On November 6th, Tynan started to "Art."

[Ramsis]

And it was the most vague post the changelog has ever seen in the history of changelogs.

So boys and girls, seeing as this is something that has it's own ability level in the skill tree, what do you hope art will eventually lead into? Pictures with buffs, statues that scare away enemies, maybe the ability to not require us to spend 5 months to get one 99 rate prisoner to convert?

[karomaas]

I'd love to see an eventual work rebalance so colonists will have time for more sophisticated daily routines and requirement.

Art as it stands right now will probably produce decorations to give mood bonuses, but long way down the line I imagine colonists having some sort of 'entertainment requirement' alongside mood, hunger and sleep.

Much like hunger, colonists will spontaneously seek fun by staring at statues, paintings, maybe even video games, pinball table and listening to the radio/TV. Decorations will be much more essential if they are required for colonist's well-being, instead of giving plus or minus buff which can usually be negated by other means. Maybe there could even be a debuff if they use the same kind of entertainment more than couple times in a short time to force diversity in forms of entertainment.

[Hoodinski]

So, uhm, when do you think we'll be able to get the new version?

[dotsnake]

I thought he was talking about the game art, because it looks way too similar to Prison Architect.
he also said last year that he was looking for an artist.

but... art skill is good too.

[UrbanBourbon]

My first guess is Art will simply work as a beauty modifier for all constructed objects. A great artist could build prettier objects even from the ugliest of materials, or more likely, it'll be wiser to order an artist craft something out of rare and expensive materials. Direct mood bonuses or penalties would be great though.

Alternatively, we might start seeing paintings and other clutter that beautify the colony, all produced by artists. Some of these items could possibly have a minimum required Art skill.

[ShootyFace]

The art style was proposed to change, but after consideration, they stuck with what we have. There is an artist on board, I forget his/her name but it's the same artist who worked on Gnomoria as well as a few other indies, Starbound being another I know of for sure. I personally love the art style and hope they never change it, except for maybe a few distinct items.

Really do hope the art thing gets into this alpha, the stat has been there taunting me forever. I used to love the carvings and whatnot in Dwarf Fortress, spent entirely too much time prettying up my fortresses, will probably do a lot of that in RimWorld depending on how Tynan approaches it. And I'm on board for leisure requirements. Give us some Star Wars holo-chess to play, or badminton, or Super Raider World.

[Ramsis]

So, uhm, when do you think we'll be able to get the new version?

Tsk.... Well it's honestly hard to say, but with Tynan going a tad batshit with content in this one, the fact that testing hasn't began, and the fact that he's now opening the door for a skill set that we haven't had anything for before.... yeah going to say that you probably won't see this version until closer to Thanksgiving honestly. He's going to flesh out art a bit, make new tables to make art, probably make a decoration requirement or a decoration perk batch, he's going to smooth out snow, needs to finish with the new biomes, and yeah so I'm going to guess testers will see it in two weeks, and the finished product will hit in the last week of Novemeber, early December.

[TheXIIILightning]

Oh boy, I can finally have my colonists paint the outer wall with Raider blood and hang a sign by the main door that says: "Looking for Donations"
I'm sure that'll make the Raiders feel welcome. :3

[REMworlder]

I kind of hope art introduces something completely unexpected! But I imagine it'll probably be some sort of mood-modifier like everyone expects (which is cool too).

[Mystic]

Now that I am contemplating the actual introduction of Art, I think that it could be very significant from the standpoint of allowing players to care more about the design and preservation of our colonies.  Right now, just about everything that goes into a colony design is purely practical, and easily/quickly replaceable as long as the raw materials are available.  But I am thinking that art objects should take some real time to produce (certainly nothing as quick as crafting stone bricks, or even building a turret or generator), and as such, we're going to be motivated to try harder to avoid having them be destroyed during assaults.  Anything that can make the player care more about preserving the integrity of the colony he/she has built is a good thing.

I think I'm still the most excited about the prospect of temperature effects in the next alpha, though.   

[UrbanBourbon]

Further speculation: Art enables crafting of beautifying objects. Art objects will likely require several different ingredients and they'll take a lot of time to produce. The production could function like research - it can be paused and continued at leisure. Obviously all art will be highly flammable, or at least paintings should be, and upon destrcution it'll give everyone a mood penalty. Even selling the art piece might give a slight debuff, same as selling prisoners. Art objects might have unique names, and therefore be unique items. Artists could sculpt statues in remembrance of dead or living colonists. It's possible the player can't control artists, and artists will just produce whatever the hell they feel like.

[Shinzy]

It's possible the player can't control artists, and artists will just produce whatever the hell they feel like.

Then they'll be populating the local forums pasting leaflets and hastily made pictures all over instead of doing any real work =P

[Barley]

Oh boy, I can finally have my colonists paint the outer wall with Raider blood and hang a sign by the main door that says: "Looking for Donations"
I'm sure that'll make the Raiders feel welcome. :3

That is the greatest idea I've ever heard from the forum. Hands Down. But how will various traders know that it's pirates your talking about?

[NoImageAvailable]

And it was the most vague post the changelog has ever seen in the history of changelogs.

I think the new one is even less informative.

[attachment deleted by admin: too old]

[Evelyn]

I think the new one is even less informative.

Beat me to it.