Division of labour vs colonist identity

[SquareDildo]

Dungeon Keeper had imps for almost all work - digging, claiming space, installing traps. Research was done by monsters, but otherwise monsters only fought and cared about their needs.

Colonists do almost all work in Rimworld. Animals can haul and rescue, but training takes a LONG time and they're still not that effective. Colonists have up to 3 personality traits (Ugly, lazy, volatile) and social relationships. But still, a BIG part of what makes them stand out is their duties in the colony. By design, many simply can't do some kind of work, often something as basic as transporting items or cleaning. They're a bunch of misfits, not superheroes.


Maia has IMPS for what - dirty work ? Mining, outside construction, hauling ore ?
Maia also has repair bots and to my knowledge (currently unable to play newer alphas) colonists also can do that, just aren't too happy with it.
It's not entirely clear to me what each of these 3 does and doesn't and why. For example, why IMPs aren't capable to repair stuff.

Either way, IMPs and repair bots step into colonists' territory. If you free colonists from these tasks, they lose opportunities to be miners or repairers. This leaves fewer opportunities for colonists to distinguish themselves. Add more automatic help and the situation will only get worse.

I bring this up because I don't want Simon to paint himself into a corner.

[simon]

Originally posted by SquareDildo:

This leaves fewer opportunities for colonists to distinguish themselves.

Colonist skills are the key here. There are 60-70 individual skills and colonists only get a handful, but can learn new ones. Currently they provide several invisible perks, but in upcoming updates those will be more pronounced. You'll see colonists pushing towards certain roles in colonies past the few hour mark, manning specific rooms and equipment and providing specilist knowledge in emails.

[SquareDildo]

Hmm, so is King of Dragon Pass one of influences ? In that game people making up your council aren't just pawns, they offer advice and insight all the time.

[ForgeTec]

I'd like a bigger bio on the people I choose when making my landing team - or even a basic breakdown on skills - even if its something as simple as - medic - leader - engineer -security - jack of all trades - scientist - that gives me some basic idea what each character does

I mean even RL groups like NASA have stuff like Commander - Mission specilist - or hey lets toss out star trek (please lord no color coded jumpsuits I couldn't help myself to hand out red shirts.....) have mission jobs - I'd like to see this to help players better select crew

as well as a larger group to choose from