Infestation again

[submarine]

Is infestation a finished game mechanic? I ask because to me it feels like a cheap way out in attempt to to fix some game flaws.

Last time it happen to me it felt so dirty cheap I quit the game and not played it since then.

[Lightzy]

Yeah, infestation does feel "tacked on" in a  bad way.
It makes sense for it to happen once in a game, if the player digs into a place where he FINDS a next of bugs..
But for a huge number of nests to suddenly appear next to the bedroom is just idiotic.
Very cheap mechanic, badly done.

I think that really, it would make a lot more sense if the player would stumble upon infestations when digging. More DFish.

[submarine]

Infestation can work and I like the idea behind it but how it does now is just cheating and that is me saying it nicely.

Maybe Tynan should read  "Designing Games" A Guide to Engineering Experiences.
If the book is any good I am Pretty sure it adress the problem I have with how Infestation works for now.

[RemingtonRyder]

On the one hand, yes it does seem kind of bad that a hive and its attendant protectors just poor out of thin air.

On the other hand, you need to remember that they can dig around in the mountain. Indeed, they were probably here before you were and don't like you digging into their home and lying on their couch eating their cheetos.

[pdxsean]

Infestations were dialed back quite a bit in A14 from their original version.

Also if you set up a custom scenario when you start you can easily remove them from the game entirely.

Personally I find them fun and an interesting bit of variety to balance out seiges, raids, and alien ships.

[Michigo]

I like infestations.
Granted i never dig only 1 tile wide tunnels into mountains that can result in deadly bug-traps for my colonists.

If done right the odds to loss colonists by a sudden infestation in your base can be minimized by a lot.

[lorebot]

I'd feel they were more interesting if they didn't only happen in cave areas. I'd like them more if they could happen out in the open too. I feel they'd be more fun if they weren't only a penalty for digging cave colonies, but as a regular event that could occur anywhere on the map as a general event.

[SpaceDorf]

Infestations were dialed back quite a bit in A14 from their original version.

Also if you set up a custom scenario when you start you can easily remove them from the game entirely.

Personally I find them fun and an interesting bit of variety to balance out seiges, raids, and alien ships.

They where what ?
I thought infestations where dialed up.
The happen lesser, but are bigger and spawn more bugs initally .. at least in my games.

But yes, the fact that they just spawn out of nothing really feels tacked on, especially in a game where everything else has a
(good) explanation

As Counter Suggestion.
Have the Hives Spawn in a generated cave next to the colony and then dig out of the wall .. more shocking and
more realistic.

And/or have them prespawned on the map like ancient chambers, so you can dig into them by accident

[Kagemusha12]

Perhaps what is missing for infestations is some kind of timer that tracks the time that colonists spend time in the room. This way, strongly frequented rooms like the food fridge and rooms where colonists spend lots of time in (like the bedrooms) could either get outright dosregarded as possible infestatio0n targets, or be put at the lowest probability of getting selected as infestation targets

[submarine]

If done right the odds to loss colonists by a sudden infestation in your base can be minimized by a lot.

From what I have seen there are situations when you have a underground base you can lose 1 2 or even more paws at once and there is nothing you can do about it other then not build your base in a cave.  So plse tell me, how do you minimized the risk by a lot?

What's next to "balance" the game ? A deathray from the sky with 100% accuracy that bypass all terrain? 

[SpaceDorf]

The main trick are doors.
Think Submarine or Spaceship.

Compartmentalize your underground base. If you build a bunker anyway go all the way.
This gives the Hives less room to expand quickly and less chance to attack your pawns,
also it increases the chance for your people to get into cover.

In my case I also have embrasures which makes the whole thing like shooting fish in a barrel,
but a a 3 wide corridor interrupted with a door and two walls can be held by 2 shooters and 1 melee against most bugs.
if not, retreat into nearby rooms and the next trio takes over from the next chokepoint.
As soon as the area around a hive is clear send a melee dwarf pawn and dispatch of the hive.

-- Edit --

Thanks for making me look over my base design again, as you can see on the screenshot I identified some weakpoints I overlooked and came up with some additional security features.

-- Edit 2 --

Damn, I would have loved to show off my whole base, but the screenshot got too large to upload.

[attachment deleted by admin - too old]

[Shurp]

Just to comment on the thematics: the idea is that the insects have burrowed a hole from undergrown into your base.   To make this clearer, they should add a hole terrain type which destroys whatever structure was above it.

[RemingtonRyder]

What's next to "balance" the game ? A deathray from the sky with 100% accuracy that bypass all terrain?

Death rays are so 2055. In RimWorld times if you want to destroy a planet, you just fire a planetkiller round from a big honking space gun at nearly light speed.

[lorebot]

Just to comment on the thematics: the idea is that the insects have burrowed a hole from undergrown into your base.   To make this clearer, they should add a hole terrain type which destroys whatever structure was above it.

My problem is that they only burrow through where you've carved out solid rock...and that's dumb. Why don't they burrow up to the surface anywhere else? Why can't they pop up outside cave areas in the wild? I don't mind the infestations, I just wish they made more sense.

[Michigo]

From what I have seen there are situations when you have a underground base you can lose 1 2 or even more paws at once and there is nothing you can do about it other then not build your base in a cave.  So plse tell me, how do you minimized the risk by a lot?

Like SpaceDorf showed you should avoid dead ends and small corridors whenever possible.
Your colonists should always have more then one way to escape sudden danger.

Ofc no colony is 100% safe, but rimworld isn't about perfect security anyways.

You can always go the extra mile and be uber paranoid about bugs.
Like having stone walls and coolers (switched off) build into most of them, just to "overheat" aka burn to death any and all sudden infestations.

Am i the only one that laughed at SpaceDorf saying Submarine should think submarine?