How do I cross the Ocean?

[Yoshida Keiji]

As per title, I made a caravan with food worth of 7 days, I double clicked to the pier across the ocean, but my caravan doesn't cross the water...

http://imgur.com/enNvbSC

[Wanderer_joins]

You have to settle and build transport pods.

[keylocke]

maybe there's a grue in that dark ocean. so transport pods are necessary, even though building boats would've sounded more logical.

jimmy : i got a bright idea to cross the ocean... let's build boats!
timmy : *slaps jimmy* are you mad?! we need drop pods you fool!!
jimmy : but why?!
timmy : *slaps jimmy again* stahp it jimmy, just stahp it!

[b0rsuk]

But then we would get a thread like "Why do we still use boats in 5500 ?" Don't we have something better ? We should be using transport pods! Rimworld is a sci-fi game !

[keylocke]

transport pods that you need to build each time you wanna use them?

last time i checked, "scifi" does not supersede practicality. building drop pods just to cross the ocean is like saying a rube-goldberg machine solution is "a-ok".

unlike "fantasy", scifi at least requires plausibility. so unless there's a specific reason why people can't build boats to sail the ocean, then people are gonna wonder why boats are non-existent. (even meta-boats that get auto-built/scuttled when transitioning between water tiles and land tiles)

it's like slapping jimmy for suggesting something that makes perfect sense, just to force him to fall in line with your way of thinking. i don't get it.

if devs are gonna go that route and avoid adding a new feature, then at least make it up with the lore. say something like seamonsters or toxic ocean with harsh weather or whatever, just provide some "official" reasoning why pawns can't ride boats in rimworld.

otherwise, expect people to keep suggesting and wanting it. that's how it goes.

and timmy can stop slapping jimmy, coz jimmy would be like : invisible omniscient seamonsters so NO boats, ok. gotcha.

[Seeker89]

Could be easy and faster to build a drop pod vs a boat.

A boat has to be big enough to hold everyone and displace the weight and water, and be build well enough to cross the sea, plus bad waters. And a big enough engine

A drop pod is like a steel box with a explosive device at the bottom. Well two, one to fire up and another to slow down.   

Just my 2 cents...

[ArguedPiano]

Could be easy and faster to build a drop pod vs a boat.

A boat has to be big enough to hold everyone and displace the weight and water, and be build well enough to cross the sea, plus bad waters. And a big enough engine

A drop pod is like a steel box with a explosive device at the bottom. Well two, one to fire up and another to slow down.   

Just my 2 cents...

Would you rather cross an ocean using a raft or a cannon?
I don't see the logic in saying launching yourself safely across a vast distance is easier than building a boat (remember oars are a thing, no motor required)

[b0rsuk]

Could be easy and faster to build a drop pod vs a boat.

A boat has to be big enough to hold everyone and displace the weight and water, and be build well enough to cross the sea, plus bad waters. And a big enough engine

A drop pod is like a steel box with a explosive device at the bottom. Well two, one to fire up and another to slow down.   

Just my 2 cents...

Would you rather cross an ocean using a raft or a cannon?
I don't see the logic in saying launching yourself safely across a vast distance is easier than building a boat (remember oars are a thing, no motor required)

See ? It's already happening. A sci-fi game ! So why learn to walk before you learn to run ? It's a sci-fi game so everything should be made of lasers.

[ArguedPiano]

I was just trying to make a point that it is not 'easier' to build drop pods. I have no problems with the current system, and at this point I cannot invision how boats could be added in a meaningful way.

[Seeker89]

Hmm... lets not say easier.... it's faster. If you had all the know how and supplies you needed to build/launch a boat and a drop pod. you will have the drop pod ready and launched before the boat.

though having boats in the game would be great.

[keylocke]

Could be easy and faster to build a drop pod vs a boat.

A boat has to be big enough to hold everyone and displace the weight and water, and be build well enough to cross the sea, plus bad waters. And a big enough engine

A drop pod is like a steel box with a explosive device at the bottom. Well two, one to fire up and another to slow down.   

Just my 2 cents...

Would you rather cross an ocean using a raft or a cannon?
I don't see the logic in saying launching yourself safely across a vast distance is easier than building a boat (remember oars are a thing, no motor required)

See ? It's already happening. A sci-fi game ! So why learn to walk before you learn to run ? It's a sci-fi game so everything should be made of lasers.

did you just mention that everything should be made of lasers because scifi?

hmm.. that does seem like a valid point. i don't see any downside of having more lasers.

come to think of it, drop pods are cool because rockets ftw!

why would anyone wanna use those poverty boats made for peasants? ewww..

[deshara218]

Well, tribes & Neolithic players need boats. Doesn't even need to be much, a raft is enough for the purposes of a caravan

[b0rsuk]

A potential issue is that both boats and transport pods would need wood. Unless you make your fuel predominantly with food crops (which can die to a blight, etc). So having two ways of crossing river that both use wood could be a bit redundant.

[deshara218]

But needing to research fuel synthesis just to cross a river is dumb anyway

[b0rsuk]

Would you be able to build a wooden boat without doing research first ? It sounds like it would need research either way. Tribals might start with the research, because they do it quite frequently.