Your Cheapest Ideas

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

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DeltaV

It WOULD be nice to be able to terraform. Just plop down a terraformer on the desert and it would change a radius around it into soil over time.
Quote from: Douglas AdamsIt is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

staffy50

Does putting a solar panel in the desert produce more power than on dirt? Should it?

Matty

Quote from: staffy50 on November 04, 2013, 05:43:36 PM
Does putting a solar panel in the desert produce more power than on dirt? Should it?

The ground doesn't effect them, the sun does. So as long as they are in sun, not shade, they should run.

DeltaV

Desensitization: Not sure how easy this would be to code, but the idea is that the amount of sanity penalty a colonist faces decreases with every successive time they experience it. So after a while they'd barely blink an eye at things like corpse-hauling duty or darkness, while new recruits would still jump at everything because they aren't used to roughing it on an alien world. Perhaps certain professions would have more resilience to certain situations as well.
Quote from: Douglas AdamsIt is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Greski09

AIR, ENVIRONMENT, BIO-EFFECTS, MORE RESEARCH OPTIONS

Having played your last version of the Eclipse Colony prototype I was thinking how cool the prospect of needing Air for my colonists would be. Maybe not every time, but imagine starting on toxic atmosphere type planets. Or having exposure to toxins in the environment that require extra filtering so your colonists can breath in certain areas.

This could later extend into having equipment for colonists (Masks, Suits) that make them able to survive longer. Maybe at the start they spawn with emergency O2 masks and tanks that only last them a day. So building an O2 generator is paramount to early survival, and shelter.

I loved the air vents, how they could work could be expanded of course. Maybe you need vents on the inside and outside or old air build ups afterwhile. Maybe even a ventilation system would be amazing.

Stuff I saw that should be added back are researching Cargo Zones, (higher tech versions of stockpiles), The drop zones, (higher tech versions of drop beacons) maybe crates drop here instead of just raw items, and I like that they are built like normal items instead of instantly appearing. Well thanks good job enjoy!
(also add aliens, and mechs, i love those things too and people ask for them like crazy!! :D )

Evul

Rain + Blood = no more blood.

Cause while playing you get gallons of blood across the map. So one way to fight this, in the nature, is making blood disappear when it rains.

Lonners

Farting when eating too much of a certain food. Get the whole colony doing it.

Peng Qi

"Idle" characters should do something to "entertain" themselves; either sitting at a table with "playing a game" displayed on mouseover or following working characters around and talking to them instead of wandering around aimlessly.

starlight

Should there be different costs for different types of tiles.

According to the description, some are more while some are less beautiful.

These can accordingly have happiness effects.

Perhaps it is already planned......

DeltaV

Quote from: starlight on November 05, 2013, 08:21:08 AM
Should there be different costs for different types of tiles.

According to the description, some are more while some are less beautiful.

These can accordingly have happiness effects.

Perhaps it is already planned......

There already are...?
Quote from: Douglas AdamsIt is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.

Jasper

I have read the thread, but apologies if any repeats sneak in anyway. Plus 1 to many of the ideas so far such as lockers, wall lights and more food/growing options. Too many other things to mention.

New items

Solar powered outdoor lights, they charge during the day and provide flood lighting at night outside your base.
Powerful electrical turret that can zap several enemies at once, but uses tons of power.
Better quality beds (less time spent sleeping,  happier after use?)
Weapons traders sell armour. Not sure if this one is easy or not. Just reduces the amount of damage people take, no graphics are necessary. May require lockers for storage.
Choose to grow medicinal plants in a growing area and make your own medicine/kits.
Choose to grow luxury food - you grow less per area but colonists like it more.
Traders sell books/discs in limited quantities that help colonists level up in a skill. Book is consumed after use. Makes trade a bit more interesting after you have enough of the basics.

New Raids

Imposter - Raiders grab a colonist away from the others and steal their uniform/clothes so they can walk into base undetected. May confuse turrets into not working but will be spotted by other colonists up close. Goal is to start shooting inside and cause chaos so buddies can swoop in against little defence. More advanced - imposter could destroy power or hack system to let others in.

Thieves - Target stockpiles and metal lying around map, perhaps livestock once they're useful. Run away if really threatened.

Strikeforce - Organised squad drop right out of the sky (parachute?) onto outside part of your base rather than landing further away and preparing. Have body armour and high end weapons.

New events

Trader offers to pay colony to hide stolen goods for him till the heat is off. If you choose not to return goods when he returns, you get raided. Also possible you get raided by officials looking to reclaim property.
Two colonists get married which makes everyone happy for a while, but if something happens to one the other is badly affected.
Contaminated food causes hallucinations/odd behaviour (like ergot poisoning)
Find orphaned/injured animal and if you choose to help it, it becomes tame. Can be kept as a pet which creates happy thoughts for colonists when they are near it.

WesleyJohnson

So this is my first colony sim and I came in only having watched a few playthroughs online. Let me just say, this game is a fantastic introduction into this genre. I love it! I do have some suggestions. Hopefully these haven't been discussed to death already. :)


  • Colonists already get word balloons over their head when talking. I'd like to see this extended to also show icons representing their next goal. I know you can click on them, but it'd be faster to see an icon over a colonists head indicating (s)he is on the way to mine, haul, construct, etc.
  • It would be nice to be able to fortify cave walls into actual walls.
  • It would be nice to be able to see structural integrity so I can ward off roof collapses.
  • I'd like to be able to haul raider bodies. If this is possible, it's not obvious enough how to accomplish it.
  • I'd like to be able to prioritize sleeping or eating. Right now I don't know how to force a colonist to eat or sleep and have to rely on them to do it themselves which seems to sometimes cause unhappiness if they wait too long.
  • I'd like to see supply graphics build up when placing them in the hold.
  • Research for some sort of sleep aid that helps colonists recoup faster.
  • Research for weapon accuracy or melee training.
  • I'd like to be able to draw rooms, not just walls. Meaning I can place all 4 walls at once.

That's all for now. I'm sure there is plenty more I'm not thinking of having never played the genre before, but so much is already covered in the suggestions.

Thanks for all the hard work, Tynan!

Goeshi

Quote from: WesleyJohnson on November 05, 2013, 09:25:23 AM
  • I'd like to be able to haul raider bodies. If this is possible, it's not obvious enough how to accomplish it.

Click the raider body, unselect the 'forbidden' check box in the bottom left, then you can haul as usual.

Evul

Less percentage of grass growing on sand.
In no time the entire dessert is overgrown.

DeltaV

Pesticide: New research topic. When researched, makes boomrats and squirrels less likely to eat your crops. If they do eat them, they take damage over time.
Quote from: Douglas AdamsIt is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes.