goboking Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 It is my belief that the upcoming Ranching Upgrade Mk II is the perfect opportunity to flesh out some of the game's more lacking features, namely Combat and Medicine. This can be done by implementing two critters already found within the game's files: the shockworm and the volgus. The Shockworm and Combat An exceptionally aggressive, insectoid species. It has three specialized organs which discharge electrical shocks to stun prey. The game's files describe the shockworm as an aggressive creature. Gone are the days when we disable Combat or send Pacifist dupes to explore the asteroid. We now have a pressing need to fight off aggressive creatures who hunt our vulnerable dupes. This makes room for a Soldier job, which in turn opens the door for new specialist buildings related to combat (Automated Sentry Guns, Armories to upgrade weapons or fabricate body armor, etc). The Volgus and Diseae A skittish mammalian creature. It moves in herds for safety. Buried in the game's files are volgus and their den. This den perhaps acts as a hiding place for volgus when attacked or a place from which new volgus spawn. Volgus (or their den) could be made the host of a new, nasty disease that spreads on contact. I would have volgus flee to their den when attacked and attack en masse if their den is attacked or destroyed. I would also have volgus chew through any exposed wires they find near their dens (which in turn could start a fire if such a hazard is ever added to the game). This gives players a choice: leave the den and risk disease and damaged wires in exchange for a renewable source of meat or destroy the den and at the risk of combat injuries and infection. Treating Injury and Disease So how are we going to treat the injuries inflicted by shockworms and the disease carried by volgus? With the new Physician job, of course. Increases to Kindness - the attribute that determines wound treatment - is an obvious perk to leveling a Physician. The Apothecary can become a specialist-building, as can the Pharma Chamber. There's even the opportunity for new medicines: pills that boost stamina recovery, reduce stress, or enhance Combat effectiveness, Strength, and Athletics are all possibilities. Bonus: Renewable Phosphorite A naturally friendly and easily outsmarted aquatic prey species. Every organism in the known universe finds the Pacu extremely delicious. The pacu, described as a tasty fish, could be a means of stocking our larders with meat and eggs and could excrete phosphorite, making pincha pepper farms infinitely sustainable. Credit: @Bubby4940 @Risu and @RoboPhred for the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImpalerWrG Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 I agree the combat side of the game can use some love. I believe we should split combat skill from mining as well and call it 'Fighting', it would be used in creature combat AND in putting out Fire (aka fire-fighting). Fire is something that's been discussed many times and it makes for a very good foil to creatures. If you build a very closed creature proof base your likely more vulnerable to fire, and if your base is very sprawling it should be more vulnerable to creatures, in either case the Fighting skill will be useful. Job names for Fighting skill could be 'Watchman', 'Guard', 'Bailiff', 'Warden', 'Marshal', these names convey a bit more of the defensive roll I foresee. I think everyone expects a medical job set in the future but I think it will be it's own update as it would be a lot to put in Ranching Mark II, a 'Nurse', 'Doctor', 'Surgeon' job track seems the simplest course. Doctor Hats would clearly be a Head Mirror, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head_mirror and a Stethoscope. The creatures look great btw, I think the fish though should exist in something other then the starting biome, maybe in some kind of Briny water (which lowers the melting point) water inside the ice biome would be good as that biome doesn't have any animal life. Or maybe they are just frozen until we thaw them? How these hostile creatures get fed though is going to be tricky. We are not going to be feeding them that's for sure so maybe these 'vermin' creatures can't be domesticated and don't need food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goboking Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 22 hours ago, ImpalerWrG said: I believe we should split combat skill from mining as well and call it 'Fighting', it would be used in creature combat AND in putting out Fire (aka fire-fighting). Fire is something that's been discussed many times and it makes for a very good foil to creatures. If you build a very closed creature proof base your likely more vulnerable to fire, and if your base is very sprawling it should be more vulnerable to creatures, in either case the Fighting skill will be useful. Personally, I'd rather have combat and firefighting separated just because I'd like to see the various hats the art team could come up with, but mechanically I don't see why this couldn't work. 22 hours ago, ImpalerWrG said: I think everyone expects a medical job set in the future but I think it will be it's own update as it would be a lot to put in Ranching Mark II, a 'Nurse', 'Doctor', 'Surgeon' job track seems the simplest course. There's certainly enough potential material to justify healthcare getting its own standalone update. 22 hours ago, ImpalerWrG said: The creatures look great btw, I think the fish though should exist in something other then the starting biome, maybe in some kind of Briny water (which lowers the melting point) water inside the ice biome would be good as that biome doesn't have any animal life. I'm no chemist, but I presume boiling briny water would produce salt. Salt could provide a wide array of uses in ONI, so I'd be all far this. 22 hours ago, ImpalerWrG said: How these hostile creatures get fed though is going to be tricky. We are not going to be feeding them that's for sure so maybe these 'vermin' creatures can't be domesticated and don't need food. Them being untamable would be the simplest solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blash365 Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 It was already hinted in the stream when the mk1 farming preview was released that there might be more unpleasant critters in the game soon. In the context of whether or not morbs could be tamed, one of the devs said something along the lines of "there are certain critters, that you just dont want to have inside your base". While this could still be reduced to morbs, it is a strong nod towards aggressive creatures in my view. 49 minutes ago, goboking said: There's certainly enough potential material to justify healthcare getting its own standalone update. Yes, that would make alot more sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goboking Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share Posted March 23, 2018 On 3/21/2018 at 5:52 PM, blash365 said: It was already hinted in the stream when the mk1 farming preview was released that there might be more unpleasant critters in the game soon. I missed that stream, but that certainly sounds promising. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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