Vat soldiers / clones

[R3d0gr3]

Imagine, if you will, a large cylindrical glass vat with an attached console. Inside the vat, suspended in a green gel, floats a generic, naked colonist. This colonist has gone through several stages of growth, much like the potato plant. The speed of his growth was determined by his "crafter's" research and crafting skills. Before beginning work at this station, soldier or clone of particular colonist was selected, in the same way one selects crop type. Every soldier produced here would have his shooting and melee skills determined by his maker's prowess, and also be incapable of every other skill for balance. He would be in essence a disposable meat shield that spends his days shooting at walls for experience. The clone would be a snapshot of a particular colonist that was taken when work began, and would be birthed when the original leaps from his mortal coil or leaves the map. The actual birthing process is rather violent in either case and causes the station to explode into slag and fire with a naked, burning colonist wandering out. Excuse me if this has been suggested before.

[BetaSpectre]

This is a frequent suggestion, although its usually under re-population or some variant there of.