Giving advantage to spaced out colony layouts

[b0rsuk]

That's not a signature, that's just something I wanted to post when I saw you harassed by JuicyPVP. We give too much attention to manners in what should be a Suggestions subforum. And he's using tactics like strawman - putting words into your mouth, something that superficially resembles your argument but is easier to refute. Why is rude behaviour lambasted but intellectual dishonesty tolerated ? I hate gentlemen, you can be an a-hole but polite and that's suddenly okay ? I rate people by what they do, not what or how they say.

I think fire is deadly enough as it is, it reaches absurd temperatures very quickly and there are no fire-resistant clothes (try fighting an inferno centipede head-on and you will see. Plasteel-made power armor burns like paper. Your best bet is probably leathers, maybe camelhair but I'm not sure what flammability it has.).
The problem with fire is that there's too much stuff that's not flammable. Stone is the default material, no floor burns except the recently discovered growing zone floor. Workbenches burn, stockpiles burn, but there's nothing between these objects, maybe conduits. Areas with high concentration of items like stockpiles can be protected by firefoam. So... stone floor should be made more expensive back again, keep wood as it is but make it flammable, carpets - prettier than wooden tiles, but even more flammable. While steel doesn't burn, it transmits heat very well. Hot steel that doesn't ignite can still bend.
Maybe smoke needs to be expanded on.

I really mean it about ranged weapons. For me one of defining characteristics of a FPS game is how deadly its weapons are - how far can you move through an open space before being taken out. Counterstrike, ARMA, Rainbow Six, Red Orchestra are on the extreme end of realism side and people avoid open spaces like the plague. Games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Dirty Bomb, Enemy Territory are in the middle. Quake, DooM, UT are the least realistic, and people can move far before being taken out. Deadlier weapons would help, but it would make melee worse, and AI raiders are not smart enough about cover.

Colonists only get mood bonuses from indoor areas. There should be a mechanism that evaluates prettiness of outdoor areas. Fresh snow should be pretty. Unmolested nature should be pretty (no signs of grazing animals, mining, construction rubble, cutting trees). Rain should quickly wash away bloodstains.

It's been proven by both sociologists and biologists that beigns don't like crowded colonies and stress builds up. I remember reading about a study which said buildings taller than 4 stories are bad, because that's when people stop caring about common staircases and treat them as nobody's. That's the treshold for vandalization, hobos, drunks, and creepy strangers.
For Rimworld, I think more emphasis should be put on noise from workshops. A person just walking by past your wall shouldn't disturb sleep, meditation or prayer. Most workshops and geothermal generators should punch through nearby walls.

[Lightzy]

Wow I really like the idea of higher impact 'noise pollution'.

I'm imagining a shared-wall room with a couple 'getting some lovin' on one side and a guy on the other side with the constant "interrupted sleep" bubble :>


Also there was an 'airflow' suggestion also, I wonder how that could work...
Possibly pawns should become more susceptible to disease IF they don't spend a certain portion of the day in fresh air, or something like that?
Though that's 'reaching', I suppose.

[schizmo]

Just a quick note, rain already washes away blood.

[schizmo]

A second thought I had and one that is somewhat more beneficial to villages than compounds/mountains would be the currently implemented system of room roles, and how a number of specific types of furniture in one room allows the room to be classified as a kitchen or workshop or rec room, etc.

These individualized rooms with their specific roles allow for colonists who utilize/pass through them to experience positive mood buffs and have thoughts like "Wow we have a really nice rec room!" this sort of thing is FAR easier in an open layout because it takes a considerably larger amount of space to keep every type of room separated, beautiful, clean, spacious, impressive, and wealthy. Tightly packed compounds and or mountain bases are less likely to afford the player with the space and diversity necessary to accomplish this effectively, and the "one room schoolhouse" approach makes it impossible.

The mood buff from effective use of Room Roles is really important to keeping colonists happy and effective, so this type of thing CAN benefit all play styles but is more likely to benefit villages.

[Barazen]

I build towns almost exclusively, using varendas and single tile wood walls as 'posts' it can easily allow street fighting as you have more to block incoming shots and keep light levels down. As being in the dark makes a pawn harder to hit.

Though i would prefer... if there were some way for the game to know- more kidnapping raids on open plan towns. As they would have a much higher sucess chance.

That would divert them from their typical "smash everything, steal if we get bored" approach.

I would prefer that to be honest, as a large town can take some time to get everyone to safety while i muster a militia to fight back- and rebuilding can get tedious.