Statue/painting spam and how to avoid it.

[Nidhoggur]

So, first of all, I like what this game has to offer (and most Klei games, for that matter). The liquid and gas systems are super cool, the latter I haven't really seen in any game before. The temperature, electricity, food are all handled well and clear.

But when I went around to look at some of the colonies of other folks, I saw things like this: (this one is just a random screenshot from google)

Seriously. Is this a museum simulator or something?

I can understand why the decor system is in place - to add an additional challenge besides actual food, and oxygen and what not. And this purpose is great. I totally love managing complex stuff. But at the moment, solving stress is less of a clever challenge and more of a bruteforce solution. Yay, let's spam paintings!

I suppose some people would ask now "so, what's wrong with that? If we need more water, we build more pumps. If we need more decor, we build more statues". Well, from an objective, solely rational standpoint, it's true. But that... Doesn't really feel like a space colony to me.

Also, I understand that the game is in Early Access, so maybe features will be added, that will change the situation.

 

So what do you propose? Here are a few suggestions:

• Give us wallpaper! For real So that it can be put on a wall behind all objects, and look pretty. (it will probably hinder the readability of gasses in a room a bit, but we have overlays)
• What if we had upgraded versions of batteries, generators and stuff, that add to decor, rather than subtract from it. Like a super cool-looking sci-fi pump, that duplicants will love to set the eyes on.
• Use the textile station to make lovely blankets for beds, and pretty tablecloths for mess tables, that add decor bonuses to said objects
• Colonywide decor buildings, that rise decor everywhere, but can only be built once. Something like a world wonder in civ games. Think giant statue, or a fountain, or stuff like that.
• Make diminishing returns from same decor objects. Say, one painting per room is nice. Two, is fine. Three is marginally better. Everything more than that is negligible.
• Maybe a bigger bonus to regular tile decor from materials?
• More varied decor objects and decor combos? Like, placing a painting near a vase gives bonus decor.

  ***

Here, thanks for reading this far. Maybe you have better ideas.

Lemme know your thoughts.

[LeadfootSlim]

I'm definitely with you on wallpaper tiles.

As far as painting spam goes, though, I'd argue there's a very good reason to address it sooner than to leave it as an eventual icing-on-the-cake feature; a game in Early Access depends heavily on its presentation for first impressions. Identical painting/statue spam does not make a great first impression.

What I'd like to see (eventually):

• More lightbulb/lighting types; Flourescent bar lamps (rotateable for walls), ceiling fans (which help airflow)
• Upgraded ladders with lights or other cool looks to them (wood-looking ladders in a space base? C'mon...)
• Statue types by material (Obsidian statues, Abyssalite statues... imagine the weirdness!)
• More paintings (genre set  by material; Sandstone for classical, Obsidian for modern, Abyssalite for abstract, etc.)
• Wallpaper (see above)
• Ornate doors

Overall, it's important to remember that these types of additions, if we get them at all, will come gradually in between more important art updates - new machines, new animations for Dupes, new monsters, UI concerns. Still, if we get more over time, I'll be quite pleased.

[Nidhoggur]

Thanks for the input!

I like the idea about lightbuld types, and Statue/painting type by material. (should be fun! )

As for the ladders, I imagine Klei went for the run-down makeshift visual style, on the whole, that may explain why they are wooden?

[ChineseChef]

I agree the decor mechanic needs a good overhaul.  One thing I would like to see is every item being "upgrade-able".  In the sense that it can be made to look pretty.  I would also like background walls that things would need to be hidden in.  So exposed pipes/ducts/wires would be considered negative decor if they aren't visually upgraded.

It would be nice if you could make "fancy" versions of everything.  I mean, a table made from 2x4s and plywood works but looks bad.  A table hand carved from solid timber with a nice stain can look amazing. 

They could even make the "fancy" versions require 2 or more different materials.  So a table could need 200 base material, 100 second material, 50 third material.  (numbers simply for example purposes)   This would make expansion and usage of materials a more deliberate endeavor.

[brummbar7]

Agreed with OP, adding more complex decor requirements would add to the intricacy of the game.  I think the best way to do this would be to make decor of various types, and make them not stack.  So "art decor" does not stack with other art decor.  But it will stack with plants, and light.   This puts a more easily controllable upper limit on decor obtainable in a tile, and forces the player to use varied decor (I never use plants currently).  Additional decor:

Sound - radios, maybe speakers in the wall.  Let player choose the music. 

Pets - let the player capture pufts, morbs, and other animals, and put them in an environmentally controlled chamber, as a pet.  This should have a good bonus, as the player is sacrificing a limited resource (well, unless they're breedable).  The bonus could vary based on the animal.  Pets could require food, but it would be best not to make them require special temperatures (that's handled by their enclosure) But maybe the enclosure takes power.

Carpeting - increases floor tile decor, but takes 10x as long to mop.

Wallpaper - I'm not a fan of this idea really, unless it's extremely expensive, and so can't just be spammed all over.  Or maybe it provides no benefit at all when pipes or wires are over it.

Entertainment - this is actually beyond decor.  It would be things like a dance area (disco ball) games (future-pinball, etc), and a movie screen.  The thing about these decor is that they would only really be effective with multiple dupes - because a party by yourself is no fun.  So Each game machine accomdates 1 dupe, but they only get much stress relief if there's more dupes within 1 or 2 tiles.  A movie screen maybe has 6 seats, with more bonus with more dupes seated.   And a dance floor accommodates many dupes.  These things could either reinforce each other, or not, or actively interfere with each other, encouraging separation.  moreover, they take a long time, and dupes will stop and do them sometimes if they just run across them.  If you force the dupe to quit, they get a huge 'party pooper' stress penalty.  So basically you don't want entertainment stuff lining your halls, or your dupes will never do anything.  And it's only really useful if you assign a lot of dupes to it at once.  It's be a very different dynamic, I think.