Is door-peeking technically cheating?

[Razzoriel]

The AI can't respond in time. Your colonists get cheap shots with small warm-up time weapons. Melee enemies get stuck bashing a door that can simply be repaired. You have plenty of time to decide when and how to aggro. Three chain-shotguns decimate just about anything trying to kill your colonists....

No wonder sappers get so much hate, people always try to cheat the game with either that or killboxes instead of simply making a fortification funnel in their bases, leading to the game having to counter this specific strategy. Why not simply make the AI go through doors that have been recently opened and chase the peekers?

[sadpickle]

Cheating is using dev mode.

Door peeking is exploiting the enemy AI.

[bbqftw]

A fortification funnel is also cheating the game by your criteria, as no smart AI would ever walk blatantly to their deaths against such a setup, you unethical savage!!

[5thHorseman]

The rules allow it it's not cheating.

Also, you can't cheat in a single player game because you're not getting an advantage over anyone else.

It'd be like saying using Phoebe was cheating because it means less raids.

[Dargaron]

Welcome to the world of trying to take a fortified position. We have about 5,000 years of evidence to suggest that it's an absolute nightmare.

The player is already artificially-restrained from multiple tried-and-tested means of shaping the battlefield to his/her advantage, including:
-Deploying a field of caltrops, or using any other means to slow the enemy without providing cover. (IIRC, burned Wood Floors used to provide a massive movement penalty, but it was removed when Tynan found that players were intentionally using burned floors to slow raiders' approach).
-Utilizing arrow slits (fancy name: embrasures) to shoot at targets from behind walls.
-Bribing raiders to go away using our vast wealth.
-Fixing bayonets to the ends of our nifty rifles, or carrying both a gun and a sword at the same time.

Add in the fact that the AI technically has unlimited resources (if the Pirates lose a high-skilled pawn in Power Armor, they just spawn another high-skilled pawn in Power Armor next time), and there's no surprise that people will use doors to take pot-shots at raiders, if our ancestors could come up with the idea of "shoot at attackers from a position of safety" before they discovered basic metallurgy.

[Kirby23590]

Is door-peeking technically cheating?

Answer is simple...

No.

What's cheating is dev mode.

Door-peaking is effective against with ranged-fighters... Not very effective against with masses of angry melee fighters or a manhunter pack with animals that can rip apart doors easily if they were not wooden doors...

I agree with sadpickle... Door peeking is exploiting the enemy AI though...

[Wanderer_joins]

It's a legit mechanics which can be abused.

What could be improved is when you're melee fighting enemies while you're in a doorframe, if your retreat, the enemy will attack the open door instead of following you. They should either follow you instantly (blocking the door open if there is an enemy next to it) or be able to open a door which is not fully closed. And once the door is opened by an enemy it should be kept open (like during prison breaks or berserk colonists).

[Bolgfred]

What's cheating is dev mode.

I did use the permanent deactivation for dev mode and I feel so much better :-)

I agree with sadpickle... Door peeking is exploiting the enemy AI though...

I agree with your agreement. ambushing behind doors is just realistic and makes sense. Especially if it relies on fast shooting weapons, and not on the bad AI reaction.

Would be cool if the AI would react on this strategy by their own strategy, like raider wearin quick shooting weapons will wait longer around doors to 'counter-peek' or giving cover and shoot at the door few times whilst others approach.

[silenced]

It's only an exploit until Tynan figures out a solution, and I'm sure he will. He's that sadistic. =)

[RawCode]

call it "cover mechanic" and it's not cheating

[zizard]

Makes a lot more sense than enemies filing obediently into a killbox.

[Ser Kitteh]

Is it using devmode? Then it's not cheating.

Though I do admit it's not very fun. I try not to use it.

[patoka]

if you have to disable dev mode to make you not abuse it and you have to play permadeath mode in order to not savescum, then forget about door-peeking being cheating. it is not pvp. you get mighty tools handed by tynan here, if you abuse it, it's your fault and noone else feels bad about it.
or do it like i do. just. dont. cheat. it is also kind of a life lesson. dropping out of school is easier than going there and finishing with a good degree. but will you be happier in the end if you do? will you not brush your teeth just because it is annoying to do so? will you pirate rimworld because it's cheaper? will you NOT write a comment in the forums and just screw yourself over by cheesing the game?

honestly, just equip your pawns properly, take cover and shoot the raiders down. regularly make better clothes of higher quality material. get longer range guns if you feel safer that way. assault rifles are my personal fave, but apparently sniper rifle spam is a thing. heck, just bombard the crap out of the enemy with mortars, that's perfectly fine. use ancient items. use fire. use mines, traps and help from friendly factions. healing is so easy in this game, so even if your pawns get damaged or even downed, no fear, they will heal very reliably. and even if you lose a limb, you can get better ones as replacement.