caravans are too hard

[bebopdrums2424]

i only put that melodramatic title for a read. but seriously, am i doing it wrong? it feels like everytime i put a caravan together, it fails, i dont have enough food, i dont have enough weapons, i dont have enough room to haul, takes too long and my colony gets raped while the squad is away........its like the amount of work needed to make a successful caravan is way more trouble and effort and cost in resources then the rewards i get for it. Is this a typical experience? Have you figured it to be easy and rewarding? if so what are your secrets? tips? I have a lot mods going so that is a factor. Thanks.

[easytarget]

I don't find the cost benefit analysis on them workable most of the time so I rarely do them.

What I get from them rarely if ever outweighs the effort and risk.

[kevinshow]

I pretty much only consider caravans when I have enough of everything to succeed on the caravan, or if I can re-supply somewhere along the way.

This means, you should have enough colonists and/or defenses back at home to fend of any attacks.

This means, you should have enough food, plus extra, to make it there and back. I probably do double of what I think I need, because hurt pawns make the trip last longer.

This means, to carry that food and anything you want to trade or pick up, you need the right number of pack animals. Keep in mind they need food too, if there isn't grassy terrain along the way.

I like to do them because I find them to be fun. Even with infinite resources back at home, using mods such as deep drilling or quarry, I still like to do the caravans to get resources or save people, and especially to get those now rare items which many are also available via mods, but I figure it's another chance for a fun caravan.

[Saxon]

The problem is that Rimworld colonies develop way too fast and aren't played long enough when balanced against the slow travel times. Caravans can never keep up with with the constantly changing needs of the colony resulting in hardly any players using them. Which is sad for a system that looks like it took a lot of effort to create.

Why risk lives, lose access to valuable defenders and laborers for WEEKS when I can simply pick up the phone and pay the AI to teleport the specific type of caravan I need to my front door in less than a week?

If I travel at all, I do so in a drop-pod. Like the God-Emperor told me I should.

[Elementium]

The problem I got with caravan is that they are rarely worth it.

And where unique item or precious materials are spotted, it take a while a some risk to get them.
If there is any transports, like aircrafts would be better, but I lost hope it's happens

[bebopdrums2424]

OK so basically, everyone agrees, that caravans are too much trouble for the return. Thats a shame because its such a COOL idea but i guess its just not really all that worth it in the end.

[Vince]

caravan difficulties depend:

1- random/choosen spawn location (close or far from friendly town or tribes ; early on or later)

2 - story teller choices and story teller difficulties setting

3 - scenario multiplier edit & tweaking (some event remove, reinforce and whatever)

keep in mind some players prefer orient there rimworld experience either to lower warmongering everithing surrounding event set up trading & exploring the wolrd map
;
and some others player prefer more tower defense alike kind of settings

regarding that caravans are neither hard or easy it's a personnal choice on save start, mostly

so may be if you lost interest in caravans, it's may be because you altered too much the vanilla gameplay balance with some of the mod you play with, and not tweaked the story teller and scenario accordingly to thoose mods you added

fact is little mod + little mod + little mod + bigger mods quickly alter the overall vanilla balance
.

[ministrog]

Originally posted by bebopdrums2424:

OK so basically, everyone agrees, that caravans are too much trouble for the return. Thats a shame because its such a COOL idea but i guess its just not really all that worth it in the end.

Not me! Then again, there are some caravan quest rewards that I really can't be bothered. One good example is Joywires. But reward or no, it's mostly about how I prepare for a road trip and not the trip itself.

@topic

Sorry for wall of text, but I can break it down to 6 parts

1. Research Long Lasting Food:
I usually go research pemmican first, and then start making some for my first trip. Packaged meals is something I'll get later, since it's more compact than pemmican and lasts indefinitely. The main issue for obtaining either is surprisingly gated by protein generation. If the storyteller doesn't want to spawn enough animals on the map to hunt, then I don't do caravans that season. Wish they add soybeans already so we can make tofu.

