[Feature Change] Research, Crafting, and construction

[Vagabond]

Hello,

So, this suggestion is a rework of how researching is handled. I'll call it a passive research system.

Research to be renamed to Devising.

Technologies require you to have (a) pawn(s) with a requisite skill level in one or more skills. Through interaction, the technology is made available to "Devise".

Example:

Colonist A has a construction skill of 10. Colonist B has a crafting skill of 5. They talk and come up with the improvised turret technology. The technology becomes available to devise. You select it and Colonist C, who has a Devise skill of 13, goes to his drafting table to work out how it will work. Throughout the devising process he will go talk to colonist A and B - these talks cause the work timer to progress (as well as when he is on the drafting table).

Improvised Turret requires 9 construction skill, crafting skill of 5, and a devise skill of 10. It has a work time of 1000.

Now, the actual turret also has a requirement for construction. To make it better, perhaps a crafter has to make the gun which would require X amount of skill, and the constructor would need x amount of skill to put it all together.

Hope that makes sense. . .

Cheers,
Michael

Edit: When you unlock a tech it stays unlocked even if for some reason you no longer have colonist whom meet the requirements. Though you still need someone capable of building or making something you've researched.

[Fluffy (l2032)]

That sounds really cool actually!

[Vagabond]

Thanks!

Standard "research" systems always seemed to simplified in my opinion. They either show you everything immediately, or show you the research in tiers. You just put man power into them and after X amount of time you are capable of utilizing the benefits of the research.

In games like Civilization, this system is makes sense and is well suited towards the scale the game is presented at. In simulation games where you are dealing with individuals on a micro scale, it robs the game of an additional layer of complexity and progression. I feel a system such as this would also provide additional challenge, which is always needed as a method of increasing difficulty; creating non-combat situations that could alleviate the need of the artificial tower defense-like waves of combat encounters.

Using the example I provided previously, and expanding upon it:

Colonist A has a construction skill of 10. Colonist B has a crafting skill of 5. They talk and come up with the improvised turret technology. The technology becomes available to devise. You select it and Colonist C, who has a Devise skill of 13, goes to his drafting table to work out how it will work. Throughout the devising process he will go talk to colonist A and B - these talks cause the work timer to progress (as well as when he is on the drafting table).

Improvised Turret requires 9 construction skill, crafting skill of 5, and a devise skill of 10. It has a work time of 1000.

Now imagine that Colonist A is your colonist with the highest construction skill. If he dies in a raid or goes crazy either during the devising process or after, you no longer have a colonist that can provide that skill level during devising or for construction the turret.

I think this will directly impact the viable size of waves to more realistic levels because the game doesn't need to try to wipe out your whole colony, it just needs to kill the right people to halt your progression - losing even one skilled person is even more devastating to your colony as you are dependent on the sum of your colonist's skill levels to progress through the game. It will also incentivize a reasonable work schedule to provide more free time for your colonist to interact, which will also serve to manage progression and flow.

The next logical evolution of this suggestion would be to provide more ways in which colonist can interact with each other - more things for them to do in their off time. Character development via broadened social interaction could provide actual game play importance as happy people are more inclined to work their asses off.

Cheers,
Michael