One interesting element of RimWorld is instead of a traditional difficulty system, the game uses different storytellers to affect the level gameplay challenge. Since this isn't just a linear increase in difficultly, there are a lot more possibilities for different settings than just easy->medium->hard.
Right now there are 3 different Storytellers (quotes from the Kickstarter):
- Cassandra Classic aims to create a rising curve of tension over the course of the game. Early on, the most dangerous thing she'll do is send a psychotic squirrel after you. Later on, bands of scavengers will arrive. In the late game, look forward to combined-arms attacks from mercenaries mixed with lightning storms and crop blights. If you want a traditional tension and difficulty curve, go with Cassandra.
- Phoebe Friendly is for the player who just wants to build and watch a colony grow. She'll occasionally create minor disasters, but nothing that would threaten the existence of the colony. If you want a more relaxing game about growth and success, choose Phoebe.
- Randy Random follows no rules. He may give you some amazing stroke of luck, like a trader selling an advanced weapon for a low price or a group of helpful immigrants, followed by a near-unbeatable pirate attack combined with an electrical fire. If you think losing is fun, you might want to try Randy.
What other kind of storytellers do you want to see?One of the common ideas on the forums is a
challenging storyteller, the opposite of Phoebe Friendly ("Tynan Tyrannical?"). I think this would be a good addition for experienced players. A challenge with implementing this is that being too difficult could make it impossible to survive the first day, but not being difficult enough would defeat the purpose. I believe a good way to address this would be giving the play consistent challenges of increasing difficulty rather than game-ending events. In other words, the difficulty curve starting higher than Cassandra Classic and increasing a bit more sharply, but still being a curve instead of a wall.
Another storyteller could be
non-raider focused ("Diane Disaster?"), providing challenge to players primarily through the environment and events. This storyteller becomes more viable as more animals and plants and other environmental events are added. Rather than being directly more or less challenging than the other storytellers, this is focused on providing a unique experience like Randy Random.
Finally, as more potential enemies are added we could include certain storytellers that focused on a specific type or types of enemies. The feasibility of that depends a lot on the specifics of the enemies though, so I don't think we could get more in-depth with this idea until some time in the future.
Those are just a few ideas though, I'm sure there are many more.
What ideas do you think would make a good storyteller?