Colony Population Control in 1.4/Bionics

[Aotrs Commander]

With the announcement of children coming in the expansion, I am looking at my current game - where I thought trying unlimited polyamory would be fun (it turned out to be something of a mistake...) and where I have managed not just a chickensplolsion, horsesplosion, but latterly a tortoisesplosion. I thought "wow, this would be UNMANAGEABLE if I had to worry about children from the COLONISTS too."

Which brings up a genuine, entirely serious question. How ARE we going to manage population control for our colonies? Simply not letting pawns sleep in double beds and eliminating lovin' (which is functionally how you avoid an animalsplosion) seems a rather inadequate solution.

So, will there be a toggle (in the global menu options or by pawn or both?) to allow or disallow pregnancy? Ideological restrictions (that might be a bit... Politically charged, of course and it I'd rather not have THAT debate.) Will there be contraceptives - either in the form of craftable (and disposable?) items, or perhaps a permanent implant something along the lines of the love enhancer? Or both? (One would suspect if those options are used, they would likely be, like the love enhancer, a single item usable by both male and females.)

(I mean, if they don't come in the expansion I can nearly guarantee mods will happen, but...)



What do we reckon the approach might be? (Or have we seen anything, such as in 1.4 or streams or something thus far?)



(Yes, I appreciate it might be a mistake to try and start a discussion on a potentially volatile topic on *the steam forums* but I will roll a natural 1 on my Will save to actually do it in the likely vain hopes we can avoid getting too... Heated and focus on the potential mechanical implementation.)

[HeartPirate]

birth control duhhhhhh research it should be in the drug section ..make sure you have a doc at 10 caring to give your female pawns.. think lvl 15 for abortion /surgery..... or the rimway cannibal party ...may be give the baby to the gods.....chem fuel ...dude no need to troll so many ways in game already ....................

[Joejin]

To me it seems like using an Ideology that controls the number of children is the easiest fix.

Ideologies already influence the colonists sex lives.

[Astasia]

The original Biotech reveal mentioned birth control.

[HunterSilver]

I'm hoping we have multiple forms of birth control included.
Temporary measures, such as drugs that can be scheduled, so when you want kids you can have colonists stop taking them.
More permanent measures, such as vasectomies, for when you just do not want your colonists having kids ever.
A bionic solution that allows the restoration of lost/damaged reproductive organs, as well as control over whether you have kids by flipping a switch.
An ideological solution that dictates how couples should view procreating and adjusts their behaviors to modify the average rate of new kids per couple.

[Shas'O O'Kais]

I noticed that you are capable of building cribs now. SO my personal wish is that you will only get pregnant if there is an available crib in your room. That way, when you don't want anymore babies, you can just remove them.

[yallfather]

Probably the more obvious answers: birth control as a temporary solution or neutering as a permanent solution, like with animals. (Though I can't recall if neutering is base game or modded...) There will almost certainly be the ability for a pregnant pawn to lose their pregnancy due to health issues such as, say, getting beaten within an inch of their life with a uranium club, since this is the way such things are handled with pregnant animals. So if you really don't want your colonists to spend their time dealing with baby pawns, you could always just throw a little pinata party, you monster. I imagine there may also be caveats to pregnancy such as the pawn being unable to consume alcohol or drugs without a higher degree of danger, so you could probably just force a pawn to do a bunch of yayo and your baby problem is solved.

On a more serious note, if there's no toggle to turn children off, there will almost certainly be a mod disabling them within two days of the DLC's release. Rimworld's modding community is topnotch. I seriously doubt anything in the DLC will be so hard-baked that it won't be able to be turned off.

[HeartPirate]

Originally posted by Shas'o O'Kais:

I noticed that you are capable of building cribs now. SO my personal wish is that you will only get pregnant if there is an available crib in your room. That way, when you don't want anymore babies, you can just remove them.

that a great idea really ....

[Dizzy Ioeuy]

Originally posted by Shas'o O'Kais:

I noticed that you are capable of building cribs now. SO my personal wish is that you will only get pregnant if there is an available crib in your room. That way, when you don't want anymore babies, you can just remove them.

That is inane.

Omfg, completely unRimworldy

[ministrog]

install the armour skin augment. the best one makes pawns ugly as hell and give good armour! win-win!
clever zoning for that classic gender segregation also would work. although that's kinda a hot topic too...
maybe they'll add a rubber tree? for you know what
herbal contraceptives might be a new thing... or pollution/cancer
maybe a few scary art pieces in the bedroom? should spoil the mood XD

[Molay]

I'm fully expecting a new ideology that has mandatory ritual sacrifices 4 times a year, so you'd be encouraged to outbreed the sacrifice requirement to keep your good paws around. That would be my solution, at least.

Also, have you never heard of child soldiers? Put a gun in their hands, and have them in the front. They're small targets, so relatively good at dodging the bullets for a while. Great distraction.

If none of that works for you, arrest them and sell them to the next slaver? I mean, that's if you're opposed to cannibalism, which I presumed you are. But what do I know, weird folks on Rim...

[Madjar]

Perhaps use the preventative medicine for illnesses that's already in game for this.
I've never used it, never seen anyone using it, never seen a thread about people using it.
This would make this item actually worth while to craft

[J]

Medical >> surgery >> spay/neuter by cut

[RCMidas]

Originally posted by Neville:

I mean, that's if you're opposed to cannibalism, which I presumed you are. But what do I know, weird folks on Rim...

"I mean, these revolutionary fellows, what are they so worked up about?"

"They're worked up, sir, because they're so poor they're forced to have children simply to provide a cheap alternative to turkey at Christmas."

[Egro]

We probably get a do it "outside" mod pretty quickly..lol.