Make Crashed Spacers Not Idiots.

[Zombra]

tl;dr: Spacers can't recognize danger and it's silly.

I like rescuing them and nursing them back to health, and I like that they say bye and go home when they're well enough.

I even kind of like that I can't recruit them (though I'd definitely take the opportunity if it was added).  They have their own connections, they want to go find a way off the planet on their own.  I can respect that.

But their bold lonely voyage is a problem when it is -20 out and they just have their thin little synthread pants and t-shirt.

My current game is not a nightmare ice sheet, but it does have cold, uninhabitable winters.  The first Spacer I rescued turned up dead a few hours after leaving the hospital.  He had simply frozen to death strolling towards the horizon.  I buried him where he lay.

The next time a pod crashed, I was ready.  I put a spare parka next to the bed, a gift to help the survivor make it when she left.  She walked right past the coat like it wasn't there.  I ended up having to imprison her - "I can't let you leave yet".  Locking her in a cave seemed pretty extreme.  Seems like if she's a space traveler, she would understand the importance of the right gear for hostile environments.  Ultimately I was able to talk her into wearing a coat by telling her she'd stay locked up in the cave forever unless she joined the colony.  I would have been happy to put a coat on her and send her on her merry way without all the jibba jabba.

And then I discovered a cryptosleep "tomb" filled with sleepers from the past, only two of whom had survived stasis - and those two had unstable life signs.  Rushing them to my own hospital, I was able to save both their lives, but sure enough, as soon as the first one was well enough to walk, he strolled out naked into the snow.  My only means to stop him was to try arresting him like the last one - "Hey, you can't go yet, you'll die out there" - to which he responded by flipping out and punching the man trying to help him.  The apoplectic, 78-year-old naked math professor took on all comers, and terrified that he might be killed, I had a team of three colonists drag him to another stasis chamber attached to the nearby shipbuilding project.  I guess he's coming with us if we ever escape the planet.  (I hope they have a hospital wherever we end up.)  After that, his buddy agreed willingly to be locked up in the cave - evidently he knew that, unless restrained, he wouldn't be able to resist rushing naked to an icy death.

These stories are certainly interesting, but disappointing because the tragedy in each is so nonsensical.  I have a few suggestions to help the player help those in need of rescue.

* Allow the player to gift items, such as environmental clothing or weapons, to help a survivor on his way.  The existing trade window would work - just like with traders, I could "sell" the guy a parka and let him have it even if he can't afford it.

* Allow NPCs to utilize the existing "Waiting in safe temperature" AI routine.  Let NPCs also utilize this routine to avoid fallout clouds and other harmful environments.

* As with prisoners, let the player set a Guest Treatment protocol and decide when to Release guests from their hospitality.  The options would look a little different - you can't Execute a guest for example.    Guests would not stage "prison breaks"; eventually they would simply say, thanks but I'm leaving now, since doors aren't considered locked for guests.

Any other ideas out there?  Has this been touched on before?  Links please.  Sorry if this is a duplicate of an existing thread.

[SuperCaffeineDude]

It'd be nice if at the least colonists thought to fetch clothing for naked prisoners (that we may have stripped for personal shields and amors), given I run an arctic colony, if we can specify how that works, like people request with the food and currently have with medical care, all the better. If it extends into hosting visitors that would be really good, whether that's through the trading window idk.

And yeah a nice recruitment possibility and alternate colony mood increase when you save these guys would be great. And then perhaps the colony can start to feel negatively effected when it imprisons the poor spacers and when guests/prisoners/allies die on your map.

[harpo99999]

personally, for all the droppods & cryptopods, I just arrest them, and if they can work for the colony, I recruit them, but if they are useless I have some choices, 1 wait till warmer out & release, 2 if a slave trader comes by then sell them, 3 get the body parts that are needed by my colonists from them till they die, & 4 kill them if out of prisoner food (usually have a npd with human meat only hoppers for the prison)

[keylocke]

i usually also opt for capture and recruit if they have good traits, or just strip, peg-leg, denture, then release if they don't.

iirc, spacers don't get faction penalty for trade and hostility. same thing with unwanted wanderers and fugitives.

but that depends if you roleplay or not.

[SuperCaffeineDude]

Would be nice if the pawns played their roles instead of the player though

Exploiting the lack of of cares given by you're colonists is fine, it's just playing optimally, but as a simulation it's a shame to have these, often emotionally volatile, colonists feel no reaction towards people-snatching, organ harvesting, and the "accidental" deaths of those you host.

Honestly if colonists just felt bad about letting guests die, and repeat travesties more negatively effected your relationships, there wouldn't be any real way to exploit setting up a trading post for them to sit in.

What'd be ideal is that they wait outside, you can invite them inside or ask them to leave, with the neutral option being to let them linger outside a while  (unless they die which once again negatively effects everyone), maybe you can ask them to stay longer once they are about to leave, which is more likely if there are poorer outside conditions. i.e (pirates outside + 30%, radiation outside + 40%) verses length of stay and... hunger maybe?

[Zombra]

Exploiting the lack of of cares given by you're colonists is fine, it's just playing optimally, but as a simulation it's a shame to have these, often emotionally volatile, colonists feel no reaction towards people-snatching, organ harvesting, and the "accidental" deaths of those you host.

Yeah.  I think this interaction is simply underdeveloped, honestly.  Other mood modifiers indicate that by and large your colonists are emotionally healthy, generally kind and "good" people.  This looks like an area that just hasn't been fleshed out yet.  I don't think it's intended that you cry when your dog dies and are upset when you see a corpse, but have no problem murdering and organ harvesting stranded travelers.