Gas masks and face mask, Chemical weapons, weather, and diseases

[Simon_The_Space_Engineer]

so this is a quadruple suggestion. First we go gas masks and air filter mask! This will tie into the second suggestion as well as the third and forth just a little, but lets do this first. Gas mask and air filters would allow for colonists to safely breath in areas that would normally try to suffocate you and cause you to die because your lungs get clogged with stuff. no one wants those in their lungs, be it smoke or dirt, and as sweet brown says "Ain't nobody got time for that (in the context of getting bronchitis from smoke, which i dont know how that would work). Gas masks would be able to protect people from inhaling things they dont want to, as well as diseases (not as well as medical masks) and would provide colonist the ability to be outside much longer during toxic fallout (maybe clean it away from the plants in a vain attempt to save the farm). more uses for the gas mask later on. Medical masks would allow for doctors and those prone to getting sick from RNG to protect themselves from diseases. Doctors would be able to treat people with things like the plague without catching it themselves as well as other diseases. Now if it protected them from it 100% of the time it wouldnt be fair, so they can still get sick, just not as often. Other masks would include the handy dandy cloth over the mouth (worse than all other masks but better than nothing) or maybe a scarf that they can hold over their mouth as needed (basically a mask that colonist put on and take off automatically without having to drop it) and the construction face mask. It would be worse at protecting against disease than the gas mask but much cheaper and works better than the medical one for general purpose (people with asthma also should need to wear one if they are a constructor or crafter working with wood or they might get an asthma attack)

Now for the second one! Chemical warfare! Tear gas, pepper spray, toxic sludge, smoke bombs, and poison gas! This is where the gas mask (and other masks) shine more. Pepper spray (only the gas mask would protect colonist from it as it covers the whole face) could be a secondary weapon colonist could carry in order to keep raiders at close range from doing a devastating attack on a friend with a club and cause a lot of pain, and maybe even panic from said pain. Since it could be used to stun melee attackers so people can run (from bears and raiders) it would only have so many uses. tear gas, poison gas, and toxic sludge can all be grenades (tear gas and poison gas would be a lethal and none lethal version of each other respectably, and can be treated so the longer effects such as pain and death can be stopped). Toxic sludge would cover the ground and colonists hit with toxic waste that can cause sickness and create a mess (colonists would need to clean themselves off after being undrafted)

Next we got the shorter two, new weather and disease. For weather itd be great to see things like this

Dust storm: like fog but causes colonists eyes to get irritated (unless wearing something to protect the eyes and mouths from sand which may cause some sicknesses found in the dirt) reduce visibility, shooting, work speed, gets sand everywhere, great boost for wind turbines. Also lovingly called Haboobs by arizonans

Drought: causes everything to dry out making it much more flammable. may also cause colonist some discomfort from drying of skin, lips, and bionic eyes.

Monsoon season (not an actual season, just a term) (for the deserts in particular): heavy amounts of rain and cloudy overcast all the time. slightly less power from solar panels but nice boost for the wind turbines.

Diseases! ill keep this simple since this is probably a lot for most people to read
Valley Fever: nasty little bug you get in your lungs. Caught only once by most people (exceptions would be people with asthma or something that weakens their immune system). causes a lot of coughing which is annoying for both the sick people and the people around to constantly hear, minor cases can go un noticed and go away untreated, can be fatal in extreme cases. Most common in places such as deserts or some forests (the little light green tiles need to have a little sickness fun too dont they?) preventable with any kind of face mask. Also to help players find out if a colonist have had it they will receive a "valley fever scar" in their lung. a small little scar that causes no pain in the lung.

Sludged: received by getting sick from toxic sludge being on a colonist for too long. Fatal if not treated, slowly make the person sicker with coughing and they become more irritable.
(little link to the wiki for valley fever https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coccidioidomycosis )