2. Food Storage:
So I got enough meat and vegatables, but my normal stockpile can only hold so much. That's when I'll have to make space by creating a whole new area. Once I secured the deep storage room, I place a stockpile area inside and wait for the pawns to fill it up. From a security point of view, this mean more area to protect. Which equates to covering more ground, which isn't good until you recruit more people. Which you'll have to feed. Which means more growing areas. Which means....etc. Stuff that is getting off topic.

3. Pack animals:
This is by far the most random aspect to starting caravans. You will need a bunch, and preferably the larger animals. If your map only have alpacas, then use them and/or prisoners to help you carry more stuff. On the flip side, if you got an amazing tamer, and your map biome supports elephants, grab 1. They can hold a massive 140kg which is easily fit a fully constructed turret. They also hit like a truck.

4. Medication:
This one is a no brainer. I go for about 30 herbals and 10 normal medicines. If I remember, I'll bring some extra penoxycyline. The reason for such a large amount is anticipating rescue downed pawn missions. Most caravan's I use 5 or less. Some fights out there can get pretty rough, so having normal meds can heal your pawns fast enough to beat the 24 hour timer. RNG can still infect wounds, hence 30 herbals so they can heal on the road.

5. Steel:
It takes steel to make steel. Bringing about 100-200 steel with you isn't a bad idea. Of course you'll need to have enough pack animals to carry your food + meds + steel. The plus side of BYO steel is that you'll have it immediately when you raid a base/outpost. Setting up some sandbags in strategic locations can really make a huge difference. In comparison to power armour, steel has less wealth value for the amount of protection it can indirectly provide.

6. Wealth:
I can't recall the exact wealth score to never exceed, but from memory, try not to bring more than 10 pawns + animals + stuff. The ambushes start to include raiders with rockets. They're no fun for the unprepared. I normally just bring 5 people and most of the time don't bother with steel since I'm selling stuff.

[brycepunk1]

I love caravans. Outside of winter I almost always have one wandering around. Schrödinger is on point with the preparations. Usually I split my colony so I have just enough to defend the base (if a raid is too big or a poison ship lands I call a neighbor for assistance.)

Caravan must have good shooters, at least two Melee pawns, and a doctor. If I plan on raiding I always make sure I either bring a battery and a couple improvised turrets or a triple rocket launcher/devastator. And the "set up camp" mod is a must. Game is so silly without it.

[Elementium]

Ok i must admit it mainly because I love building bases and while caravan, you don't build bases.

Even my colonies rely mostly on drop pods to send people and supplies.

[Ri0Rdian]

Originally posted by Soketsu:

Ok i must admit it mainly because I love building bases and while caravan, you don't build bases.

Even my colonies rely mostly on drop pods to send people and supplies.

Grab Set up camp, one of the mods that allows you to construct rollbeds / tents and similar carry and use stuff and enjoy your life as a travelling bunch of weirdos :)

[Elementium]

Originally posted by Ri0Rdian:

Originally posted by Soketsu:

Ok i must admit it mainly because I love building bases and while caravan, you don't build bases.

Even my colonies rely mostly on drop pods to send people and supplies.

Grab Set up camp, one of the mods that allows you to construct rollbeds / tents and similar carry and use stuff and enjoy your life as a travelling bunch of weirdos :)

Already use the mod, I find that not having the possibility to refuel my colonist in food while traveling is inacceptable.

But still I won't spend much time ouside my bases

[MadMek]

I constiently find that the ETA for caravans is WAY lower than actual travel time, resulting in not bringing enough food.

[sbmarauderman03]

Originally posted by sayerglasgow:

I constiently find that the ETA for caravans is WAY lower than actual travel time, resulting in not bringing enough food.

50 hours of gameplay and you are able to make a statement like this? So, you tried it once, didn't bring enough food, didn't pay attention to the fact the ETA is a guide and not the gospel and it 'consistently' is 'WAY lower than actual travel time'?

GTFO....lol.

[MadMek]

Ah yes, fifty hours is clearly far too short a time to learn how read a number, observe the actual time taken, and observe the very large difference. Are you perhaps literally seven years old?

[SumYungGuy]

Deserts work well with caravans. 1 hour travel hexes, even in winter. Lets me get around to a lot of quests.