Hydration

[Bizzle02]

A potential addition:
Colonists have a 'hydration' need, that can be filled by drinking water or beer
Waterskins and, later on, canteens, to carry water around
Water can be directly drank or collected from lakes, but is unpurified, and can lead to all sorts of nasty diseases
Water purification technology, to filter water and make it safe
In the late game, pumps that can pull water from underground, pipes to bring it into the base, and automatic water bottle dispensers that fill bottles for colonists
Rainbarrels to slowly collect clean rainwater

[schizmo]

It's been suggested often, but this is a decent proposal of early/mid/late game solutions.

My two critiques both relate to Beer as a hydration source. From a gameplay standpoint Beer is pretty easy to come by (and vastly easy to overproduce) which would all but eliminate the need for water and any relevant research. From a realism standpoint alcohol actually leads to dehydration so it's fairly unrealistic.

But this is a good idea, a highly sought after idea, and one I personally hope is implemented soon. I would add that Water should have a bill for the stove and campfire to be boiled which could be a cheap and slow way to purify it of diseases. Water purification research should lead to much faster/instant purification so that colonists can devote more time to other jobs.

[Aiven]

I belive it's a good idea. Of cource there is a gameplay limit on how much needs the colonists should have, but water seems like a reasonable one. Beer could require clean water to produce. It should also require some kind of carbohydrate, like corn, rice or wheat. I guess you could make beer from potatoes too. As it is, it is too easy to produce.

[PiggyBacon]

I'm all for new things but colonist needs should be left alone for now. The need system is great but not if you have a couple dozen needs to monitor for 20+ colonists.

[Nomsayinbrah]

Very nice idea indeed, would love this! - but one question: How would people that land themselves in the desert get water?

[O Negative]

Cacti. Extract fluid from organic bill would do the trick, I think. Just a thought, of course

[Houkime]

In desert there are water layers hidden deep below sand.
Cacti and other desert flora often have veery long roots in order to reach those layers.
Modern people living in deserts sometimes have pumps for irrigation and such if it is economical for them.

And oases yes.

So it is about building a pump station or finding an oasis. If it is a pump, it should be something of size and cost of geothermal generator I would imagine. Definitely not a cheap well that can be dug out anywhere else except for tundra/ice.

[Lightzy]

Survival being a major theme in the game, I totally agree.

WELLS!

I think there should be an invisible underground layer in map generation which determines water deposits, and you can DIG A WELL over ground-water which pawns will automatically get 'hydration' from.
This will of course affect your colony placement, given that you want to be close to the well, but maybe you also want to be close to something else? (like a mountain home).
This can be a great balancing feature because while you can possibly find water under a mountain, it's hit and miss (kind of like finding low roofs in mountain areas).

If too far, your pawns will have to travel to the well to get hydrated.


Other water sources like lakes seas and rivers will have mostly undrinkable water and will need to be filtered by osmosis (or perhaps just drunk as is by hardy tribesmen or colonists with special implants).


This will play nicely into caravans as well, which will need to pack water, or equip colonists with special survival implants (which help metabolize toxins in water and kill parasites etc).

And more!
Also,

[Houkime]

Lightzy, undrinkable river and lake water is too unrealistic.

Rivers and even small natural water fluxes were sources of potable water for thousands of years until industry and agriculture made them not_good_to_drink in populated areas.

RimWorld is not so heavily populated to have such problems. Most water except salt one and swampy one should be pretty potable. Maybe in tropical areas there will be a chance to catch an infection if you're not boiling water before using it but that's it.

[Lightzy]

Lightzy, undrinkable river and lake water is too unrealistic.

Rivers and even small natural water fluxes were sources of potable water for thousands of years until industry and agriculture made them not_good_to_drink in populated areas.

RimWorld is not so heavily populated to have such problems. Most water except salt one and swampy one should be pretty potable. Maybe in tropical areas there will be a chance to catch an infection if you're not boiling water before using it but that's it.

Considering that you're actively mining mountains of compressed machinery, I'd think it is quite possible that rivers are contaminated
But this is mostly a design consideration. If water is too easy to get then the feature adds nothing.

[O Negative]

Alternatively, all water is drinkable.

Natural untreated water could just be "water poisonable", causing diarrhea. Which, in turn, actually dehydrates a person.
Treated water would work similar to cooked food. Better for you, less chance of "water poisoning."

More Advanced: Have a salinity factor for untreated vs treated water. Could easily simulate hypertonic, hypotonic, and "isotonic" reactions in the human body in a realistic fashion. High-salinity water (found naturally) would dehydrate individuals, medium-salinity water (treated poorly) would help hydrate people, low-salinity water (treated well) would be optimal for hydration.

[Lightzy]

Alternatively, all water is drinkable.

Natural untreated water could just be "water poisonable", causing diarrhea. Which, in turn, actually dehydrates a person.
Treated water would work similar to cooked food. Better for you, less chance of "water poisoning."

More Advanced: Have a salinity factor for untreated vs treated water. Could easily simulate hypertonic, hypotonic, and "isotonic" reactions in the human body in a realistic fashion. High-salinity water (found naturally) would dehydrate individuals, medium-salinity water (treated poorly) would help hydrate people, low-salinity water (treated well) would be optimal for hydration.

haha
Well ok but if water is scarce then medium salinity water might be better because the salinity helps the body tissue retain the water.
Of course that depends on the definition of salinity levels. Low salinity i take to be the water I drink at home.

[O Negative]

Precisely. You get the idea.

Words like the ones I've used (high, medium, low) are incredibly arbitrary, and can be used to fit a person's "intuitive needs."
In other words, whatever is easier to understand for most people is fine by me.

I suggested the scheme above, simply because other needs in RimWorld are so... linear. It might confuse the average player as to why the sweet-spot for water salinity is actually somewhere in the middle, rather than off to one side.

[Paulinas]

I whould love your idea about the Hidration need for colonists

[NeverPire]

I just want to highlight one fact.
Beers contain only 2 to 15 alcohol percent, far from the wine. They can hydrate.
To produce beer, you boil water.
In the history, the first beers have been created to replace the unhealthy water.
"Why not add some hop to my boiling water ? :-)"
So in my opinion beer should fill the water need but the beer crafting process should be complicated.