A story generator, not a skill test?

[Nightweaver20xx]

So I just had this tooltip pop up on me, and I'm on the fence on whether to call this pompous artist BS or not.
"Rimworld is a story generator, not a skill test. A ruined colony is a dramatic tragedy, not a failure."
I don't know about you, but this game sure FEELS like a skill test to me, and the people who can play it well are just smarter than I am. I'm not really that interested in telling a great story in Rimworld, I'm interested in playing it well, and beating the game.

[Nightweaver20xx]

So, I mean, I hear what you're all saying. But every day I see pop up in my recommended videos in YouTube links to "extreme" desert and ice sheet playthroughs from these really skilled Rimworld players. Who was it I just watched the other day... Pete Complete, and also Delgar3, who are just able to dominate the game and/or get super lucky and survive to escape the planet. I wanna be that kind of player.

[HunterSilver]

Those are great goals to work towards, but don't beat yourself up for not knowing everything right away. We all enjoy the game in our own ways and over time you build up knowledge about the game that lets you achieve what you want to. =)

[jim_0]

not about the destination, its about the journey, bra!

[TC]

I like looking at those extreme scenarios of YouTubers.

And Yea they play amazing.

I made a amazing group of Pawns. I play. I'm having my base set up and everything is running smoothly.

Lots of food, gear and no troubles.
I select a lot of wild boars and mark hunt.

They go manhunter.
And they kill tree Pawns.


That's it. Just one thing broke down. I can reload a save or try to survive.


First I did lots of save skimming. Now I go fourth. And if I die, I die.

[Xeno42]

play more. get better.

[raiden82]

its reload anytime mode vs permadeath mode lol
you want a skill test? game sends you insane challenge? save and reload as many times as it takes to figure out how to overcome it and become better at the game as a result? reload anytime mode.

you want a story that will very likely end in "dramatic tragedy"? want to get randomly wiped out and learn nothing about the game other than how brutal it can be? dont care about that and just want a compelling story that you have some control over? permadeath mode.

[Losco]

I just survived a toxic fallout, an event that i didn't even knew it existed.
It lasted from spring till summer. I walled all my pawns inside my base, locked all doors, told the animals to stay in the barn. Luckily i had plenty of food. I sent few guys outside just to gather some wood and to defend the base from a raid. Totally enjoyed it, but now i'm wondering how i'll survive the winter without food.

Edit: looks like i saved a good part of my harvest :)

[unseasoned_cauliflower]

The nice thing about Rimworld is that the settings and difficulties are fully customizable therefore you can make the game however you want it to be. If you want to tell a story that isnt punishing you can make it easy and influence certain events to occur or maybe make a hard game for yourself to tell a savage story. If you dont care about the story and want to finish the game and the game is too hard for the lack of skill then again, manipulate the game to the way that you want to play it. No one cares whether you play it on the easiest difficulty because we all have our own ways to play.

[Nightweaver20xx]

In the five months since I made that original post, I've improved significantly at the game, and have told some pretty memorable stories with my main colony. So it's all good now, I know what I'm doing. Sort of.

[Reno Story]

this might be a bit late to the party, but my 2 cents as to why this game is classified as a story generator and not a skill test is because the game isn't about winning. It's a game where you can do whatever you want to do, however you wanna do it, similar to Minecraft.

You wanna take a trio of survivors and turn their crash site into a thriving village of brickwork houses and beautiful art? With a bit of effort and determination, you can do that. Wanna try and see how long you can survive as a tribe of backwards-thinking cavemen? Give it a shot. Do you desire to lead a warband on a path of world domination, traveling the world and slaughtering all who you find? That's an option.

And with any of those options, random events and surprises can result in some very amusing, sad, or even horrifying experiences that in time will cause you to bond with your colonist as you watch them live, grow, and eventually die.

You can't really win in rimworld. But you can survive. And as you survive, you weave a tale that keeps you engaged. That's kinda how I go about it.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by Nightweaver20xx:

In the five months since I made that original post, I've improved significantly at the game, and have told some pretty memorable stories with my main colony. So it's all good now, I know what I'm doing. Sort of.

Just my two coppers, in general, on your OP/et al:

When you encounter a game that makes you feel like your OP and other posts, what's usually happening is that you're not doing what all the "cool kids" are doing because it's not immediately apparent that's what you should be doing.

Rimworld can be a very simple and easy game to play. How? Prepare for the Events that will eventually be coming your way. And, how does a new player do that? Unless they've watched hours of youtube vids and read over ancient esoteric texts... they don't.

Rimworld is really tough on "reactive" players. That's a player that is accustomed to roll with the punches as they're presented, thinking that "combat" means that if they do it right, they'll win. After all, the game will provide the means necessary for a smart player to overcome that new Raid warning that just popped up, right? :) But, if one starts playing Rimworld with that general mindset and doesn't make adequate preparations to meet these threats before they manifest themselves... Well, that playthrough will likely be lost.

Once you know what to prepare for and good strategies, not necessarily even perfect ones, Rimworld isn't a difficult game to master in most playthroughs.

Rimworld's extreme difficulty level and terrain choices combine to make for very difficult plays, but a knowledgeable player should be able to overcome them after getting some experience in dealing with them. Even so, the Event system can combine with game mechanics to overcome any player.

Note: Most general gameplay "Tips&Tricks" act to help prevent what would otherwise be a "mistake" or provide mitigation for player mistakes. It's common to try to research a game and look for those sorts of gems of gameplay help whenever difficulty is encountered. But, there really isn't one overarching set of "Tips&Tricks" derived from player-knowledge that must be obeyed beyond the obvious - Take care of your colonist's needs. That includes "needs" that aren't displayed in-game, but will soon become apparent. Helmets are great at preventing brain injuries in combat, for instance. :)

[DasaKamov]

Originally posted by raiden82:

its reload anytime mode vs permadeath mode lol

How did you even find this thread, after it being dead for almost half a year?

[unseasoned_cauliflower]

Originally posted by DasaKamov:

How did you even find this thread, after it being dead for almost half a year?

this thread is at the top of the Rimworld Discussion thats why its getting new comments

[Wyodoc29]

No one can really tell you how to rim your world. Some games I ragequit when my advanced colony gets wiped by a horde of manhunting cats. Some games I'll let it run until a rando shows up to my fully stocked mega-fort.

It obviously is a skill test, like every other game, but it's just fluffed up a bit with the "story generator" business. It doesn't really matter.