Thoughts on starvation during large raids and possible solution

[Damien Hart]

So recently, my biggest problem is that by the time my massively outnumbered colonists complete a battle, they end up at the point where most of them are on the brink of starvation.

Which leaves me with a bunch of near starving colonists moving at a veritable crawl with an unconscious colonist on their back (lest they be carried away) who, by the time they have deposited their human cargo, are now starving, adding a -50 to their mood, which already has penalties from all the dying fighters and their subsequent corpses. This creates something of a tantrum spiral, and then all of my unconscious colonists starve to death because they have no way to feed themselves.

This got me thinking on how to counteract the issue, and rather than altering the hunger timescale, which would then affect the balance of the entire game, it occurred to me that something along the lines of an adrenaline hit during the battle, that temporarily freezes the hunger/sleep meters, adds a morale boost of around 20 or so, and possibly removes the tiredness and hunger debuffs for the duration that the effect is active would help to balance this out.

The effect would begin when the raiders launch their assault, and upon victory would begin to fade, though the time it takes to disappear would need to be determined through testing. The reason for it not fading immediately is so that colonists who happen to be drafted when urgently hungry/very tired don't have a breakdown on the way from the front lines back to the base proper.

The big question here is how to handle the effect when you're the one on the offensive, whether that be against a siege camp, or just a preemptive strike, but I'm curious as to the thoughts of other players on a system like this?

[ApexPredator]

I like this idea a lot. The adrenaline and fear from battle makes the need for food and sleep almost none existent. Being drafted or in combat should lower the need to a fraction of what it normally is.

[Damien Hart]

I probably wouldn't say drafted would be a good idea, as it would be too easy to exploit.

[BetaSpectre]

I think this should happen whenever one of the red alerts come on and when time slows down to normal because of combat.

This way players won't be able to trigger the adrenaline rush.

That also means that the ship encounter since it messes with your brain won't give you the adrenaline rush making it even more tough than it already is comparatively speaking.

[bjo0rn]

I addressed the same problem, but offered a different solution: http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=4804.0

[Damien Hart]

I think this should happen whenever one of the red alerts come on and when time slows down to normal because of combat.

This way players won't be able to trigger the adrenaline rush.

That also means that the ship encounter since it messes with your brain won't give you the adrenaline rush making it even more tough than it already is comparatively speaking.

I had thought of this, but then everyone gets an adrenaline rush every time someone gets bitten by a squirrel...  But perhaps specifically for combat with sentient enemies.

I addressed the same problem, but offered a different solution: http://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=4804.0

I agree that pawns should be able to carry rations, but during a combat situation, you can't exactly sit down and have a snack, hence the temporary freeze. The two ideas would work well in concert with one another though.

[Shinzy]

I think this should happen whenever one of the red alerts come on and when time slows down to normal because of combat.

This way players won't be able to trigger the adrenaline rush.

That also means that the ship encounter since it messes with your brain won't give you the adrenaline rush making it even more tough than it already is comparatively speaking.

the ship crash can be dealt with mortar =P
and the scythers and centipedes provide really nice raider defence for a while
cause they don't seem to move from the destroyed ship part

ofcourse it could trigger the "helpful" townspeople come to help event
killing the hive guys and then flock inside your base to lose their minds
(yep, I've experienced it. they even turned hostile after one of the stray bullets from their rampaging people
caused one of mine to retaliate with a burst shot in their lot)

The adrenaline thing would only help your own colonists and I really like the idea
but I'm really worried of the visitors, too though! cause I've started to see them lose their minds after visiting
(this is late game problem really) but they have to walk through field of bodies and hideous environment to get to my base
then they proceed to stand there and get hungry
they don't get out of my map boundaries very often without atleast one of them losing it and starting a war
somewhere close to the edge of my map
which doesn't really concern my colony at all and they really keep the grounds stacked up in bodies to demoralize raiders

but all that said! I'm really liking Bjoorns suggestion aswell

Edit:

I had thought of this, but then everyone gets an adrenaline rush every time someone gets bitten by a squirrel...  But perhaps specifically for combat with sentient enemies.

Oh, maybe the adrenaline could be triggered from taking damage? for some period of time
ofcourse everyone don't get damaged everytime but you could always add
the "saw friend ate a bullet" caused adrenaline buff aswell or something

[Damien Hart]

I think this should happen whenever one of the red alerts come on and when time slows down to normal because of combat.

This way players won't be able to trigger the adrenaline rush.

That also means that the ship encounter since it messes with your brain won't give you the adrenaline rush making it even more tough than it already is comparatively speaking.

the ship crash can be dealt with mortar =P
and the scythers and centipedes provide really nice raider defence for a while
cause they don't seem to move from the destroyed ship part

ofcourse it could trigger the "helpful" townspeople come to help event
killing the hive guys and then flock inside your base to lose their minds
(yep, I've experienced it. they even turned hostile after one of the stray bullets from their rampaging people
caused one of mine to retaliate with a burst shot in their lot)

The adrenaline thing would only help your own colonists and I really like the idea
but I'm really worried of the visitors, too though! cause I've started to see them lose their minds after visiting
(this is late game problem really) but they have to walk through field of bodies and hideous environment to get to my base
then they proceed to stand there and get hungry
they don't get out of my map boundaries very often without atleast one of them losing it and starting a war
somewhere close to the edge of my map
which doesn't really concern my colony at all and they really keep the grounds stacked up in bodies to demoralize raiders

but all that said! I'm really liking Bjoorns suggestion aswell

Edit:

I had thought of this, but then everyone gets an adrenaline rush every time someone gets bitten by a squirrel...  But perhaps specifically for combat with sentient enemies.

Oh, maybe the adrenaline could be triggered from taking damage? for some period of time
ofcourse everyone don't get damaged everytime but you could always add
the "saw friend ate a bullet" caused adrenaline buff aswell or something

In Alpha 6, ship part defenders will assault the colony when the ship part is damaged enough.

The visitors cracking seems to be related to starvation, or at least it's the lynch pin. Further argument for the pawns carrying rations, like bjo0rn suggested.

The problem with the effect occurring when a pawn is shot or near someone that is, is that a pawn that is involved in the battle may not necessarily be injured, nor near enough to a pawn that gets shot to trigger a second-hand adrenaline rush. For example, sending snipers to flank a siege camp's mortars while an assault team draws the defenders away.

It occurs to me that a buff with a large effect radius, like 50 or so, would suffice for most situations, the sniper range being around 40. The buff would affect anyone near someone who is injured by a sentient attacker, regardless of factions; a second, lesser adrenaline buff that only affects individuals who are attacked by animals would also be a good idea.