Make pawns go deaf if they get hit with an explosive weapon at close range.

[Third_Of_Five]

"Hearing Loss" is already a health trait in the game, but it only seems to appear on colonists that get old. I think that this trait should also be applied to someone if they survive getting hit with explosives. Think about it; if something explodes right next to you, the noise alone would damage your hearing. If you get hit by a mortar shell and survive, you're probably going to lose hearing in at least one of your ears.

[CannibarRechter]

> If you get hit by a mortar shell and survive, you're probably going to lose hearing in at least one of your ears.

What happens IRL is that this will bust your ear drums, but you'll heal up in a week or three. The permanent hearing loss is generally more subtle, and requires repeated, long term exposure, typically to emerge as significant loss.

[Nightinggale]

What happens IRL is that this will bust your ear drums, but you'll heal up in a week or three. The permanent hearing loss is generally more subtle, and requires repeated, long term exposure, typically to emerge as significant loss.

Actually sudden loud noises or air pressure can cause instant permanent damage to the ears and might even rip the ear drums apart so violently that they will not grow back together. The shockwave can also travel to the inner ear where it can cause havoc with tinnitus and permanent and/or temporal hearing loss to follow.

I'm not sure I like this idea. It sounds like one of those things where it would just be annoying and cause most players to load the game if it happens. Remember that this will usually not happen to one colonist, but rather half the colony if you are attacked by somebody with a rocket launcher.

[mistomaxo]

brutal, but a cool feature. maybe one day vanilla will have toggleable difficulty features menu and this sort of thing can be turned on or off depending on personal tastes

[MajorMonotone]

Maybe not permanently but temporary deafness due to explosions would be quite nice, it could lead way to having mortar shells designed not to kill the enemy but to instead disorient them and make them perform worse in combat.

[Mkok]

Yes, this sounds like a nice addition. And maybe the recovery would not always be to 100%, so repeated blows could actually lead to pawns getting deaf over the time.

But is hearing even used in the game at the moment? 

[Limdood]

But is hearing even used in the game at the moment? 

yes, hearing determines the effectiveness of trade prices, social impact (recruiting), and taming.

An absolute -1 on this idea from me.  It's already way to easy to lose ears, noses, and eyes.  I don't need my social pawns becoming useless because he was missed by a grenade.

[Chibiabos]

I was at "ground zero" of an explosion IRL that, yes, did temporarily render me deaf.  I did get my hearing back eventually.

[Third_Of_Five]

An absolute -1 on this idea from me.  It's already way to easy to lose ears, noses, and eyes.  I don't need my social pawns becoming useless because he was missed by a grenade.

So don't use your social pawns in combat.

[Limdood]

An absolute -1 on this idea from me.  It's already way to easy to lose ears, noses, and eyes.  I don't need my social pawns becoming useless because he was missed by a grenade.

So don't use your social pawns in combat.

Or stop trying to nerf the way other people play?

you're free to apply a HeDiff of hearing loss to any pawn in your game in an explosion.

[Third_Of_Five]

Or stop trying to nerf the way other people play?

you're free to apply a HeDiff of hearing loss to any pawn in your game in an explosion.

Trying to add a bit more realism to the game is not 'nerfing the way other people play'.

Others in this thread have already made a point that the hearing loss should probably be temporary, and I am inclined to agree with them. Beyond that, though, simply arguing that adding in this feature would make the game too difficult by your own personal subjective standards is not an argument I find very convincing.

[Limdood]

realism needs to enhance gameplay....realism for the sake of realism isn't a worthwhile argument either.

if you're going to make things harder in the game, it needs to be more than just "real life works this way."  Real life doesn't give people 2 day heart healing or unlimited grenades either.

[Third_Of_Five]

realism needs to enhance gameplay....realism for the sake of realism isn't a worthwhile argument either.

if you're going to make things harder in the game, it needs to be more than just "real life works this way."  Real life doesn't give people 2 day heart healing or unlimited grenades either.

Making explosive weapons more dangerous would enhance gameplay. Regardless, I really don't care enough to continue this argument so feel free to disagree if you want.