffs)

working radius for each settler : as an example if you wanna have fews smalls colonies all over the map  instead of one big  (not sure if its a cheap idea)

Non lethal Weapon (shorter range i guess)

Romance ? put two settlers in a same "house" with things in their backgounds that make them close from each other and soon or late you may have to let them sleep in same room better than in separate ? (they might get buff sleeping in same room even debuff if not)

Possibility to rename your new settlers (as they are starting new life , pick a new name to start over)

Another IRL cheap idea : i saw people here saying they didnt play the game so far , maybe release a free demo with pre alpha.

keep up the good work , Rimworld is full of fun , entertaining  and so promising


Quaigon

I played for 150 ingame Days (one game) now and here are my Ideas, what I think might be cheap:

- Raider Attacks have gone so big, my (12x12 graves) graveyard is full. Graves (and corpses) should decay over time, so you can reuse them
- a switch (or movement detector) should be researchable for lights. my base is huge and I am wasting so much power for lamps
- people should remember whom they talked to. in their character sheet you could add that info. maybe later you could implement sth like bonus-happiness if they talk to someone new or one they have a high score with
- the player should be able to make them eat. so they eat at the same time and have a nice chat at dinner
- attackers die too easy. not speaking of toughness but mortality-rate when in combat. its rather hard to get new crewmembers, if raiders have only three states: combat, fleeing and dead.
- pyre to burn corpses (raise moral?)
- possibility to tame sqirrels (so they are crewmembers, eat from the plants in the base, give happiness bonus to crewmembers) [dunno if this takes too much AI programming, but maybe not, they could stay in the homezone]
- weapons that knock out rather than kill (slingshot, teazer maybe?)
- some sort of emergency-batteries, that diconnect when full so they do not empty on short circuits
- something to do with rubble, like a converter who can make metal out of it. just like the food dispenser does with potatoes
- possibility to train someone in a feat.
- ability to make idle ppl go to the other guys and talk to them

that's what I wrote down while playing. Ill add more as it appears to me.
If some or all of the ideas were alrdy posted, my apologies.

Regards Q

Chromat

Huh, so cheap stuff?

Apart from adding variety, i would like to add concept of various diseases.

in order of difficulty:

space flu - spreads quickly, mildly irritating, passes on its own

Coughing disease - nasty, spreads, needs doctoring

Red swelling - puts colonist to the bed, does not spread, need doctoring to pass

Gut rot - This one can kill colonist, does not spread, needs research to cure.

Ok, these are just basic ideas, it could easily be added several more variations.

Hope it helps



Quaigon

Quote from: Chromat on February 21, 2014, 08:44:14 AM
Huh, so cheap stuff?

Apart from adding variety, i would like to add concept of various diseases.

in order of difficulty:

space flu - spreads quickly, mildly irritating, passes on its own

Coughing disease - nasty, spreads, needs doctoring

Red swelling - puts colonist to the bed, does not spread, need doctoring to pass

Gut rot - This one can kill colonist, does not spread, needs research to cure.

Ok, these are just basic ideas, it could easily be added several more variations.

Hope it helps

I don't think, that's cheap, as it would require  good amount of AI programming

Timber

My 2 cents on possible and in my opinion much needed features (that would be easy to implement). I'll try to motivate each item on the list as best I can.
   
  • TRANQUILIZER GUN
   I currently have 11 colonists running around. I can still (barely) fend off raids but it's becoming much harder to recruit new colonists due to near 100% mortality rate of the attackers. Slave traders are too rare of an occurrence to be reliable. It would be nice to be able to tag some of the fleeing raiders with a sleeping dart so that they may be captured and eventually convinced to stay (or executed). This gun may also have an application in animal taming - a system I believe is in the works.
   
  • CRAFTABLE DRONES (not complicated, please read)
   Adding drones would be a simple solution to two late-game problems:
Problem 1: Metal starts piling up in massive numbers.
Problem 2: Having to assign several workers to to menial tasks like cleaning and hauling. Corpse management is very bad for morale.
Having them lie around is bad for morale also, but moving them is not easy on the poor sod who has to do the work. Some drawbacks may be necessary to avoid having drones replace actual colonists. They can perform only most rudimentary tasks like cleaning and hauling. They have a finite battery life. The drone must recharge regularly or else it shuts down and must be hauled manually. Having too many drones would strain the power grid and entire colony would suffer. Add a new type of furniture like "Drone Station" where drones are recharged and are idle if no tasks are available. You could also add a finite range around the station beyond which the drone may not wander.
This idea might sound like a little too much but think of the ways to do it: take Colonst AI, strip most features - leave basic navigation and ability to perform 2 tasks. Recharging can be done by same code that makes colonists eat.
   
