Fence - What are they good for?

[Mojito000]

Since i am at it another question,

What is the Point of Fences?
Since predators are just walking in and Killing my animals, I still have to have a wall around them.
I stoped with the fences and just use walls.

I guess you can maybe separate two different fenced in areas but... seems quite underwelming

[Mirador]

Most domestic animals require pens otherwise they might run away. Fence are for making those pens.

However, I suggest that you place a perimeter wall around those pens to prevent predators from going in and killing your live stock.

[Mojito000]

That is my point
If i need to make a wall around anyway, just leave out the fence...

[Mirador]

Well, at the very start of the game, fence are much less expentive and faster to make than wall so I still use them.

I also use them in defence strategy/killbox as they slow enemy without give much cover. ;o)

[Mojito000]

Yep, i was thinking of the killbox as well, just not there quite yet. Will give it a try 

[Tim Frobisher]

Another frustrating thing about fences is that they have very few hit points. It seems like every time one of my pawns has a tantrum, he runs straight to the fences. Unlike with walls, which rarely get completely busted, the fences end up with lots of breaches. And, of course, all of the animals run out. This would be pretty funny if it weren't for the difficulty of fixing the holes. I can order my builders to rebuild the fences, but as soon as an animal walks into the gap, the order cancels itself. One second later, when the animal finishes walking through, I can order the builder to rebuild the fence again, but most likely he will head back to the storage area for steel instead of using the one he just dropped. And by that time, another animal will cancel the order.

[Mirador]

Another frustrating thing about fences is that they have very few hit points. It seems like every time one of my pawns has a tantrum, he runs straight to the fences. Unlike with walls, which rarely get completely busted, the fences end up with lots of breaches. And, of course, all of the animals run out. This would be pretty funny if it weren't for the difficulty of fixing the holes. I can order my builders to rebuild the fences, but as soon as an animal walks into the gap, the order cancels itself. One second later, when the animal finishes walking through, I can order the builder to rebuild the fence again, but most likely he will head back to the storage area for steel instead of using the one he just dropped. And by that time, another animal will cancel the order.

Yes, that a pretty big issue and that why mod like Just Ignore Me Passing or Replace Stuff are a must with the current version.

Hope they will do something about it.

[zgrssd]

I found another use: Final layer of the Pen.
In my current game, I am using the whole "Courtyard" of my base as Pen. The walls are the same I use for defense.
However this caused a problem with a "break wall" type raid. They bashed in my doors, also opening my pen.
And it takes forever to rope them back in.

So now I placed fences outside my walls. The idea is that even if the enemy breaches doors again the pen is technically still closed. The breached section simply expands to the fences, rather then the door.

[Grubfist]

I place fences around crops. Several medium/large sized herbivores have the "blocked by fence" modifier and this keeps them from eating my crops while allowing my colonists to just walk in from any angle and do their work.

[Mirador]

Another advantage I found out with fences over wall is that wind turbine will work through them.

[Seroto9]

I use them as cheap ways to keep animal types apart: have those that need lots of upkeep close to your colonists.

I still have walls - and I could use walls for this! But it's the cost and speed of fences that makes the difference. I guess that's why livestock farmers don't use walls in IRL..?  Cue lots of farmers getting on my case

[Boboid]

Barricades function as fences by the way, for anyone who wants their fences to have more health or provide more cover.

[Demoulius]

Yeah having half of my lifestock suddenly wander off because I dident have fences (because they dident excist back then?) when I came back to 1.3 was a big kick in the teeth.

Now that I got a little used to the mechanic though I quite like it but it does mean you have to take space for animals in mind alot more. I used to migrate them around from field to field and let them graze off grass but that doesent seem to be possible anymore

[zgrssd]

Yeah having half of my lifestock suddenly wander off because I dident have fences (because they dident excist back then?) when I came back to 1.3 was a big kick in the teeth.

Now that I got a little used to the mechanic though I quite like it but it does mean you have to take space for animals in mind alot more. I used to migrate them around from field to field and let them graze off grass but that doesent seem to be possible anymore

If you make each "grazing field" a pen, it should be as possible as it always was.

But chances are that if you need to do it, you propably got too many animals or way to few animal handlers.

[Demoulius]

Well I dident have to many animals because I could dictate at a whim where they would graze. I could effectively use the entire map. Sometimes rotating fields sometimes just letting them graze wherever they wanted.

That said I also had fields where I grew haygrass and whenever I get things like insect infestations I turn those into kibble so feeding the animals wasent the problem. Them wandering off before I found out what was going on was...