notifications when colonists are getting hunted

[JasTheBoyWonder]

I started a new colony and Winter has come by now and it is hard enough to keep my people from mental breaks and the sick from being outside of beds, so the last thing i need is a lot of the animals from all around the map coming up to my colonists and attacking them and me not knowing till my colonists are already hurt. I'd love if an animal does decide it wants to attack one of my people then a red notification on the right side of the screen could come up, like what happens when there is a raid or an animal goes mad. This just makes me mad cause at the start of the winter i had a lot of medicine but because of all these random attacks that i don't know about till it's already happening is really using up all of my meds.

[1000101]

Erm...You do?

The game does tell you if a colonist is attacked and needs treatment as soon as one is injured.

[Poochie]

Erm...You do?

The game does tell you if a colonist is attacked and needs treatment as soon as one is injured.

And that's too late to draft them to shoot the attacking animal - I think what he's saying is that an animal hunting a colonist should be treated like a mad animal or a raider - with the flee, ignore or attack modes which your colonists have when not drafted.

[1000101]

While I can see the problem with a random predator deciding a colonist is lunch, it's happened to me as it's happened to us all.  But, I also see a problem with extending the omnipresence too much.  There is a love-hate relationship with this - sure it sucks when a bear hunts a colonist, but I also don't think I should be alerted about it until it happens otherwise it completely negates the threat.  Hidden danger exists, it's a fact of life, why should it be any different in a game?

[b0rsuk]

The metagame will evolve to kill all bears on sight. Is that what you want ?

[1000101]

That carries it's own threat in that predators will automatically attack in self defence.  With animals migrating in, new predators will appear seasonally.

I still don't think automagically "seeing into their minds" and knowing they are hunting your colonists is the right solution.

[b0rsuk]

That's the design Tynan has chosen. You can even look into minds of raiders to see what they plan. When they send sappers, you can see stuff like "Attacking sandstone door", which is often a big clue when you have doors made of different materials.

[1000101]

For that matter, the game should hide the actions of any non-colonist imo.  But that is a slightly different discussion. 

[cultist]

The metagame will evolve to kill all bears on sight. Is that what you want ?

That doesn't really apply here. There is no "metagame" in an offline single player game. It's up to each individual whether they look for and use strategies and exploits on forums or reddit. How other people play the game has no influence on my game unless I want it to.

[hwfanatic]

I leave berries as offering for the hungry bear spirits that haunt the land.  Other predators are a bit harder to appease.

[DFKabuto]

We already get mad animal notifications. No reason not to get notifications for being hunted.

[b0rsuk]

The metagame will evolve to kill all bears on sight. Is that what you want ?

That doesn't really apply here. There is no "metagame" in an offline single player game.

Even if a game has a forum ? And think what happens once the game hits Steam.

Consensus about certain strategies and events is enough to lobby for/against a balance change. Then suddenly Crashed Ship Part becomes easier or harder. How people play their game affects you. If enough people don't figure out sniper rifles take out crashed ship part with no challenge, you'll see nerfs to mechanoids for sure. It's not the 90's.

By all means go ahead and not kill predators that casually walk by and stun your colonists, if that's your idea of fun. Does it work that way for the sake of good gameplay ? Because it's certainly not realism. Bears are eager to break into houses, fridges and garbage cans to get food, but they avoid contact with humans if they can help it.

I leave berries as offering for the hungry bear spirits that haunt the land.  Other predators are a bit harder to appease.

Don't bury your enemies. Dump them in a stockpile. "Seen a (rotting) corpse" is not as bad as you think if it only happens after a raid.

[1000101]

I don't think Tynan is going to change game mechanics every time someone farts.

But seriously, there will always be something to complain about.  It's just not "realistic" (as much as a game can be) for you to automagically know you're being hunted by an animal just because it's within a mile of you.  Predators are intelligent animals and don't advertise the fact that they are stalking prey.  If they did, they would die of starvation.

Really, all non-colony pawns should have their job report string hidden from the player.  The best solution would be to make pawns path smarter by not walking right in front of a large dangerous predator.

[Thane]

I don't think Tynan is going to change game mechanics every time someone farts.

But seriously, there will always be something to complain about.  It's just not "realistic" (as much as a game can be) for you to automagically know you're being hunted by an animal just because it's within a mile of you.  Predators are intelligent animals and don't advertise the fact that they are stalking prey.  If they did, they would die of starvation.

Really, all non-colony pawns should have their job report string hidden from the player.  The best solution would be to make pawns path smarter by not walking right in front of a large dangerous predator.

Well, How about a compromise. A surprise attack still can happen, but if a colonist 'spots' the bear/warg/thing-with-many-teeth, or starts running away from a predator, you get a notification. Just not the instant they are being hunted.

[1000101]

Well, I think the auto-response system for colonists should factor in predators.  I'm not trying to be dick in this thread, but I am trying to be realistic as to my expectations.