Suggestion & Discussion: The Colonist

Started by Spike, October 09, 2013, 01:57:05 PM

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Spike

From watching the videos, we can see that individual colonists have a (currently) limited set of skills, one Childhood backstory, one Adult backstory, and two traits (currently not implemented).  We can also see that each colonist can pick up one weapon for combat use.  They also have Loyalty, Happiness, and Fear ratings, along with many event-driven bonuses or penalties, such as seeing bodies, having a good meal, or living in cramped quarters.

What I'd like to talk about is how the current setup might be tweaked, with regard to other aspects of the game.

One aspect would be the "Character Inventory".  I would suggest two Equipment slots:

Body: Any kind of "suit type addition" of gear, for combat, working or survival need.

  • Armor (damage reduction)
  • Mech Suits - with possible different varients, combat or construction.
  • Upgraded survival suits if Biome's or vacuum environments are implemented.
Hands:  Any type of advanced equipment that would need to be purchased or built in order to get the effect.

  • Weapons
  • Mining equipment
  • Medical equipment

These would of course tie in with any kind of Manufacturing System that would be put in place, or that would have to be purchased/looted.

I don't see the need to make an overly complicated gear/clothes system that would cover every tiny detail; these two slots would be enough for a bit of diversity in how well your colonists do with regard to how they are equipped.  You might have a construction worker equipped with a Construction Mech Suit and a Pneumatic Drill who can chop through rock and build walls with ease - but if you send them into combat next to the person wearing Combat Armor and carrying an Assault Rifle, they will be pretty ineffective (and know it).

Haplo

I second that :)
Personally I think that it's a good idea for two slots of inventory. Maybe for later?
Because then you can do something more in regards to realism: Something like if you don't have the needed equipment in your inventory, you won't be able to do specific work types.
I myself find it sometimes a bit hard to dig a hole to live in into a mountain.. with nothing but my two hands.  ;D


Spike

Quote from: Haplo on October 09, 2013, 02:09:45 PM
I second that :)
Personally I think that it's a good idea for two slots of inventory. Maybe for later?
Because then you can do something more in regards to realism: Something like if you don't have the needed equipment in your inventory, you won't be able to do specific work types.
I myself find it sometimes a bit hard to dig a hole to live in into a mountain.. with nothing but my two hands.  ;D

Well, I don't think we need to get too realistic - it's "assumed" that they have various basic tools, and can do many things without the player explicitly equipping them.  Mining, construction, wiring, building generators, batteries, etc.

I would see it mainly as  "special needs", like weapons, or an "enhancement" type of thing.

Haplo

Mmm, I see your point.
If you go too far, it will become easily too complex and you loose all the fun in micromanagement.. ???


Semmy

I strongly object to the mechsuits. see the discusion in its own topic
at best kevlar...
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke

Spike

#5
I'm talking about a small scale exoskeleton, like this or this.  Not a giant robot.

The specific of what goes in the slot is not the issue really.  These are just examples.

Semmy

Quote from: Spike on October 09, 2013, 02:44:27 PM
I'm talking about something small scale exoskeleton, like this or a giant robot.  Not this.

But still it feels far off along the technology line. and would be unpayable.
But thats my 2 cents (-:
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund Burke

Starkiller

Quote from: Spike on October 09, 2013, 01:57:05 PM
From watching the videos, we can see that individual colonists have a (currently) limited set of skills, one Childhood backstory, one Adult backstory, and two traits (currently not implemented).  We can also see that each colonist can pick up one weapon for combat use.  They also have Loyalty, Happiness, and Fear ratings, along with many event-driven bonuses or penalties, such as seeing bodies, having a good meal, or living in cramped quarters.

What I'd like to talk about is how the current setup might be tweaked, with regard to other aspects of the game.

One aspect would be the "Character Inventory".  I would suggest two Equipment slots:

Body: Any kind of "suit type addition" of gear, for combat, working or survival need.

  • Armor (damage reduction)
  • Mech Suits - with possible different varients, combat or construction.
  • Upgraded survival suits if Biome's or vacuum environments are implemented.
Hands:  Any type of advanced equipment that would need to be purchased or built in order to get the effect.

  • Weapons
  • Mining equipment
  • Medical equipment

These would of course tie in with any kind of Manufacturing System that would be put in place, or that would have to be purchased/looted.

I don't see the need to make an overly complicated gear/clothes system that would cover every tiny detail; these two slots would be enough for a bit of diversity in how well your colonists do with regard to how they are equipped.  You might have a construction worker equipped with a Construction Mech Suit and a Pneumatic Drill who can chop through rock and build walls with ease - but if you send them into combat next to the person wearing Combat Armor and carrying an Assault Rifle, they will be pretty ineffective (and know it).
Great idea! Totally supporting it!

