Colonists Walking Around Outside Buildings/vecs

[TH300]

Colonists walking around outside buildings/vehicles

Originally proposed by Stormy

Related ideas:

- repair robots

Description:

Colonists walking around on the planets surface for particular reasons.
No longer neccessary after robots for such tasks are developed.
Maybe have them only be outside when there's no danger, make them avoid dangers.

This is a good idea, because:

- some tasks that need to be performed outside cannot be done by vecs.
- in the op2 novella people also went outside.
- just makes it look nice.

This is a bad idea, because:

- no sane person would walk around on a hostile planet if they can as well go through tubes.

[edited by leeor_net]
Fixed links

[Stormy]

but there's always the insane people , and for periodic repairs that can't be done by a robot.

[Jgamer]

Well, there ARE insane people around, they're either insane people or heroes. That would make really cool mission objectives.
There are also some tasks that require human intervention, such as shutting down an unamanned power structure or doing periodical checks at some other structures (remeber the 'Tales of New Terra' about the geothermal generators? Or the Lava Mines)

[dm-horus]

the question actually related to safety & standard practices in the op2 universe. the amount of ppl walking around outside depends upon what standards the colonists have in place for enviroment suits. is everyone in a certain area required to wear them? does everyone piloting a vehicle wear one? is it voluntary? are there large stockpiles of spares in various places within tubes and structures? having a standing army on a dead planet is completely and utterly pointless, therefore the only reason to have people out and about is when a structure is cutoff from tubes and is abandoned or when a vehicle goes offline or.... something else? the amount of people you can expect to appear depends upon whether or not they are wearing suits as anyone who isnt dies. so when we incorporate people abandoning units or buildings, armies, etc we are really adding to the canon of the op2 universe by saying that there are at any one time enough enviro suits for every colonist and that they are required for certain people at certain times in certain places.

in other words: adding ppl on the surface requires a change to the canon, the story, the setting and the feel of the whole game. having ppl outside doesnt make you feel like yur on a dead world - which you are.

[Skydock Command]

I think this is a horible idea. When I thought about it, to me haveing colonetsts outside in suits would make the planet more dead like.

[Koshy]

Wow, I already had an account here. Anyway, having outside individuals is a good feature. Why you say, well.... There are numerous uses for them, from repair teams, perhaps deployable from tube airlocks which could themselves perhaps be placeable or defaultly spread out, or from some sort of emergency vehichle. Imagine also infiltration teams and the like, also deployable from vehicle. Unless youre in a remarkably hostile enviroment I imagine individuals would take strolls from time to time, the university crew in particular, to collect rocks and inspect buildings etc. There are many potentially usefull applications for this particular feature, it is however mostly a fluff idea, quite nice to see in game but not a requirement..... then again the game itself isnt required for anything.... hmmmm -drones-

[Freeza-CII]

Its a nice touch but i think its utterly pointless for the game it would be good for cut scenes

[Skydock Command]

I think thats already been said.

[Savant 231-A]

yay, by this we can make suicide colonists, prepared to give their life for....?

Ccolonists CAN be used to repair something if robot's can't. In battle, certain part of vehicle is destroyed (reactor), colonist jumps out, repairs and gets insided

Nice idea.

[Freeza-CII]

No
TO MUCH REALISM!

[dm-horus]

I dont think this a good idea as it takes too much focus away from vehicle combat and colony management. You would have to create some sort of barracks and then infantry training center and that makes it too much like Starcraft. We dont want that.

[Koshy]

Well, if were so worried about not making it like other games, you could just go ahead and make it a geological simulation that shows the effects of earthquakes, then it wouldnt have any features in common with warcraft or starcraft ay.

Making games is the same thing as writing, writers borrow material from other writers and say it in different ways, or take different descriptive routes with the same mechanics. Taking good features and integrating them into the game is not bad, it becomes bad only if they are integrated in a way that feels tacked on, or if the game is an outrigt clone of its source material. Colonists walking around outside to do crap makes sense, the space station has people outside of it from time to time and Id say that space is far more 'dead' than any planet you could encounter.

Also, saying pretty much directly no once without further elaboration is plenty.

[Skydock Command]

Well, if were so worried about not making it like other games, you could just go ahead and make it a geological simulation that shows the effects of earthquakes, then it wouldnt have any features in common with warcraft or starcraft ay.

Making games is the same thing as writing, writers borrow material from other writers and say it in different ways, or take different descriptive routes with the same mechanics. Taking good features and integrating them into the game is not bad, it becomes bad only if they are integrated in a way that feels tacked on, or if the game is an outrigt clone of its source material. Colonists walking around outside to do crap makes sense, the space station has people outside of it from time to time and Id say that space is far more 'dead' than any planet you could encounter.

Also, saying pretty much directly no once without further elaboration is plenty.

Well said. I agree completely, and colonists walking around outside is a good idea. You might not see them though, because look how tiny the buildings are on the screen. Youd need a zoom capability to see them, like in Sim City.

[White Claw]

Having people outside of the building might help advance campaign scenarios, but I don't see how they would help out in "routine" gaming.

Would they be available for specific types of repairs?
Would they be used to rebuild a structure factory if your only one is destroyed? (convec, mine, or whatever else)
Will he scout out a mine if my robo surveyor is destroyed?
Is he going to carry ore back to the smelter if my last cargo truck is destroyed and I can't build another?
Are people going to be milling around constantly?

Or are they being proposed as ambient animations? (You just see people strolling about.)

We don't need to go back and forth on extremes comparing this to Starcraft/Warcraft. It's not either of those games, but it's still going to have similarities. Talk to me about the virtues of having a person in the game. Is he controllable? Is he useful for something? Is he just there? Does he give some sort of bonus or do I now have to worry about getting him inside when the enemy attacks? I don't care how much alike or not the game is to something else. That's for a different thread.

Having a person outside just because they would be there in real life doesn't add to the gameplay. Why is he there for the game and what is he going to do for me/the colony?

Edit: And people in battle aren't going to help me against any armed vech. Even getting struck with an EMP round will pretty much ruin your day. Homicide bombers = starflare.

I also don't think having people outside would change the entire story line. As stated, people already went outside.

[lordly_dragon]

The flaw in your plan is this one: Humanity population is estimated to be around 1000 or so (number choose is random). We CANNOT risk the life of ANY of our citizen outside. The exterior is not like Earth it is hostile (strong wind, hot temperature, unbreathable atmosphere...). So why would we indanger a human for a job that a robot can do for sure.

Convince me otherwise I do not think this idea should be considered.