Dying of old age?

[Col_Jessep]

Is that a thing in RimWorld? I have a 68 year old vet:



He's not only one of the few good shots I have, he's a master crafter, our good ol' Markus!



IIRC, he came to us with a peg leg and a bad eye and I upgraded him to bionics. I already bought a bionic arm, too. Then I realized the old gunshot is only causing him very mild trouble and I'm saving the arm for an emergency. At least until I can afford a second one as backup. He is in remarkable health for his age.

As you can see Markus is a valuable member of the community, especially since he is not disturbed at all by recovering raider bodies and burning them.

But my question is: Can colonist actually die from old age in RW? Could Markus just pass peacefully to the great beyond? How old can people get in RW? Could they live longer with bionics and a fresh heart transplant?

PS: Yes, I'm one of those crazy people who have forts in Dwarf Fortress lasting for years and decades until FPS death finally claims them. Why do you ask? =D

[milon]

That's a really good question.  I think the max age is 70, at least at the start.  Not sure what happens after that - if it would roll back to 15 or go on to 71 or just keel over.  Anyone else experienced this before?

[Darkfirephoenix]

They can die of old age. I got some pretty old ppl in the beginning and in my 3 year only one of them was left... sadly I don't remember the age they died on, but it was after 69 for sure...

[Wex]

70 Y.O. colonist alive and kicking. Not too much, because his back hurts.

[Col_Jessep]

Well, we are in year 3, everybody is healthy, we made peace with all our neighbors, disassembled a lot of mechanoids, the ship for 16+ colonists is ready... and we are leaving the -40°C winters behind for a beach on a glitter world where the sun shines every day! Good bye, Frosthold! =D

Markus is still trucking along like he was in his teens. With the bionic implants even faster than before. But I wonder, how many years he has ahead of him still. We could always arrange for a kidney, liver or heart transplant in Frosthold... ;P

[Tynan]

They won't just keel over magically. What happens is that their immune system gets weaker and weaker. So when they get another illness, it's more and more likely to kill them, and you need better and better meds to prevent that.

[EvilNickolas]

I take it that no amount of bionic organs and limbs could allow a colonist to live forever?
( im hoping that it can keep them going for a decent amount of time tho )

I guess there would be a bit of luck involved atm, as there aren't replacements for every body part yet.. one generic torso infection and your done

[Shaithis]

It would be neat to have some sort of Nanobot injection as a surgical option that would boost colonists resiliency vs Infections and Diseases. Maybe an item you could purchase from an exotic trader much like the neural trainers.

[Col_Jessep]

They won't just keel over magically. What happens is that their immune system gets weaker and weaker. So when they get another illness, it's more and more likely to kill them, and you need better and better meds to prevent that.

Thanks! That gives you enough warning to put a colonist in stasis until you are ready to leave for a world with better meds, nice!

[Wex]

When a 16 Y.O. colonist gets the flu, his immunity process starts around 60%
When a 70+ Y.O. colonist gets the flu, you're lucky if he starts at 30%

[ZestyLemons]

They won't just keel over magically. What happens is that their immune system gets weaker and weaker. So when they get another illness, it's more and more likely to kill them, and you need better and better meds to prevent that.

Wow, I never thought about this. That's some amazing detail.

[Tiolas]

I've been meaning to ask this for a while.
Some interesting concepts.

And to the OP: you're not alone. Long games ftw.

[Col_Jessep]

Long games ftw.

I'm so glad we can build ships now! It's like becoming the mountain home in Dwarf Fortress and having the king arrive: a satisfying end to the story after a lot of hardship. Building a ship for 16 colonist is rather expensive if you have to buy all the plasteel... 0_o

http://i.imgur.com/Jdq4KV9.jpg

[Tiolas]

Worth that warm fuzzy feeling with colonists lasting the test of time.

So weird you can grow so connected to a few random stragglers over the course of 5-10 years.

[StorymasterQ]

Rimworld: Long War