  • POWER SWITCH
Basically a power conduit that you can switch on and off. With these you could manage your power much better. For example instead of having to individually select 10 lamps to turn them all off you could connect them to power through a single switch and with it control all 10 at once. Same would go for turrets which are costly to have running constantly. Another use would be cutting off batteries once they are charged so that the energy may be stored safely from shorts for later use. This would reward putting time in to planning the power grid layout.
   
  • BARBED WIRE
A new kind of Security structure that does not provide much cover but damages any creature passing through it. Adds some variety when planning defenses and serves as another metal sink.
I ask not for a lighter burden but for broader shoulders. -Atlas

Quaigon

@ Timber: I thought the same (look my post two posts above) in regard to the raiders ("knock-out weapons) but thats a problem of the story teller. I now play with Randy and have 37 colonists, there is no need then for knock-out weapons or drones, as you have enough ppl to do tasks. But drones would be great for combat purposes, and that would be easy and cheap to implement too.

The switch is a nice idea, but I think it takes too much micro for the player. Seeing this game is more about makro management, I think researchable movement-sensors for lamps would be more effective.

Reghards Q

Timber

Quote from: Quaigon on February 22, 2014, 06:58:02 PM
@ Timber: I thought the same (look my post two posts above) in regard to the raiders ("knock-out weapons) but thats a problem of the story teller. I now play with Randy and have 37 colonists, there is no need then for knock-out weapons or drones, as you have enough ppl to do tasks. But drones would be great for combat purposes, and that would be easy and cheap to implement too.

The switch is a nice idea, but I think it takes too much micro for the player. Seeing this game is more about makro management, I think researchable movement-sensors for lamps would be more effective.

Reghards Q

I get the impression this game is all about the story (from reading Tynans posts) and knock out weapons would open up a whole branch of pacifist playthroughs. Plus as I said taming might be a thing so there's another reason to have them.

Drones seemed like a good idea because I thought they fit well both gameplay wise and with the general theme of the game. There's a lot for the artists to work with. You can add a lot of flavor to the game.

As for the switch - the whole point is to avoid micro managing the little lamps one by one. Story or not - this game is about building a colony and if so give me the tools to make it efficient.

I can understand the fear of self generating complexity - one of the main programming rules is actually "Keep It Simple, Stupid". But in this case I don't think it's a rational fear. I mean this is barely Minecraft redstone level we are talking about here. Hardly rocket science.
I ask not for a lighter burden but for broader shoulders. -Atlas

Milltio

#652
I think this could use a bookcase, its function would be to improve rudimentary skills over time (like the research table but with skills)

Timber

#653
   
  • WEATHER TOWER
A building that predicts weather. Must be connected to power and may not be roofed over.
   
  • TELEPORTER
Used to connect two bases on a big map. Consumes a lot of energy.
   
  • BUNKER
4x4 security building that provides superb cover for the inhabitants. Grenade damage reduces bunker health. High construction cost.
I ask not for a lighter burden but for broader shoulders. -Atlas

Jet Jaguar

These may be slated for later releases due the need for more art assets, but I think a few more facilities might help improve the lives of colonists. For example: we have agave and potatoes, a still to make booze would be useful for both medicinal and recreational use.

Also, our colonists with an artistic bent might need an easel and paints, or clay, or some other way to create items for decorating rooms and/or sale.

Right now colonists have their active task listed if you select them--would it be hard/easy to create some sort of thought balloon over their head that indicated what they were working on next? Different than social speech indicators, but some sort of mining/hauling/freaking out at the bodies laying about thought. (Be tricky to make icons recognizable at long distances, though...)

Tuimatoe

Blasting Charges should be set off by drafting a colonist and manually "lighting the fuse", similar to arresting someone.  That may stop you from hiding behind a wall and blasting raiders remotely.

Love the game

Nasikabatrachus

I suggest campfires. RimWorld needs something like a campfire: something that serves as a light source, a means of cooking food, and a natural gathering spot, would help give the game a certain quality of "soul" it's currently lacking.

Jet Jaguar

Thought of another incredibly-cheap idea, though it sorta depends on whether or not a colonist's attributes/skills can be edited after they're created.

What if something caused colonists to shift personalities? Say somebody gets shell-shocked and can't fire a gun anymore, or has a complete break and invents a new personality with new skills.

Alternatively, they find a nice shiny black monolith buried in a mountain and gain 15 research points...

Nasikabatrachus

Suggestion: prisoners who are starving should attempt to escape by beating down doors.

Chromat

Quote
I don't think, that's cheap, as it would require  good amount of AI programming

Ahh ok,  true im a no good at programing.

Than simpler version of disease.

Space flu outbreak - colonists get slight penalty (to morale/tasks)  and some coughing noises sound and that's it. Also it would pass after few days, variying for each colonist.

More could be added...