Spike

Quote from: Semmy on October 09, 2013, 02:45:31 PM
Quote from: Spike on October 09, 2013, 02:44:27 PM
I'm talking about something small scale exoskeleton, like this or a giant robot.  Not this.

But still it feels far off along the technology line. and would be unpayable.
But thats my 2 cents (-:

The same argument could be (and has been) made about anything they are building.  However, they are the survivors of a spaceship wreck, in a galaxy where the tech level ranges from primitive to transcendent future tech.  :)

Regardless, that was only an example of what could go in a possible Body equipment slot, in addition to the current Hands equipment slot.  After all, if you play Rock, Paper, Scissors you have 10 possible combinations.  If you play Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock, you have, eh, lots more possibilities.

Plus the extra equipment slot brings up the need for that equipment, and thus ties in to research, manufacturing, trading, or looting that equipment.

Nero

Mech suits a I am wary of. I like the idea but I am not sure how it will fit in and increase the depth of the game. Tools, weapons, and armors I can get behind though. Mining? Grab a laser pick (if you're tech is substantial enough, lower equivalents available). Doctoring? Grab a laser scalpel/medkit/etc. Defending? Grab a gun or a sword or a grenade. It furthers the gameplay elements in my opinion.

SpaceEatingTrex

Tynan's mentioned that story is important to RimWorld, and characters are essential to a story. I think one of the best ways for interesting stories to develop is by having a focus on characters. Giving each character their own inventory seems like a crucial element of that focus.

Like other people in the thread have mentioned though, it's important to not make the inventory too complicated. I don't think it needs to be so simple that characters can only have two items, but something like Dwarf Fortress' system would be unnecessarily complicated. Hopefully we could find a happy medium that worked well with the other game systems. Here's one possible slot-based system:


  • 2 Hand Slots - Some weapons/objects could require both hands.
  • 1 Body Slot - For clothing or armor.
  • A few Misc Slots - For other items like medkits or etc. This could be some standard number, or could depend on the body slot item. For example, a bullet proof vest has no space to carry anything extra, whereas a utility vest has lots of pockets and room for tools. The latter adds some depth to player decisions on whether colonists should be more protected but can carry less, or able to haul a lot but vulnerable to attack.

I agree with the people who have said an inventory system would add more depth to RimWorld, but I do think we should carefully consider the implementation and not let it get out of hand. Having too many items or an over-complicated system could do more harm than good.

AspenShadow

Agreed, these are great ideas that need to keep coming, but you need to temper it with caution for the extra strain all this will have on the game's system requirements and of course Tynan's time/mental-health lol.

As far as the Mech Suits go, there is a more dedicated thread to discuss their inclusion, but I have always been against the idea of bulky robotic suits similar to those in Avatar being included, or even any mech suit that has an advantage in combat.

I'm not opposed to a skimped-down version more like skeletal reinforcers running along the outside of the player's limbs with the equivalent of a couple of extra gadgets and useful things that make them better at manual labour tasks such as quicker hauling, mining, construction, etc. but no to combat and no to tasks that require precision and care such as farming.

salt1219

My mech suit would be for extreme floor mopping, the extra power would really help with stubborn stains.

On a serious note if colonists could carry at least two items it would greatly improve tactics.  Think of the possibilities with gun+medkit, gun+grenades and so on.  This would allow you to plan more complex attacks, no more dedicated medic now he can do combat too or if you have a tight packed group of pirates grenade them but if you miss you still have your trusty side arm.

Spike

I was kind of thinking of the Body & Hand slots because it would force you to differentiate a bit between colonists.  Want them to be able to fight? Give them a weapon.  Want them to be a medic?  They carry a medpack - but can't fight, unless they drop it and grab a weapon.

Body slot items would be more of a generic boost in some way - armor to reduce damage, or things necessary if Biomes are added.  Maybe some things that would boost certain activities; a Pack of Tools to improve construction & mining, or other types of things.

Since the main focus of the game seems to be on building and defending the colony overall, I don't think the system should be too complicated.  For example, I love the old X-Com games, and you had quite a bit of carrying space - but that game was mainly about the combat, where that space was needed.

AspenShadow

I have to admit I'm getting a bit worried about the amount of requests for equip-able tools to improve the basic labour tasks, isn't that what research is for? And more importantly the game is going to last for a long while and a few tech/research-tiers, we don't want it reaching the point a fully-researched and equipped lone colonist can clear a mountain rage in two hours.